podcast Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

On this West Virginia Week, rules are in the works for data centers, lawmakers request a meeting with Flock, and the fate of West Virginia's chestnuts. 

Bill Lynch is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. 

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week's biggest news in the Mountain State. It's produced with help from Bill Lynch, Chris Schulz, Eric Douglas and Maria Young. 

Learn more about West Virginia Week. 

Ballads tell stories about all kinds of real-life events, but after Hurricane Helene, one group of ballad singers felt some topics were still too raw. 

Also, the author of a book on ancient Ohio credits a former grad student with introducing him to the region’s mysterious earthworks. 

And, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage.

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

In This Episode:

When Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina in 2024, it took lives and upended communities. A community of ballad singers lost a place where they could share their tradition. The storm set them back, but it didn’t stop them. And what might’ve seemed lost could be restored.  

From Marshall, North Carolina, Sarah Melotte reports for the Rural Remix, a podcast from the Center for Rural Strategies.

Climate change has affected the seasons and made weather less predictable. And severe storms and flooding are causing damage to wildlife habitat. Kylie Frederick is a journalism student at West Virginia University (WVU), and reports that protecting amphibians, like frogs and salamanders, can start at home. 

Researchers have spent nearly 20 years restoring a threatened species of orchid in southern Kentucky. Those efforts were disrupted after a tornado last spring. For the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, WEKU’s Lily Burris went to Mount Victory to learn about the recovery.

Thousands of years ago, Indigenous people created hundreds of earthen monuments in what is now Ohio, Kentucky and West Virginia. Some were burial mounds. Others were curious shapes and designs whose purposes are not entirely understood.  

John E. Hancock, a professor of architecture and design at the University of Cincinnati, has spent years studying these earthworks. Last year, he published Traveler's Guide to Ancient Ohio. If you want to visit these ancient sites, it’s a good place to start.  

Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Hancock about the book. 

According to the West Virginia Department of Environmental Protection (WVDEP), there are more than 6,000 abandoned or orphaned natural gas wells in the state. But some advocates say that number is low.

WVPB’s News Director Eric Douglas visited a few.   

As the healthcare industry cuts unprofitable rural hospitals, small towns across Appalachia are paying the price. 

WPLN’s Pierce Gentry takes us to Jellico, Tennessee, where the local government is struggling to reopen its only hospital.

Affrilachian poet and playwright Norman Jordan was a prominent voice in the Black Arts Movement through the 1960s and 1970s. He was also one of the most published poets in the region, anthologized in at least 42 books. He died in 2015 at the age of 77. Along with his writing, Jordan left another legacy: a summer camp for teens to learn music, theater and dance.

Last summer, Folkways Reporter Traci Phillips visited the Norman Jordan African American Arts and Heritage Academy in Westover, West Virginia.

In 2023, we reported on the appearance of armadillos as far north as Virginia. Now, they’re being found in Kentucky, which is seen as another indicator of rising temperatures in the region. For the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom, LPM’s Giselle Rhoden has more on how the species has made its way north from South America.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Blue Dot Sessions, Hello June, Paul Loomis, Jeff Ellis and John Inghram. 

Bill Lynch is our producer. Abby Neff is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from Folkways Editor Nicole Musgrave.

You can send us an email: [email protected].

You can find us on Instagram, Threads or here on Facebook.

Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

On this West Virginia Morning, when Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina in 2024, it took lives and upended communities. A community of ballad singers lost a place where they could share their tradition, but what was lost could be restored. For the Rural Remix podcast, Sarah Melotte reports. 

Also, the state treasurer's office has released its latest analysis of potential tax revenue from data centers.

And, thousands of West Virginia students will get access to academic support and extensive career and college guidance, thanks to a $9 million federal award to the state’s Higher Education Policy Commission (HEPC).  

Finally, a wide range of medical and dental services will be offered at no cost in Charleston on Saturday.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content. 

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Chris Schulz, Eric Douglas and Maria Young.

Eric Douglas is our news director. Teresa Wills is our host. Maria Young is our producer.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:49 a.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

On this West Virginia Morning, in Mason County, West Virginia, new data center developments are changing local landscapes and communities. One of the computing campuses is also threatening a special stand of trees. Reporter Andrea “River” Peterson reports. 

Also, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) has rejected a proposal from energy grid operator PJM that would have prioritized other customers over data centers.

And, state educational leaders are taking action on school funding issues.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Eric Douglas produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:49 a.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

On this West Virginia Morning, the changing colors of the leaves and the dropping temperatures of fall bring with them calls to get vaccinated against the flu. But in recent years, that call to action has expanded. Reporter Chris Schulz spoke with Dr. Brian Huggins, Monongalia County health officer and medical director, about when to get vaccinated. 

Also, state lawmakers have requested that representatives from surveillance company Flock appear at an upcoming committee meeting. 

And, House Democrats have renewed their push for a special session to cut the gas tax in light of record high prices.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:49 a.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

On this West Virginia Morning, it’s not often that we associate West Virginia's obesity rates with good news – but data released last month from the nonprofit Trust for America's Health (TFAH) finds West Virginia is one of just two states nationwide to show a significant drop in adult obesity rates. Assistant News Director Maria Young caught up with Takisha Dawan Everett, executive vice president of TFAH, to find out what's causing the decline – and whether it's likely to continue. 

