Soldiers came together during the conflict for a Passover feast known as a Seder. Reporter Shepherd Snyder spoke with Joseph Golden, Jewish researcher and secretary of the Temple Beth El congregation in Beckley, along with Drew Gruber of Civil War Trails, about this celebration’s historical significance.
West Virginia Struggles To Reinvent Itself As A Start-Up State To Attract And Retain Young Professionals
West Virginia's State Seal reflected in the eye of a young person. Lalena Price
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West Virginia has trouble keeping people. In the past decade the state has lost more than three percent of its population. There were more deaths in the state than births, and more people left the state than moved in. It leaves a lot of people wondering what the future of the Mountain State will be. Demographic changes from one census to the next shows some of the costs. West Virginia will soon lose a congressional district as a result, but there are other consequences. West Virginia is older than most states and its young people are leaving; however, there are efforts to stem the tide. One goal is to remake the Mountain State into the Start Up State and to attract and keep a new generation of remote workers to call West Virginia home.
For this episode, Us & Them host Trey Kay asks students from his alma mater George Washington High School in Charleston, West Virginia, if they can envision their future in in their home state. He checks in with Sean O’Leary, Senior Policy Analyst at the West Virginia Center on Budget and Policy, about what the numbers tell us about why the state is losing people. Trey also speaks with West Virginia native and former Intuit CEO Brad Smith, who’s trying to transform the Mountain State into the “Start-up State.”
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Brad D. Smith, Executive Chairman of Intuit and West Virginia native, has recently announced an initiative to encourage remote workers to relocate to the Mountain State.
Click to find more information about the remote workers relocation program that Brad Smith talks about in the episode, Ascend West Virginia.
This episode of Us & Them is presented with support from the Claude Worthington Benedum Foundation and the West Virginia Humanities Council.
Subscribe to Us & Them on Apple Podcasts, NPR One, RadioPublic, Spotify, Stitcher and beyond. You also can listen to Us & Them on WVPB Radio — tune in on the fourth Thursday of every month at 8 p.m., with an encore presentation on the following Saturday at 3 p.m.
Edible Mountain follows botanists, conservationists, and enthusiastic hobbyists in the field as they provide insight on sustainable forest foraging. The episodes are designed to increase appreciation and accessibility to the abundance found in Appalachia, celebrating the traditional knowledge and customs of Appalachian folk concerning plants and their medical, religious, and social uses.
Appalachians love to compete. Whether it’s rec league softball, a turkey calling contest or workplace chili cookoffs… Mountain folks are in it to win it. But there’s more to competing than just winning or losing. In this show, we’ll also meet competitors who are also keepers of beloved Appalachian traditions.
On this West Virginia Morning, the federal government says this year’s count of homeless people shows 40 percent are living on the streets, unsheltered. That’s the highest percentage ever. Many cities are struggling to provide support. In Charleston, West Virginia outdoor encampments have been a focus at the state legislature as debate continues over how to respond.
Homelessness is not just an issue for big cities like San Francisco or New York City. Across America, communities large and small are struggling to provide shelter to people without housing. In Charleston, West Virginia, government and community approaches to help the unhoused have created more debate on an issue that is already divisive.