Also, the popularity of weaving waxes and wanes. At the moment, it’s having a renaissance. 

And, during Lent, Yugoslavian fish stew is a local favorite in Charleston, West Virginia.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths. 

And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who’s passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.

 You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

Also, a poet remembers growing up in a secret city in Tennessee that was built during World War II.

And, rock climbing is usually for warmer months, but some climbers have taken to climbing frozen waterfalls.

 You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, hair salons are important gathering places where Black women can find community. 

And, West Virginia poet Torli Bush uses story to tackle tough subjects. 

Also, a Hare Krishna community in West Virginia serves vegetarian food made in three sacred kitchens. 

And COVID exposed the contempt society has for marginalized people. One author says, these folks are anything but passive. 

 You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

Also, almost everybody has a favorite cup or coffee mug, but how far would you go to replace it? 

And, we hear from a cabinetmaker on the physicality of poetry.

Also, why is Appalachia so prone to severe flooding? We spoke with a reporter whose team dug into the data to find out.

And a good blanket will keep you warm on a cold night — but a handmade temperature blanket can convey a message to a loved one.

 You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust Belt, even the Northeast. Politically, it encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — and West Virginia’s the only state entirely inside Appalachia.

That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation. This week, we ask people from five Appalachian states if they feel like they’re in Appalachia.

Also, changes to the Endangered Species Act could benefit big business. They could also kill animals like the eastern hellbender.

And, in troubled times, a West Virginia writer says to find peace in nature. We talk about her collection of essays. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

Alos, central Appalachia continued to recover from Hurricane Helene. From the beginning, the recovery brought people together.

And we made a trip to Hillbilly Hotdog to take on The Homewrecker.

Also, family recipes bring generations together. But what happens when you’ve got grandma’s potato candy recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? 

And, a new book explores the magical dark side of nature. 

Also, a West Virginia baker draws on her Finnish heritage to make a different kind of cinnamon roll.

And if you bought a live-cut Christmas tree this year, there’s a good chance it came from Appalachia.

Also, for 15 years, a Virginia library has been hosting a weekly Dungeons & Dragons game for teens. It can get wacky.

And, a taxidermist in Yadkin County, North Carolina found her calling before she could drive a car. 

We’re proud of our local food. Love a good hunt. And enjoy competition with friends.  

We learn the rules and celebrate our victories.

But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing. In this show, we’ll also meet competitors who are keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions. 

This week, we follow Yo-Yo and his team as they venture into Appalachia. And we talk with Gonzalez about meeting people where they are.  

Also, a mountain farmer kept an encrypted diary for years. It’s unclear whether he would have wanted that code to ever be cracked. 

And, a beloved West Virginia hot dog restaurant closed in 2018. An annual tribute sale gives people a chance to relive its glory days.

These old tunes can mean so much. They can tap into difficult emotions and give feelings space to be heard. Some songs may even be too uncomfortable to sing.

In this special episode with guest co-host, ballad singer Saro Lynch-Thomason, we explore songs about lawbreaking folk heroes, runaway trains and murder ballads.

Also, folk singer Ginny Hawker grew up singing the hymns of the Primitive Baptist Church, but she didn’t think of performing until she got a little boost from Appalachian icon Hazel Dickens. 

And, the chef of an award-winning Asheville restaurant was shaped by memories of growing up in West Virginia.

Also, tales of the supernatural.

And, ghost stories galore.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle talks about growing up as part of the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians.

And, a Kentucky tattoo artist practices traditional tattooing and traditional music. He says they’re not too different. 

Also, every year, hundreds of people celebrate Bridge Day by parachuting from the 876-foot-tall New River Gorge bridge. But not just anyone can do it. 

And, the Columbus Washboard Company used to make washboards for laundry. Now, people use them to make music.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, country music’s Rob McNurlin grew up with traditional music in Eastern Kentucky. His friend Marty Stuart says he’s a folk hero. 

And we check up on Virginia rapper and producer Byron Mack. 

Also, rock climbers with disabilities have found a home in Kentucky’s Red River Gorge, which offers some pumpy crags.

And, the online world of Appalachian memes, and what they tell us about the folks who live here. 

 Also, abortion is illegal in most cases in Tennessee. So, what happens after a birth? A photographer followed one mother for a year. 

And new prisons are touted as a way to bring jobs to former coal communities. Not everybody agrees the trade-off is worth it.

Also, we head to the woods and take a master class in foraging for wild mushrooms.

And, the makers of Angelo's Old World Italian Sausage still use a century-old family recipe. Customers love it. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, keeping the family farm going after six generations can be rough.

And, some parts of southern Appalachia still practice the tradition of keeping up community gravesites for Decoration Day.

Also, a book by a West Virginia artist illustrates the tiny worlds of mountain critters, like a lizard that changes color.

And, geocaching gets folks outside to play detective and find hidden treasures.

Also, professional storyteller James Froemel invents quirky characters, like a sign maker who can’t spell. Froemel’s stories are drawn from small town life.

And, one of the most common animals to get hit by cars are opossums. But there’s a kind of animal rescue called pouch picking. We talk with author Laura Jackson. 

Also, Appalachian culture is enriched by its immigrants. We explore the fusion of West Virginia and Japan. 

And Appalachia isn’t all punk rock and Japanese food. There’s also string band music.

Also, modern technology makes firing pottery a lot easier, but some potters in North Carolina still do it the old way. 

And, East Tennessee’s Amythyst Kiah’s latest album contemplates the cosmos.

Also, in Western North Carolina, a new generation of Cherokee potters are keeping old traditions, while shaping a modern practice all their own.

 And … schoolyard games come and go, but for kids in one community, marbles still rule. 

Also, we’ll have the story of a family that cultivated an heirloom tomato in West Virginia. It took a lot of work. 

And, a musical tradition brought people together — even when they couldn’t gather in person.

Also, a pair of potters in western North Carolina forego commercial clay to work with clay that’s wild.  

And we make a trip to West Virginia’s Hillbilly Hotdogs for its infamous Homewrecker Hotdog Challenge.

Also, after Hurricane Helene, whitewater rafting guides are adapting to diminished business and changed rivers.

And, we remember Travis Stimeling. The author, musician and educator left a mark on mountain culture, and the people who practice and document it.  

Also, one person’s roadside weed is another’s “golden” treasure. So says a North Carolina fiber artist.  

And the backstory of a bus that sits at the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers — and the man who put it there.

Also, one year after the Mountain Valley Pipeline went into service, people who live directly in the pipeline’s path have received compensation. But not everyone.

And, the Sacred Harp songbook gets an update for the first time since the early ‘90s.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also remember renowned Tennessee luthier, Jean Horner. Whose fiddles were played at Carnegie Hall and the Grand Ole Opry. His shop was a destination for fiddle fanatics.

And a Hare Krishna community in West Virginia serves vegetarian food made in three sacred kitchens. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, an immersion school in North Carolina is trying to revitalize the Cherokee language with the help of a printmaking class.

And a pair of artists follow cicada hatchings to make art from their shells.   

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage.

And, the Reverend George Mills Dickerson of Tazewell, Virginia, was born in the years after slavery ended. He’s remembered on Juneteenth through his poetry.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, when flooding devastates a community, people can find solace through faith and through song.

And we remember songwriter Billy Edd Wheeler, who passed away last year. Dozens of musicians have covered his songs, including Johnny Cash and June Carter.

Also, morel mushrooms are a forager’s delight, but don’t shortcut cleaning them. We follow along with mushroom hunters and talk to a chef. 

And, sinkholes can cause a lot of damage. But they’re also fascinating. 

Also, the Seeing Hand Association brings together people who are visually impaired to learn the craft of chair caning.  

And, crossing a river by ferry can be a special experience, and hard to come by. On the Ohio River, a retiring ferry captain passes the torch to his deck hand.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, a Tennessee writer, musician and playwright talks about his collaborations and ability to capture a sense of place.

And, the online world of Appalachian memes — and what they tell us about folks who live here.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

These old tunes can mean so much. They can tap into difficult emotions and give feelings space to be heard. Some songs may even be too uncomfortable to sing.

In this special episode with guest co-host, ballad singer Saro Lynch-Thomason, we explore songs about lawbreaking folk heroes, runaway trains and murder ballads.

All the stories in this episode were produced as part of our Folkways Reporting Project, a partnership with West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Inside Appalachia and the Folklife Program of the West Virginia Humanities Council.

We’ve recorded more than 150 stories for this project. Visit wvpublic.org to see them all.

Also, a laid-off federal worker warns the Trump administration's mass firings could make a big difference for coal miners.

And, every year, the Kentucky Mountain Laurel Festival stages a formal dance. Organizers rely on a manual that’s been passed down for generations.

Also, what not to do if you get poison ivy.

And, pepperoni rolls were a staple in the coal mines. But public schools might be why they caught on. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

And the woman behind the popular TikTok account “Appalachian Forager” makes jam from pawpaws and jewelry from coyote teeth.

We also visit the Alleghany Highlands, where mountain maple syrup traditions are changing with the times.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, rock climbing gear wears out. But it can still live on as art.

And, an eastern Kentucky pharmacist serves vegan food for the holidays.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, climbers have also been working to make West Virginia's New River Gorge more inclusive.

And, a master craftsman, who makes one of a kind whitewater paddles, remembers some advice.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, egg prices are up. Some folks are talking about raising backyard chickens.

And, Helvetia, West Virginia’s old world Fasnacht festival continues to grow, in part because of an online video game. Organizers are OK with it.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, we’ll have the story of a family that cultivated an heirloom tomato in West Virginia. It took a lot of work. 

And, a musical tradition brought people together — even when they couldn’t gather in person.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, a Kentucky tattoo artist practices traditional tattooing and traditional music. He says they’re not too different.

And, what keeps people so fascinated with cryptids?

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, a West Virginia town can trace its beginnings to the first place its founders lived — a giant stump.

And a few people still farm the way folks did before tractors — with horses. 

 You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

When Jerry Machen began making art from old carpets, his wife Linda wasn’t impressed. 

And a new exhibit shares the cultures of Indigenous people who call Appalachia home. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, hair salons are important gathering places where Black women can find community. 

And West Virginia poet Torli Bush uses story to tackle tough subjects. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, an Asheville musician’s latest guitar album is a call to arms.

 And we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who is passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.

Also, during the Great Depression, Osage, West Virginia was a raucous river town. It’s sleepier now, but music is keeping the magic alive.

And, the author of an upcoming graphic novel about pipeline fighters has a message for people outside the region. 

You'll hear this story and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Corporate greed has been gobbling up newspapers for years. Now, some of those same companies are taking a bite out of mobile home parks. They’re raising rents and letting repairs slide.

And, as the Mountain Valley Pipeline nears completion, people who live near it say government officials are ignoring their concerns about pollution.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, professional storyteller James Froemel invents quirky characters, like a sign maker who can't spell. Froemel’s stories are drawn from small town life.

