This Conversation

Ben Beakes is President of the Metallurgical Coal Producers Association and he wants people to understand the difference between hot-burning Met Coal and the thermal coal that is used for making electricity. Met coal is used to make steel -- and represents 90% of coal production these days. He talks about mining potential, regulations, safety, technology, and addresses concerns about climate change in the industry that is being transformed.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

Dr. Linda Dobkins, Professor of Economics, uses a dog as a metaphor for current inflation and efforts by the Federal Reserve to control it. You are sure to come away with a better understanding of economic issues by listening to Dr. Dobkins in this interview. Aired June 29, 2022.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

Taysha DeVaughan has announced her candidacy for the Virginia 9th District Congressional seat. She will be challenging 11-year incumbent Congressman Morgan Griffith.

How did this member of the Comanche nation, born in Oklahoma, find her way to Southwest Virginia, where settled in Wise, Virginia, and wound up as a Governor Northam appointee to the Virginia Council on Environmental Justice?

Interview first aired on July 6, 2022.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

WCYB-TV reporter Andrew McClung is responding to the common complaint that there's never any good news. In a new series called "The Good Stuff" on the NBC affiliate in Bristol, Virginia, he will introduce viewers to people who are making the world around them better -- whether it's an almost 90 year old who still makes his popular fried chicken every week for students in a nearby college cafeteria or an artist who paints rocks and leaves them to be found by people in his county.

Andrew is a graduate of Emory & Henry College's Dept. of Mass Communication and worked at WSLS-TV in Roanoke, VA prior to coming to WCYB.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

Adam Bolt is a well-known singer-songwriter, based in Abingdon Virginia, with a large following for his "heart-hewn melodies." And, these melodies have garnered several significant awards:

2018 1st Winner "Over All" Gathering in the Gap 2018 1st Place winner in the Richard Leigh Songwriters Competition 2016 2nd place winner in the Richard Leigh Songwriters Competition 2015 2nd place winner in the Richard Leigh Songwriters Competition 2014 1st place winner in the Zazzy'z Gurning Competition

In This Conversation, he talks about his award-winning song Coke for the Road, a tribute to his grandmother. And, you'll hear his award winning jingle for WEHC radio.

Find his music here on Spotify

https://open.spotify.com/artist/4tknvAPYriGESr4YuXWNEI

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

Dr. Merisa Richmond is the guest on This Conversation in June 2021. The show was rerun in 2022 to focus again on LGBTQ Pride month. As a transgender woman, Dr. Richmond is a long term activist on issues of human rights and has served as President of the Tennessee Transgender Coalition and as a board member of a variety of organizations that work for equal rights for LGBTQ causes.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

Adam Mullins operates a store on Main Street in Abingdon, called Grounded. He sells CBD oils and other hemp derivatives as well as products containing THC. In This Conversation, he updates listeners on the products he sells, the purpose they serve, and the laws that govern his business as well as the sale of marijuana in Virginia. Recorded June 1, 2022.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

Todd Stanley is a Licensed Professional Counselor and the Director of Counseling Services at Emory & Henry College. In this interview, he talks about the issues he sees with college students and his stories give insight into taking care of your own mental health. At the time of this recording, the Counseling Center was looking for a new employee.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

Dr. William Turner talks about his book The Harlan Renaissance : Stories of Black Life in Appalachian Coal Towns, based on the lessons of community he learned growing up in Harlan, Kentucky.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.

Jayne Hillman knows what it's like to spend weeks in the hospital with COVID and to be left with ongoing struggles, including lungs that doctors say are like crushed glass inside. Her story now includes an ever-present oxygen tank and she tells us what she wants us to know in this interview from July 2021.

Mentioned in this episode:

WEHC 90.7 FM is the Voice of Southwest Virginia.