The Talking Appalachian Podcast

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If you're following Appalachian digital creators on social media, you've probably come across Appalachian_Bluebird, a vlog created by Southwest Virginia's Brittany Breeding. Inspired by her grandparents and upbringing in Meadowview, Virginia, Brittany shares what she learned from them, including features of her Appalachian dialect, folklore, the histories of old homes in the region, food culture, and funeral rituals. Her videos paired with research and a soothing voice have grown a following of close to 100k viewers who want to hear more about the place she calls home. We'll talk about Appalachia in the digital space, the book (and newspaper column) she's writing, and what we want our kids to remember about their homeplace. You'll also hear interludes of Brittany's content from @appalachian_bluebird.

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*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

*This is an edited repost of an August 29, 2024 episode*

The word “redneck” might have different connotations today, but its roots tell a very different story. In this episode, we trace the surprising history of the word, from its early association with solidarity among coal miners in the hills of Appalachia to its lasting mark on the American labor movement.

We journey to 1921 and the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed labor uprising in U.S. history, when thousands of miners tied red bandanas around their necks and marched for fair wages, safe working conditions, and dignity on the job. Their fight became a defining chapter in the struggle between working people and corporate power.

Along the way, we hear rare 1974 interviews (courtesy of Appalshop Archive) with two coal miners-Hobart Grills and John Tiller- who remember the stories passed down to them about the danger, the bravery, and the price of standing up against the coal companies.

Included in this episode: a discussion of the word "hillbilly" and what that means to me.

 If you think you know what a redneck or hillbilly is, this episode may change your mind. 

Music: "Roots" by Andy Bracken

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

 From mountain mists to coastal marshes, the American South is rich with stories that blur the line between weather, superstition, and the supernatural. In this episode, we explore the colorful world of Appalachian weather lore: old sayings and signs used to predict snow long before the weatherman came on the radio.

We’ll step onto haint blue porches in the Low Country, uncovering the Gullah-Geechee traditions behind this sky and water-blue paint that’s said to ward off restless spirits. Then, as night falls, we join a ghost walk in Charleston, South Carolina, where history and haunting intertwine in moonlit streets lined with live oaks. Finally, we end our low country journey at a most unusual grave.

I'm also talking about the r-deletion pattern in our Appalachian accents...one that came across the water from Ulster.

If you love folklore, dialect quirks, and tales that travel from the mountains to the marshes, this episode will have you listening with the lights on.

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

*This updated episode first aired on July 3, 2024*

Dog Days are upon us in Appalachia, stretching from July 3rd to August 11, but what does this 16th century phrase mean? Many of us in Appalachia have heard that dog days means avoiding swimming, touching bare feet to the morning dew, and taking care to avoid snakes. But why?

 Joining me in this episode is Shallon Payne of The Appalachian Homestead. For generations, her family has learned and passed on the  "old ways" of cultivating, foraging, hunting, and preserving their food. We'll talk about planting by the signs as well as some Dog Days folklore (and chilling superstitions), and what a dry or wet July can mean for the rest of the season.  

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

A coal miner's daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter from Eastern Kentucky, Tiffany Williams followed her dreams of singing and songwriting to Nashville. I knew her first as a writer and linguist, specializing in Appalachian dialects, a background that she continues to use in her work as a dialect coach for films set in the region. We'll talk about the intersections between her love of linguistics and music, and you'll hear interludes of one of Tiffany's beautiful songs, "When You Go."

You can find Tiffany's music and merchandise here

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

*This episode originally aired August 1, 2024*

Barbara Kingsolver's novel just keeps on giving: this month she opened the Higher Ground Women's Recovery Residence in my home county of Lee (VA) because, as she says in this episode, what Demon needed most was his mother. In this episode, the eastern Kentucky native gives her last talk on her novel, Demon Copperhead on the campus of The University of Virginia's College at Wise  following our discussion in Part I. She reads from the opening scene of the novel; talks about the places that inspired her in Lee County, Virginia (my home county and the setting for the book); expands on her extensive research process and how she found Demon's voice; and discusses the the recovery center she promised would be opening (and it did). Later, she talks about her writing process, what she's reading now, and what it was like to find out she had won the Pulitzer Prize.

Enjoy "The Waiting" by Tiffany Williams (https://tiffanymwilliams.com/about/)  in this episode, and stream more of her music on Spotify.

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

The Ballad of Falling Rock is one of the best novels I've read this year, so I was fortunate to be able to interview its author, Jordan Dotson. Listen in as we talk about his inspiration for the novel (which began with a snow day and no electricity) and the family stories that helped form the historical context for the novel. From the real tuberculosis sanatorium in Roanoke to the churches of the fictional town called Trinity, we'll explore the musical story that begins with Saul Crabtree and extends through the haunted generations who follow.

Get your copy of the novel and learn more about Jordan at Home - Jordan Dotson

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

This week, I'm collaborating with another podcaster, Kendra Winchester, from Appalachian Ohio. She hosts and produces the award-winning Read Appalachia podcast. Naturally, we're talking about books and authors, but also the way language shaped us, and how we grew into an understanding of what it means to be Appalachian.

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

Landon Bryant, author of Bless Your Heart: A Field Guide to All Things Southern and social media sensation @landontalks, launches Season 3 of the podcast. We'll talk about everything from hollers to waspers, Dolly and Loretta, cornbread and poke cakes, the overlap between deep South and Appalachian culture, literature and lore, and what being Southern means to us. 

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did you think of this episode?

Southern accents are in the news again (but they've really never left our hearts and minds). Maybe it was Parker Posey's White Lotus character from North Carolina, who stole hearts with her syrupy vowels that created the latest buzz. But the conversation always leads to: are Southern accents fading?

The short answer is, it's more complicated than a yes or no, but I'm tackling that question about Southern and Appalachian accents (as well as the overlap in Southern Appalachian) in this episode.

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review the podcast (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: [email protected] or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain