Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, amid recent hospital closures, Appalachian women are having to travel farther and farther to give birth.

Maternal Medicine In The Mountains

We’ll talk with reporter Clarissa Donnelly-DeRoven about maternal health care deserts in western North Carolina and hear a report from Crystal Good, about what options Black families in West Virginia have for finding birth workers that look like them.

Appalachian PRIDE

Following one of the opinions written in the U.S. Supreme Court’s Dobbs decision, State legislatures across the Ohio Valley are considering anti-LGBTQ policies, while people across Appalachia took part in celebrations during LGBTQ Pride Month in June. Katie Myers with the Ohio Valley Resource got reactions and spoke to residents.

Indigenous Peoples Gather In W.Va. To Discuss The Environment

High schoolers with Indigenous backgrounds came from all over the country to the Eastern Panhandle this summer for a leadership congress. They talked about conservation, Native identity, and the growing effects of climate change. Shepherd Snyder has more.

Greyhound Racing Series Continues

In 2023, West Virginia will be home to the last two remaining greyhound racetracks in the United States.

Reporter Randy Yohe breaks down the government policies that sustain dog racing, and considers its future in the state at a time when it’s dying everywhere else.

Canaries Out Of The Coal Mine

As old coal mines are restored, they’ve been repurposed for an increasingly broad number of new uses. In Pennsylvania, reclaimed mine land is being used for an art project involving birds.

Kara Holsapple and Jacqui Sieber of the Allegheny Front have more.

Feeding The Hungry In Appalachia’s Food Deserts

Supply chain issues and rising gas prices are making it harder for people to get food. As David Adkins reports, local entrepreneurs are looking to meet the demand.

A Ray Of Hope

Mountain View Solar, a solar installation company in Berkeley Springs, West Virginia, is training and hiring people in recovery from substance use disorder. Shepherd Snyder has more.

Serious About Seed Saving

During the pandemic, millions of Americans turned to gardening. In Appalachia, people have long saved heirloom seeds that have been passed down for generations. Today, that tradition continues, partly through organizations like seed libraries and community gardens that collect these seeds to save them from being lost. Folkways reporter Rachel Greene spent time in Ashe County, North Carolina — talking to the people giving new life to old seeds.

This week, we meet a West Virginia high-school student whose love of reading inspired her to bring books to young children.

We also check in on people who were displaced by historic flooding in Kentucky. What’s happening now that we’re deep into winter?

And we find advice for people navigating the difficulties of caring for aging parents.You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

For working comedians, mean-spirited hecklers are part of the job. But what happens when someone gets angry enough to throw a beer?

And, West Virginia poet laureate Marc Harshman had his own experience with an intimidating gig.

We also hear some advice for people caring for aging relatives.

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

This week on Inside Appalachia, we go back to school with West Virginia women who are training to fill the shortage of construction jobs.

And, EMTs and first responders take care of Appalachian communities, but who’s watching out for them?

We’ll also talk with country music star Morgan Wade about what it’s like to play in Nashville one week and then return to your hometown stage the next.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear about a farm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that can grow a lot of agriculture on one acre of a former industrial site. We’ll also hear about a podcast that remembers the back to the land movement in West Virginia during the 1970s and 1980s — as well as a mysterious disappearance.

On this week’s episode, we’re journeying far and wide through Appalachia and beyond. Author Mesha Maren takes us from the hills of West Virginia to the Texas/Mexico border — the land of the Luchador. We’ll also hear about what West Virginians are doing to help Ukrainian refugees. And, we’ll learn about what doctors are saying about medical cannabis in the Mountain State — where it's now available to more than 8,000 patients.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we venture to southern Ohio to visit the last remaining washboard maker in the U.S. Its washboard’s aren’t just for laundry — but for music. And people come there to jam. 

We also speak with Elliott Stewart, who makes the zine Porch Beers. The zine tracks his life and travels, like his move from West Virginia and back again.

And we revisit our 20th anniversary celebration with Giles Snyder and Beth Vorhees, the founders and original hosts of Inside Appalachia.

This week on Inside Appalachia, we talk with James Beard-nominated West Virginia chefs Mike Costello and Amy Dawson, who serve up special dishes with stories behind them.   

And, we’ll visit an old-fashioned toy shop whose future was uncertain after its owners died, but has a new chance at life because of a twist of fate.

We’ll also be sharing a few memories of Christmas past, which may or may not resemble yours.

This week, one of the NFL’s oldest franchises began right here in Appalachia — in Portsmouth, Ohio.

And for some workers in the natural gas industry, unregulated, radioactive waste is part of the job.

We also revisit one of our most popular stories from 2022. It’s all about Appalachia’s contribution to America’s great pizza wars.

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

This week, we'll meet a man who has struggled with substance use disorder. Now, he’s a recovery coach.

We'll also meet a woman who started a farm and culinary training program to help people in recovery, and we'll learn about barn quilts in North Carolina.

And childhood friends who first started singing together 70 years ago show us why it’s never too late to begin again.

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