Inside Appalachia

This week, we visit the Seeing Hand Association. They bring together people who are visually impaired to learn the craft of chair caning. 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...

This week, Inside Appalachia speaks with the author of a new graphic novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars. The labor struggle culminated in the largest armed uprising since the Civil War. 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 ca...

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

This week, a talented, young folk singer looks for the balance between making music and making a living. 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.

This week, 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. 

This week, a look back at some of the stories that shaped the show in 2024, like the story of an abandoned Fairmont Brine site in Marion County, West Virginia. It was a common hangout spot, but there’s a hidden danger.  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, t...

This week, we go a-wassailing in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s kind of like Christmas caroling, with a kick. 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 .

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

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. 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 .

Since 1967, Foxfire has been a storehouse of traditional Appalachian knowledge that still helps people today. 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 chef of an award-winning Asheville restaurant says he was shaped by memories of growing up in West Virginia.  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 .

Morel mushrooms are a forager’s delight, but don’t shortcut cleaning them. 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.

After Helene, an Asheville guitar maker grapples with how to help her neighborhood when there’s so much need.  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.   

Rock climbing gear eventually wears out, but it can still live on as art.  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.

Submitted for your approval, we have a selection of spooky tales for Halloween and beyond. 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. 

Textbooks have long left out an important piece of labor history that happened here in the mountains. Now, a new young adult book fills in some of what might have been missed about the Mine Wars. 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 covere...

This week, Affrilachian poet Frank X. Walker has a new collection of poetry that looks at Black life in Kentucky before, during, and after the Civil War… 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 Works...

Hurricane Helene dumped nearly 30 inches of rain in parts of Western North Carolina and East Tennessee. Communities are reeling from the devastation. We check-in with Lilly Knoepp at Blue Ridge Public Radio in western North Carolina. 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 18...

Inside Appalachia remembers Travis Stimeling. The author, musician and educator left a deep mark on Appalachian culture, and the people who practice and document it.   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 an...

This week… we talk with a poet about his new collection, titled “If Lost.” He found inspiration for it… by walking around in the woods. . 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? 

One of America’s greatest contributions to world culture … is hip hop. A new compilation documents what it sounds like across Appalachia.  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. 

Schoolyard games come and go, but for kids in one community, marbles still rule.  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. 

In 2016, a wildfire escaped the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It killed 14 people, injured dozens more and destroyed parts of Gatlinburg and Pigeon Forge. We talk with an investigative journalist who has new information on the incident. 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 Appal...

During the Great Depression, the river town of Osage, West Virginia was a raucous, little place. It’s sleepier now, but music is keeping the magic alive. 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?

In the 1930s, hundreds of mostly African American workers died digging the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel. A photographer brings their stories to life in a new book.  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.