Alert (09/29/2026): Our Parkersburg TV transmitter is still undergoing maintenance and remains temporarily inoperative. We apologize for the inconvenience.
All our programming is available via our TV livestreams on our website and WVPB Passport. Thank you for your patience!
This week, ballads tell stories about all kinds of real-life events, but after Hurricane Helene, one group of ballad singers felt some topics were still too raw. Also, the author of a book on ancient Ohio credits a former grad student with introducing him to the region’s mysterious earthworks. And, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage.
Home » Stories » Inside Appalachia Inspires English Principal's Trip to W.Va.
Published
Inside Appalachia Inspires English Principal's Trip to W.Va.
Listen
Share this Article
Our podcast “Inside Appalachia” inspired Matthew Shirley to take a trip to our region. This is a pretty cool fact by itself, made even cooler by where Matthew is from: England.
By pure chance, Matthew was staying as an Airbnb guest with our health reporter, Kara Lofton. Imagine her surprise when she found out why he came to West Virginia!
Matthew is a primary school principal in Callington, England. He became fascinated with our region after listening to the “Inside Appalachia” podcast. So he decided to come here to see it for himself.
When we found out, we invited Matthew to the station for a tour. He says there are many similarities between Appalachia and his region, Cornwall, the rugged southwestern tip of England (it’s where “Doc Martin” is filmed.)
English native Matthew Shirley in front of West Virginia Public Broadcasting HQ in Charleston
“Certainly, each episode of ‘Inside Appalachia’ reflects things I could think on for Cornwall itself,” he told WVPB’s Bob Powell.
“There’s a really good balance on ‘Inside Appalachia,’ Matthew said. “You sometimes get the heart-rending stories about things like the floods, but you also get the variety, stories about hip-hop in the hills, or discussing the murals on the backroads.
Credit Jessica Lilly
/
You never know what you’re going to get each week…I can remember the controversy over the Sheetz pepperoni roll, which quite amused me,” Matthew said.
He said he was also affected by episodes about people coming from out of state and “showing West Virginians in a bad light,” he said.
For every Matthew we find out about, I wonder how many people inspired by Mountain Stage or West Virginia Morning to come to West Virginia that we DON’T know about.
If Matthew’s story doesn’t prove our impact, I don’t know what could.
Add WVPB as a preferred source on Google to see more from our team
When Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina in 2024, it took lives and upended communities. A community of ballad singers lost a place where they could share their tradition, but what was lost could be restored.
Generations ago, kudzu was introduced to Appalachia to help control erosion and provide forage for cattle. But then, it kind of just took over. Kudzu is an invasive plant that chokes out native greenery. Some people are fighting back. Folkways Reporter Eliza Benbow spent time with the kudzu warriors in western North Carolina.
Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams met with author Barbara Kingsolver at her home outside Abingdon, Virginia, a couple weeks before her new novel "Partita" was set to publish.
Barbara Kingsolver is one of Appalachia’s foremost writers. She’s written a string of bestsellers, like "The Poisonwood Bible" and "Demon Copperhead," which won her the Pulitzer Prize. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams met Kingsolver at her home outside Abingdon, Virginia, to talk art, writing and her latest book, "Partita." We listen to an excerpt from that interview.