And, one of the most common animals to get hit by cars are possums. But, there’s a kind of animal rescue called pouch picking. We talk with author Laura Jackson. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, for nearly a century, some of Appalachia’s best wood carvers have trained at a North Carolina folk school. Newcomers are still welcomed in to come learn the craft.

And, a conversation with Kentucky poet Willie Carver Jr. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

After six generations, keeping the family farm going can be rough. We hear the story of the Wakefield family, which has farmed for six generations.

And the Hellbender Salamander is the largest amphibian in North America. They’re picky about where they live, but their habitats are threatened.

Also, food deserts are places where it’s hard to find nutritious food. Like disenfranchised neighborhoods in East Knoxville, Tennessee. 

And, not all bamboo is invasive. In fact, there’s a species native to Appalachia.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, family recipes bring generations together. But what happens when you’ve got grandma’s potato candy recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? 

And a new book explores the magical dark side of nature. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, parts of West Virginia have been radio silent since the 1950s for scientists to monitor the skies. So, what does that mean for first responders in an emergency? 

And winter holidays are here. We’ve got some tips to keep the festivities from going up in smoke.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

And Hurricane Helene destroyed roads and knocked out power and cell service across western North Carolina. But there was still a way to keep people in touch.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

It continues to preserve music and history, but part of Foxfire’s heritage has been recording the stories of Appalachian women. 

This week, Inside Appalachia explores Foxfire – its past, present and future.

The Seeing Hand Association brings together people who are visually impaired to learn the craft of chair caning. 

And a West Virginia community grapples with its population of feral cats.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

As flood relief continues from Hurricane Helene — a musician raises money with a song inspired by West Virginia’s 2016 floods.

And, not every pumpkin gets to be a jack-o-lantern. Some are used in science experiments instead.

A church in West Virginia is helping turn unwanted guns into garden tools.

And, for writer Wei Tchou, it took leaving her home in East Tennessee to start seeing herself in a new way.   

Also, the response to Hurricane Helene shows us some of the best in people. Neighbors are helping neighbors. 

And surfing in West Virginia. Yeah, that’s a real a thing.

We have scary stories read by acclaimed sci-fi and horror authors, tales of the supernatural, and we might know someone who says they’ve seen a ghost. 

Also, when flooding devastates a community, people can find solace through faith and through song.

And we remember songwriter Billy Edd Wheeler, who passed away last month. Dozens of musicians have covered his songs including Kenny Rogers, Johnny Cash and June Carter and Elvis Presley.

We also check in with the people affected by flooding in Western North Carolina and Eastern Tennessee.

A new collection of essays and poesm remembers the 2022 flood in Eastern Kentucky witnessed by writers trapped at the Appalachian Writers Workshop.

And bird watching only sounds relaxing. Sometimes, it can get a little wild.

Also, a new book illustrates the tiny worlds of mountain critters, like a lizard that changes color.

And White potters co-opted the African art of face jugs in the 1800s. A modern-day Black potter says his art can’t be replicated. 

And, grab your dancing shoes and learn about a movement to make square dance calling more inclusive.

Plus, it’s not just you. There are more deer than ever these days. A writer explores the long, complicated entwinement of people and our wild kin.  

Now is a great time for mushroom hunters to head to the woods and find all kinds of fascinating fungi – even those not meant to be eaten.

And, almost everybody has a favorite cup or coffee mug, but how far would you go to replace yours? 

Also people in the region love their local water springs, but in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, they take that dedication to another level.

And, congressional Republicans are trying to freeze funding for new mine safety rules. Advocates are concerned. 

Also, this year marks the anniversary of some country music milestones, including the 40th anniversary of Floyd, Virginia’s Friday Night Jamboree. 

And we remember West Virginia’s first person in space, Jon McBride. 

Also, four decades ago rice seeds from Laos crossed the ocean to California and made their way to a family of Hmong farmers in North Carolina.

And the Appalachian trail has been exhaustively hiked, explored and written about, but it’s still got a few secrets left.

Also, after six generations, the struggle to keep a family farm going can be rough.

And the Federal program 340B cuts the price of prescription drugs for people who most need them. So, why are attack ads falsely connecting it to border safety?

Also, when Jerry Machen began making art from old carpets in Tennessee, his wife Linda wasn’t impressed. 

And, a new exhibit shares the cultures of Indigenous people who call Appalachia home. 

Also, Kentucky artist Lacy Hale’s “No Hate in My Holler” screenprint may never go out of style. Appalachians are still telling her how much they identify with its message.

And a Virginia poet reflects on the importance of spoons and what’s helped his writing. 

We explore some of the reasons for floods, as well as the aftermath and the slow recovery that often follows disaster.

It’s not all gloom. Even in our hardest moments, there’s always hope. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Since 2018, there’s been an explosion of LGBT writing about Appalachia. The editor of the new essay collection “Deviant Hollers” tells us about it and more.  

And, there’s an alternative to invasive bamboo, and it’s native to the region and found by rivers.

Also, Salem, Virginia's Flat Five Studio got its first big break when the Dave Matthews Band was searching for a quiet place to record its first album. We hear the story of a big moment for a small studio.

And, a longtime Bigfoot hunter believes his first encounter with the mythical monster happened when he was a kid.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also talk with a children's book author about a school system that suspended its community reading program over concerns about the sex of her book's main character — an oak tree.

And, Dolly Parton’s Imagination Library program is now available in every Kentucky community. We revisit our 2022 interview with the American icon. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also spill the tea on a classic roadside attraction in Chester, West Virginia.

And punk music photographer Chelse Warren takes us into the pit for stories and observations. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, if you’re hungry for a pepperoni roll in West Virginia, you can find one at just about any gas station. So — how did they get so popular? We’ll hear one theory.

And we check out the backstory of a bus that sits at the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers — and the man who put it there.

Hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, the opioid epidemic has changed how we talk about addiction in Appalachia. But it’s not America’s only drug crisis.

And, every year, hundreds of people parachute off the 876-foot-tall New River Gorge Bridge for Bridge Day, but not just anyone can do it. 

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, food deserts are places where it’s hard to find nutritious food, but they’re found in more than just rural counties in Appalachia. Food deserts are also in disenfranchised neighborhoods, like in East Knoxville. 

And, the Reverend George Mills Dickerson of Tazewell, Virginia, was born in the years after slavery ended. During Juneteenth, he’s remembered especially through his poetry.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also meet a county fair champion who keeps racking up the blue ribbons and has released a cookbook of some of her favorites. 

And we hear an update on the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Construction has begun again, but some people wonder if it’s even needed.

 These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

Also, people who live near Indian Creek in southern West Virginia say something is wrong with the water. Tests show contamination from a nearby mine. Now people and animals are getting sick. 

And, lots of schools are seeing teacher shortages. But what happens when the band director quits?

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also talk with the hosts of a new podcast that looks at coal dust exposure beyond the mines, affecting people far downstream from Appalachia. 

And, in some places, slavery continued in different forms well after the end of the Civil War. A new marker in Western North Carolina acknowledges that history and commemorates a disaster that killed 19 Black prisoners.

 You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

Also, abortion is illegal in most cases in Tennessee. A photographer spent a year following one mother who was denied an abortion. 

And we talk to Marshall University professor and poet Sarah Henning about her latest book, Burn.

 You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia. 

Climbers have also been working to make West Virginia's New River Gorge more inclusive.

And a master craftsman, who makes one of a kind whitewater paddles remembers some advice.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, every thru-hike of the Appalachian Trail (AT) begins with a first step. Famed hiker Jennifer Pharr Davis shares hers.

And the holy month of Ramadan ends with a feast. But war and famine in Gaza muted some of this year’s celebrations.

We'll have these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

This week, we listen back to some of our award-winning stories.

Also, NASCAR Hall of Famer Leonard Wood shares stories, and a bit of advice.

And, group bike rides are a way to socialize and get outside. But here in Appalachia, newcomers are met with steep hills.

What’s your favorite style of egg roll? An acclaimed, out-of-the-way restaurant in Pounding Mill, Virginia bends culinary genres and uses an unexpected ingredient. 

And, more and more school boards are pulling books from library shelves. We’ll speak with a reporter in a Virginia county where 57 titles were yanked. 

These old tunes can mean so much. They can tap into difficult emotions and give feelings space to be heard. Some songs may even be too uncomfortable to sing.

In this special episode with guest co-host, ballad singer Saro Lynch-Thomason, we explore songs about lawbreaking folk heroes, runaway trains and murder ballads.

Corporate greed has been gobbling up newspapers for years. Now, some of those same companies are taking a bite out of mobile home parks. They’re raising rents and letting repairs slide.

And, as the Mountain Valley Pipeline nears completion, people who live near it say government officials are ignoring their concerns about pollution.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Plus, almost everybody has a favorite cup or coffee mug, but how far would you go to replace it? One woman would go pretty far.

And… we explore an effort in western Virginia to make old-time music more available to Black musicians.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Politically, Appalachia encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — and West Virginia’s the only state entirely inside the region.

That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation, as well as many different views on what Appalachia really is.

For Inside Appalachia, we turned our entire episode over to the question, “What is Appalachia?” With stories from Mississippi to Pittsburgh, we asked people across our region whether they consider themselves to be Appalachian.

And grab your dancing shoes and learn about a movement to make square dance calling more inclusive.

Plus, it’s not just you. There are more deer than ever these days. A writer explores the long, complicated entwinement of people and our wild kin.  

In 2021, Willie Carver was named Kentucky’s Teacher of the Year. Then he left his job over homophobia and became an activist and celebrated poet. 

And, the zine Porch Beers chronicles the author’s life in Appalachia — including a move from Huntington to Chattanooga, and back again.

You're hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Abandoned industrial sites have long been a magnet for people to explore and turn into not-at-all-legal hangout spots, but some come with hidden dangers. We learn about the danger at Fairmont Brine, a site in West Virginia that processed liquid used in hydraulic fracking.  

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing.

In this show, we’ll meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

We also explore an island of Japanese culture in West Virginia called Yama. 

And fish fries have been a staple in Charleston, West Virginia’s Black community for years. We visit one and learn a little about what’s made them so popular.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, four decades ago rice seeds from Laos crossed the ocean to California and made their way to a family of Hmong farmers in North Carolina.

And the Appalachian trail has been exhaustively hiked, explored and written about, but it’s still got a few secrets left.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, the daughter of a legendary guitar maker didn’t set out to take up her father’s craft — but she’s found it irresistible.

And, we take a trip to the mushroom capital of the U.S.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Regulators and the coal industry have known about the problem for decades — but they’ve been slow to respond. 

One reporter asks, “What would happen if thousands of workers in any other industry got sick and died just because of where they worked?” 

This week, we’re talking about the black lung epidemic, Inside Appalachia.

Folkways was created to boost awareness of Appalachian folk traditions and how they’re passed between people. In 2023, we added 25 stories to our growing archive that explore diverse arts, culture, food and people of Appalachia. 

