This week on Inside Appalachia, we’re talking about traditional ballads — how they tell stories and connect us to the past. These old tunes can mean so much. They can tap into difficult emotions and give feelings space to be heard. Some songs may even be too uncomfortable to sing.

situation himself. 

For his ongoing series Getting Into Their Reality: Caring For Aging Parents, he spoke with Chris Schneider, the director of communications for the Alzheimer's Foundation of America, about how to celebrate Mother’s Day when mom has dementia.

On this West Virginia Morning, the U.S. has officially canceled the designation of COVID-19 as a public health emergency in the country. Emily Rice has more.

On this West Virginia Morning, Kentucky author Barbara Kingsolver won a 2023 Pulitzer Prize in Fiction for her newest novel Demon Copperhead. In light of this achievement, we are listening back to our interview with Kingsolver last fall, when she was recognized as the 2022 Appalachian Heritage Writer-in-Residence at Shepherd University.

West Virginia-born fiddler Phillip Bowen writes songs that reflect love for the place he calls home. His descriptions of the people and places from his childhood touch the ear and heart like a sentimental postcard. But he’s also willing to share songs that remember those who’ve been marginalized or forgotten.

On this West Virginia Morning, we have an update on the NUCOR steel plant in Mason County and reports from May interims of the West Virginia Legislature.

On this West Virginia Morning, May is Mental Health Awareness Month, and last week a nationwide survey of the LGBTQ community revealed concerning numbers.

This week, a southern Ohio college writing class recently learned about the idea of Appalachian identity and then told us what they thought. Kentucky has a new poet laureate so we listen back to a 2020 conversation with author Silas House, about growing up in the mountains. And in Harlan Kentucky, a mural sparked strong opinions over possums.

On this West Virginia Morning, we travel two years back in time to 2021, when Inside Appalachia asked the question, “What is Appalachia?” Recently, the show received email responses from students in a writing class taught by Debra Nickles at Ohio University Chillicothe. Inside Appalachia host Mason Adams spoke with Nickles and her class about the assignment, which sparked a conversation about regional identity.

Sean O’Leary, senior policy analyst for the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, said the state could find itself with a shortfall instead of a surplus in the coming years. He spoke with energy and environment reporter Curtis Tate about the volatility of the severance tax.