TikTok Sensation ‘Appalachian Forager’ And Ruthie Foster Has Our Song Of The Week, This West Virginia Morning

On this West Virginia Morning, we learn about an incident at a state-run psychiatric facility, we meet a TikTok sensation who forages in Appalachia and we listen to our Mountain Stage Song of the Week.

The commission that oversees West Virginia’s state-run hospitals questioned state officials but received few answers following the January death of a man held at a state-run psychiatric facility. Emily Rice has more.

Also, in this show, gathering wild foods in Appalachia has been a way to put food on the table for decades, but one woman in eastern Kentucky is introducing foraging to the TikTok generation through an account called “Appalachian Forager.” She shares her knowledge, along with some humor, and her videos have gone viral. Folkways Reporter Amanda Page has the story.

And, our Mountain Stage Song of the Week comes to us from three-time Grammy winner and Austin, Texas-based vocal powerhouse, Ruthie Foster. We listen to her performance of “Healing Time,” the upbeat title song from her ninth studio album of the same name.

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.

Our Appalachia Health News project is made possible with support from Marshall Health.

West Virginia Morning is produced with help from Bill Lynch, Briana Heaney, Chris Schulz, Curtis Tate, Emily Rice, Eric Douglas, Jack Walker and Liz McCormick.

Eric Douglas is our news director. Teresa Wills is our host. Chris Schulz 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