This week, look back at some of the past year’s Folkways highlights.

It continues to preserve music and history, but part of Foxfire’s heritage has been recording the stories of Appalachian women. 

This week, Inside Appalachia, explores Foxfire –its past, present and future.

We learn about how an old family tradition is connecting with a new generation –and we find unexpected views and surprises just off the interstate.

We also visit Kentucky’s Minnie Adkins. She’s had a long career as a folk artist, which began with a pocket knife. 

And, family recipes bring generations together. But what happens when you’ve got grandma’s potato candy recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Climbers have also been working to make the New River Gorge more inclusive.

And a master craftsman, who makes one of a kind whitewater paddles remembers some advice.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also share a few memories of Christmas past, which may or may not resemble yours. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

And… Grab your dancing shoes and learn about a movement to make square dance calling more inclusive.

Also, the perils of playing the spoons.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also meet Emily Jones Hudson, who started a workshop to try and reinvigorate quilting in her community in Kentucky. 

Also, we check in with the Alabama Astronaut and learn about a uniquely Appalachian form of art – religious music heard only in snake-handling churches. 

We also break bread and talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who is passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece, Brooklynn.

And we’ll hear about old-time music legend Aunt Jeannie Wilson. A marker has been set near the place where people used to hear her play.

These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We'll also meet people who make wooden paddles by hand and custom-decorate each one, and a man who repairs cuckoo clocks.

Finally, we’ll travel to some of the most beautiful spots in Appalachia to find wildflowers, like Dolly Sods and the Canaan Valley of West Virginia. And we wonder — are these areas becoming too popular?

These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, fish fries have been a staple in Charleston, West Virginia’s Black community for generations. We learn more about them.

And, hop on board the Cass Scenic Railroad for a visit with the people who keep the steam trains running.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Also, surface mining changes the landscape in a way that makes flooding worse. And there’s no easy fix. 

And we meet an Appalachian village witch, who wonders: How come we don’t hear about more female cryptids? Why isn’t there a Mothwoman?

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Regulators and the coal industry have known about the problem for decades — but they’ve been slow to respond. 

One reporter asks, “What would happen if thousands of workers in any other industry got sick and died just because of where they worked?” 

This week, we’re talking about the black lung epidemic, Inside Appalachia.

Western North Carolina author Ron Rash shares his thoughts on writing about Appalachians.

And we hear about efforts in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley to return a young bald eagle to the wild.

These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In Michigan, an Appalachian mountain man competes in a championship tournament, for skipping stones — and we wade into a mountain wetland to search for one of the region’s most elusive creatures. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Politically, Appalachia encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — and West Virginia’s the only state entirely inside the region.

That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation, as well as many different views on what Appalachia really is. 

For Inside Appalachia, we turned our entire episode over to the question, “What is Appalachia?” With stories from Mississippi to Pittsburgh, we asked people across our region whether they consider themselves to be Appalachian.

And a new wave of black lung disease is ravaging Appalachia. We’ll hear more from a black lung town hall in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Coal miners have their own thoughts about black lung, too.

Also, meet the folks behind Angelos Old World Italian Sausage. They still use a family recipe that’s been handed down from generation to generation for over a century. Customers love it.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also learn a little about primordial forests. A patch of woods in the New River Gorge National Park and Preserve was recently inducted into the Old Growth Forest Network.

And we visit a small nonprofit company in West Virginia that’s making solar powered light kits for families in war-torn Ukraine.

But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing.

In this show, we’ll meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

In Pennsylvania, the lure of one particular sweet treat gives hikers on the Appalachian Trail a break on their journey and a challenge that requires a strong stomach. 

We also "spill the tea" on a classic roadside attraction that’s been around for generations.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also meet a county fair champion who keeps racking up the blue ribbons and has released a cookbook of some of her favorites.

And we hear an update on the Mountain Valley Pipeline. Construction has begun again, but some people wonder if it’s even needed.

These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We explore some of the reasons for floods, as well as the aftermath and the slow recovery that often follows after disaster.

It’s not all gloom. Even in our hardest moments, there’s always hope. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

And there’s a growing number of a certain kind of blood-sucking arachnid — and diseases that come with it. 

We also sit in on one of the natural wonders of the Great Smoky Mountains.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also hear about a podcast that remembers the "Back to the Land" movement of the 1970s and ‘80s – and a mysterious disappearance.

And, we meet a team of scientists that found dozens of new millipedes across Appalachia. They named one species after a pop star. 

These stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also hear from Neema Avashia, author of the celebrated memoir, "Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer And Indian In A Mountain Place." 

And we remember Hershel “Woody” Williams. The West Virginia native was America’s last living World War II Medal of Honor winner. He died last summer at the age of 98.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also talk about Appalachia’s nurse shortage. Experts say tackling racism could help attract and keep more nurses.

We also hear stories about Appalachian baseball and listen to the story of how a minor league team in Tennessee traded its shortstop — for a turkey.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Boom and bust cycles for coal, timber and textiles are nothing new to Appalachia. Today we’re seeing another industry struggle –local journalism. 

Some newspapers have scaled back or disappeared entirely, but journalism isn’t dying. Journalists are adapting and some are reinventing what they do.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also visit the Allegheny Highlands, where Appalachia’s maple syrup traditions are changing with the times.

And, poet Lacy Snapp introduces us to east Tennessee’s poetry scene.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also learn about the results of a new survey showing alarming mental health trends in Appalachia’s LGBTQ community.

And we meet a taxidermist in Yadkin County, North Carolina who was just a teenager when she found her calling.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

These old tunes can mean so much. They can tap into difficult emotions and give feelings space to be heard. Some songs may even be too uncomfortable to sing. In this special episode with guest co-host, ballad singer Saro Lynch-Thomason, we explore songs about lawbreaking folk heroes, runaway trains and murder ballads.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also talk with podcaster Abe Partridge about an Appalachian art that goes unheard by most people – the religious music of snake handling churches. 

And, a new study recently found a majority of Americans are not on track to comfortably pay for retirement. We checked in with the National Council on Aging about preparing for the end of our working lives. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also take a ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad and meet the expert crew who keeps its antique trains running.

And we learn what draws people from hours away to Floyd, Virginia’s weekly Friday Night Jamboree.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We visit with scientists in North Carolina, who explain how the language we use can lead to misunderstandings about climate change.

And, in Appalachia, farmers have long planted their gardens by celestial signs. Berea College professor Sarah Hall has a new book about how that knowledge is still in use today. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also meet the devoted family and friends of Cuz’s Uptown Barbeque, who rallied behind the acclaimed Appalachian restaurant during a hard time.

And, it used to be that every grocery store had a trained butcher behind the counter. But that’s not the case so much today. So the owner of a Charleston abattre had an idea.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also talk to the director of the Augusta Heritage Center. Each summer, dozens of students attend workshops to learn traditional skills. This year, the center is turning 50.

We’ll also visit the steel drum capital of America – which, believe it or not, is right here in Appalachia.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also talk with Ohio poet laureate Kari Gunter-Seymour about Appalachia, poems — and getting published.

And we revisit a story about an attraction at the confluence of the New and Gauley rivers — and the man who put it there.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also sample a beloved Lenten staple made in Charleston, West Virginia. It’s a Yugoslavian fish stew that has a little bit of everything.

And we talk with the poet laureate of Blair County, Pennyslvania, who invented the demi-sonnet.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing. In this show, we’ll also meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.

She not only covered the disaster but was also part of the cleanup effort.

We also meet a family who survived the flood and found solace through faith and song.

And we meet Kentucky actress Caroline Clay. She stars in a new musical with Dukes of Hazzard actor John Schneider.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also learn how the bean dish frijoles charros made its way from northern Mexico — to Appalachian Ohio.

And we revisit our interview with Crystal Wilkinson, who was appointed Kentucky poet laureate in 2021.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We also visit Madison, West Virginia - a former coal community that's looking to reinvent itself. 

And we visit a cemetery in Bluefield, Virginia and learn how racial segregation extended from cradle to the grave.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Maternal Medicine In The Mountains

We’ll talk with reporter Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven about maternal health care deserts in western North Carolina and hear a report from Crystal Good, about what options Black families in West Virginia have for finding birth workers that look like them.

Appalachian PRIDE

Following one of the opinions written in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, State legislatures across the Ohio Valley are considering anti-LGBTQ policies, while people across Appalachia took part in celebrations during LGBTQ Pride Month in June. Katie Myers with the Ohio Valley Resource got reactions and spoke to residents.

Indigenous Peoples Gather In W.Va. To Discuss The Environment

High schoolers with Indigenous backgrounds came from all over the country to the Eastern Panhandle this summer for a leadership congress. They talked about conservation, Native identity, and the growing effects of climate change. Shepherd Snyder has more.

Greyhound Racing Series Continues

In 2023, West Virginia will be home to the last two remaining greyhound racetracks in the United States.

Reporter Randy Yohe breaks down the government policies that sustain dog racing, and considers its future in the state at a time when it’s dying everywhere else.

Canaries Out Of The Coal Mine

As old coal mines are restored, they’ve been repurposed for an increasingly broad number of new uses. In Pennsylvania, reclaimed mine land is being used for an art project involving birds.

Kara Holsapple and Jacqui Sieber of the Allegheny Front have more.

Feeding The Hungry In Appalachia’s Food Deserts

Supply chain issues and rising gas prices are making it harder for people to get food. As David Adkins reports, local entrepreneurs are looking to meet the demand.

A Ray Of Hope

Mountain View Solar, a solar installation company in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, is training and hiring people in recovery from substance use disorder. Shepherd Snyder has more.

Serious About Seed Saving

During the pandemic, millions of Americans turned to gardening. In Appalachia, people have long saved heirloom seeds that have been passed down for generations. Today, that tradition continues, partly through organizations like seed libraries and community gardens that collect these seeds to save them from being lost. Folkways reporter Rachel Greene spent time in Ashe County, North Carolina — talking to the people giving new life to old seeds.

We also check in on people who were displaced by historic flooding in Kentucky. What’s happening now that we’re deep into winter?

And we find advice for people navigating the difficulties of caring for aging parents.You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

And, West Virginia poet laureate Marc Harshman had his own experience with an intimidating gig.

We also hear some advice for people caring for aging relatives.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

And, EMTs and first responders take care of Appalachian communities, but who’s watching out for them?

We’ll also talk with country music star Morgan Wade about what it’s like to play in Nashville one week and then return to your hometown stage the next.

We also speak with Elliott Stewart, who makes the zine Porch Beers. The zine tracks his life and travels, like his move from West Virginia and back again.

And we revisit our 20th anniversary celebration with Giles Snyder and Beth Vorhees, the founders and original hosts of Inside Appalachia.

And, we’ll visit an old-fashioned toy shop whose future was uncertain after its owners died, but has a new chance at life because of a twist of fate.

