Family Recipes, Water Trouble And ‘Peerless City,’ Inside Appalachia

This week, a Virginia Tech researcher challenges deeply held ideas about the purity of natural springs.

Also, we meet the folks behind Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage. They still use a family recipe that’s been handed down from generation to generation for over a century. Customers love it.

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

In This Episode:

• The Story Of Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage
• Water Woes In McDowell County And The Trouble With Spring Water
• A Picture Of Peerless City 
• Inflation Hits Eastern Kentucky Hard

The Story Of Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage

Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage is from a family recipe that goes back over a century to the Calabria region in southern Italy. It’s become a grocery store favorite in West Virginia. 

Folkways Reporter Zack Harold spoke with the makers of Angelo’s Old World Italian Sausage and heard a story about sausage-making spanning generations.

Water Woes And The Trouble With Spring Water

It’s an old story in Appalachia: failing water systems leaving people afraid to drink from their taps. In McDowell County, West Virginia, people have relied on bottled water and mountain springs for decades, but maybe those alternate sources aren’t so pure.

Researchers at Virginia Tech have been looking into water inequity in the region. Mason Adams spoke with professor Leigh-Anne Krometis about what she’s found.

A Picture Of Peerless City 

“Peerless City” is a documentary about Portsmouth, Ohio, a city that’s been alternatively described as the place “where southern hospitality begins” and “ground zero for the opioid epidemic.”

Filmmakers Amanda Page and David Bernabo wanted to go beyond slogans, though. Bill Lynch recently spoke with them about the film, and about Portsmouth’s complexity.

Inflation Hits Eastern Kentucky Hard

Recent reports show inflation is down from what it’s been over the last two years, but people in places like Letcher County, Kentucky are still feeling the pinch.

WEKU’s John McGary has the story.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by The Dirty River Boys, Hot Rize, Hank Williams, Jr., Ron Mullennex, Susan Tedeschi and Derek Trucks, Tim Bing and Noam Pikelny.

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.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.