Also, voters in Harrison County will see a new kind of levy on their ballots Nov. 3.

And, a fraternity on the West Virginia University (WVU) campus in Morgantown has just a few more days to respond to a suspension handed down Friday following allegation of hazing. 

Finally, the Public Service Commission of West Virginia (PSC) is currently working on rules for the energy used to supply data centers, and a state senator wants to make sure ratepayers are protected.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:49 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

On this West Virginia Week, a mine operation in Kanawha County gets a WARN Notice, three Wyoming County Schools will remain closed until next week, and we learn the origins of the Flatwoods Monster. 

Bill Lynch is our host this week. Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. 

West Virginia Week is a web-only podcast that explores the week's biggest news in the Mountain State. It's produced with help from Bill Lynch, Chris Schulz, Eric Douglas and Maria Young. 

Learn more about West Virginia Week. 

Barbara Kingsolver’s new novel takes on issues of class and classical music. 

Also, kudzu warriors band together to fend off invasive plants and take back the land.

And, it’s pawpaw season. But a new bug could be harming the trees.

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

In This Episode:

Barbara Kingsolver is one of Appalachia’s foremost writers. She’s written a string of bestsellers, like The Poisonwood Bible, and developed a devoted readership around the world. Her 2022 novel, Demon Copperhead, won the Pulitzer Prize. 

Kingsolver has a new book out. It's called Partita. It tracks Livia, a middle-aged woman in Tennessee, as she receives a call from an old lover that brings up memories of her youth and threatens to disrupt the life she’s built since then. It’s a story about young, obsessive love, mature love and the love of art — in Livia’s case, music.

Host Mason Adams met with Kingsolver at her home outside Abingdon, Virginia, a couple weeks before her new novel was set to publish.

Generations ago, kudzu was introduced to Appalachia to help control erosion and provide forage for cattle. But then, it kind of just took over. Kudzu is an invasive plant that chokes out native greenery. Some people are fighting back.

Folkways Reporter Eliza Benbow spent time with the kudzu warriors in western North Carolina.

We are currently in that very narrow window that is pawpaw season. The fruit can be found throughout the eastern part of the U.S., but especially here in Appalachia. It’s a hardy tree, resistant to some common garden nuisances like rabbits and deer, but a threat from an invasive beetle has emerged.  

The Ohio Newsroom’s Erin Gottsacker spoke with Chris Chmiel, a farmer who grows and processes pawpaws. 

The radio quiet zone sprawls over nearly 13,000 square miles in West Virginia, Virginia and Maryland. Because of sensitive government work, use of technology most of us take for granted, like microwave ovens or wireless phone service, is limited there. 

A cell phone can’t place a call or access the internet. 

The restrictions complicate how modern firefighters, police and first responders in the area can do their jobs.   

A new federal study highlights the problem. WVPB’s Maria Young spoke with Rick Gillespie with Pendleton County, West Virginia, Emergency Management, which is in the zone.

Every October, hundreds of BASE jumpers head to the New River Gorge Bridge in West Virginia. They come to leap from the 876-foot tall bridge, pull their parachutes and aim for the banks of the river below.  

In 2024, high school students Dylan Neil and Noah Fox spoke with BASE jumper Marcus Ellison, who helps organize the event.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Blue Dot Sessions, John Blissard and John Inghram. 

Bill Lynch is our producer. Abby Neff is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Irina Zhorov is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from Folkways Editor Molly Born. 

You can send us an email: [email protected].

You can find us on Instagram, Threads or here on Facebook.

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

On this West Virginia Morning, Barbara Kingsolver is one of Appalachia’s foremost writers. She’s written a string of bestsellers, like The Poisonwood Bible and Demon Copperhead, which won her the Pulitzer Prize. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams met Kingsolver at her home outside Abingdon, Virginia, to talk art, writing and her latest book, Partita. We listen to an excerpt from that interview. 

Also, state officials are speaking out against a proposal to end landline phone service in West Virginia.

And, three more West Virginia counties have been awarded federal disaster assistance.

Finally, Halloween is still several weeks away, but Shepherdstown is getting a jump on spooky season.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting which is solely responsible for its content. 

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Chris Schulz, Eric Douglas and Maria Young.

Eric Douglas is our news director. Teresa Wills is our host. Maria Young is our producer.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:49 a.m. on West Virginia Public Broadcasting or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginia has seen the largest population decline in the nation - nearly 1.5% - and many of those leaving are young people. In an episode that aired last month, Us & Them host Trey Kay heard from some young people who think they may stay in the state to launch their futures. This month, Kay talks with those who say living their dreams may well require moving away from the Mountain State. We listen to an excerpt from the latest Us & Them.  

Also, state lawmakers have warned surveillance company Flock Safety they may compel company officials to testify if they don't respond to questions by Friday.

And, three schools in Wyoming County will remain closed until next week after a mysterious skin infection has affected dozens of students.   

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:49 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning