Arts & Culture

In this episode of Inside Appalachia, we talk about faith and music. We learn about Sister Rosetta Tharpe,  one of the first great recording stars of gospel music, find our the story behind a song that became an American icon, and we’ll learn more about a project Glory that depicts images of Pentecostal style tent revival in Kentucky and West Virginia.

“If you want to stay in West Virginia, then I believe you’re doing something right," Colt Brogan told West Virginia Public Broadcasting for The Struggle to Stay series. "I mean, cause it’s hard to want to stay here in my opinion. Cause it is so rough.”

On the West Virginia Morning, we hear our fourth installment of Inside Appalachia's Struggle to Stay series. Producer Roxy Todd reveals more of the challenges that Colt Brogan faces in his struggle to stay in West Virginia.

We also hear more from our partnership with Wheeling Middle School and we feature another Mountain Stage song of the week.

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear from Wheeling Middle School students who worked with Northern Panhandle Bureau Chief Glynis Board to record stories and commentaries about standardized testing and the arts.

We'll also hear more from Inside Appalachia's recent episode about opioid addiction and the Veterans Administration.

It’s been about 20 years since the opioid epidemic started. Appalachia has been called ground zero for this crisis, and the Mountain State leads the country in drug overdose deaths. This episode of Inside Appalachia explores how the epidemic is affecting veterans, who are twice as likely to become addicted to opioids than the general, or civilian, population. 

The president and CEO of software company Intuit was at Marshall University Wednesday to hear students' proposals for projects that could help some of the challenges West Virginia faces.

The program was modeled after the television show Shark Tank. Intuit President and Marshall alum Brad Smith joined state native and actress Jennifer Garner, and former Marshall and NFL Quarterback Chad Pennington to hear presentations from seven groups of students. They were vying for three winning spots. The contest was called the 2017 Innovating for Impact Design and Delight Innovation Challenge. Smith said he wanted to help Marshall students come up with ideas that could help the state.

It’s been about 20 years since the opioid epidemic first exploded across Appalachia, and now doctors are shifting away from prescribing opioids for long-term pain. 

But this shift away from pills has met resistance from some  doctors and patients.

In this episode of Inside Appalachia, we'll hear why addiction hit Appalachia so hard. We'll also find out what the medical community is doing to fight the pain pill epidemic.

Traditional musician Phoeba Cottrell Parsons was born in Calhoun County on April 21, 1908. When she was 10, she picked up her brother Noah’s banjo. She later recalled of that moment, ‘‘He didn’t want me to play because he was afraid I’d beat him.’’ She soon became accomplished not only at the banjo but also at singing ballads, telling stories and riddles, flatfoot dancing, and playing the fiddle sticks.

Poet Irene McKinney was born in Belington in Barbour County on April 20, 1939. She earned degrees from West Virginia Wesleyan College and West Virginia University and, in 1976, published her first book of poems, The Girl with the Stone in Her Lap. She served as director of creative writing at West Virginia Wesleyan and, in 1984, published another poetry collection entitled The Wasps and the Blue Hexagon.  The next year, she won a poetry fellowship from the National Endowment for the Arts and other prestigious honors.

The city of Huntington will find out later today (Wednesday) if it’s one of the Best Communities in the country.

Last April, Huntington was announced as a finalist for the America’s Best Communities competition. The year-long event will wrap up Wednesday with the top 8 cities giving a final presentation in Denver, Colorado. The winner will be announced at 7:00 p.m. Wednesday night.