Isn’t it about time for the South to once again secede from the Union? Comic travel writer Chuck Thompson thinks so, arguing that the South is not and never has been wholly committed to being part of the United States.

Thompson discusses his new book Better Off Without ‘Em: A Northern Manifesto for Southern Secession and dishes insight, humor, fearless politics, and sheer nerve. And lots of laughs. The book is based on his recent travels south of the Mason-Dixon Line.

Thompson has written for Outside, Men’s Journal, Atlantic Monthly, Esquire, and Maxim.