The winning stories from the 2026 WVPB PBS KIDS Writers Contest are now available to read!
Learn more about Be My Neighbor Day! And check out our recap from last year.
On Demand
On Demand
Watch locally produced documentaries & more.
On Demand
On Demand
West Virginia Morning
Inside Appalachia
West Virginia Week
Mountain Stage
Us & Them
The Legislature Today
The Legislature This Week
Send us your comments and questions.
Stream our board meetings.
Check out the latest WVPB news.
Sign up for our newsletter and get weekly updates.
Meet the WVPB staff.
WV Educational Broadcasting Commission, the WVPB Foundation, and the Friends of WVPB.
Come work with us!
Read our annual report and learn how we educate, inform and inspire with your support.
Sponsor impactful and engaging media and entertainment.
Use your IRA to make a gift to WVPB.
Become a member with your gift of $1,000 or more.
Make WVPB part of your legacy.
Manage your membership account.
Learn how you can Protect and Sustain West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
We look back at 2025. We met some fascinating people, like Aaron Dowdy of country rock band Fust.
Also, central Appalachia continued to recover from Hurricane Helene. From the beginning, the recovery brought people together.
And, we made a trip to Hillbilly Hotdog to take on “The Homewrecker.”
You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
In This Episode:
Songwriter Aaron Dowdy leads Fust, a group with deep Appalachian roots that’s based in Durham, North Carolina. Fust is part of a new wave of indie rock emerging from the Mountain South.
It’s distinguished by a Southern rock sound and lyrics drawn from observations about living in the region. Last year, host Mason Adams spoke with Dowdy after Fust released their album Big Ugly.
Michael Snyder is a photographer and filmmaker who grew up in the Allegheny mountains on the border of Maryland and West Virginia. His work has been featured in National Geographic, The Guardian and The Washington Post. After living away from Appalachia for more than a decade, Snyder moved back to document what changed and what stayed the same. The result was the book Alleghania: A Central Appalachian Folklore Anthology.
Associate producer Abby Neff spoke with Snyder.
It’s been more than a year since Hurricane Helene hit the mountains of Appalachia. The storm devastated parts of western North Carolina, East Tennessee and Southwestern Virginia. Communities are still rebuilding and recovering. Our partner station Radio IQ produced a documentary about how folks recovered and rebuilt after the storm. This is an excerpt from that special. Roxy Todd reported from southwestern Virginia.
This past year saw another appearance by Appalachia’s noisiest critters: cicadas. Across parts of Kentucky, Tennessee and West Virginia, Brood XIV emerged in late spring and early summer. Although some folks are annoyed by cicadas, others find profound meaning. Louisville Public Media’s Justin Hicks reported.
Hillbilly Hotdogs in Lesage, West Virginia is a local institution and a bona fide tourist attraction that sees visitors from all over the world. In 2024, the hotdog stand’s signature menu item, “The Homewrecker,” suddenly became unavailable. This summer, producer Bill Lynch paid a visit to Hillbilly Hotdogs to hear about the return of the homewrecker and take the homewrecker challenge.
------
Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Fust, Jeff Ellis, Paul Loomis, Frank George 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.
You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
You can find us on Instagram, Threads or here on Facebook.
Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!
Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
Add WVPB as a preferred source on Google to see more from our team
John E. Hancock is a professor of architecture and design at the University of Cincinnati, and he spent years studying Ohio's ancient earthworks. Recently, he published “Traveler's Guide to Ancient Ohio." Inside Appalachia Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Hancock about the book.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsCicero Fain is a historian at Marshall University in Huntington, West Virginia, who has documented Appalachia's Black history. His latest undertaking is called the Appalachian Freedom Heritage Initiative. The project identified and documented more than two dozen previously unknown underground railroad sites throughout eastern Kentucky, southern Ohio and West Virginia. Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with Fain about the project.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsThis week, before emancipation, Appalachia provided pathways to freedom for enslaved people trying to escape bondage. A new project identifies more than two dozen previously unknown underground railroad sites. Also, the Fly Around Music & Arts Festival in North Carolina was inspired by the hard work that followed Hurricane Helene. And, a ballad about floods recorded a generation ago still provides solace for people today.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsOn this West Virginia Morning, not much has been known about Appalachia’s contributions to the Underground Railroad, but a Marshall University historian is documenting that history.
Continue Reading Take Me to More News
