Listen this week for an encore broadcast of Mountain Stage featuring Larkin Poe, Victoria Canal, Raye Zaragoza, Ron Pope, and Christian Lopez. This episode was recorded with our host Kathy Mattea on the campus of West Virginia University, thanks to our friends at WVU College of Creative Arts and Media.
Last year, Folkways Reporter Clara Haizlett reported about the Appalachian hammered dulcimer, and its Ukrainian relative, the tsymbaly. Along the way, we met Ukrainian musician Vsevolod Sadovyj, who was in Ukraine as the country fought against the Russian invasion.
Haizlett recently caught up with the tsymbaly player over Zoom and brought us an update.
Ticking Off The Trouble Of Ticks
Warm weather sends more people outside. But enjoying nature has it’s inherent risks, including ticks which can cause disease. Pictured is the black-legged tick, or deer tick, which can spread Lyme disease.
Credit: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty Images
With the exception of a cold snap on Christmas Eve, Appalachia had a mild winter. And now we’re paying the price, with a surge of ticks. Appalachian social media has seen a steady stream of complaints about the arachnids, Lyme disease and alpha-gal syndrome.
Producer Bill Lynch reached out to regional epidemiologist Daniel Barker-Gumm and Steven Eshenaur, the health officer for the Kanawha County Health Department, to learn more.
Firefly Magic In The Great Smoky Mountains
Not all bug stories are bad stories. Jacqui Sieber from WUOT takes us deep into the Smoky Mountains to watch lightning bugs, also called fireflies.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Patrick Couch and Kay, Frank Hutchinsen, Jean Ritchie, Hazel Dickens, Paul Loomis, and Tyler Childers.
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.
Introducing The Legislature This Week — our new companion podcast to our TV/radio simulcast The Legislature Today. New episodes of The Legislature This Week will drop Saturday mornings at 5 a.m. during the 60-day session.
For the second week in a row, every state touching West Virginia’s border is experiencing high or very high cases of influenza. So far, this state is showing only a low to moderate outbreak. But health experts in West Virginia predict that’s about to change.
When people think of career and technical education, professional pathways in nursing and mechanics come to mind. But West Virginia has a long tradition of agriculture that is reflected in some technical programs. We learn how one school can say they take livestock from pen to plate.
If you feel under the weather, how do you know when it’s time to see a doctor? Also, a growing movement to make Appalachia the “truffle capital of the world,” is being led by a small-town farmer in southern Kentucky.