Inside Appalachia

Lawmakers across Appalachia are debating how issues of race are taught in public schools, 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 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...

If you think about one dish that has sustained generations of Appalachian people, what comes to mind? When we put the question on social media, many listeners replied with the same answer: a simple bowl of soup beans and a slice of corn bread. This week on Inside Appalachia , we’ll look at the origin of beans and cornbread. And we’ll meet a woman in Moorefield, West Virginia, who makes pinto beans...

The Russian invasion in Ukraine is sending shockwaves throughout the world. Did you know that the geography and culture of the people who live in the mountains of southwest Ukraine have a lot in common with Appalachia? Google images of the Carpathian mountains and you’ll see stunning images that look very similar to views in our own backyard.  A group of scholars in Appalachia and in Ukraine notic...

This week on Inside Appalachia , we’ll hear from residents in Kentucky who were denied aid. We’ll also hear a special documentary about the Buffalo Creek Flood of 1972, one of the worst catastrophes in U.S. history.

Think back to your American history class. We all learned about the Civil War, but what did you learn about the years after the war ended? On Inside Appalachia this week, we’ll hear how that history parallels events today. We’ll also learn about a women’s mountain biking group called the Roanoke Valley Riveters, how a dance company in Asheville has adapted during the pandemic, and hear about a pod...

Valentine’s Day gets a lot of flack for being sappy, cliché or just a marketing ploy by card and chocolate companies. But we tend to think there is more to it than that. So, for this episode of Inside Appalachia , we asked our listeners for their best Appalachian love stories. We’ll also talk with a biologist and a philosopher on whether animals can feel love. We'll also hear conversations about g...

This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia features stories about a West Virginia black metal band that plays songs about local history. We’ll also hear how folks are helping make skiing, whitewater rafting, and rock climbing more accessible to people in West Virginia. And while labor struggles in Appalachia historically included coal miners, we’ll hear how other workers in other industries have att...

This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia is packed with stories from across central Appalachia, featuring creative people who are finding ways to address a wide-range of problems. We’ll hear how urban farmers in Pittsburgh are helping fight food insecurity, and how two musicians in North Carolina are finding help for people in addiction. We’ll learn why homelessness is on the rise in parts of Appa...

Schools are facing unprecedented staff shortages – here in Appalachia and across the country. In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia , we’ll hear what teachers and schools are up against, and what solutions could help keep more educators from burning out. We’ll also hear what could bring more teachers home to teach in the communities where they grew up.

For some, winter can be a difficult time -- dark and cold. For others, time outside in the winter is a powerful experience. Getting outside can also be one way to help with the stress. In this episode of Inside Appalachia , we’ll go outside into a cold, crisp forest on a winter hike.  We’ll also learn about a group of Italian immigrants who escaped religious persecution and moved to the mountains...

People in coal country are pleading for help as coal’s decline accelerates. This week on Inside Appalachia , we explore the economic and health impacts coal has had on coal communities in Appalachia. We’ll talk  about the past and the future of this industry, through the lens of its labor history, to the climate crisis. And we’ll hear from members of Indigenous communities on how they feel about t...

In the latest episode of Inside Appalachia , we’ll hear stories from creators across Appalachia and how they process their lives through their art, including songwriting, photography and self-published zines. We’ll talk with a climber who challenged the climbing community to rename racist and sexist route names, and won. Also in this episode, West Virginia singer and songwriter John R. Miller brin...

In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia , we explore stories about the power of memory and tradition. Listeners across Appalachia share some of their favorite traditions, and our reporters and hosts share some of our family traditions, too. We’ve got recipes for things like cranberry salad and sorghum gingerbread. Reporter Zack Harold tells us how his family began a unique tradition of hunting...

In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia we hear a roundup of some of our region’s news, from recovery efforts in Kentucky following devastating tornadoes, to how infrastructure funding from Congress could benefit communities in Appalachia. We’ll also hear from teenagers in Western North Carolina share poetry about how they see themselves and their identities.  Communities Rally To Support Torn...

Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust Belt, even the Northeast. The Appalachian Regional Commission defined the boundaries for Appalachia in 1965 with the creation of the Appalachian Regional Commission, a part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was legislation that sought to expand social welfare, and some localities were eager for the money, while other...

This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia explores stories about families, friends, and how people on opposite ends of the political spectrum connect through music, food and conversations about tough topics. We’ll hear the story of one of the world’s best fiddlers, Clark Kessinger, from St. Albans, West Virginia. We’ll learn how he inspired his nephew, Robin Kessinger, to play the guitar.  We’ll al...

The story of Appalachia can’t be summarized in one book, one article or one movie. Our region goes beyond just ill-considered stereotypes. 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 co...

This week on Inside Appalachia , we’ll hear how women in the mountains spearheaded movements to battle racial injustice, defend healthy communities, and fight for the rights of all Appalachians. 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...

This week on Inside Appalachia, we'll hear what happens when a family with roots in Mexico and in Appalachia combines its cultural identities through music. And we have a story 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 seein...

This week’s episode is all about ballad singers and storytellers. If you’ve listened to  Inside Appalachia  over the past year, there’s a good chance you’ve heard music by Anna & Elizabeth. This week on  Inside Appalachia , co-host Mason Adams sits down with Elizabeth LaPrelle, who grew up in Rural Retreat, Virginia. She and her husband Brian Dolphin moved from Brooklyn back to southwestern Vi...

A few weeks ago, we asked listeners to share your favorite spooky stories from across Appalachia. This week’s special Halloween episode of Inside Appalachia is packed with ghost stories and mysteries from across the region. 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...

This week on Inside Appalachia , we’ll hear the story of a world-renowned steelpan drum maker from Trinidad who built instruments in a former coal mining town in West Virginia, and inspired others to learn his craft. We'll also talk with a man who treks hundreds of miles to seek out long-lost varieties of heirloom apples.“West Virginia, I call it my wild-goose-chase state because I’ve gone to so m...

This week on Inside Appalachia , we’re talking with the creators of the “Black in Appalachia” podcast about their recent mountain road trip through the coalfields. “What we saw on our trip mirrors very well the things that we have been thinking about, and talking about,” said the show’s co-host Enkeshi El-Amin. “In some ways it’s affirming, but also it’s sad, that these are the struggles that Blac...

The downturn of coal in Harlan County, Kentucky has led to an exodus of Black residents in search of work. This week on Inside Appalachia, we speak with William Turner, whose new book looks at growing up in a vibrant Black community during Harlan’s boom years.  “We’re so accustomed in Appalachia’s coal camps to booms and busts,” Turner told co-host Mason Adams. “And while it may never come back wi...

People in coal country are pleading for help as the coal industry nears the end of its long decline. This week on Inside Appalachia , we explore the economic and health impacts coal has had on communities in Appalachia. We’ll talk about the past and the future of this industry through the lens of its labor history to its future amid tough talks about the world’s climate crisis. And, we’ll meet a w...