We’ll also be sharing a few memories of Christmas past, which may or may not resemble yours.

And for some workers in the natural gas industry, unregulated, radioactive waste is part of the job.

We also revisit one of our most popular stories from 2022. It’s all about Appalachia’s contribution to America’s great pizza wars.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We'll also meet a woman who started a farm and culinary training program to help people in recovery, and we'll learn about barn quilts in North Carolina.

And childhood friends who first started singing together 70 years ago show us why it’s never too late to begin again.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Because you invited us into your homes, we invited you into ours with a special trip to Mason’s hometown — Floyd, Virginia.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

We’ll also hear about the Asian-Appalachian experience from a student filmmaker who was born in China and grew up in western Maryland, and we’ll travel back to 2016 and listen to an interview with JD Vance. 

Back then he was a newly published author, promoting his book, “Hillbilly Elegy.” Now, he’s Ohio’s newly elected U.S. senator.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

These old tunes can mean so much. They can tap into difficult emotions and give feelings space to be heard. Some songs may even be too uncomfortable to sing.

In this special episode with guest co-host, ballad singer Saro Lynch-Thomason, we explore songs about lawbreaking folk heroes, runaway trains and murder ballads.

We also travel to southern West Virginia and talk real estate. The Itmann Coal Company Store building is up for sale, and the owner’s looking for a buyer who appreciates its history. And, it’s hunting season. We visit with women who tan deer hides – using animal brains.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

The Funeral Singer

For many Black communities throughout the country, music is an essential component of end-of-life rituals. When a loved one dies, families often call upon a skilled singer to perform at a funeral as a way to offer comfort and healing. 

Lyme Disease Lurks With Ticks

Fall colors are really beginning to pop where I live, along the Blue Ridge Parkway. For a lot of people, this is the peak season to get outdoors. But while the end of summer comes with a drop in biting flies and mosquitos, we’re not out of the woods yet. Folks venturing out into the forest are still at risk for tick bites and lyme disease. And y’all, here in central and northern Appalachia, we’re in prime Lyme disease country.  

West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Chris Schulz sat down with former West Virginia state health officer Dr. Ayne Amjad to discuss safety and prevention.

The Great Eastern Trail

In 1948, a hiker named Earl Shaffer came up with the idea of an alternative to the Appalachian Trail – the hiking only trail that passes through 14 states and spans nearly 2200 miles.

Named the Great Eastern Trail, this other route stretches from the deep south to New England, just west of the Appalachian Trail, but it wasn’t until 2007 that the Great Eastern Trail Association was created and parts of the trail began to open up to hikers. As Jessica Lilly reports, when hikers get to southern West Virginia, they find a trail that is incomplete.  

A Box To Help Stop Overdoses

Opioid addiction costs thousands of lives each year. Health officials and advocates are thinking creatively to find ways to stem the loss – but not everyone is thinking outside of the box to find solutions. Some people are thinking very much inside the box. Producer Bill Lynch has this story.  

Barbara Kingsolver and Appalachia

Barbara Kingsolver is one of Appalachia’s most acclaimed authors. Her novel “The Poisonwood Bible” held down a spot on the New York Times bestseller list for more than a year. It’s been in development at HBO since 2019. 

Kingsolver’s fiction takes readers all over the world, but she says her Appalachian roots inspire key parts of her stories. Liz McCormick sat down with Kingsolver to learn more. 

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Jesse Milnes, The Company Stores, Tyler Childers and The Appalachian Road Show.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. You can find us on Instagram and Twitter @InAppalachia.

Museums

Central West Virginia has a new monster museum that pays tribute to Bigfoot. The Sutton museum is small, and located in the back of a store that sells knick-knacks and handmade items by local artisans. The museum was created to document local sightings of what people described as these big, hairy primate-looking creatures.

As if one monster museum weren’t enough for a small town, Sutton is home to two. The Flatwoods Monster Museum is just about a block away. And like the Bigfoot museum, it’s dedicated to a cryptid that’s become part of modern pop culture.

Spooky Season

Fall is a season of spooky sounds, hayrides and pumpkin festivals. It’s a time for bats and owls and black cats. We’ll hear what happens when a self-proclaimed scaredy-cat takes a Halloween-themed wildlife tour.

In 2019, reporter Brittany Patterson went on the "Spooky Nights Tour" at the West Virginia Wildlife Center, where visitors of all ages could see wild animals in the dark. Note, the Wildlife Center has stopped these special tours, for now, but they are still open during the day, so you can visit the wolves, panthers and otters that live there.

Witches

The story of the “Witch of Wildwood” takes place in a small coal camp town outside of Beckley. In the early 20th century a person named Kazimir Kiskis moved to town. Kazimir didn’t fit in with the locals and Kazimir cooked food that smelled unlike anything the locals had ever experienced. One day the locals accused Kazimir of practicing witchcraft, potentially even casting a spell on local children. The night before Halloween, Kazimir was burned at the stake.

We’ll hear Beckley historian Scott Worley explain the story behind the supposed “Witch of Wildwood.”

Skeletons

You can’t have Halloween without skeletons. In this episode, we hear a story about a skeleton named Mr. Death and how an elderly woman outwitted him by enlisting him to help with house-cleaning.

Storyteller Lyn Ford told this story several years ago at the Timpanogos Storytelling Institute in Utah. Ford lives in Columbus, Ohio, but she grew up in Appalachian Pennsylvania and spent childhood summers in East Liverpool, Ohio. She says many of the stories she tells are adapted from folktales she heard as a child.

Music in this episode is by Colby White, Nora Keys, Slate Dump, Tosca and The Soaked Lamb. Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

There are natural springs all over Appalachia. The deep folds of rock that make up our mountains bring water from the depths to trickle out of our hillsides. That's where many people got their fresh water in the years before indoor plumbing. But in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, people are still filling jugs with spring water to lug back home. Why? Folkways reporter Zack Harold decided to fish around for some answers.

Keeping the Fires Lit On The Cass Railroad

Since 2019, our folkways team has produced more than 100 stories about Appalachian folklife — that is, traditions that are being passed down from one generation to the next. Passing down those traditions is important. In our story about the Cass Railroad, you’ll meet railroad senior employee Rex Cassell. He passed away during the making of this story. But during his life, he was a crucial part of why visiting the Cass Railroad in Pocahontas County, West Virginia, feels like you’re stepping back in time. Folkways Reporter Lauren Griffin brought us this story.

“Lark Ascending”

Amid extreme weather events like floods and fires, a new literary genre is emerging, called cli-fi. Short for climate fiction. Cli-fi tells stories about the effects of climate change on people and society. And Appalachian writers are penning their own works in the genre, including one of the region’s premier writers, Kentucky author Silas House. His new novel is “Lark Ascending” which tells the story of a climate refugee from Appalachia.  

The Message Behind The Music At “Healing Appalachia”

The Healing Appalachia music festival returned to Greenbrier County in September. Headlined by eastern Kentucky’s Tyler Childers, the festival went from a single day to two and included performances by Arlo McKinley, Margot Price and Galactic, among others. 

But the festival has a larger mission than just having a good time. Producer Bill Lynch spoke with organizer Charlie Hatcher about what the festival hopes to accomplish.

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Appalachian Road Show, The Company Stores, June Carter Cash and Tyler Childers.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode.

This week, we’re learning about an unexpected immigrant to central Appalachia – the armadillo. 

We’ll also take a ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad and follow reporter Randy Yohe as he explores some one-of-a-kind getaways in West Virginia.

And, just in time for the pawpaw harvest, we revisit one of our 2020 stories about this wild food delicacy.

That and more this week on Inside Appalachia.

We’ll also check in with volunteers from across the country who are coming together to help those in Eastern Kentucky dealing with flood damage. 

And we’ll learn about the people who worked toward securing women the right to vote.

All that and more this week Inside Appalachia. 

Finally, we’ll travel to some of the most beautiful spots in Appalachia to find wildflowers, like Dolly Sods and the Canaan Valley of West Virginia. And we wonder -- are these areas becoming too popular? Those stories and more this week Inside Appalachia.

Then we’ll head over to Pounding Mill Virginia to learn the secrets behind Cuz’s Uptown Barbeque, an award-winning fusion restaurant.

We’ll also hear from Beth Macy, author of “Dopesick,” which became the basis for a Hulu miniseries. Her latest book, “Raising Lazarus,” continues the conversation about the opioid epidemic. 

All that and more this week as we journey Inside Appalachia.

We’ll also revisit our interview with Pocahontas County, West Virginia native Trevor Hammons. The young banjo player decided to carry on his family’s traditions of storytelling, wild lore and old time music. 

Then, we’ll check in with Kentucky artist Lacy Hale, who designed her iconic “No Hate In My Holler” screenprint five years ago. Appalachians are still telling her how much they identify with its message.

Maternal Medicine In The Mountains

We’ll talk with reporter Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven about maternal health care deserts in western North Carolina and hear a report from Crystal Good, about what options Black families in West Virginia have for finding birth workers that look like them.

Appalachian PRIDE

Following one of the opinions written in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, State legislatures across the Ohio Valley are considering anti-LGBTQ policies, while people across Appalachia took part in celebrations during LGBTQ Pride Month in June. Katie Myers with the Ohio Valley Resource got reactions and spoke to residents.

Indigenous Peoples Gather In W.Va. To Discuss The Environment

High schoolers with Indigenous backgrounds came from all over the country to the Eastern Panhandle this summer for a leadership congress. They talked about conservation, Native identity, and the growing effects of climate change. Shepherd Snyder has more.

Greyhound Racing Series Continues

In 2023, West Virginia will be home to the last two remaining greyhound racetracks in the United States.

Reporter Randy Yohe breaks down the government policies that sustain dog racing, and considers its future in the state at a time when it’s dying everywhere else.

Canaries Out Of The Coal Mine

As old coal mines are restored, they’ve been repurposed for an increasingly broad number of new uses. In Pennsylvania, reclaimed mine land is being used for an art project involving birds.

Kara Holsapple and Jacqui Sieber of the Allegheny Front have more.

Feeding The Hungry In Appalachia’s Food Deserts

Supply chain issues and rising gas prices are making it harder for people to get food. As David Adkins reports, local entrepreneurs are looking to meet the demand.

A Ray Of Hope

Mountain View Solar, a solar installation company in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, is training and hiring people in recovery from substance use disorder. Shepherd Snyder has more.

Serious About Seed Saving

During the pandemic, millions of Americans turned to gardening. In Appalachia, people have long saved heirloom seeds that have been passed down for generations. Today, that tradition continues, partly through organizations like seed libraries and community gardens that collect these seeds to save them from being lost. Folkways reporter Rachel Greene spent time in Ashe County, North Carolina — talking to the people giving new life to old seeds.

And we’ll revisit a conversation with America’s last World War II Medal of Honor recipient — Hershel “Woody” Williams, who died recently at the age of 98.

A Conversation With An American Hero

Last year, for Veterans Day, Us & Them host Trey Kay talked with Williams about his time in the military. Memorial services were held for Williams over the July 4th weekend, with public visitation held at Capitol Rotunda in Charleston.

You can hear the entire Us & Them podcast episode. It’s called “Last Man Honored.” Find it at wv public dog org, or through your favorite podcast app. 

Reactions In Appalachia About Roe v. Wade

The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v. Wade sent shockwaves across the country — including here in Appalachia. WEKU reporter Stan Ingold brought us reactions from Kentucky. 

Trouble With Plastic

Shell is expected to begin operations this summer at its ethane cracker plant on the Ohio River. The plant will use natural gas to make tiny plastic pellets — which can wind up in waterways. For StateImpact Pennsylvania, the Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant took a boat ride with people surveying the river for plastic. 

Water Woes Everywhere

According to the U.S. Census, more than a million and a half people in the U.S. live without running water or flush toilets. But a recent study found the number was a lot higher. Jessica Lilly recently spoke with George McGraw, CEO of Dig Deep — a water advocacy organization that took a closer look at the numbers. 

Covering More Ground About Greyhound Racing

By the end of the year, West Virginia will be the only state that still has a greyhound racetrack. One of the biggest questions driving the national push to end greyhound racing — is can the sport be run in a humane way? Or is it inhumane by its very definition? Reporter Chris Shulz took us to a veterinarian’s office and a breeder’s farm.

Healing Through The Hills

Herbal remedies have been experiencing a nationwide renaissance for several years now. But here in Appalachia, those remedies have been a path to wellness and independence for centuries. From Tennessee, Folkways reporter Heather Duncan has more.

That story originally aired last summer, as part of our Folkways Reporting Project. The project documents arts and culture across the region. You can hear all of our Folkways stories at wvpublic dot org. 

Righting A Wrong

America has a history of segregating Black and white people — in restaurants, schools, buses … even in death. For decades, graves of the Black residents who helped build the community were neglected in the town’s segregated cemetery. And it might have stayed that way if it hadn’t been for the efforts of one persistent woman, whose family was buried there. Folkways reporter Connie Bailey Kitts brought us this story.

Matriarchal Moonshiners

Legend has it Mahalia Mullins once beat 30 men in a wrestling match and sold them all whiskey afterwards. Mullins was born in 1824 into a poor family and died a folk hero. The cabin where she lived has even become a tourist destination in East Tennessee. But who’s the woman behind the myth? We’ll travel to the Mahalia Mullins cabin to learn her story.

Appalachia’s Bad Men 

The summer of 2021 marked the 100th anniversary of the Battle of Blair Mountain — the largest armed uprising in America since the Civil War, and a major event in West Virginia history. A few months before Blair Mountain, the spark was lit with the Matewan Massacre.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren

The opioid epidemic is forcing many grandparents, even great-grandparents, to become parents again to a new generation. In a recent episode of the “Us and Them” podcast, host Trey Kay spoke with West Virginia grandparents about the challenges of raising children during COVID-19.

If you’re a grandparent or a great-grandparent raising children, we’d like to hear from you. Write us a letter — we’re at Inside Appalachia, 600 Capitol Street, Charleston, WV. 25301. Or send an email to insideappalachia@wvpublic.org.

Novel Concludes Robert Gipe’s Trilogy

We also hear about another multigenerational family, who are the main characters in Robert Gipe’s illustrated novels, set in Eastern Kentucky. The books combine funny, heartbreaking writing and cartoony drawings. The first book in the series, “Trampoline,” came out seven years ago. That novel introduced Dawn Jewell — a teenager growing up with a mother addicted to pain pills. Robert Gipe spoke with Inside Appalachia just after Trampoline was published in 2015.

From Recycling To Musical Instruments

Many people have been relying on online shopping these days, but who knew all that leftover cardboard had a use? This week on the show, we learn about dulcimers that are made out of cardboard, and even banjos made out of coffee cans. As part of our Inside Appalachia Folkways series, reporter Rachel Moore spoke to two instrument-makers in Western North Carolina who are carrying on the DIY instrument legacy.

Dispelling Stereotypes

We all know the stereotypes people use to paint Appalachia as a cultural backwater. But as WEKU’s Cheri Lawson reports, a dedicated group of fierce women are using the arts to fight back.

We had help producing Inside Appalachia this week from the Us and them podcast, which is supported by The West Virginia Humanities Council and the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation.

We’ll also the first part of a new series from reporters Randy Yohe and Chris Shulz about the dog racing industry in West Virginia.

Then, we’ll travel to Monaca, Pennsylvania where Shell plans to begin operations at its massive ethane cracker plant. 

Finally, our host Mason Adams speaks with Barbara Ellen Smith -- the author of one of the definitive books on black lung, “Digging Our Own Graves: Coal Miners and the Struggle Over Black Lung Disease.”  

That and more as we journey through Appalachia.

We’ll also hear about a podcast that remembers the back to the land movement in West Virginia during the 1970s and 1980s -- as well as a mysterious disappearance. 

And, we’ll hear about a team of entomologists who documented dozens of new species of millipede across Appalachia. One of them used the opportunity to pay tribute to a surprising influence. 

That and more as we journey through Appalachia.

Author Mesha Maren takes us from the hills of West Virginia to the Texas/Mexico border -- the land of the Luchador. We’ll also hear about what West Virginians are doing to help Ukrainian refugees from the war with Russia. And, we’ll learn about what doctors are saying about medical cannabis in the Mountain State, where it is available to over 8,000 patients.

We’ll round out our tour of Appalachia with a chat between our host Mason Adams and East Tennessee native Amythyst Kiah, whose 2021 record “Wary and Strange” was released last year.

We’ll also hear Lyn Ford -- a professional storyteller and children's educator -- telling a story she wrote, called "The Old Woman and Death."

We learn that while these stories are written for children, they carry messages for all of us, even grown-ups.

We’ll also meet a woman who started a farm and culinary training program to help people in recovery.

And childhood friends who first started singing together 70 years ago show why it’s never too late to begin again …

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

These old tunes can mean so much. They can tap into difficult emotions and give feelings space to be heard. Some songs may even be too uncomfortable to sing.

In this special episode with guest co-host, ballad singer Saro Lynch-Thomason, we explore songs about lawbreaking folk heroes, runaway trains and murder ballads.

Welder Keeps Old Clocks Ticking

When you need to check the time, where do you look? Most people turn to their phones or digital watches. These days, it seems like every electronic device has a clock function in addition to whatever it’s supposed to do, but it hasn’t always been this way. Not all that long ago, marking the passage of time was the job of one device — a clock.

Folkways reporter Zack Harold spent some time with Carl Witt, a man in Fairview, West Virginia who learned how to repair clocks after crossing paths with the late Charles Decker. Witt, a welder at the time, decided to retire and went on to start his own clock repair business — Curiosity Clockworks. 

Dolly Sods Hosts Wildflower Pilgrimage

Dolly Sods is federally protected public land — full of rocky ridges, soggy bogs and beautiful views. It’s also the site of an annual nature walk called the West Virginia Wildflower Pilgrimage. This weekend will be the 60th time that wildflower and birding experts descend on the area for the event. Inside Appalachia co-host Mason Adams made the pilgrimage from his home in Floyd County, Virginia to Dolly Sods last year for the pilgrimage.

Paddlers Design Their Own Gear

Appalachia has several huge rivers: the Gauley, the Youghiogheny and the New River, just to name a few. Whitewater paddling is popular in the region, but it wasn’t that long ago modern paddlers first started exploring these rivers, designing their own gear and even building their own paddles. Some of those DIY paddle makers are now master crafters and their work is in high demand. As part of our Inside Appalachia Folkways Project, Clara Haizlett learned more.

Handmade Turkey Calls

Like many Appalachian traditions, turkey calls go way back. Historically, they’ve been used as a hunting tool, but one West Virginia artist has taken it to the next level. Brian Aliff makes hand-crafted, prize-winning decorative turkey calls. These pieces are functional and they’re becoming collector's items, but it took a while for Aliff to think of himself as an artist. Hear Folkways reporter Connie Kitts talk with Aliff on this week’s episode.

Increase In Tourism Puts Strain On Local Infrastructure

Tucker County, West Virginia, has seen a surge of new visitors from Washington, D.C. in the years since U.S. Route 48, also known as Corridor H, opened.  The growing number of visitors is good for business, but it’s also straining the resources of a county with just one stoplight and 7,000 year-round residents. Mason Adams visited the towns of Thomas and Davis in Tucker County, West Virginia and has this story about managing growth and resources against the backdrop of expansive natural beauty.

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Wes Swing, Dinosaur Burps, and The Chamber Brothers. Roxy Todd is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Alex Runyon is our associate producer. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. 

Comedy Film Set In Beckley, West Virginia

The upcoming slapstick comedy “Ambrosia” is set in a quirky bed and breakfast in Beckley, West Virginia. It’s a feature-length movie, but it's not a Hollywood movie; the two directors are from West Virginia, along with nearly the entire cast and crew. The film is set to debut at the Raleigh Playhouse in Beckley this spring. Our Folkways reporter Clara Haizlett spoke with Beckley filmmakers Shane Pierce and Dave Gravely about the movie..

A Guitar Surgeon Gives Old Instruments Their Voices Back

Bob Smakula of Elkins, West Virginia, has made a career out of fixing old musical instruments so modern musicians can keep playing them. He tries to make repairs to fix an instrument’s problems while also staying true to its history. 

“I’ve definitely honed my skills to try to be invisible,” he said. 

“I don’t want anybody to know I was ever there, except to go ‘Hey, this plays better than they usually do,’ or ‘This sounds better than they usually do.’”

Smakula has been honing his invisibility powers for a long time. Folkways reporter Zack Harold spoke with Smakula about his career for this week’s episode. 

Coming Up Queer and Indian In A Mountain Place

Author Neema Avashia grew up in a neighborhood in Kanawha County, West Virginia as the daughter of immigrants. Her new book, "Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer and Indian in a Mountain Place," is a collection of essays that describe her experience growing up as an Indian American — who also happens to be queer — and an Appalachian. Co-host Mason Adams talked with Avashia about the book and about her experiences. 

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Blue Dot Sessions, Jake Schepps, and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Alex Runyon is our associate producer. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. 

You can find us on Twitter @InAppalachia.

Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust Belt, even the Northeast. Politically, it encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — West Virginia is the only state entirely inside Appalachia.  

That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation. This week, we ask people from five Appalachian states if they feel like they’re in Appalachia.  

Mississippi

Bob Owens, locally known as 'Pop Owens', standing in front of his watermelon stand outside New Houlka, Miss. Pop said he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian. Caitlin Tan/WVPB

Bob Owens is a watermelon farmer outside New Houlka, in the northeastern part of Mississippi. Owens said he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian. 

Shenandoah Valley 

In the 1960s, while some localities were clamoring to get into Appalachia, on the eastern edge of the region some lawmakers fought to keep their counties outside the boundaries, including politicians in Roanoke, Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Appalachian Studies associate professor Emily Satterwhite said explaining to her students why some counties in Virginia are included in Appalachia, but others aren’t is confusing. 

Pittsburgh 

Appalachia’s largest city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When we asked people from that city to tell us if they consider it a part of Appalachia, about half said no. 

“I definitely do not feel that I am Appalachian culturally,” said Mark Jovanovich, who grew up just outside Pittsburgh’s city limits in the Woodland Hills area. “Personally, I would consider the city of Pittsburgh is sort of like a mini New York City. I guess we'd probably be lumped in as like a Rust Belt city, which makes enough sense, but definitely not Appalachian culturally.”

Writer Brian O’Neill disagrees. He wrote a book called “The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century.” 

What Do You Think?

How about you? Do you call yourself an Appalachian? Why or why not? Send an email to insideappalachia@wvpublic.org or Tweet to us @InAppalachia. 

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Amythyst Kiah, Jake Schepps, and Jarett Pigmeat, courtesy of Appalshop and June Appal Recordings and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Alex Runyon is our associate producer. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. Jess Mador, Shepherd Snyder and Liz McCormick contributed to this episode.

We’ll also give another listen to a conversation we did last year with reporters with Mountain State Spotlight and GroundTruth, about West Virginia’s foster care system. We’ll hear from reporters Amelia Ferrell Knisely and Molly Born about what they learned during their year-long investigation.

After their reporting, lawmakers vowed to make changes to the foster care system. But the 2022 West Virginia Legislature adjourned this legislative session just ended, and no legislation passed that made any improvements to foster care in the state West Virginia. What could be done to fix our state’s failing foster care system? 

The Struggle to Stay

Derek Akal is a young Black man who grew up in Harlan, Kentucky. For years, he wanted to leave. Derek got a college football scholarship and thought it would be his ticket out, but a serious neck injury led him to drop out of school and return home. Reporter Benny Becker spent a year following Derek’s story for our Struggle to Stay series which aired back in 2017. As a warning: this story contains racial slurs.

In the past four years, a lot has changed in Akal’s life. He did leave Kentucky, and briefly moved to California: Those plans didn’t stick, in part because it cost so much to live there. He moved to Atlanta, Georgia for a while, but eventually made his way back to Harlan County. Today, Derek is the father of five children and works as a full-time cook at a restaurant in Harlan County.

William Turner’s Book Wins Weatherford Award

William Turner is one of the most prolific historians of the Black experience in Appalachia. His 1985 book, Blacks in Appalachia, co-authored with Edward J. Cabbell, is considered a landmark work in the field. Turner’s latest book, The Harlan Renaissance: Stories of Black Life in Appalachian Coal Towns includes his memories of growing up in Lynch, Kentucky.

When Turner was a child, coal was still in its post-World War II boom years, and Lynch was a bustling company town run by U.S. Steel — one of the most powerful companies in the country in that era. This week on Inside Appalachia, listen back to co-host Mason Adams speaking with Turner about his book after its release last September.

Investigation Shines Spotlight on W.Va’s Foster Care System

We’ve reported on the crisis in West Virginia’s foster care system on Inside Appalachia. In 2015, the U.S. Department of Justice found that West Virginia is institutionalizing too many foster children with mental health conditions — and often sends them to out-of-state facilities. Last year, we aired a conversation we recorded with two reporters with Mountain State Spotlight and GroundTruth. They found that West Virginia has identified some of these facilities as abusive — accused of sexual assault, forced labor and more. Yet the foster care system continues to leave kids in these abusive, out-of-state centers. Last fall, our producer Roxy Todd sat down with reporters Amelia Ferrell Knisely and Molly Born to find out more about what they learned during their year-long investigation.

We’ll talk with the author of a book called “To Live Here You Have To Fight,” hear from podcaster Anna Sale and visit a camp that teaches young people to play rock music.

Women aren’t front and center in accounts of the region’s history, but they’ve been influential in everything from the coal industry to labor movements to preserving traditions. Today, women are building on this history -- continuing to be role models for society, while taking our Appalachian roots into the modern day. In this episode, we’ll learn about several of them, and what their stories reveal about modern movements for change across our region.

How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice

Appalachian history is full of sharp, groundbreaking women who changed the lives of people around them. In the 1960s, a lot of mountain women got involved with the federal War on Poverty to help people access welfare benefits. That led them into partnerships with civil rights activists, disabled miners and others. They teamed up to fight for everything from poor people's rights to community health to unionization.

History professor Jessica Wilkerson tracks that history in her book, “To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice.” Wilkerson spoke with Inside Appalachia co-host Mason Adams about what led those women into activism — and what their stories tell us about the world today.

“They argued for valuing the common good, and at the end of the day, that's what these women that we're talking about were fighting for,” Wilkerson said. Her book also explores how modern-day movements in Appalachia build on these traditions that were led by women. “In many ways, we're fighting many of the same battles around environmental justice, around basic quality of life.”

Empowering Young People Through Music

Girls Rock Whitesburg in Whitesburg, Kentucky is a music camp for female, gender-fluid, non-binary and trans youth. Throughout the course of one week, campers learn an electric instrument, form a band and write songs -- which they perform in front of a live audience at the end of the week. While the camp focuses on electric music instruction, participants also learn how music is tied to social justice. Back in 2019, Folkways reporter Nicole Musgrave followed two girls who came to camp and who reinvented a traditional protest song.

Women-Led Puppetry Group In Knoxville

Throughout history, puppets and marionettes have been used as an accessible means to tell rowdy stories, poke fun at authority figures, and provide cheap entertainment. Puppetry blurs the line between play and politics, between protests, pageants and parades - all of which have a storied history in the South. We’ll hear a story from one of our Folkways reporters Katie Myers, on how a group called Cattywampus Puppet Council in Knoxville, Tennessee, is building on that tradition.

Let’s Talk About Hard Things

West Virginia native Anna Sale is host of the popular podcast “Death, Sex & Money.” It's a show that talks about, as she says, “the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more.” Sale’s new book, Let’s Talk About Hard Things is about having frank conversations about topics that can make us uncomfortable, including relationships and death.

“If you are ill, what are the kinds of last conversations you want to have with the people you love? And not try to act like it’s not happening,” Sale told Inside Appalachia co-host Caitlin Tan.

In Germany, teachers are mandated to include lessons about one of their nation’s darkest chapters — the Holocaust.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we look at those discussions, and hear from people in Germany, about how they teach their difficult history. And we learn about some of the often overlooked stories of Black Americans during and after the Civil War.

Seizing Freedom With Kidada Williams

Kidada Williams is host of the podcast Seizing Freedom from VPM and Molten Heart. Its first season includes stories of enslaved Black Americans whose lives were radically changed when the Civil War broke out. As the Confederacy started to fall, Union soldiers occupied  parts of the South, which gave some enslaved people ideas about a way to escape to freedom. Our producer Roxy Todd spoke with Williams to learn more.

A Critical Moment Audio Documentary

While at least nine states have already banned teachers from bringing up certain topics about race in the classroom, others have legislation in the works around the issue. But, the U.S. isn’t the only country with an unsettling history to deal with. In Germany, teachers are mandated to include lessons about the Holocaust, one of their nation’s darkest chapters.

WFPL Arts and Culture Reporter Stephanie Wolf traveled to Germany to explore how the Holocaust is covered in schools there, and she produced an audio documentary about what she learned. Wolf teamed up with her station’s education reporter, Jess Clark, to compare Germany’s approach to teaching about the Holocaust with the debate in Kentucky about how our own uncomfortable history is covered in schools. Their audio documentary is called A Critical Moment. 

Banning Books in Public Schools

The debate around Critical Race Theory is spilling into debates about what books are included in public school curricula, and even in school libraries. This issue has been front and center in Tennessee, where a school board removed a Pulitzer Prize-winning graphic novel about the Holocaust. Our co-host Mason Adams spoke with Blaise Gainey, a reporter who covers the state capitol in Nashville for WPLN, about the controversy.

Email us at insideappalachia@wvpublic.org. Tweet us @InAppalachia. 

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Wes Swing, Jake Schepps, and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd is our producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Alex Runyon is our associate producer. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. This episode was produced with assistance from Aileen LeBlanc and the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps, funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting — a private corporation funded by the American people. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. 

You can find us on Twitter @InAppalachia.

A group of scholars in Appalachia and in Ukraine noticed these connections, too. They’ve been collaborating for years. This week on Inside Appalachia, we explore the intercultural connections between the two regions.

We’ll also listen back to several stories we originally aired last fall, including one about a park in southwestern Virginia that was created during the Jim Crow-era as one of the only recreation areas in central Appalachia for Black residents. Green Pastures eventually fell into disrepair, but now it’s seeing a makeover as one of Virginia’s newest state parks. 

We’ll also talk with a biologist and a philosopher on whether animals can feel love. We'll also hear conversations about grief after losing a partner, falling out of love, and dates that didn't go according to plan. 

Making Skiing More Affordable

During the winter, a lot of people are getting out and skiing, but the sport has a high cost to entry. Lift tickets can cost upwards of $200 a day. But in West Virginia, there are grassroot efforts to make skiing and other outdoor sports more affordable. Part of that effort is headed up by Corey Lilly, the director of Outdoor Economic Development in the City of Beckley. Inside Appalachia co-host Caitlin Tan spoke with Lilly about bridging the economic gap in the outdoor sports world.

Black Metal In Appalachia

Appalachia is home to creators of all kinds, including heavy-metal musicians. In fact, there’s a movement of musicians across the region who play a strain of music known as black metal. An example is the band Nechochwen, from northern West Virginia. The band plays songs about local history and Native American heritage. Aaron Carey, who makes up half the band, spoke with Inside Appalachia co-host Mason Adams from his home in Wellsburg, West Virginia.

Fast Food And Steel Workers Attempt Unionization

There’s recently been a resurgence of labor activism across West Virginia. We often think of unions in the context of coal miners’ strikes, but workers in other industries are organizing too, as Ohio Valley ReSource reporter Katie Myers reports.

Helping Children Who’ve Experienced Trauma

No matter who you are or where you’re from, adversity is part of being human. A federal study found that more than 60 percent of people surveyed had what’s known as an adverse childhood experience. This could include violence, abuse, neglect, or an unstable living situation.

Research shows that trauma in childhood can lead to chronic mental and physical problems later in life. Even one event can cause problems. But what happens when children experience multiple traumas?

This week, we feature an excerpt from the Us & Them podcast, hosted by Trey Kay. He introduces us to a grandmother raising her granddaughter who experienced trauma at an early age. We’ll hear how the child is doing today, and the challenges her grandmother has faced in helping her grandchild heal. 

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Nechochwen, Dog and Gun, Wes Swing, and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd is our producer. Our interim executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. Alex Runyan is our new Associate Producer. 

