Let’s Discuss … Landon Bryant

By KELLI WILLIAMS • Photos courtesy of LANDON BRYANT

Mississippi-native and social media star talks accidental fame, his love of the Delta, and affection for all things Southern

     If you’ve come across the account Landon Talks on Instagram or TikTok, it’s likely that his reels resonated with you on some level. Landon Bryant’s calm, Southern drawl will pull you in, but it’s his take on Southern culture and our vernacular that will have you giving him a follow.

     Hailing from Laurel, this former art teacher simply brings up topics to “discuss” such as the pronunciation of “pecan” to the classic “Southern goodbye” to more controversial  topics such as “the best mayonnaise.” And the comments pour in. Not only does Landon speak directly into the hearts of those living below the Mason-Dixon Line, but he gives us all a huge dose of reality—with a lot of humor—by holding a mirror up to the fabled lingo and colloquialisms of our daily lives.

     I had the opportunity to visit with him about his love of the South, the famous faces that follow him, and the impact of kindness in his corner of the internet.

First, tell me about your background.

     I am from Laurel and have lived here my whole life, except college. I moved back to Laurel after college, and my wife and I are raising our ten-year-old son here. It has just been such a journey. I’ve been an art teacher for the past almost ten years here in the public school. I taught 4K up to 6th grade, which was quite an experience, and now I’m doing whatever it is you call this—which is mind-blowing to me.

How did the @landontalks platform originate? Was it organic?

     This definitely started organically. I talk too much, and my wife has been hearing me talk since second grade. We’ve been friends since second grade. One day I was just talking to her…talking and talking…and she kindly said “what if you talk to the internet? What if you told all your stories to the internet?” So it was very organic. As I told stories about life here in Laurel, people started asking me questions about things that I said, and it turned into “well, let’s discuss that” and that’s what we did. And it’s kinda blown up. Of course I’ve made some decisions along the way to help move it along, but it started by just having these discussions. I think that’s the key to it, that it’s still very genuine.

What has been the most surprising thing that’s happened from all of this popularity?

     Well, I made the front page of the The New York Times, and that was something I would have never thought would happen, even when I thought “Oh, I hope this does take off” I didn’t think it would go that far. I’ve recently signed a book deal with Hachette Publishing, and I actually had an interview with ABC News recently—but the book deal is definitely the most life-changing. I’ve gotten to work with incredible brands. Every day I wake up and look at my phone, and it’s like a whole different world. There are so many people saying the kindest things from this community we’ve built. It’s grown so fast that it honestly is head-spinning, so it’s hard to point to just one moment.

The internet can be such a harsh place. Kudos to you for putting yourself out there because that can be scary at times—but you landed on the softer side. The comments are all fun and respectful.

     I agree. That’s one thing I noticed when I started doing this. I set out to speak from a place of kindness, and that comes from teaching four-year-olds—we are just tryin’ to stay on our stools and not mess with each other! So that’s where it began, and it sets the tone for the channel. I realized very quickly that people are looking for community on the internet. They are looking not only for a place that’s not divisive, but also for a place where they can share their opinions and experiences without fear of being attacked. So, it seems there was a void for spaces like this.

It’s entertaining to see how people are so invested in the posts and have full-on discussions about the subject.

     I do think that the comment community of my posts is what’s so valuable. I talk a lot and that’s fine…but the comment section is just gold. It’s solid gold.

It’s interesting that no matter where you live in the South, most of these phrases or sayings are so common. I grew up in several places in Mississippi and Alabama, and they basically resonate across the board. We sprinkle these little nuggets in our conversations and don’t even realize it.

     Exactly. The first time it happened to me, I said I was “fixin’ to” do something, and someone asked what that meant. It kinda broke my brain that they didn’t know what that meant. Like, how do you express that meaning without saying “fixin’ to?” I think that was the one that started it. I love to see the things that we, as Southerners, do that are particular to us. It’s changed my perspective on my own conversations—now I listen to everything people say, and it’s turned into a treasure hunt. There are so many common things that we say that people from other places don’t. I recently had to go through what “cut the lights on” means and found that some people don’t “cut” the lights on. They “turn” them on. And people don’t “mash buttons” or “crank the car,” and I didn’t even realize that.

Yes—now you can crank the car by mashing a button from inside your house!

     That’s so funny. Yes, now that sentence would really confuse a lot of people.

What were the top three phrases or topics you were surprised about that really took off?

     Well, I’ll tell you, the ones that have really gone viral are the grandma and grandpa names. There are about six or seven million views on those, which blew me away. Of course, people love “y’all” and the nuances of “bless your heart”—you know it can be a good phrase or be a negative one. People have really taken to “might could,” which surprised me. I have a line of merchandise with that phrase that’s been really popular. And when I looked it up grammatically, it’s even proper grammar, which was so fun to discover.

You recently made a trip to the Delta with PR extraordinaire Savannah Engle, who is from Greenville. Was this your first time in the Delta?

     I was thrilled to be invited by Savannah—she is so great! I was like, we will do whatever she wants to do forever. But, it was not my first time to the Delta. I was a competitive swimmer growing up, and all through high school, so we went to the Delta State Aquatics Center to compete. We went to Airport Grocery in Cleveland and a few other places, so I’ve done some of those things. But I’ve never been there with people who live there and not as a tourist, so it was such a fun experience. We came the day after Thanksgiving and were invited to a party at her parent’s house, which was beautiful, and we had the very best time. Then, we met Matthew Burdine, went out to his property, and ended up on side-by-sides going out to the sandbar on the Mississippi River. It was really low, which was extraordinary, and we had a wonderful time. It showed me how special the Delta is, and it also made me understand all the literature more.

