Tag: Nature

A Mine Wars Graphic Novel, Storytelling And W.Va. Life, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, we speak with the author of a new graphic novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars. Also, professional storyteller James Froemel invents quirky characters, like a sign maker who can’t spell. And, one of the most common animals to get hit by cars are possums. But, there’s a kind of animal rescue called pouch picking. We talk with author Laura Jackson.

This week, Inside Appalachia speaks with the author of a new graphic novel about the West Virginia Mine Wars. The labor struggle culminated in the largest armed uprising since the Civil War.

Also, professional storyteller James Froemel invents quirky characters, like a sign maker who can’t spell. Froemel’s stories are drawn from small town life.

And, one of the most common animals to get hit by cars are possums. But, there’s a kind of animal rescue called pouch picking. We talk with author Laura Jackson. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Black Coal And Red Bandanas, A Graphic Novel

“Black Coal and Red Bandanas” retells the story of the West Virginia Mine Wars.

Courtesy

The West Virginia Mine Wars are an important but little known piece of American history. Coal miners in southern West Virginia had been trying to organize a union, while coal companies tried to stop them. Strikes and violent clashes ensued, culminating in the Battle of Blair Mountain in 1921. A version of the story is told in the new graphic novel “Black Coal and Red Bandanas: An Illustrated History of the West Virginia Mine Wars.”

Mason Adams spoke with its author, Raymond Tyler. 

Talking With Storyteller James Froemel

James Froemel continues in the long line of Appalachian storytellers.

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James Froemel‘s journey into storytelling has taken a lifetime. Last year, he worked with author, Liars Competition champ and professional storyteller Bil Lepp to hone his craft. 

Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef spoke with Froemel.

Digging Under Ground Leads To Spoonmaking

Stan (L) and Sue (R) Jennings shape spoons on sanding machines in their Allegheny Treenware workshop in Preston County, West Virginia. Sue is pre-shaping while Stan is fine shaping on 40 grit sandpaper. These two stations are only used by the Jennings to shape each spoon by hand.

Photo Credit: Zack Gray/Allegheny Treenware

For 30 years, Sue and Stan Jennings have run Allegheny Treenware, a West Virginia company that makes wooden kitchen utensils. They started off as a couple of coal miners. And when they weren’t underground, they talked about what else they could be doing.

Last year, Folkways Reporter Capri Cafaro visited the Jennings, and brought us this story. 

Exploring And Explaining West Virginia

Humorist and essayist Laura Jackson’s book Deep & Wild explores and explains West Virginia — or some of it.

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West Virginia writer and humorist Laura Jackson is an avid explorer of backroads and scenic byways. Inspired by her trips, she wrote a series of essays about what she saw in her home state. They became her 2023 book, “Deep & Wild: On Mountains, Opossums & Finding Your Way in West Virginia.”

Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Jackson.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Edd Snodderly, Jeff Ellis, David Mayfield Parade, Dinosaur Burps, Kaia Kater, Steve Earle, Sean Watkins and Blue Dot Sessions.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Abby Neff is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editor Nicole Musgrave.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Learning To ID Local Trees And Creating Evergreen Fish Habitats This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, we hear from a West Virginia Division of Natural Resources biologist about a program to give new habitats to local fish with old Christmas trees, and from The Allegheny Front learning how to identify the trees around us.

On this West Virginia Morning, with the holiday season come and gone, thousands of Christmas trees will be mulched or taken to the landfill. A program from the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources aims to give our old decorations new life in local lakes and reservoirs.

And the latest from Pittsburgh-based environmental public radio program The Allegheny Front looks at learning to identify trees around us.

Also, in this episode, the West Virginia Democratic Party plans to sue over who gets to fill an open seat in the House of Delegates.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Eric Douglas produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

Folksingers And Hellbenders, Inside Appalachia

This week, a talented, young folk singer looks for the balance between making music and making a living.

Also, after six generations, keeping the family farm going can be rough. We hear the story of the Wakefield family in Pennsylvania, which has farmed for six generations.

And the Hellbender Salamander is the largest amphibian in North America, but they’re picky about where they live, and their habitats are threatened.

In This Episode:

Meeting An Appalachian Folksinger

Young folksinger Elsa Howell is considering her path forward in music.

Mason Adams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Folk music is not the easiest way to make a living, but artists still find a way to balance making music with putting food on the table. Host Mason Adams traveled to MidMountain arts collective in Virginia, where he spoke with both veteran folksingers and emerging talents. 

The Wakefields, A Documentary

Thad Wakefield stands in his family’s field. The Wakefields have farmed for six generations, but it’s becoming more difficult to continue.

Courtesy photo

Cade Miller was a student at the Penn State News lab, which works to address gaps in news coverage — including the plight of family farms. Miller spent months reporting on the Wakefields, a farming family for six generation. The family struggled to keep the business going in a minidocumentary called “The Wakefields –Two Brothers, Six Generations.”

To Save The Hellbender

An eastern hellbender at the National Zoo.

Appalachia is home to a wide variety of critters, including the odd-looking salamander called the Hellbender. The species has been in decline. 

