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The cost of health insurance is going up in 2026. Millions of people are faced with sticker shock.
Also, a mountain farmer kept an encrypted diary for years. It’s unclear whether he would have wanted that code to ever be cracked.
And, a beloved West Virginia hot dog restaurant closed in 2018. An annual tribute sale gives people a chance to relive its glory days.
You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
In This Episode:
People who buy health care through the federal marketplace are set to see big spikes in their premiums next year. Depending on where you live, your age and whether you have kids, your premiums could rise 40 percent or more. Ruby Rayner is a reporter for the Chattanooga Times Free Press who’s been covering this story as it plays out in Tennessee.
Host Mason Adams spoke with Rayner late October when the federal government was still shut down, but we think the conversation is still relevant.
Across Appalachia, residents are seeing cryptocurrency operations pop up. In Bulls Gap, Tennessee, residents are fighting plans for a propane-fueled bitcoin mine. This is after over more than a year of disruption from a nearby gas flare that disrupted the town’s once-peaceful rural life.
WUOT’s Pierce Gentry has more.
For generations, Skeenies Hot Dogs in Sissonville, West Virginia, was known for serving some of the best slaw dogs around.
The restaurant closed in 2018 — but still comes alive for the annual Skeenies Tribute Sale at Thanksgiving. Giving devoted Skeenies fans a few days to make up for lost time.
Last year, Folkways Reporter Zack Harold went to Skeenies and brought us this story.
More than a quarter of adult West Virginians serve as caregivers for family members. That can take its toll both emotionally and physically.
WVPB News Director Eric Douglas was a caregiver for his mother until her death earlier this year. Eric recently spoke with Jane Marks, the state president of the American Association of Retired Persons, about the organization’s new report on caregiving.
With Halloween over and Thanksgiving is on its way. What to do with those Halloween pumpkins that are getting long in the tooth? WVPB’s Chris Schulz reports that decorative pumpkins and Jack O’Lanterns can find a second life on your table and in the garden.
William Thomas Preston was a southern farmer who lived and died in the 19th century. His story might have been lost to time, but Preston kept journals, which he wrote in code. More than a hundred years later, after the diaries were discovered and decrypted, North Carolina writer Jeremy B. Jones set about using the diaries to tell Preston’s story – and his own. Jones was Preston’s great-great-great-great grandson.
Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Jones about Cipher, the book that came out of his exploration.
People have spent years arguing over how to lift folks out of poverty. One idea that’s been discussed but not tried so much is what’s known as UBI. That stands for “universal basic income” – or simply paying out cash. More than 500 residents in Mercer County, West Virginia, all of whom are living at or close to the poverty line, will receive $1,500 a month for 16 months. The hope is the windfall will make a difference, not just for the recipients, but for Mercer County as well.
WVPB’s Maria Young reports.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Hello June, Mary Hott, Dinosaur Burps and Blue Dot Sessions.
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 Editor Chris Julin.
You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.
You can find us on Instagram, Threads and X @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.
Sign-up for the Inside Appalachia Newsletter!
Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.
This week, a poet and musician draws inspiration from a distant family connection to the Grand Ole Opry’s Little Jimmy Dickens. Also, for 15 years, a Virginia library has been hosting a weekly Dungeons & Dragons game for teens. And, a taxidermist in Yadkin County, North Carolina found her calling before she could drive a car.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsA lot of people who came of age listening to the Grand Ole Opry know Little Jimmy Dickens. With his clever songs and his rhinestone-studded outfits, the West Virginia native influenced a generation of performers. Now he’s remembered in a new book of poetry.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsFor some Americans, this year’s political earthquakes hit close to home. Trey Kay reflects on federal budget cuts, the elimination of programs and agencies and the resulting layoffs of hundreds of thousands of workers. 2025 was also a year highlighting escalated immigration enforcement, and the deployment of National Guard troops in U.S. cities. One of those missions resulted in the tragic loss of a West Virginia National Guard soldier. On this end-of-year episode of Us & Them, we examine how today’s culture-war battles are reshaping the nation’s foundation.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsFederal funding for arts and culture has been curtailed. Trey Kay looks at the reasons in the latest Us & Them. Also, the state board of education has approved another round of school closures and consolidations, the state Legislature is expected to take up several bills in the coming session to address foster care and children who are homeless, and U.S. Army Specialist Sarah Beckstrom was laid to rest Tuesday at the West Virginia National Cemetery in Grafton.
Continue Reading Take Me to More News
