This week's broadcast of Mountain Stage is a special episode featuring songs that represent the four seasons of the year. You'll hear live performances by Doc Watson, Bruce Hornsby, Susan Werner, Molly Tuttle, Taj Mahal, Norah Jones and many more.
Writing And Talking About Disaster With Poet Doug Van Gundy
The Twisted Path That Brought African Face Jugs To Appalachia
You’ve probably seen pottery with a face on it – maybe a decorative teapot or an odd-looking milk bottle with a toothy grin.
Examples of this type of art turn up everywhere, but some of them are connected to African Face Jugs, an art enslaved people brought with them to America.
Folkways Reporter Zack Harold traced the story of Face Jugs, which began in a basement pottery studio in West Virginia.
Flying On The Wings Of The Cicada
Many of us who live in the eastern half of the U.S. can instantly identify the distinctive droning of the cicada. We don’t get them every year. Cicadas have a very long life cycle with different broods emerge from underground every 13 to 17 years.
In the spring of 2016, a massive brood of cicadas emerged in northern West Virginia. Their appearance inspired a West Virginia University professor to take a closer look at their wings.
This led to a discovery that may be helpful to humans.
WVPB’s Assistant News Director Caroline MacGregor has the story.
Hindman, Kentucky Making Progress On Recovery
Last July, thousands of residents in southeastern Kentucky endured historic flash flooding that took lives and devastated communities. One of the hardest hit towns was Hindman in Knott County.
Stu Johnson from WEKU has this update about the town’s recovery.
Writing And Talking About Disaster With Poet Doug Van Gundy
One of the places struck by those Kentucky floods was the Hindman Settlement School, home to the Appalachian Writers Workshop. Poet Doug Van Gundy was at the workshop during the flood.
Bill Lynch spoke with Van Gundy about poetry, disasters and tattoos.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Frank George, Amythyst Kiah, Gerry Milnes, Chris Knight and Born Old.
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.
You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
On this West Virginia Morning, health care services for nearly 30 percent of West Virginia’s population may be difficult to access if lawmakers don’t fully fund the Medicaid program in an expected special session. Emily Rice has more.
On this West Virginia Morning, drinking water in Wyoming County is making people sick but it’s unclear who is responsible. Also, a look at voter concerns ahead of May's primary election.
Across the nation, more than 390,000 children rely on foster care. However, a shortage of licensed foster homes is creating a national crisis. While official foster care cases are carefully tracked, many informal examples of kinship care aren’t part of the data. For this Us & Them episode, we hear the experiences of those who’ve been part of the foster care system.
On this West Virginia Morning, domestic violence prevention advocates lined the State Capitol rotunda in February, seeking a budget increase. They said lawmakers were receptive to the idea. But no increase was passed before this year’s regular legislative session ended. Jack Walker checked in with domestic violence prevention advocates on funding needs as a potential special session approaches.