As a preface to our first podcast, I have somber news but it is also a lesson in how strong small town organizations relate to their community. A day after this interview with Alex Gibson of Appalshop, their community of Letcher County, KY was struck by the severe floods of July 28th, 2022. The Appalshop facilities and archives were severely damaged. Their response was to not just look to their own strife (which was great) but to the strife of their wider community. To learn more, the NY Times just wrote an article about their situation: https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/04/us/kentucky-flood-appalshop-archives.html Please consider supporting them and their community by visiting: https://appalshop.org/ We hope to follow up with Alex in the future to report on their progress. This episode (recorded prior to July 28th): We speak with Alex Gibson, the CEO of the inspiring and impactful Appalshop in Letcher County, KY. They are a model institution for delivering sustained arts and culture programs to a smaller community.