Inside Appalachia

During a pandemic, where do you give birth? 

Also, we’ll have the story of a family that cultivated an heirloom tomato in West Virginia. It took a lot of work. 

And, a musical tradition brought people together — even when they couldn’t gather in person.

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

It’s been five years since the COVID-19 lockdowns. An album made during that time is getting a re-release on vinyl.

Also, a Kentucky tattoo artist practices traditional tattooing and traditional music. He says they’re not too different.

And, what keeps people so fascinated with cryptids?

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

This week, a beloved West Virginia hotdog restaurant closed in 2018. An annual tribute sale gives people a chance to relive its glory days.  

Also, a West Virginia town can trace its beginnings to the first place its founders lived — a giant stump.

And a few people still farm the way folks did before tractors — with horses. 

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

In the 1930s, hundreds of mostly African American workers died digging the Hawk’s Nest Tunnel. A photographer brings their stories to life. 

When Jerry Machen began making art from old carpets, his wife Linda wasn’t impressed. 

And a new exhibit shares the cultures of Indigenous people who call Appalachia home. 

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

This week, we talk with East Tennessee’s Amythyst Kiah. Her new album contemplates the cosmos.

Also, hair salons are important gathering places where Black women can find community. 

And West Virginia poet Torli Bush uses story to tackle tough subjects. 

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

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

Also, an Asheville musician’s latest guitar album is a call to arms.

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

This week, we visit a summer camp that’s part of the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan.

Also, during the Great Depression, Osage, West Virginia was a raucous river town. It’s sleepier now, but music is keeping the magic alive.

And, the author of an upcoming graphic novel about pipeline fighters has a message for people outside the region. 

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

This week, we visit the Seeing Hand Association. They bring together people who are visually impaired to learn the craft of chair caning.

Corporate greed has been gobbling up newspapers for years. Now, some of those same companies are taking a bite out of mobile home parks. They’re raising rents and letting repairs slide.

And, as the Mountain Valley Pipeline nears completion, people who live near it say government officials are ignoring their concerns about pollution.

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

This week, Inside Appalachia speaks with the author of a new graphic novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars. The labor struggle culminated in the largest armed uprising since the Civil War.

Also, professional storyteller James Froemel invents quirky characters, like a sign maker who can't spell. Froemel’s stories are drawn from small town life.

And, one of the most common animals to get hit by cars are possums. But, there’s a kind of animal rescue called pouch picking. We talk with author Laura Jackson. 

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

This week, a West Virginia baker draws on her Finnish heritage to make a different kind of cinnamon roll.

Also, for nearly a century, some of Appalachia’s best wood carvers have trained at a North Carolina folk school. Newcomers are still welcomed in to come learn the craft.

And, a conversation with Kentucky poet Willie Carver Jr. 

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