Mothman in the Bible Belt

The Primary Election in West Virginia is May 10th. Early voting is on its final week. Many West Virginia voters are unaware of how their elected reps in the West Virginia Legislature vote. Activist/blogger Jeremy Brannon recently wrote a scathing article on how candidates endorsed by West Virginia "Progressive" political organizations WV Working Families Party and WV Can't Wait voted titled "W.Va. 'Progressives' Sticky Situation: The 2022 Election". 

In the blog, Brannon details voting records pertaining to the environment, civil liberties, taxes and worker rights. Most of the Progressive political organizations endorsed candidates' voting records don't align with the organization's supposed Progressive ideals and values.

This podcast episode breaks down Brannon's 2-year critique of the "Progressives" voting record on top of self-destructive Republican votes. WV Can't Wait's claim that none of their candidates took corporate money is debunked as well. Also discussed, the Charleston mayoral race. 

WV Democratic Party Indigenous Caucus co-chair Seth "Thunder" Sturm is the guest. He gives his thoughts on the endorsed candidates votes. 

Sturm is currently running for the WV Democratic Executive Committee. Sturm's presence on this podcast episode is not an endorsement of the Democratic Party.

That West Virginia Music Show host Nathaniel James dishes on his new show and the West Virginia music scene. James also gives his two cents on Dolly Parton asking to have her Rock and Roll Hall of Fame nomination rescinded, Wheeler Walker Jr., and Madonna using sex to sell her music in her sixties. 

Self-Injury Awareness educator Sarah Fox discusses her life in and out of the foster care system and experiencing homelessness as an adult. Fox also dishes on slumlords, unaffordable housing, and her experiences with homeless service providers in West Virginia.  

Copyright © 2022 Jeremy Brannon. All Rights Reserved.

Charleston, West Virginia is a dead zone when it comes to readily available good paying opportunities. Poverty, drug addiction and crime thrive in Charleston. Police brutality geared towards black people and the homeless are common occurrences. Homeless encampments and panhandling have become the norm in Downtown Charleston and on the West Side. HIV rates among IV injection users are rising.

Last year Charleston City Council moved to make it a misdemeanor crime for anyone to operate a harm reduction program without having it first licensed with the West Virginia Bureau for Public Health. The issue at hand is needs-based verses one-for-one harm reduction programs. 

Charleston Mayor Amy Goodwin isn't doing much to address these societal ills. She's more concerned with beautifying the city and painting over the ugliness that exists here than taking bold corrective action to make Charleston a thriving city for all. Democratic mayoral candidate Martec Washington shares his vision for Charleston and how he will reverse these trends if elected.

Copyright © 2022 Jeremy Brannon. All Rights Reserved.

Nuclear Power is a controversial subject. After incidents at nuclear power plants at Three Mile Island, Chernobyl and Fukushima the public has greatly frowned upon nuclear energy. Nuclear energy is costly, not as clean as nuclear advocates claim and there are serious safety concerns about it. Some quasi-environmentalists/climate change activists are advocating for nuclear energy to be used as an alternative to fossil fuels while others are questioning whether or not these people have lost their god damn minds.

On the 11th episode of the Mothman in the Bible Belt Podcast Nuclear Information and Resource Service’s Radioactive Waste Project Director Diane D’Arrigo discusses the ins and outs of nuclear energy and nuclear power plants, including proposed small modular nuclear reactors.

The West Virginia Legislature’s proposed repeal of the state’s nuclear power plant ban is also discussed. Two so-called “environmentalists” spoke in favor of HB 2882(one of two bills that would repeal West Virginia’s nuclear power plant ban) at a recent public hearing at the West Virginia State Capitol. Snippets of this public hearing are intertwined in the podcast episode. 

The interview with Diane D’Arrigo took place on January 21st, 2022. The public hearing on HB 2882 took place on January 28th, 2022. HB 2882's sister bill, SB 4, passed the WV House of Delegates on January 31st, 3-days after the public hearing took place. SB 4 currently sits on Gov. Jim Justice's desk. 

Copyright © 2022 Jeremy Brannon. All Rights Reserved.

Ever wonder how billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk and Michael Bloomberg got away with paying no federal income taxes for a few years and you didn’t? ProPublica senior editor and reporter Jesse Eisinger discusses the popular article he co-authored in June 2021, “The Secret IRS Files: Trove of Never-Before-Seen Records Reveal How the Wealthiest Avoid Income Tax” and how the current tax system is rigged for the ultra-wealthy.

We also discuss Julian Assange, the Build Back Better Act, the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster, Donald Trump’s tax returns, and how federal COVID-19 relief money was spent.

In 2011, Eisinger won a Pulitzer Prize award for National Reporting for his and Jake Bernstein’s reporting on questionable Wall Street practices that contributed to the 2008 United States financial crisis.  In 2017, Eisinger released his book “The Chicken Sh*t Club” about how the U.S. Justice Department went light on corporate criminals after Enron.

Copyright © 2021 Jeremy Brannon. All Rights Reserved.

Affordable housing is a problem many Americans face. Millions of Americans work two or more low-wage paying jobs to simply survive. Affordable housing expert Flora Valdes-Depena discusses affordable housing options being deployed across the country such as inclusionary zoning, community land trusts, source of income discrimination laws and rent control. Valdes-Depena works for an affordable housing research and policy organization in Richmond, Virginia.

Copyright © 2021 Jeremy Brannon. All Rights Reserved. 

Environmental freelance journalist Justin Nobel takes Mothman in the Bible Belt Podcast listeners on a scary journey through the oil and gas industry. Nobel discusses in great length the workplace safety and public health threats that both fracking and conventional oil and natural gas extraction poses to Americans.

Nobel wrote a popular Rolling Stone article on fracking last year titled "America's Radioactive Secret." We talk about the article, fracking in West Virginia and across the United States, and his upcoming book on the podcast. Besides Rolling Stone, Nobel's work has been featured in Desmog, Audubon, National Geographic, Time, and Newsweek.

Copyright © 2021 Jeremy Brannon. All Rights Reserved.

Native American activist, podcaster and co-chair of the West Virginia Democratic Party's Indigenous Caucus, Seth Sturm, alleges there's racists in the West Virginia Democratic Party... and he names names and the alleged racist acts committed. Sturm is also a member of the WVDP Affirmative Action Caucus. Sturm discusses the Affirmative Action caucus being booted from the West Virginia Democratic Party's June 3rd, 2021 Zoom meeting where the affirmative action plan was being debated with no input from the AAC, and how WV Can't Wait endorsed WV House candidate Selina Vickers is allegedly using BIPOC folks to further her own political agenda in the party and whether or not that's a good thing. 

This podcast interview is important because it highlights that racism and racist attitudes are not only prevalent in the Republican Party but also in the Democratic Party as well. 

Copyright © Jeremy Brannon 2021. All Rights Reserved.

West Virginia-raised actor, comedian and writer Sam Pancake dishes on  his early life in West Virginia, film and television roles, famous  friends, getting sober, and how he got from point A to point B in life. 

Sam Pancake appeared in 109 television and movie roles and counting, and  numerous commercials and theatrical productions. Pancake is a WVU alum.  He currently stars as Carter Nash on ABC's 'A Million Little Things.'  

Pancake is best known for his roles on Kitchen Confidential, Lovespring International, Arrested Development, Pretty and Will and Grace. He also  had parts in movies like Legally Blonde 2, Dumplin, Out West, the Hungover Games and Gia.    

Copyright © Jeremy Brannon 2021. All Rights Reserved.