Landon Bryant’s Viral Videos Celebrate Southern Culture

Landon Bryant is a 35-year-old art teacher whose roots go back generations in Laurel, Mississippi. His quippy TikToks and Instagram reels (@LandonTalks) have racked up millions of likes and shares, plus love from celebrities like Jennifer Garner, Chrissy Teigen, Leann Rimes, and Miranda Lambert. Bryant grew up reading Southern Living—he was a big fan of the house plans—but never imagined he’d become an arbiter of Southern culture for the social media generation. He’s gone viral discussing everything from honeysuckles to hair bows, and says the diverse community he’s cultivating online has shown him the power of our shared Southern identity.

Why do you think these discussions about Southern culture have meant so much to so many different people?

I think it’s an opening for us to be nostalgic about things we miss. A lot of the stuff I’m talking about isn’t necessarily super prominent right now, but it’s things that I remember from growing up. There’s that longing for that kind of life again. It’s nice to think about when you were comfortable and cozy at the Christmas tree with your great grandma. That’s what I hope it evokes for people, and I think it does.

Do you have a favorite memory of growing up in the South?

Every day, my cousin and I would stay with my great grandmother. She had this magical fairy tale landscape garden that I’ll never be able to recreate. It’s a conglomeration of all of those memories: playing in the green house and digging in the dirt. One thing I think is really precious, she had a flour drawer in her kitchen. She’d open the drawer and get to making something—dumplings or tea cakes. We always wanted to be involved, obviously, but our hands would be so dirty—we’d been making mud pies all day. She would give us a whole section of the kitchen, and we would make our teacakes. She would pretend she’d cook them, but it would be hers she’d actually cook. That’s very representative of her and her spirit.

Do you have any favorite Southern traditions or any favorite experiences associated with living in the South?

The thing I love about the South the most isn't a tradition; the feature that makes it is the women. These women are so strong. They can deal with adversity, and they run families. They do it with grace and with a smile, while showing so much love at the same time. Growing up watching that, if you see any of my reels, you can see that I really paid attention. They run the place. I love their grace and their poise. I also love how you can meet somebody for lunch without ever saying a negative word. As terrifying as that is and as frustrating as it is for some people, I think It’s really beautiful. Because ultimately, it’s a society that—in person at least—wants you to be your best and wants to make you feel good.

You have the best green-screen backgrounds. Tell us about the porches in particular and how you select those images.

The porch in the South is super important. My cousin, who I live right next door to and is kind of like a sister, has that porch. It’s what I think of when I think about sweet tea and long afternoons and lazy days, where you work all day and then you’re being lazy on the porch. It’s just iconic to me. So when I pick the backgrounds, I try to think of things I’ve seen or been around.

As a person with two first names, I especially appreciated your Southern kids’ names explainer. How do you come up with these topics for your posts?

My wife has a broadcast journalism degree. She is more on the production side of things. Basically, I will just sit down with her, and we’ll go back and forth with ideas. We might plan out a whole video, and then it’ll lead me to something else, and that’s what I’ll go with. I’ve never had a problem talking about stuff. So, I just go at it.

Do certain topics seem to resonate more than others?

Yes, people love to talk about their grandparents. They love to remember their grandparents’ names and talk about them. Grandparents are a hot, hot topic. One of the grandparent videos has at least 5 million views. People love to talk about stores, and they love to talk about food. Then most recently, they love to talk about phrases and linguistics that we say like, “bless your heart.”

How do you strike the right balance between being funny about Southern traditions without making fun of them?

It’s a delicate line to walk. I always talk about things that I personally have done or experienced. When I’m talking about all these things, I’m talking about myself as much as I am about anybody else. As long as it stays on that side of things, people can enjoy it. Nobody is coming there to be judged. That’s kind of the point of the whole channel at this point, is to welcome everybody. It is a line to walk on, but it’s also a Southern line. We grew up dancing on this line of "don’t offend while saying things.” It’s a way of communicating down here.

You do a good job of making people from the South feel seen and validated.

I hope so. I want to celebrate it. For me, I’ve never felt super Southern. I’ve never had the deepest voice. I’ve never been the most masculine person down here. That definitely makes you different. If you’d have asked me when I was growing up if I would’ve been a personality representing Southern culture, I would’ve been like, “absolutely not,” because to me that was hunting ducks and camouflage. It’s changed my relationship with it because I’ve realized I very much belong. It’s helped to open up a bridge to people who I wouldn’t think would celebrate me.

What made you want to return to your hometown after college?

It just has a grip on you. It’s a really great place. There’s been a resurgence in Laurel lately, obviously with “Home Town.” But it was headed up before that. There were a lot of people around my age who started to coming back and making it into something. We’ve always thought it was cute. We used to walk around downtown and look at the abandoned building. We became adults, and were like, “Let’s do it!” People started Laurel Main Street, and that revived a lot of downtown. People started businesses here, and now it’s a whole thing. Family is so strong in the South. When you have families like mine and my wife’s, who both have lived here for generations, it almost was understood in a way that we’d come back.

How would you define this new generation of Southerners?

We’re proud of the South, while understanding what it has been and how it has evolved. The attitude of helping was very prominent growing up and has turned us into what we are today. For people to feel positive about the place they grew up and to come back to it, I think that’s really something special.

Your “what to wear in the South” discussion seemed to really strike a chord. Do you have any advice for what to wear this summer?

This is when you’ve got to get out the linen and all those lighter fabrics. We’re not wearing darker colors. The colors get lighter. The fabrics get lighter. You can even veer into your athletic wear. But the biggest key to dressing yourself in the south is to, "go big or go home.” If you’re going to do it, do it big. You can’t go wrong, just make yourself into a character. We love a character. We really appreciate that.

If you could sit on the porch and discuss Southern culture with any person, who would it be?

Well, Dolly Parton. It would have to be Dolly Parton.

You can watch Landon Bryant’s latest videos on Instagram, TikTok, or YouTube.