Inside Appalachia

This week, after a disaster, can comics help set the record straight?  

Also, sifting through Hurricane Helene’s debris, one group tries to reunite keepsakes with their owners, including love letters. 

And a cafe in Virginia feeds the hungry and tries to destigmatize homelessness. For its outreach manager, whose brother lived on the streets for years, it’s personal.  

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

This week, we’re traveling to summer attractions across Appalachia. Like a bus that sits on a rock at the West Virginia confluence of the New and Gauley rivers. 

Also, one person’s weedy nuisance is another’s “golden” treasure. So says a North Carolina fiber artist.   

 And we spill the tea on a classic roadside attraction. 

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

This week, before emancipation, Appalachia provided pathways to freedom for enslaved people trying to escape bondage. A new project identifies more than two dozen previously unknown underground railroad sites. 

Also, the Fly Around Music & Arts Festival in North Carolina was inspired by the hard work that followed Hurricane Helene. 

And, a ballad about floods recorded a generation ago still provides solace for people today.

You'll hear these stories and more, Inside Appalachia. 

This week, in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux was an entrepreneur filmmaker in western Virginia. He became a world-renowned director and producer.

Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths. 

And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who's passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.

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

This week, some folks are working to preserve the memory of Bristol, Virginia’s Black Bottom, a largely African American community wiped out by urban renewal. 

Also, small food producers embrace digital technology for the humble farm stand. 

And Kudzu, it’s coming for us.

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

This week, ballads tell stories about all kinds of real-life events, but after Hurricane Helene, one group of ballad singers felt some topics were still too raw. 

Also, the author of a new book on ancient Ohio credits a former grad student with introducing him to the region’s mysterious earthworks. 

And, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage.

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

This week, we’re revisiting a show featuring storytellers out loud in front of audiences. Folks like five-time champion of the West Virginia Liars’ Contest, Bil Lepp.

Also, musicians Anna and Elizabeth, whose storytelling used something known as a crankie.

And, we’ll head to the International Storytelling Center in Jonesborough, Tennessee.

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

This week, some of the stories on our show inspired college student art — including a vivid image of a bear smashing a clarinet.

Also, a Hare Krishna community in West Virginia serves vegetarian food made in three sacred kitchens. 

And, COVID-19 exposed the contempt society has for marginalized people. One author says, these folks are anything but passive. 

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

This week, a new roleplaying game gives folks in the workplace a chance to be a mythical Appalachian monster. 

Southeast Ohio’s Nelsonville Music Festival celebrates its 20th anniversary in June. We talk with the founder about what keeps people coming back. 

And members of a Ukrainian Catholic church in Wheeling, West Virginia, make pierogies for their community every week. What makes them so good?  

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

This week, Hurricane Helene devastated central Appalachia and disrupted the lives of people in recovery. 

In West Virginia, fur trapping continues, even in the 21st Century. 

And baseball is America’s past-time. One league is making the game more inclusive.

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