Inside Appalachia

This week, punk music photographer Chelse Warren takes us into the pit. We hop a tiny train to discover the miniature wonders of a West Virginia model railroad. Then, we journey to eastern Kentucky, where they’re reclaiming their bootlegging heritage –along a new moonshine trail.

This week, we usher in the season of lights with our holiday show from 2022. James Beard-nominated West Virginia chefs Mike Costello and Amy Dawson serve up special dishes with stories behind them. We visit an old-fashioned toy shop whose future was uncertain after its owners died – but there’s a twist.  We also share a few memories of Christmas past, which may or may not resemble yours.  You’ll h...

This week, we pick up a little light reading at the Johnson City Zine Fest. 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 .

This week, Karly Hartzman of Asheville indie rock band Wednesday, talks about songwriting, place and spending a lot of time with a band on tour.  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-...

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

We'll meet a man who makes wooden turkey calls, but these aren’t just any turkey calls. Painter Brian Aliff doesn’t call himself an artist, but he intricately paints his turkey calls, which are now collectors’ items. 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...

Just in time for Halloween, we have a suite of spooky tales to make your skin crawl. We talk science fiction with Roanoke, Virginia-based writer and publisher Mike Allen, hear tales of the supernatural and learn about spiritualists coming to West Virginia. You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

Can the internet rebuild Appalachia? We ask sci-fi novelist and tech writer Cory Doctorow.   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.

This week, Rae Garringer felt isolated growing up and thought they were the only queer person in a small town. But they learned otherwise. Now they are collecting and sharing the stories of rural LGBTQ people from across the country. 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 co...

Black lung disease is back. In fact, it never went away. Now, younger and younger miners are living with a particularly nasty form of black lung disease.  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 worke...

This week, a Pittsburgh artist channels the Steel City’s mythology and struggles — into tarot cards. 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 .

Appalachians are often called mountaineers — but are they also "pioneers?" A new documentary reckons with what it means… to be a pioneer. 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 .

This week, we’re revisiting our episode “What Is Appalachia?” from December 2021. Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust belt and even the Northeast. The Appalachian Regional Commission defined the boundaries for Appalachia in 1965 with the creation of the Appalachian Regional Commision, a part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was legislation that sought...

Rev. George Mills Dickerson of Tazewell, Virginia was born in the years after slavery ended. He’s remembered today through his poetry. 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.

This week, a Virginia Tech researcher challenges deeply held ideas about the purity of natural springs. 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.

This week, Inside Appalachia drops by Flat Five Studio in Salem, Virginia. It had a reputation for recording bluegrass bands, but caught a big break in the early 1990s when the Dave Matthews Band needed a quiet place to record its debut album. 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 Growt...

Appalachians love to compete. Whether it’s recreational league softball, a turkey calling contest or workplace chili cookoffs, Mountain folks are in it to win it. 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.

If you’re hungry for a pepperoni roll in West Virginia, you can find one at just about any gas station, but how did they get so popular?  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. Y...

This week, we visit with West Virginia trappers to learn about the fur trade in the 21st Century. 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 Appa...

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 after disaster. It’s not all gloom. Even in our hardest moments, there’s always hope.  You’ll hear these stories and more th...

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

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.  These stories and mor...

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...

This week, 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. 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 s...

Inside Appalachia loves books and writers –and if you’re looking for summer book recommendations, we’ve got a bunch. It’s our summer reading episode, featuring some of our favorite notable author interviews from over the past several months.  You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia .