This week, a Japanese Shinto garden took root in southwestern Virginia because of family connections spanning geography and generations. Also, in Whitesburg, Kentucky, a new mosaic uses recovered objects to honor the town’s people after the flood of 2022. And, the young adult novel Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire mixes historical fact with spooky Appalachian folklore.
Saci Suta offers food to Krishna in the devotee kitchen.
Photo Credit: Zack Harold/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Our Folkways Reporter Zack Harold recently made a trip to the small town of New Vrindaban, in West Virginia’s Northern Panhandle.
It’s a Hare Krishna community started in the late 60s. These days, the town is home to a few hundred permanent residents, but thousands of pilgrims visit each year. They come to worship in the temple — and to visit the opulent Palace of Gold.
But those main attractions were a pretty small part of Zack’s trip. He ended up spending much of his time in the kitchen.
Tashi Dorji’s Album we will be wherever the fires are lit
Musician Tashi Dorji.
Courtesy Photo
Tashi Dorji was born in Bhutan and moved to western North Carolina in 2000. He’s been here ever since. Dorji released a slew of albums over the last 25 years, both as a solo artist and collaborator. His latest is all instrumental. The title, we will be wherever the fires are lit, appears in a poem on the album’s Bandcamp page.
Host Mason Adams spoke with Dorji about the poem and more.
Sharing Soul Food
Xavier Oglesby cuts onions for a macaroni salad he is cooking inside Manna House Ministries’ kitchen. A pot of boiling water is behind him, cooking the pasta for the dish.
Photo Credit: Vanessa Peña/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Soul food like cornbread, extra-cheesy mac and cheese and collard greens plays an important role in Black communities across Appalachia. In 2023, Folkways Fellow Vanessa Peña spoke with Xavier Oglesby, a master artist in soul food cooking from Beckley, West Virginia.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Jett Holden, Tashi Dorji, The Local Honeys, John Inghram and Grace Bowers and the Hodgepodge.
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. We had help this week from Folkways Editors Nicole Musgrave and Chris Julin.
You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
On this West Virginia Week, changes are coming to FEMA, few details on school clothing voucher accusations, and the state has a new guide for data centers.
This week, a Japanese Shinto garden took root in southwestern Virginia because of family connections spanning geography and generations. Also, in Whitesburg, Kentucky, a new mosaic uses recovered objects to honor the town’s people after the flood of 2022. And, the young adult novel Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire mixes historical fact with spooky Appalachian folklore.
A new report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) finds that black lung rates are the highest they’ve been since the 1970s. Justin Hicks and Howard Burkes reported on that for the Appalachia + Mid-South Newsroom. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams spoke with Hicks and Burkes to dig a little deeper.
West Virginia is seeing a dramatic decline in overdose deaths, but addiction’s consequences can be complex. On a new episode of Us & Them, Trey Kay explores what addiction can leave behind for children and families through the film “What We Hide” and a conversation with addiction and mental health professionals.
