Inside Appalachia Folkways Reporting Corps Project

This Pennsylvania State Park Runs Deep Inside Appalachia

Across much of Appalachia, there’s a hidden world beneath your feet. The region is chock full of ancient cave systems. Some are just little caverns you can walk in and out of. Some are so deep, nobody’s sure where they begin or end. Folkways Reporter Andrea Peterson explored a once-privately owned underground landscape that recently became a Pennsylvania State Park.

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Western North Carolina Volunteers, Nonprofits Address Invasive Plant Removal At The Root

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.

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How Ballroom Culture Arrived In Roanoke, Virginia

For LGBTQ youth in Appalachia, estrangement from their families of origin can be a common and heartbreaking experience. So, some LGBTQ people rely on “chosen family." In Roanoke, Virginia, the culture of ballroom offers the safety and stability of family, along with traditions that are handed down — traditions like vogueing. Mason Adams reported this Folkways story, in collaboration with Brad Kutner and Kelley Libby.

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Celebrating Barbara Grenell’s Mountain Tapestries, Legacy Of Fiber Arts

Through early October, the Blowing Rock Art and History Museum in North Carolina is hosting an exhibit celebrating one of the region’s most notable fiber artists – Barbara Grennell. The exhibit does more than expose people to great art; it asks people, what makes art, art? Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch reports.

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