Late last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the Eastern Hellbender Salamander as endangered. Than (as in Nathan) Hitt is a senior scientist with the West Virginia Rivers Coalition. WVPB’s Curtis Tate spoke with Hitt about the Hellbender’s habitat in Appalachia and why it’s threatened.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Elsa Howell, Black Twig Pickers, Anna and Elizabeth, Morgan Wade, Larry Rader, Steve Earle, Kaia Kater, Nirvana, Neko Case, Sonic Youth, and Blue Dot Sessions.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Abby Neff and Zander Aloi are our associate producers. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editor Chris Julin.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Looking Back At 2024, Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, a look back at some of the stories that shaped the show in 2024, like the story of an abandoned Fairmont Brine site in Marion County, West Virginia. It was a common hangout spot, but there’s a hidden danger. Also, food deserts are places where it’s hard to find nutritious food. Like disenfranchised neighborhoods in East Knoxville, TN. And, not all bamboo is invasive. In fact, there’s a species native to Appalachia.

This week, a look back at some of the stories that shaped the show in 2024, like the story of an abandoned Fairmont Brine site in Marion County, West Virginia. It was a common hangout spot, but there’s a hidden danger. 

Also, food deserts are places where it’s hard to find nutritious food. Like disenfranchised neighborhoods in East Knoxville, Tennessee. 

And, not all bamboo is invasive. In fact, there’s a species native to Appalachia.

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Radioactivity At Fairmont Brine

Fairmont Brine processed liquid used in hydraulic fracking. Now abandoned, the site became a local hang out, but it’s dangerous.

Photo Credit: Justin Nobel

Starting in the late 2000s, fracking brought a natural gas boom to parts of Appalachia. But, the natural gas market has been erratic. And in some places, the oil and gas industry has left behind dangerous, radioactive sites. Justin Nobel is an investigative reporter who’s covered that issue.

In the fall of 2023, he wrote about it for Truthdig in a story titled “Inside West Virginia’s Chernobyl: A highly radioactive oil and gas facility has become a party spot in Marion County.” Mason Adams spoke with Nobel. 

Healing Damaged Communities Through Food

This collective kitchen is where Femeika Elliott first prepared meal kits to sell at the Knoxville Farmers Market.

Photo Credit: Wendy Welch/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Through the 20th century, lots of poor and largely Black neighborhoods were bulldozed and replaced with new highways and civic centers. Now some groups are looking at creative ways to repair those communities. In April, we featured a story about a neighborhood in Knoxville, Tennessee. And a woman there who uses food as a way to heal generations of damage.

Folkways Reporter Wendy Welch had the story. 

Appalachian Bamboo Bouncing Back

Volunteers in southwestern Virginia are trying to revitalize river cane.

Photo Credit: Roxy Todd/Radio IQ

There are a lot of different kinds of bamboo – more than 1,400 varieties. 

America has a native species of bamboo, but was nearly wiped out.

Last summer, Radio IQ’s Roxy Todd reported that a group of mostly volunteers is trying to restore the plant in southwestern Virginia.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Kaia Kater, Bob Thompson, Caleb Caudle, Noam Pikelny and Blue Dot Sessions.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editor Nicole Musgrave.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Holiday Favorites From Inside Appalachia

This week on Inside Appalachia, we go a-wassailing in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s kind of like Christmas caroling, with a kick. Also, family recipes bring generations together. But what happens when you’ve got grandma’s potato candy recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? And a new book explores the magical dark side of nature.

This week, we go a-wassailing in Asheville, North Carolina. It’s kind of like Christmas caroling, with a kick.

Also, family recipes bring generations together. But what happens when you’ve got grandma’s potato candy recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? 

And a new book explores the magical dark side of nature. 

You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

Here We Go A-Wassailing

Wassailers sing outside a home in Asheville, North Carolina. Traditionally, wassailers not only sang for their neighbors, but also sang in apple orchards to ensure a good harvest for the coming year.

Photo Credit: Rebecca Williams/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

The winter holidays are a chance to get together and find some good cheer.

In Asheville, North Carolina, a group of friends has been taking part in the English singing tradition of wassailing. It’s like Christmas caroling, but older. And for some of the singers, wassailing has become a way to connect to their roots.

In 2023, Folkways Reporter Rebecca Williams had this story.

Grandma’s Potato Candy

Brenda Sandoval testing the consistency of the potato mixture.

Photo Credit: Capri Cafaro/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

A lot of families have tried and true holiday recipes. Often, these treasured family recipes get passed down and are a way to connect with the past. But not all of them use exact measurements. So how do you know you’re getting the mix right, especially if you’ve never tried it? 

In 2023, Capri Cafaro brought us a story about Brenda Sandoval’s attempt to recreate her grandmother’s potato candy.

Adventures Among Glow Worms And Fireflies

Leigh Ann Henion’s “Night Magic” explores the surprises of the nighttime world.

Courtesy Photo

Leigh Ann Henion is an author from Boone, North Carolina. Her new book is about what happens after the sun goes down. It’s called, Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens and Other Marvels of the Dark.

Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Henion about staying up late and not so late to see wonders.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by The Sycomores, Bob Thompson, the Cappella Bell Choir and Bela Fleck and the flecktones.  

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editor Nicole Musgrave.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.

Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.

Exploring Nature And Our Song Of The Week, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, North Carolina author Leigh Ann Henion speaks with Inside Appalachia’s Bill Lynch about exploring nature at night for her new book, “Night Magic: Adventures Among Glowworms, Moon Gardens and Other Marvels of the Dark.”

And our Song of the Week comes from Buffalo Wabs & The Price Hill Hustle. They perform “Jim Devlin,” on this week’s encore broadcast of Mountain Stage.

West Virginia Morning is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting, which is solely responsible for its content.

Support for our news bureaus comes from Shepherd University and Marshall University School of Journalism and Mass Communications.

Maria Young produced this episode.

Listen to West Virginia Morning weekdays at 7:43 a.m. on WVPB Radio or subscribe to the podcast and never miss an episode. #WVMorning

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