Mountain Readers Week will be held Oct. 5-9, 2026! Our book this year is Little Red and BIG, BAD FRED by Ashley Belote.
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This week, Rae Garringer felt isolated growing up and thought they were the only queer person in a small town. But they learned otherwise. Now they are collecting and sharing the stories of rural LGBTQ people from across the country.
Also, surface mining changes the landscape in a way that makes flooding worse. And there’s no easy fix.
And we meet an Appalachian village witch, who wonders: How come we don’t hear about more female cryptids? Why isn’t there a Mothwoman?
You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
In This Episode:
For 10 years, West Virginia native Rae Garringer has traveled around the country, recording oral history interviews with LGBTQ people in rural areas. Beginning in 2020, they started producing those interviews for a podcast called Country Queers.
Host Mason Adams caught up with Garringer, and they discussed the project and what it meant to tell those stories.
In August, historic flooding swept through central and southern West Virginia. Sudden heavy rain swept down the mountains, turning streams into rivers. The floods struck so swiftly that dozens of people had to be rescued.
But just as quickly as the floodwaters rose, they subsided, leaving wreck and ruin. Flash floods like this have become a regular occurrence in much of Appalachia.
WVPB’s Briana Heaney investigated the recent flooding near Charleston.
It’s the October spooky season, but here in Appalachia, a lot of people take witchcraft more seriously than broomsticks and black cats. It’s part of folklore. H. Byron Ballard, a practicing witch in North Carolina, is the author of “Small Magics: Practical Secrets from an Appalachian Village Witch.”
Producer Bill Lynch spoke with her.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Todd Burge, John Blissard, The Dirty River Boys 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.
You can find us on Instagram, Threads and Twitter @InAppalachia. Or here on Facebook.
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This week, having a very specific talent can lead to a dream job. It’s how cartoonist John Rose got his foot in the door to draw the comic strip Snuffy Smith. Also, there are dos and don’ts for treating poison ivy. And, a young, old-time musician wants to save her family’s lost ballads.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsFor nearly 100 years, Snuffy Smith has been a staple of newspaper comic pages, though these days, it’s easier to find him online. Snuffy Smith was brought to life by Artist Fred Lasswell in the 1930s, but now the strip is written and drawn by John Rose, who lives in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley. We hear from Rose about drawing the famous hillbilly.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsFederal health researchers at the CDC have a new report about black lung disease among the most experienced coal miners in Appalachia. They are suffering from the incurable disease at the highest rates in nearly half a century.
Continue Reading Take Me to More NewsVirginia writer Emilee Hackney has a complicated relationship with her home. She loves the place where she’s from, in Tazewell County — her friends, family, the swimming holes and mountains and wild places — but she also felt stifled. Her new memoir "All That’s Unseen: An Appalachian Memoir" explores this tension and her experience when she did leave. Inside Appalachia Host Mason Adams spoke with Hackney about the book.
Continue Reading Take Me to More News
