Bill Lynch

Encore: What Is Appalachia? We Asked People From Around The Region. Here’s What They Said

This week, we’re revisiting our episode “What Is Appalachia?” from December 2021. Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust belt and even the Northeast. The Appalachian Regional Commission defined the boundaries for Appalachia in 1965 with the creation of the Appalachian Regional Commision, a part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty. It was legislation that sought to expand social welfare, and some localities were eager for the money, while others resisted the designation. The boundaries and definition of Appalachia can now only be changed by an act of Congress.

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Remembering Travis Stimeling And The Age Of Deer, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, we remember Travis Stimeling. The author, musician and educator left a deep mark on Appalachian culture, and the people who practice and document it. And, grab your dancing shoes and learn about a movement to make square dance calling more inclusive. Plus, it’s not just you. There are more deer than ever these days. A writer explores the long, complicated entwinement of people and our wild kin.

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Willie Carver Wants To 'Poke The Bear' With His Book, Gay Poems For Red States

Willie Carver was Kentucky’s teacher of the year in 2021. Carver is openly gay. And not everybody was OK with a gay high school teacher. Carver said he — and his LGBTQ students — faced homophobia and were frequently harassed. And so in 2022, he resigned from the high school. Last summer, he released "Gay Poems for Red States."

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Brasstown Carvers, Willie Carver And Cabbagetown, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, for nearly a century, some of the best wood carvers in Appalachia have trained at a folk school in North Carolina. The Brasstown Carvers still welcome newcomers to come learn the craft. Also, in 2021, Willie Carver was named Kentucky’s Teacher of the Year. Then he left his job over homophobia and became an activist and celebrated poet.

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