Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear from residents in Kentucky who were denied aid. We’ll also hear a special documentary about the Buffalo Creek Flood of 1972, one of the worst catastrophes in U.S. history.

Think back to your American history class. We all learned about the Civil War, but what did you learn about the years after the war ended? On Inside Appalachia this week, we’ll hear how that history parallels events today. We’ll also learn about a women’s mountain biking group called the Roanoke Valley Riveters, how a dance company in Asheville has adapted during the pandemic, and hear about a podcast that features first-hand accounts of West Virginia healthcare workers. 

Valentine’s Day gets a lot of flack for being sappy, cliché or just a marketing ploy by card and chocolate companies. But we tend to think there is more to it than that. So, for this episode of Inside Appalachia, we asked our listeners for their best Appalachian love stories.

We’ll also talk with a biologist and a philosopher on whether animals can feel love. We'll also hear conversations about grief after losing a partner, falling out of love, and dates that didn't go according to plan. 

This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia features stories about a West Virginia black metal band that plays songs about local history. We’ll also hear how folks are helping make skiing, whitewater rafting, and rock climbing more accessible to people in West Virginia. And while labor struggles in Appalachia historically included coal miners, we’ll hear how other workers in other industries have attempted to unionize in the past year. 

Making Skiing More Affordable

During the winter, a lot of people are getting out and skiing, but the sport has a high cost to entry. Lift tickets can cost upwards of $200 a day. But in West Virginia, there are grassroot efforts to make skiing and other outdoor sports more affordable. Part of that effort is headed up by Corey Lilly, the director of Outdoor Economic Development in the City of Beckley. Inside Appalachia co-host Caitlin Tan spoke with Lilly about bridging the economic gap in the outdoor sports world.

Black Metal In Appalachia

Appalachia is home to creators of all kinds, including heavy-metal musicians. In fact, there’s a movement of musicians across the region who play a strain of music known as black metal. An example is the band Nechochwen, from northern West Virginia. The band plays songs about local history and Native American heritage. Aaron Carey, who makes up half the band, spoke with Inside Appalachia co-host Mason Adams from his home in Wellsburg, West Virginia.

Fast Food And Steel Workers Attempt Unionization

There’s recently been a resurgence of labor activism across West Virginia. We often think of unions in the context of coal miners’ strikes, but workers in other industries are organizing too, as Ohio Valley ReSource reporter Katie Myers reports.

Helping Children Who’ve Experienced Trauma

No matter who you are or where you’re from, adversity is part of being human. A federal study found that more than 60 percent of people surveyed had what’s known as an adverse childhood experience. This could include violence, abuse, neglect, or an unstable living situation.

Research shows that trauma in childhood can lead to chronic mental and physical problems later in life. Even one event can cause problems. But what happens when children experience multiple traumas?

This week, we feature an excerpt from the Us & Them podcast, hosted by Trey Kay. He introduces us to a grandmother raising her granddaughter who experienced trauma at an early age. We’ll hear how the child is doing today, and the challenges her grandmother has faced in helping her grandchild heal. 

Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Nechochwen, Dog and Gun, Wes Swing, and Dinosaur Burps. Roxy Todd is our producer. Our interim executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi also helped produce this episode. Alex Runyan is our new Associate Producer. 

This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia is packed with stories from across central Appalachia, featuring creative people who are finding ways to address a wide-range of problems. We’ll hear how urban farmers in Pittsburgh are helping fight food insecurity, and how two musicians in North Carolina are finding help for people in addiction. We’ll learn why homelessness is on the rise in parts of Appalachia, and why people who have been through recent tornadoes in Kentucky need mental health assistance . We’ll also hear how climate change is changing  the ski industry in Appalachia, and how ski resorts are getting creative with snow-making. And we’ll meet a West Virginia-raised punk rocker who wrote a novel that’s part thriller, part commentary on the drug epidemic.

Schools are facing unprecedented staff shortages – here in Appalachia and across the country. In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear what teachers and schools are up against, and what solutions could help keep more educators from burning out. We’ll also hear what could bring more teachers home to teach in the communities where they grew up.

For some, winter can be a difficult time -- dark and cold. For others, time outside in the winter is a powerful experience. Getting outside can also be one way to help with the stress. In this episode of Inside Appalachia, we’ll go outside into a cold, crisp forest on a winter hike. 

