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Appalachians have always made use of the region’s wide variety of plants. A new book, called Appalachian Plants: In the Garden, In the Yard, and In the Wild, explores some of the history and lore of regional staples. It’s written by Linda Hager Pack and illustrated by Pat Banks. Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with them.
Our Common Nature With Yo-Yo Ma, Inside Appalachia
Cellist Yo-Yo Ma playing at the New River Gorge National Park in Fayetteville, West Virginia.Austin Mann/WNYC
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Our Common Nature is a new podcast from WNYC. It features cellist Yo-Yo Ma and producer Ana González, as they explore America and talk to folks like West Virginia coal miners.
We follow Yo-Yo and his team as they venture into Appalachia. And we talk with González about meeting people where they are.
You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
Our Common Nature: The Smokies, Mammoth Cave And W.Va. Coal
Yo-Yo and West Virginian country/folk artist Kathy Mattea perform for retired miners at Nuttallburg, a historic coal-mining complex.
Photo Credit: Austin Mann/WNYC
We’re sharing a new podcast from our friends at WNYC. It’s called Our Common Nature. It features cellist Yo-Yo Ma, who you probably know best from his rendition of Bach’s Cello Suite Number One in G Major.
In the podcast, Ma teams up with producer Ana González. They travel around the country, meeting people and hearing their stories and music. They visit parts of Appalachia, including West Virginia and the Smokies. We’re excited to share an excerpt from their travels.
Also, host Mason Adams speaks with González about what she and Ma had in mind for these trips — and what they learned along the way.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Yo-Yo Ma and Blue Dot Sessions.
Special thanks this week to WNYC for sharing their podcast with us.
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.
Data center proposals are popping up in West Virginia – and in neighboring Pennsylvania, where one small community is juggling seven different potential projects. From The Allegheny Front, a public radio program based in Pittsburgh, we hear from that community and their concerns.
In 2020, the U.S. Navy commissioned a new aircraft carrier, CVN-81, and chose to name it after Doris "Dorie" Miller, but stories have surfaced recently of discussions about renaming it after President Donald Trump.
Many West Virginians may not remember the name Doris “Dorie” Miller, but he served on the USS West Virginia when it was attacked at Pearl Harbor. While Miller was never trained to fight, he raced to the deck on the day of the attack and fought back - shooting down at least one enemy plane. In 2020, a new aircraft was commissioned by the U.S. Navy and named for Miller. But recent stories have surfaced with talk of renaming it after President Donald Trump. We speak with Scott Womack, the commander of American Legion Post 100 in Monroe, West Virginia, to discuss the group’s recent resolution that the Navy should retain Miller’s name on the ship.
Appalachians have always made use of the region’s wide variety of plants. A new book, called Appalachian Plants: In the Garden, In the Yard, and In the Wild, explores some of the history and lore of regional staples. It’s written by Linda Hager Pack and illustrated by Pat Banks. Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with them.