97.9 The Hill WCHL and Chapelboro.com are your headquarters for local news and local voices in Chapel Hill-Carrboro. Every weekday morning, 97.9 The Hill’s Aaron Keck chats with government officials, UNC scholars, business and nonprofit leaders, area musicians, and others in our community as they share their thoughts, their experience, and their expertise on the central issues of today. Click here to listen back to all of Aaron’s conversations – and tune in to “This Morning with Aaron Keck” at 7:30 a.m. on 97.9 The Hill to hear those conversations live.

Welcome to Talking Culture! In this weekly interview series from 97.9 The Hill WCHL, you’ll hear from writers, performers, musicians and individuals involved in advancing and promoting cultural arts in our community.
Talking Culture is proudly sponsored by Duke Arts. The 2024-25 Duke Arts Presents season features more than 40 programs from artists around the globe. Learn more at DukeArts.org.
This week, Aaron chats with poet Paul Jones, whose new book is called “Something Necessary.” (The title follows up on his 2021 book “Something Wonderful.”) Starting with a line from Aristotle about the need to break form to find truth, “Something Necessary” is a collection of poems about topics ranging from nature to love to grief, often with new twists on classic poetic forms – including one poem that ends with a recipe.
Visit SmallJones.com for more on Paul Jones.
“Something Necessary” is available now from Redhawk Books – and Jones will be doing a series of public readings in September, including events at the Tom Stevens Gallery in Hillsborough and McIntyre’s Books in Fearrington Village.

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