On this West Virginia Morning, taxidermy fascinates a lot of people, but the actual work of preserving and mounting dead animals makes some uncomfortable, but not Amy Ritchie in Yadkin County, North Carolina. Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef visited Ritchie’s workshop and brought us this story.

On this West Virginia Morning, students from poor families are more likely to be suspended from school for bad behavior, and data from West Virginia reflects this national trend. We share an excerpt from our latest episode of Us & Them, where host Trey Kay talks with a Yale University researcher about tailored school discipline strategies.

On this West Virginia Morning, the Hope Scholarship program allows West Virginia students to apply state money toward private and parochial school tuition. And state officials say the program is growing.

In schools across the nation, when students of color misbehave, they are disciplined at twice the rate of white students. That means Black and brown students are more likely to face suspension or expulsion. West Virginia lawmakers worry students are not facing the right consequences for their misbehavior. A new state law is designed to make schools safer. In this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay looks at new approaches to school discipline.

On this West Virginia Morning, May is mental health awareness month. Randy Yohe speaks with state Emergency Medical Director Jody Ratliff on what’s being done to relieve the mental anguish first responders face on the job.

On this West Virginia Morning, electricity costs in West Virginia have grown faster than any surrounding state, according to a report by environmental consulting firm Downstream Strategies. Curtis Tate spoke with one of the authors of the report, Joey James, about what’s driving those increases, and what other states are doing differently.

This week on Inside Appalachia, a North Carolina potter is reviving an art form brought to America by enslaved Africans. We return to the town of Hindman, Kentucky, which endured catastrophic flooding last July, and get an update on the town’s recovery. We also talk with West Virginia poet Doug Van Gundy about disasters, and their relationship to art.

On this West Virginia Morning, face pottery turns up in art galleries and souvenir shops, but the style has a surprising origin. On this week’s Inside Appalachia, Folkways Reporter Zack Harold traced the story of Face Jugs, from a basement pottery studio in Shinston, West Virginia to Africa.

On this West Virginia Morning, earlier this year, a young West Virginian member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation traveled to Cuba on a humanitarian mission. Reporter Chris Schulz sat down with Jack Tensley to talk about his trip.

On this West Virginia Morning, West Virginia’s prison system has been in the news lately with deaths and staffing problems. A new report from the Prison Policy Initiative shows that the number of people incarcerated in the state is on the low end nationally. News Director Eric Douglas spoke with Wanda Bertram, the group's communication strategist, about the report.