We’ll also learn about a group of Italian immigrants who escaped religious persecution and moved to the mountains of North Carolina. They brought cultural traditions, including winemaking, to this small pocket of Appalachia. And we’ll also delight in one town's twist on the classic West Virginia slaw dog — the “Marmet yellow slaw dog.” The dish has been around since the 1930s but isn’t widely known outside the tiny town in Kanawha County where it’s made.

Coal’s been in slow decline here for decades, but really accelerated in the last 10 years. That’s meant hard times for communities that have long relied on it for jobs and taxes. There are sixty six percent fewer jobs today in West Virginia coal mining now than there were 50 years ago -- and experts don’t predict a comeback. But we’re not alone; other places around the world face similar dilemmas. We learn what people in West Germany did fifty years ago - when coal executives and political leaders had to make tough decisions when it came to the future of coal, and their home.

What Is The Future For Appalachia’s Power Plants?

Lawmakers across our country and the world are debating the future of our energy policy. Scientists agree, to prevent the worst effects of climate change, we must significantly reduce our carbon emissions, and we have to do it quickly. 

For much of the world, the answer is to phase out coal, but the issue is political and complicated. Kentucky is one of those places that’s starting to shift away from coal — in a way that West Virginia is not. Curtis Tate is a reporter here at West Virginia Public Broadcasting who covers energy and the environment and he’s been tracking this story. Inside Appalachia producer, Roxy Todd, spoke with Tate about about where Kentucky and West Virginia are headed. Are we going to continue to produce electricity from coal, and for how long?

Indigenous Activists Talk About Coal And The Economy 

There’s a longstanding relationship between Appalachian coalfields and those in the Mountain West. During the anti-strip mining campaigns of the mid-2000s, concerned community members in both regions traveled to support each other’s efforts. Those connections continue today. 

Lessons From West Germany

The Mountain State isn’t the only place to reckon with the difficulty of transitioning away from a coal economy into something different.

West Germany emerged from World War II as one of the leading coal and steel producers in the world. Then, in the 1960s, oil emerged as a competitor, and the country found itself in the midst of an economic crisis. But there, the emergency prompted a strange and unusual alliance.

Pittsburgh’s Transition Away From Steel 

Another way to examine this issue is by looking at our neighbors to the north. In Pittsburgh, the collapse of the steel industry in the 1980s prompted existing businesses to retool for a new reality. But it took decades.

Smaller companies are more adaptable, and they were a big part of Pittsburgh’s renewal. Aided by lots of government funding, as well as help from philanthropic organizations, entrepreneurs created smaller start-up industries in tech, the arts, and restoration of the city’s historic resources.

Battle Of Blair Mountain

Also in this episode, we travel back in time a hundred years, to when West Virginia was home to our nation’s largest labor uprising. The Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 was a watershed moment when coal workers decided their rights were worth fighting — and even dying — for. The armed insurrection pitted 10,000 coal miners against 3,000 heavily armed guards and state troopers.

Women Coal Miners

As a young woman, Anita Cecil McBride followed in her father’s footsteps and became an underground coal miner. Reporter Jessica Lilly visited with McBride to talk about her journey into the “man’s world” of mining.

Cryptid Glass Art

Blenko Glass is based in Milton, West Virginia. At the beginning of the pandemic, the company took a huge hit and had to lay off nearly all of its employees. But thanks to a federal loan and some clever marketing, they’ve rehired almost everyone back and had one of their most profitable years in decades.

New River Gorge Guidebook Renames Route Names

In October 2020, we talked with West Virginia rock climbers who took on racist, sexist and other offensive route names in the New River Gorge. DJ Grant is a Black climber who helped kickstart the effort to change offensive names that were found throughout the Gorge. The routes — and the pioneering climbers who made them — are recorded in a two-volume guidebook called “New River Rock,” which contains about 3,000 rock-climbing routes in the Gorge and surrounding areas. Last year, Grant and others asked the New River Alliance of Climbers to change some of those route names to get rid of racist and offensive language. A new edition of the book hit shelves this July. Inside Appalachia reporter Zack Harold checked in with Grant on the latest.

John R. Miller

Singer and songwriter John R. Miller grew up in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle in a small town called Hedgesville. He’s gotten pretty well known across the state and has performed on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage a few times. Now, he’s got a new album called “Depreciated.”

Three Women Come Together To Form Asheville Band

Asheville, North Carolina, is known for its vibrant music scene. It’s a destination for touring musicians, but it’s home to a thriving local scene, too, anchored by record stores, small venues and house shows. The Smoky Mountain Sirens were formed by three women who’d played in multiple Asheville bands, and as Blue Ridge Mountain Radio’s Matt Peiken reports, they decided to try something new.

North Carolina Author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina. In late 2020, she published her first novel, “Even As We Breathe.” It's a mystery of sorts, set at an upscale mountain resort, and as great books always do, it calls us to think hard about the world around us. NPR's Neda Ulaby visited the author near the reservation where she grew up.

Appalachian Zines

A zine, in essence, is a self-published magazine. A zine can be big and glossy, but it’s a lot more likely to be produced by an individual person, often handwritten and made on a photocopier, with the paper folded and stapled. Artist and designer Suzie Kelly has been making zines for more than half of her lifetime. She eventually moved to Florida where she went to a couple of zine fests and got fired up again. When she moved to Johnson City several years ago, she asked, “Why not have a zine fest here, too?”

Co-host Caitlin Tan shares her grandmother’s recipe for stollen, a special German sweet bread that she makes each Christmas. And co-host Mason Adams sits down with his mom to talk about baking cookies during the holidays. 

Singing Goats

There is a tradition in Appalachia of observing “Old Christmas” on January 6. Folklore suggests that animals speak in the middle of the night on Old Christmas.

But it turns out, you don’t have to wait till Jan. 6 to hear goats singing to Christmas carols. 

We heard about these music-loving goats through Connie Bailey-Kitts, who lives in Bluefield, Virginia. Her goats love to listen to a church organ she keeps on her property. The organ dates back to the 1920s. “If they hear the music playing, they'll come down from the field when the organ’s playing," she said. "And the organ’s really, really powerful. It’s got a really big sound, and they're drawn to it."

Bailey-Kitts said her goats will lift their ears up like they're trying to catch more of the sound of the organ. 

“I think they don't know quite what to make of it," she said. "It doesn't intimidate them either. It's just amazing.”

Gingerbread

Folkways Corps reporter Connie Bailey-Kitts brings us a story about her family’s gingerbread recipe, using homemade sorghum.

The recipe is passed down from her grandmother, Alice Bailey, who was widowed shortly before the stock market crashed in 1929. Sugar was expensive and scarce, but sorghum was easy to grow on their mountain land. You could boil down its juice to a thick sweet syrup. It technically wasn’t “molasses” (which comes from sugar) but it looked so much like it, it was called sorghum molasses.

Our Inside Appalachia theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Ritchie Collins, The Ritch Collins Three-O, Bortex, Blue Dot Sessions, Ross Hollow and their song “Appalachian Love Song”, written by Stuart and Annalee Johnson-Kwochka, and Josh Ritter and Corey Chisel as heard on Mountain Stage. 

Roxy Todd is our producer. Our executive producer is Andrea Billups. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi and Eric Douglas also helped produce this episode. You can find us on Twitter @InAppalachia. You can also send us an email to InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

Communities Rally To Support Tornado Victims 

Parts of Kentucky, Tennessee and four other states are in recovery mode following deadly tornadoes last weekend that left a trail of devastation. Among the towns hardest hit was Bowling Green, Kentucky. In this episode we hear a story by WKYU’s Lisa Autry about the impacts the tornado had on this community, and efforts to help those who are suffering. Jennifer Capps, executive director at American Red Cross of South Central Kentucky, said it’s the worst local disaster she’s seen in her career.

Infrastructure Funding For Appalachia

The bipartisan infrastructure bill that became law last month has billions of dollars in it for roads, bridges, airports and transit systems in the Ohio Valley.

The law also addresses some of the region’s other pressing needs.

The $1 trillion infrastructure law has the potential to deliver big improvements to Appalachia. It will help reclaim abandoned mine sites, putting laid-off coal miners back to work.

Children In Appalachia At High Risk Of Serious COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to affect Appalachia, with case numbers on the rise yet again. That includes children who are being hospitalized with serious cases of the disease. As Corinne Boyer reports, children in Appalachia are at a higher risk of developing a serious case of COVID, because of a high rate of childhood obesity. 

Helping Teens Express Identity Through Poetry Writing Series

Who am I? It’s a question that teenagers wrestle with everywhere, as they discover their identities. In this episode we hear a series of stories, called Storycraft, produced by Blue Ridge Public Radio in Asheville. This summer, BPR teamed up with a nonprofit, Asheville Writers In The Schools and Community. Together, they hosted a series of workshops with teenagers and asked them the question: ‘Who Am I?’ The teenagers wrote poems based on the prompt, and we hear three of these in this episode. 

Breonna Taylor’s Life Honored In App Called ‘Breonna’s Garden’

We also learn about a media project that honors the life of Breonna Taylor, who was shot by Louisville police in March 2020. Artists designed a digital app to function as a space for Taylor’s loved ones and community members to find solace. WFPL reporter Stephanie Wolf takes us into the augmented reality artwork, “Breonna’s Garden.”

Crystal Good Aims To Change Media Landscape Through ‘Black By God’

Sometimes, spending time away from your home makes you fully appreciate how much you love it, despite its downsides. It also helps you to see a place where you can try to make a difference. That’s what Crystal Good did. She’s a writer and entrepreneur who grew up in West Virginia but recently spent about two years in California.

Last month, she returned home with an ambition to change the state’s media landscape. Good says she knows it’s a gamble to launch a business in the midst of a pandemic, not to mention a media project at a time when newsrooms across the country are collapsing. But she feels like it’s important, something she has to do. 

Politically, Appalachia encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — and West Virginia’s the only state entirely inside the region. 

That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation, as well as many different views on what Appalachia really is. For Inside Appalachia this week, we’re turning our entire episode over to the question, “What is Appalachia?” With stories from Mississippi to Pittsburgh, we ask people across our region whether they consider themselves to be Appalachian. 

Mississippi

Bob Owens is a watermelon farmer outside New Houlka, in the northeastern part of Mississippi. Owens said he was aware that Mississippi is part of Appalachia, but that no one in the state would consider themselves Appalachian. “I consider myself the worst redneck you’ve ever seen,” Owens said. “I live in the area of the Appalachian mountain range—not part of it, but close to it. So I guess you call me a redneck Appalachian.” This is the general consensus among the people in Mississippi we spoke to. 

Geographically, the foothills of the Appalachian mountain range are located in northern Mississippi. The state’s tallest point is Woodall Mountain, 806 feet in elevation. For reference, the highest point in North Carolina, Mount Mitchell, is more than 6,600 feet in elevation, eight times higher than Woodall Mountain.

