All That’s Unseen, Inside Appalachia

A new memoir explores the struggle to stay in Appalachia and the struggle to leave.

Also, an exhibit in Kings Mountain, North Carolina, documents the contributions of the Catawba Nation to the American Revolutionary War.

And, grab some sunscreen as we make a visit to the Nelsonville Music Festival in Ohio.

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

In This Episode:

• All That’s Unseen
• Remembering Russell Yann
• Appalachian Researchers Work To Save Rare Giant Salamander
• Museum Highlights Catawba Nation Involvement In Revolutionary War
• Designing Dignity With Home Care
• Spotted Lanternfly Threatens Agriculture
• Connie Jordan Green On Poetry And Growing Up In Oak Ridge
• A Postcard From Nelsonville Music Festival
  

All That’s Unseen

Virginia writer Emilee Hackney has a complicated relationship with her home. She loves the place where she’s from, in Tazewell County — her friends, family, the swimming holes and mountains and wild places — but she also felt stifled. Her new memoir All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir explores this tension and her experience when she did leave.

Host Mason Adams spoke with Hackney about the book.

Remembering Russell Yann

Appalachia loves its hotdogs. You can sometimes even clock where someone is from, based on how they eat their dogs — whether they get them with sauce, chili or coleslaw. Sometimes even how they’re cooked.  

In 2021, Folkways Reporter and noted hotdog afficionado Zack Harold filed this story about Yann’s hotdogs in Fairmont, West Virginia, following the passing of its owner, Russell Yann. 

Appalachian Researchers Work To Save Rare Giant Salamander

This year, the Eastern Hellbender became Kentucky’s first-ever state amphibian. The mammoth salamander was once abundant along Appalachia’s waterways, but it’s struggled to maintain healthy populations amid climate change and human activity. In 2024, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the animal as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. 

WKYU’s Hope Heffley has more on conservationists’ efforts to preserve the hellbender. 

Museum Highlights Catawba Nation Involvement In Revolutionary War

With the nation’s 250^th birthday, there’s been a lot of remembrance of the War for Independence. Including the battles that took place in the South, in multiple states that make up Appalachia. In Kings Mountain, North Carolina, an exhibit highlights the role of the Catawba Nation in the Revolutionary War. The tribal group lived in the Charlotte area and supported the colonial army at almost every major battle and skirmish that took place in the South.

WFAE’s Marshall Terry reports.

Designing Dignity With Home Care

As with other Appalachian states, Pennsylvania’s population is getting older. This will likely create new healthcare challenges. In the series “Designing Dignity,” WESA’s Kiley Koscinski visited Japan, a country with an aging population, to learn how it’s preparing. 

This week, Koscinski explores chronic care, a major driver of healthcare spending. Japan has tried to reduce hospitalizations by providing care in the patient’s home, but a workforce shortage could threaten the program’s success. 

Spotted Lanternfly Threatens Agriculture

With its distinctive Dalmatian pattern and splash of red, the spotted lanternfly stands out as a threat to dozens of plants. The insect is well on its way to becoming one of the worst pests American agriculture has ever seen, with the potential to cause millions, perhaps billions of dollars in losses to crops. 

WVPB’s Chris Schulz spoke with WVU Extension entomologist Carlos Quesada to learn more about the insect and how to stop its spread. 

Connie Jordan Green On Poetry And Growing Up In Oak Ridge

For more than 50 years, east Tennessee’s Connie Jordan Green has written everything from young adult novels to a long running newspaper column about gardening. Her poetry explores the natural world, living on a farm and growing up in a secret Tennessee city built during World War II. 

Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Green about her childhood and her latest collection of poetry, Nameless as the Minnows.

A Postcard From Nelsonville Music Festival

This summer, the Nelsonville Music Festival in Southeast Ohio celebrated its 20th anniversary. The festival has functioned as a showcase, especially for bands from Ohio, the Ohio River Valley and greater Appalachia. This year’s lineup included performances from Wednesday, Geese, S.G. Goodman and others.

Associate Producer Abby Neff went to the festival. 

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Blue Dot Sessions, Flatt and Scruggs, Tim Bing, Paul Loomis, John Inghram and Mary Hott and Hello June. 

Bill Lynch is our producer. Abby Neff is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Irina Zhorov is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from Folkways Editor Chirs Julin.

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

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.