Inside Appalachia

For this episode of Inside Appalachia, we’re taking another listen to an episode we originally aired in January of this year, featuring stories about the ongoing struggle to rebuild from the 2016 West Virginia flood and the work yet to be done to make sure it doesn’t happen again.

In this episode of Inside Appalachia, we hear how religious leaders are adapting to change and finding ways to continue helping people find solace and peace during the pandemic.

The recent killing of George Floyd by a police officer in Minnesota has reignited the Black Lives Matter movement, sparking protests across this country, including in several cities in W.Va. It has launched candid conversations about long held institutionalized and systemic racism and brought forth stories of individuals that are vital to understanding injustice in our country.

Culture can connect us to our kindred spirits across great distances, even during a global pandemic. It helps build bridges in other ways, too. In this episode of Inside Appalachia, we hear stories about cultural ties that bind us to people across the globe.

In honor of Father’s Day, this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia is dedicated to dads.

Protests against police killing unarmed black Americans continue across the country, including here in Appalachia. Tens of thousands of people have taken to the streets in recent weeks protesting the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor among others. These protesters seek an end to police brutality and many point to our nation’s long history with systemic racism.

People in our region have made spirits for hundreds of years. Some even say Appalachians are among the best at making whiskey and moonshine, but this history is sometimes coupled with negative stereotypes. Outsiders have long portrayed Appalachians as dangerous, lawless moonshiners.

This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia is about perseverance through music, stories and art. We’ll introduce you to some folks from the other side of the ocean who have deep connections to Appalachia, and discover reflections of our own cultural identity in their stories.

We’re focusing on the power of experiential learning in this episode of Inside Appalachia . We’ll look at how students learn life, academic and practical skills through career and technical education (CTE) programs. The goal of these programs is often to give students an idea of what kind of career they might want to go into after high school. In a rural Wetzel County, W.Va., community, there’s a high school program that not only has kids raising animals, but they are also processing the meat

There is a deep connection among generations that holds steady for many families across central Appalachia. Perhaps it’s a combination of shared struggles and enduring repeated cycles of economic boom and bust. Maybe it’s our deep ties to the land that help bind so many of us to our past — after all, these mountains are among the oldest on the planet. While many Appalachians have fled the region in search of better opportunities, many of them we interview on Inside Appalachia tell us about the