We’ll also learn about a group of Italian immigrants who escaped religious persecution and moved to the mountains of North Carolina. They brought cultural traditions, including winemaking, to this small pocket of Appalachia. And we’ll also delight in one town's twist on the classic West Virginia slaw dog — the “Marmet yellow slaw dog.” The dish has been around since the 1930s but isn’t widely known outside the tiny town in Kanawha County where it’s made.

People in coal country are pleading for help as coal’s decline accelerates. This week on Inside Appalachia, we explore the economic and health impacts coal has had on coal communities in Appalachia. We’ll talk  about the past and the future of this industry, through the lens of its labor history, to the climate crisis. And we’ll hear from members of Indigenous communities on how they feel about the future of coal. 

Coal’s been in slow decline here for decades, but really accelerated in the last 10 years. That’s meant hard times for communities that have long relied on it for jobs and taxes. There are sixty six percent fewer jobs today in West Virginia coal mining now than there were 50 years ago -- and experts don’t predict a comeback. But we’re not alone; other places around the world face similar dilemmas. We learn what people in West Germany did fifty years ago - when coal executives and political leaders had to make tough decisions when it came to the future of coal, and their home.

What Is The Future For Appalachia’s Power Plants?

Lawmakers across our country and the world are debating the future of our energy policy. Scientists agree, to prevent the worst effects of climate change, we must significantly reduce our carbon emissions, and we have to do it quickly. 

For much of the world, the answer is to phase out coal, but the issue is political and complicated. Kentucky is one of those places that’s starting to shift away from coal — in a way that West Virginia is not. Curtis Tate is a reporter here at West Virginia Public Broadcasting who covers energy and the environment and he’s been tracking this story. Inside Appalachia producer, Roxy Todd, spoke with Tate about about where Kentucky and West Virginia are headed. Are we going to continue to produce electricity from coal, and for how long?

Indigenous Activists Talk About Coal And The Economy 

There’s a longstanding relationship between Appalachian coalfields and those in the Mountain West. During the anti-strip mining campaigns of the mid-2000s, concerned community members in both regions traveled to support each other’s efforts. Those connections continue today. 

Lessons From West Germany

The Mountain State isn’t the only place to reckon with the difficulty of transitioning away from a coal economy into something different.

West Germany emerged from World War II as one of the leading coal and steel producers in the world. Then, in the 1960s, oil emerged as a competitor, and the country found itself in the midst of an economic crisis. But there, the emergency prompted a strange and unusual alliance.

Pittsburgh’s Transition Away From Steel 

Another way to examine this issue is by looking at our neighbors to the north. In Pittsburgh, the collapse of the steel industry in the 1980s prompted existing businesses to retool for a new reality. But it took decades.

Smaller companies are more adaptable, and they were a big part of Pittsburgh’s renewal. Aided by lots of government funding, as well as help from philanthropic organizations, entrepreneurs created smaller start-up industries in tech, the arts, and restoration of the city’s historic resources.

Battle Of Blair Mountain

Also in this episode, we travel back in time a hundred years, to when West Virginia was home to our nation’s largest labor uprising. The Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921 was a watershed moment when coal workers decided their rights were worth fighting — and even dying — for. The armed insurrection pitted 10,000 coal miners against 3,000 heavily armed guards and state troopers.

Women Coal Miners

As a young woman, Anita Cecil McBride followed in her father’s footsteps and became an underground coal miner. Reporter Jessica Lilly visited with McBride to talk about her journey into the “man’s world” of mining.

In the latest episode of Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear stories from creators across Appalachia and how they process their lives through their art, including songwriting, photography and self-published zines. We’ll talk with a climber who challenged the climbing community to rename racist and sexist route names, and won. Also in this episode, West Virginia singer and songwriter John R. Miller brings us up-to-speed on his new album. 

Cryptid Glass Art

Blenko Glass is based in Milton, West Virginia. At the beginning of the pandemic, the company took a huge hit and had to lay off nearly all of its employees. But thanks to a federal loan and some clever marketing, they’ve rehired almost everyone back and had one of their most profitable years in decades.

