Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, flooding is a recurring problem across Appalachia. This week, we’re taking stock, and looking back on floods that have devastated parts of West Virginia and Kentucky. 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. The post Remembering Floods And Recovering From Disaster, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, a Ukrainian musician reflects on what music means during wartime. 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. The post Following Up With A Ukrainian Musician And Smoky Mountain Firefly Magic, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week, we visit a farm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that can grow on one acre what other farms grow on 100 acres. 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. The post Encore: Millipedes And Taylor Swift, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week, we visit a cemetery in Bluefield, Virginia and learn how racial segregation followed some people to the grave. 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. The post Remembering Woody Williams And Volunteers Save Segregated Cemetery, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we meet a craftsman who builds exquisite, handmade fly rods and shares his love of fishing with others. We also talk about Appalachia’s nurse shortage, and we hear stories about Appalachian baseball. The post Old School Fly Fishing Rods And Minor League Baseball Lore, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Inside Appalachia loves books and writers – and if you’re looking for summer book recommendations, we’ve got a bunch. This is our summer reading episode, featuring some of our favorite notable author interviews from over the past several months.  The post Summer Reading Suggestions, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week, we’re joined by Lilly Knoepp, regional reporter at Blue Ridge Public Radio in Western North Carolina. 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. The post The Changing Media Landscape, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week, we head to the meadows and woods of West Virginia to catch the buzz on beekeeping. And, it’s been over six years since Kentucky artist Lacy Hale designed her iconic “No Hate in My Holler” screen print. Appalachians are still telling her how much they identify with its message. We also take a ride on the Cass Scenic Railroad and explore some one-of-a-kind getaways in West Virginia. The post The Buzz About Bees And No Hate In My Hollar, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, Drop of Sun Studios in Asheville, North Carolina has put out some of the hottest indie rock records of the year. We talk with one of its co-founders. We also visit the Alleghany Highlands, where Appalachia’s maple syrup traditions are changing with the times. And, poet Lacy Snapp introduces us to east Tennessee’s poetry scene. The post Drop Of Sun Studios And Appalachian Syrup, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, a high school football game, a street festival, and a kids' classroom are all settings in a new film about how coal mining shapes Appalachian culture. 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. The post The Reign Of ‘King Coal,’ Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, a North Carolina potter is reviving an art form brought to America by enslaved Africans. We return to the town of Hindman, Kentucky, which endured catastrophic flooding last July, and get an update on the town’s recovery. We also talk with West Virginia poet Doug Van Gundy about disasters, and their relationship to art. The post The African Art Of Face Jugs, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we’re talking about traditional ballads — how they tell stories and connect us to the past. 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. The post Encore: True Stories Behind Folk Heroes, Runaway Trains And Murder Ballads appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week, a southern Ohio college writing class recently learned about the idea of Appalachian identity and then told us what they thought. Kentucky has a new poet laureate so we listen back to a 2020 conversation with author Silas House, about growing up in the mountains. And in Harlan Kentucky, a mural sparked strong opinions over possums. The post A Class Project Discusses Being Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we speak with an author about grief rituals, a podcaster about the religious music of snake handling churches, and we explore best practices to prepare for retirement. The post Grief Rituals And The Alabama Astronaut, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week, we listen back to three award-winning Folkways stories from last year. First, we visit a luthier’s shop, where old musical instruments get new life. 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. The post Spotlighting Award-Winning Stories, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

After last year’s flooding in Eastern Kentucky, some people had trouble getting insurance reimbursement. But it wasn’t just flood waters that destroyed homes. The rains also brought landslides. We also 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. The post Landslides, Climate Change And Gardening By The Signs, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we visit with Jerry Machen of Kingsport, Tennessee. When he first started making art from old carpets, his wife Linda wasn’t impressed. 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. The post Butcher Apprentices, Carpet Artists And Cuz’s BBQ, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week, we step on the Appalachian Trail with one of America’s most accomplished hikers, Jennifer Pharr Davis. 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. The post Taking On The Trail And Celebrating 50 Years of Augusta Heritage, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Family recipes are a way to connect generations, but what happens when you’ve got grandma’s recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? 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. The post Reverse Engineering Potato Candy And Talking with Ohio’s Poet Laureate, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we look back at a shocking crime near the Appalachian Trail and speak to the author of a book that re-examines the case. 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, Pennsylvania, who invented the demi-sonnet. The post Yugoslavian Fish Stew And Unsolved Mysteries, Inside Appalachia appeared first on West Virginia Public Broadcasting.