After being here, what do you think may have inspired our writers?

     It was such a beautiful trip and time of the year—it all just felt so literary. The way people responded to each other, the way they treated each other, and the environment itself is just so vast—like it’s just waiting to be described. Every moment felt that way. You could just see how authors would have so much to say about it.

Yes—and the characters who live here. It’s like there is something in the water.

     Yes, absolutely, and you are exactly right about the characters. So, here’s a very funny thing I noticed in the Delta, especially now that I’m learning to live this life of going from place to place and being somewhat of a “public” figure. I get invitations to stuff all the time where the attire is “business casual” or whatever, but to Savannah’s party, it said “Delta Casual”—luckily, we were dressed ok. But, through the weekend, I noticed that Delta Casual has its own meaning, and it goes far beyond attire! With all the interesting characters, there were so many times, without a lick of being pompous or bragging because it just was, that someone would say something wild like “Well, when Lyndon B. Johnson was here,” or “When Eudora was holding her as a baby” —just the wildest things, that are such a big deal, but were so casual to everybody there, but that are absolutely not casual at all. Or “I studied under Bob Fosse for a while.” Literally, it seemed every moment I heard someone say something unbelievable like that, while just being regular people who are so cozy and feeling like home. So, I think we should add a definition of Delta Casual, which also means you are just “casual” about the very extraordinary things in your past that you didn’t even think it was a thing to note.

That’s why the Delta is often called the Cradle of American Culture. With our history, experiences like that are just ingrained in us. Nothing is that far removed.

     And there is not a spirit of any hoity-toity at all, everyone is so welcoming and kind. When they talk about those things, it’s just how they lived. There are some really, really great people in the Delta, and some very special things going on there.

Switching gears back to the wild world that is the internet, which of your platforms has the most interaction?

     Well, my largest following is on Instagram. We have a little over 400,000 there. On TikTok, I’m right at 100,000, and YouTube and Facebook are popular. The different responses are interesting because, on Facebook, I’ll get these almost letters written by people. On TikTok, you never know what you are going to get, and Instagram is full of these nice little comments—so it’s fun to go across all the platforms and see the engagement.

You have quite a few famous faces engaging with you. What’s it like to have all these celebrities following and commenting on your channel?

     I have a little mini heart attack every time someone like that engages with me or messages me. Justin Timberlake was following me for about three weeks before I realized it. I think it was the first time I found out someone really big was following me, and I panicked. I was thinking, I’ve got to delete everything and get off the internet. But it finally came down to having to decide—do I really care that he sees it and it can be embarrassing? Or do I just continue to make content that I like and put it out there? That’s when I realized I just need to keep doing what I am doing regardless. But yes, the celebrity side of it is just wild. You realize that they are just people. LeAnn Rimes has been really kind to me, and Miranda Lambert has,  too. Jennifer Garner is just the nicest person that you could meet. They’ve all been so supportive and helpful.

In regards to kindness, what do you think is the best part about being from the South and from Mississippi, as it relates to your content and how you interact with people?

     Well, I think it has to do with what we do subconsciously and consciously. We want to keep this a kind space, right? So, it’s become a way to get us all to the table together so we can have conversations. That’s what I keep in mind when I choose the topics to discuss. I try not to be very divisive because I think, at this moment, it’s important for us to all be here together, whether we agree on something or not. Maybe if we argue about mayonnaise, and we can disagree nicely about mayonnaise, we can learn to navigate this world we live in, which can be very divisive. The South is so vital to who I am I can’t imagine being from anywhere else. My core setting is Southern—and hospitality—which is such a big part of how we treat people and the way we look at people. Being Southern is such a big part of me—it has navigated my whole approach to this journey.

The South is so nuanced. How has this platform given people a window into life here?

     There are preconceived notions about the South, which I understand—and there are things in the past we have to address—but there are so many beautiful things here. It’s really special, and I think it’s an important thing to show life as it really is. You know, people think we are backwoods and barefoot—but we aren’t because there are ants and stickers in the yard. Nobody’s barefoot. You can’t walk in the yard!

     My weekend in the Delta was a great example of the broad range of experiences you can have in the South. How it makes you well-rounded as a person, because there are so many cultures you can experience and so many opportunities. We went from basically mud riding on the sandbar to a very fancy dinner in suits and ties, and then the next day we were at an art gallery opening. And that’s what you find when you come here—a range of experiences.

Do you think you’ll ever run out of phrases to discuss? Or, can you keep coming up with off-the-cuff Southern topics?

     When I first started, and we landed on these Southern discussions, I was worried that I might at some point run out of these colloquial phrases, so I told myself that I would go an entire year without repeating these phrases in my posts and we are right about there. I’ve learned that if you give me anything to talk about, I can pretty much talk about it. What’s really great is that a lot of the new content is being guided by the community itself. Daily life gives me content, and the people in my comments give me content, but I’m almost to that year mark, so I’m going to allow myself to revisit some topics and expand more. And I’m going to have to apologize for a grits video that I made that was incorrect, and I just got eaten up about it. I’m going to have to go on a grits apology tour!  And my book will be out in March of 2025, which will kind of be an extension of this and we will see where it goes. I’m really excited about the future!