New River Gorge Guidebook Renames Route Names

In October 2020, we talked with West Virginia rock climbers who took on racist, sexist and other offensive route names in the New River Gorge. DJ Grant is a Black climber who helped kickstart the effort to change offensive names that were found throughout the Gorge. The routes — and the pioneering climbers who made them — are recorded in a two-volume guidebook called “New River Rock,” which contains about 3,000 rock-climbing routes in the Gorge and surrounding areas. Last year, Grant and others asked the New River Alliance of Climbers to change some of those route names to get rid of racist and offensive language. A new edition of the book hit shelves this July. Inside Appalachia reporter Zack Harold checked in with Grant on the latest.

John R. Miller

Singer and songwriter John R. Miller grew up in West Virginia’s Eastern Panhandle in a small town called Hedgesville. He’s gotten pretty well known across the state and has performed on West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s Mountain Stage a few times. Now, he’s got a new album called “Depreciated.”

Three Women Come Together To Form Asheville Band

Asheville, North Carolina, is known for its vibrant music scene. It’s a destination for touring musicians, but it’s home to a thriving local scene, too, anchored by record stores, small venues and house shows. The Smoky Mountain Sirens were formed by three women who’d played in multiple Asheville bands, and as Blue Ridge Mountain Radio’s Matt Peiken reports, they decided to try something new.

North Carolina Author Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle

Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle is a member of the Eastern Band of Cherokee in North Carolina. In late 2020, she published her first novel, “Even As We Breathe.” It's a mystery of sorts, set at an upscale mountain resort, and as great books always do, it calls us to think hard about the world around us. NPR's Neda Ulaby visited the author near the reservation where she grew up.

Appalachian Zines

A zine, in essence, is a self-published magazine. A zine can be big and glossy, but it’s a lot more likely to be produced by an individual person, often handwritten and made on a photocopier, with the paper folded and stapled. Artist and designer Suzie Kelly has been making zines for more than half of her lifetime. She eventually moved to Florida where she went to a couple of zine fests and got fired up again. When she moved to Johnson City several years ago, she asked, “Why not have a zine fest here, too?”

In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia, we explore stories about the power of memory and tradition. Listeners across Appalachia share some of their favorite traditions, and our reporters and hosts share some of our family traditions, too. We’ve got recipes for things like cranberry salad and sorghum gingerbread. Reporter Zack Harold tells us how his family began a unique tradition of hunting for Easter eggs on Christmas Eve. We travel to a farm in Bluefield, Virginia, where goats sing along to Christmas carols, played on an organ.  

Co-host Caitlin Tan shares her grandmother’s recipe for stollen, a special German sweet bread that she makes each Christmas. And co-host Mason Adams sits down with his mom to talk about baking cookies during the holidays. 

Singing Goats

There is a tradition in Appalachia of observing “Old Christmas” on January 6. Folklore suggests that animals speak in the middle of the night on Old Christmas.

But it turns out, you don’t have to wait till Jan. 6 to hear goats singing to Christmas carols. 

We heard about these music-loving goats through Connie Bailey-Kitts, who lives in Bluefield, Virginia. Her goats love to listen to a church organ she keeps on her property. The organ dates back to the 1920s. “If they hear the music playing, they'll come down from the field when the organ’s playing," she said. "And the organ’s really, really powerful. It’s got a really big sound, and they're drawn to it."

Bailey-Kitts said her goats will lift their ears up like they're trying to catch more of the sound of the organ. 

“I think they don't know quite what to make of it," she said. "It doesn't intimidate them either. It's just amazing.”

Gingerbread

Folkways Corps reporter Connie Bailey-Kitts brings us a story about her family’s gingerbread recipe, using homemade sorghum.

The recipe is passed down from her grandmother, Alice Bailey, who was widowed shortly before the stock market crashed in 1929. Sugar was expensive and scarce, but sorghum was easy to grow on their mountain land. You could boil down its juice to a thick sweet syrup. It technically wasn’t “molasses” (which comes from sugar) but it looked so much like it, it was called sorghum molasses.

Our Inside Appalachia theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Ritchie Collins, The Ritch Collins Three-O, Bortex, Blue Dot Sessions, Ross Hollow and their song “Appalachian Love Song”, written by Stuart and Annalee Johnson-Kwochka, and Josh Ritter and Corey Chisel as heard on Mountain Stage. 

Roxy Todd is our producer. Our executive producer is Andrea Billups. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. Zander Aloi and Eric Douglas also helped produce this episode. You can find us on Twitter @InAppalachia. You can also send us an email to [email protected].