Inside Appalachia

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 a woman who’s helping write a new TV show about the opioid crisis, to a community theater company in Harlan C...

The natural world can be a source of food and medicine along with a place to escape and unwind. There are people who know plants like they’re old friends, complete with stories and histories. These experts can also help guide us to recognize how plants can even help us in times of need. This week, we're listening back to an encore edition of Inside Appalachia about getting outside to embrace our w...

In the latest episode of Inside Appalachia , we’ll meet a man who makes wooden turkey calls. However, these aren’t ordinary turkey calls — they’re hand-crafted and feature intricate paintings. “Truthfully, I never called myself an artist, ever,” said Brian Aliff. But now, through a twist of fate, his turkey calls have become collectors’ items. Also on this week’s show, if you’ve spent any time flo...

When people talk about Appalachian music, banjos and fiddles are often the first things to come to mind. But what about hip-hop? Hip-hop lives all over, including in small towns and hollers across Appalachia. In this episode of Inside Appalachia , we’ll meet hip hop artists in southwest Virginia. Folks like Geonoah Davis, aka geonovah, who discovered rapping by way of poetry. “I always wanted to s...

The pandemic continues to inspire more people to go outside. One result? They’ve found more baby animals. This week on  Inside Appalachia , we’ll hear how everyday folks have helped rescue a record number of baby owls. And we’ll meet a woman who moved from L.A. to rural West Virginia. “It’s very wild here. It’s like the Wild West except we’re east of the Mississippi,” said Margaret Bruning, who’s...

Over Memorial Day weekend, airports across the country reported the highest numbers of people flying in more than a year. As more of us are dreaming once again of flight, we thought this would be a good time to listen back to an episode of Inside Appalachia that originally aired last summer. We’ll hear stories about flight: legendary aviators, fighter pilots, and a plane ride that didn’t quite go...

Our Inside Appalachia team recently won several awards for our reporting. This week, we’re listening back to some of these stories, including one about the John Denver classic, “Take Me Home Country Roads,” which was first recorded 50 years ago in 1971. “There was this overall mood of homesickness, not just for West Virginia but for our country. The song was born into that,” said Sarah Morris, an...

This week we're revisiting an episode of Inside Appalachia that features children's authors in and from our region. We'll hear Cynthia Rylant, who wrote "When I Was Young In The Mountains," David Perri, author of "Messy Larry," and Bil Lepp reading from his recent children's book "The Princess And The Pickup Truck," and Lyn Ford, a professional storyteller and children's educator, telling a story...

Many oil and gas workers come into contact with a fracking byproduct called brine. The gas industry says it’s safe. But is it really? This week on Inside Appalachia , we’ll talk with reporter Justin Nobel, who says some workers are being exposed to dangerous levels of radioactivity, which could be making them, and their families, sick. And, as we head into garden season, we’ll check in with an upd...

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...

In this era, kids spend so much time looking at screens. This week on Inside Appalachia , we’ll meet a storyteller and songwriter who inspires kids to get outside and explore nature. And we visit a former strip mine where Elk are being reintroduced. This episode explores stories about humans and nature, and what experiencing the outdoors means to different people.

Lots of rural communities in Appalachia also have unsafe drinking water. This week on Inside Appalachia , we’ll hear from people in Appalachia who are trying to bring clean drinking water to their friends and neighbors. President Joe Biden’s “American Jobs Plan” includes billions of dollars that would go to fixing water systems, but will it be enough to fix the underlying issues? And will it make...

This week's episode of Inside Appalachia is a mix of rich storytelling and cross-cultural collaborations. What happens when a musician from Belarus gets together with Appalachian folk musicians? And we’ll talk with Affrilachian writer Crystal Wilkinson, who has just been named Kentucky’s Poet Laureate. You'll hear these stories, and more, in this episode.

We’ll hear an interview with historian Bob Hutton, who recently wrote an article about the Baldwin-Felts gunmen, who did the dirty work of Appalachia’s capitalists, even against their neighbors. We’ll also meet instrument-makers who are determined to find a way, even if it’s using the remnants of a refrigerator box, and women who are using poetry to undercut the wrong ideas people have about mount...

This week on Inside Appalachia , we talk with folks who are planting seeds of change — literally and figuratively. While many are finding joy through their gardens and food work, there are some people in Appalachia who are going through some of the most challenging times of their lives. We dig into the story of a tomato — and not just any tomato. There's a mystery behind an heirloom tomato, called...

Foster Care in a Pandemic World The pandemic has reshaped so much of our lives, and that was true for families fostering and adopting children, too. In Eastern Kentucky, 22-year-old Hannah Adams found herself with a front-row view of the process, after she was sent back home from college and moved back in with her mom, who was in the midst of adopting a foster child.  As a result, Hannah made a 12...

Messes Are A Part of Life If you’ve spent time with toddlers, you know that messes are a part of creativity and life. During the pandemic, many parents are juggling working from home while also watching after children -- which can sometimes lead to messes. Producer Roxy Todd sat down with author David Perri to discuss his book “Messy Larry,” a book about a larger-than-life bear named Larry who lea...

What is a Crankie? When traditional Appalachian musician Anna Roberts-Gevalt first showed ballad singer Elizabeth LaPrelle a crankie, Elizabeth was speechless. “I really freaked out,” LaPrelle told WUNC’s Laura Candler in 2013.  Crankies, which originated in Europe , have been used for years to enhance the art of live storytelling. A crankie consists of long rolls of fabric that are rolled up on e...

Pandemic-Fueled Homebuyers Moving To Appalachia The pandemic has caused a boom in the housing market across the country — and Appalachia is no exception. People have been spending more time inside their homes these days. This, coupled with an increased popularity in remote work, has had people rethinking their lives in big cities. Some have even bought houses in the region sight unseen. We’ll also...

Decades after HIV was first discovered, there’s still discrimination. In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia , we hear from several people here in Appalachia who are living with HIV.  Elena Eimes recalled being harassed at Walmart, after a customer learned she has HIV. “That hurt so bad. [I was] So embarrassed. And that woman really thought she was warning everybody,” Eimes said. “The biggest...

Human beings are social creatures and the pandemic is taking a toll on all of us in one way or another. It’s also bringing to light just how important human connection is in our lives. This week on Inside Appalachia , we’ll hear from folks who are overcoming these challenges on top of maintaining sobriety and staying on the path to recovery. As we grapple with the immediate health emergency of the...

In this episode of Inside Appalachia , we’re sharing stories about people with passions like poetry, music, or making hot dogs, and have touched others with their dedication to their craft. Punk Music And Banjos In Harlan County, Kentucky, 20-year-old Bradford Harris plays in the punk band L.I.P.S. When in person shows were canceled because of the pandemic, Bradford began playing the banjo. Eventu...

Valentine’s Day gets a lot of flack for being sappy, cliche 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 received more stories than we could include in a single show, but we included some of our favorites, including one co...

The COVID-19 pandemic has revealed and exacerbated societal inequities.  Black and Latino populations have suffered higher infection rates. People working low-income jobs are more likely to be considered essential — and therefore required to work in-person — while others have the luxury of working remotely.  The pandemic has pushed many people who were already living paycheck to paycheck out of wo...

This week on Inside Appalachia , we’re revisiting a show that originally aired last fall, that prominently features bold mountain women who are making a difference in their communities. We hear what happens when Abigail Washburn and Wu Fei combine Appalachian and Chinese folk music. We also meet the driving force behind a family-owned Black newspaper that’s been publishing since 1939. Claudia Whit...