Shenandoah Valley 

In the 1960s, while some localities were clamoring to get into Appalachia, on the eastern edge of the region some lawmakers fought to keep their counties outside the boundaries, including politicians in Roanoke, Virginia and the Shenandoah Valley. Appalachian Studies associate professor Emily Satterwhite said explaining to her students why some counties in Virginia are included in Appalachia, but others aren’t is confusing. “The students in front of me are wondering why they're not included,” White said. 

Pittsburgh 

Appalachia’s largest city is Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. When we asked people from that city to tell us if they consider it a part of Appalachia, about half said no. “I definitely do not feel that I am Appalachian culturally,” said Mark Jovanovich, who grew up just outside Pittsburgh’s city limits in the Woodland Hills area.
“Personally, I would consider the city of Pittsburgh is sort of like a mini New York City. I guess we'd probably be lumped in as like a Rust Belt city, which makes enough sense, but definitely not Appalachian culturally.”

Writer Brian O’Neill disagrees. He wrote a book called “The Paris of Appalachia: Pittsburgh in the Twenty-First Century.” “My original title for the book was ‘I love Pittsburgh like a brother and my brother drives me nuts.’”

An editor advised him to change the title of his book to a phrase that he said is sometimes used to refer to Pittsburgh derisively. “I couldn't figure out why that should be put down because Paris is nice. And Appalachia is a beautiful part of the world. And if we were called the Paris of the Rockies, we wouldn't run from that. So why would we run from this? Why don't we embrace it? So that became the title of my book.”

He said that geographically, Pittsburgh is clearly in the Appalachian Mountains. “I mean, this is one mountain range that stretches from Georgia to Maine. And the idea that it belongs only to the southern part of the mountain range defies logic to me,” O’Neill said. 

We’ll also talk about how East African immigrant communities in a small town in West Virginia are connecting back to their home traditions through coffee ceremonies. 

Kessinger Brothers

Robin Kessinger is a national award-winning flatpicker, and yet he still spends his days teaching kids and adults their first chords. One of his main musical mentors was a music legend in his own right.

Inside Appalachia folkways reporter Zack Harold has the story.

Coffee Ceremonies 

Moorefield, West Virginia, is home to about 3,300 people — about one in 10 are immigrants. That includes a small community from Eritrea and Ethiopia. Many of them work at the chicken processing plant in town, Pilgrim’s Pride. The hours there are long and don’t leave much time for socializing. Still, members of that East African community continue to practice a tradition they’ve brought from home: the coffee ceremony. Folkways reporter Clara Haizlett brings us this story, with help from former West Virginia state folklorist Emily Hilliard. 

Young Farmers Struggle To Find Land

For generations here in Appalachia, fall has been a time of harvest. On farms, there’s a mad rush to get all the last crops in before that first hard freeze. It’s a tough time of year in an already difficult job. For a lot of folks, farming is a constant uphill battle to get out of debt. And yet, people still want to farm, including a growing number of young people. But one of the biggest barriers to young farmers is accessing affordable land. WESA’s An-Li Herring reports.  

Virtual Dinner Party 

We’re in the midst of the holiday season, nearly two years into the pandemic, and some of us are getting to see our families for the first time in a while. But family get-togethers, even during non-pandemic times, can also be stressful, especially if you have family members who have political views that don't quite line up with yours. Our colleagues at the Us & Them podcast started a tradition last Thanksgiving — a virtual dinner party of people with different political views. They returned this year with another holiday dinner party to talk about issues with the intention of finding some common ground between servings of turkey and pumpkin pie. 

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Blue Dot Sessions, Jake Schepps, Wes Swing, and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd is our producer. Our executive producer is Andrea Billups. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. You can find us on Twitter @InAppalachia. You can also send us an email to InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ll learn about people who are digging beneath the surface, telling authentic stories about life in Appalachia. From women who are writing a new TV show about the realities of overcoming addiction and finding recovery, to a community theater company in Harlan County, Kentucky, that produced a play called “Shift Change.” It confronts racism, and neighbors who stand on opposite sides of politics. In this episode we’ll also hear from writers, playwrights, filmmakers and storytellers who confront the complexities of life here in Appalachia. They share why we should be proud of these complexities, and be willing to learn something new about Appalachia — even those of us who live here.

Her Hope Haven

Earlier this year, we aired a story that featured a young woman named Ashley Ellis. Ellis passed away a few weeks ago. In this episode, we’ll listen back to a story about a project she helped write -- a TV show called “Her Hope Haven,” which explores the opioid crisis from the point of view of people who are inside the recovery process. 

Higher Ground

A local theater company in Harlan County, Kentucky called “Higher Ground” decided to make a play about 2020. For the cast, that meant coming to terms with a difficult year — from COVID-19 to police violence. When the ensemble decided to cover the summer’s Black Lives Matter protests, a lot of feelings came up. The Ohio Valley ReSource’s Katie Myers spoke with cast members and creators on how they reckoned with race, religion and community in their play called “Shift Change.”

Twilight In Hazard

Alan Maimon is an award-winning journalist who lived in and reported on Eastern Kentucky in the early 2000’s. He recently published a book, called “Twilight in Hazard: An Appalachian Reckoning,” which looks at how the past and current events might play into the future of the region. Co-host Caitlin Tan talked with Maimon about the book.

Dopesick 

“Dopesick” is a new series streaming on Hulu. It details the rise of prescription opioids, namely Oxycontin, and the wreckage it has caused in Appalachia and across the nation. June Leffler spoke with Beth Macy, who helped create the show and wrote the book it is based on.

Holler

When Nicole Riegel was growing up in Appalachian Ohio, she couldn’t wait to get out. As an adult writer and film director, the place drew her back and she found herself re-connecting with her town and community in unexpected ways. The result is a film called “Holler.” Katie Myers spoke with the filmmaker about leaving, and returning to, your small hometown.

W.Va.’s Growing Elder Population

The Mountain State is home to a lot of older folks. More than 20 percent of the state’s population is over 65 and we are seeing signs of a crisis in health care. While our average age is going up, the number of younger workers is going down. And that’s a challenge for senior care facilities and home care companies.

Women aren’t front and center in accounts of the region’s history, but they’ve been influential in everything from the coal industry to labor movements to preserving traditions. Today, women are building on this history -- continuing to be role models for society, while taking our Appalachian roots into the modern day. In this episode, we’ll learn about several of them, and what their stories reveal about modern movements for change across our region.

How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice

Appalachian history is full of sharp, groundbreaking women who changed the lives of people around them. In the 1960s, a lot of mountain women got involved with the federal War on Poverty to help people access welfare benefits. That led them into partnerships with civil rights activists, disabled miners and others. They teamed up to fight for everything from poor people's rights to community health to unionization.

History professor Jessica Wilkerson tracks that history in her book, “To Live Here, You Have to Fight: How Women Led Appalachian Movements for Social Justice.” Wilkerson spoke with Inside Appalachia co-host Mason Adams about what led those women into activism — and what their stories tell us about the world today.

“They argued for valuing the common good, and at the end of the day, that's what these women that we're talking about were fighting for,” Wilkerson said. Her book also explores how modern-day movements in Appalachia build on these traditions that were led by women. “In many ways, we're fighting many of the same battles around environmental justice, around basic quality of life.” 

Empowering Young People Through Music

Girls Rock Whitesburg in Whitesburg, Kentucky is a music camp for female, gender-fluid, non-binary, and trans youth. Over the course of a week, campers learn an electric instrument, form a band and write songs. At the end, they perform in front of a live audience. While the camp focuses on electric music instruction, participants also learn how music is tied to social justice. Back in 2019, Folkways reporter Nicole Musgrave followed two girls who came to camp and who reinvented a traditional protest song.

Women-Led Puppetry Group In Knoxville

Throughout history, puppets and marionettes have been used as an accessible means to tell rowdy stories, poke fun at authority figures, and provide cheap entertainment. Puppetry blurs the line between play and politics, between protests, pageants and parades - all of which have a storied history in the South. We’ll hear a story from one of our Folkways reporters Katie Myers, on how a group called Cattywampus Puppet Council in Knoxville, Tennessee, is building on that tradition.

Anna Sale

West Virginia native Anna Sale is host of the popular podcast “Death, Sex & Money.” It's a podcast that talks about, as she says, “the things we think about a lot and need to talk about more.” Sale’s new book, “Let’s Talk About Hard Things,” is about having frank conversations about topics that can make us uncomfortable, including relationships and death.

“If you are ill, what are the kinds of last conversations you want to have with the people you love? And not try to act like it’s not happening,” Sale told Inside Appalachia co-host Caitlin Tan.

We’ll also hear how investigative reporters in Pittsburgh brought to light safety concerns in low-income housing. Writer Marie Manilla tells us why she identifies as an "urban Appalachian" and why she feels drawn to push against stereotypes of her region and her people.

A Special Place

In the 1930s, the Civilian Conservation Corps and other New Deal programs created parks across America. But many of these places were closed off to Black people, especially in the Jim Crow South. In Clifton Forge, Virginia, the local branch of the NAACP pushed for the creation of a recreation area for Black people. So the state of Virginia partnered with the U.S. Forest Service — and in 1937, they opened Green Pastures. It became a destination for generations of Black people across Central Appalachia. 

Now there’s an effort to gather the stories of people who grew up swimming and playing at Green Pastures. 

Mexilachia

The Lua Project calls their music "Mexilachian” - a blend of Appalachian old time and Mexican folk songs. But members of the band say their music also draws on Jewish and Eastern European traditions. 

Their sound is a musical manifestation of what it means to connect with a mixed cultural identity - a journey which isn’t always easy. Folkways reporter Clara Haizlett caught up with a couple members of the band at their home in Charlottesville, Virginia. 

Eviction

Last year, the Centers For Disease Control issued an eviction moratorium to keep the COVID-19 virus from spreading. In parts of central Appalachia, the moratorium was one of the few things keeping some families afloat. But now there’s no longer a federal policy in place to prevent evictions. The Supreme Court ruled against the Biden administration’s eviction moratorium on August 26, which ended protections that were supposed to extend into early October. As Katie Myers reports, the end of these eviction protections is creating new health risks.

Unsafe Living

An increase in evictions isn’t the only issue facing renters. Reporters Kate Giammarise and Rich Lord have been looking into various issues with the rental market in Pittsburgh.

They’ve heard about tenant organizing, and unsafe living conditions in low-income housing. Rich and Kate have been reporting a year-long series of stories for W-E-S-A and Public Source. Our producer Roxy Todd spoke with them about why this reporting matters, and why it’s not just an issue that people in Pittsburgh should care about. 

Urban Appalachia

For a lot of writers, and publishers, Appalachia means stories about the rural experience-- like coal mining or farming. 

But that’s not true for everyone. 

Author Marie Manilla grew up in Huntington, West Virginia, a city along the Ohio River. Manilla spoke with reporter Liz McCormick about how she uses her work to push change in West Virginia and around the world.