This week, in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux was an entrepreneur filmmaker in western Virginia. He became a world-renowned director and producer. Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths. And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who’s passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.
The Return Of The Headless Man And The Murdered Girl
Mike Allen And The Button Bin
Mike Allen is an award-winning science fiction, fantasy and horror writer based in Roanoke, Virginia. Besides writing, Mike also runs Mythic Delirium, a micropress that “specializes in speculative fiction and poetry, with a penchant for writing that’s challenging to classify.”
Mason Adams visited Mike to talk about fantasy and horror and to hear excerpts from one of his stories.
Molly Born And The Spooky Old Tunnel
Spooky stories can be about people, but sometimes they’re just about a place. In Mingo County, West Virginia there’s an old single-lane railroad tunnel that’s become a local legend.
Back in 2018, reporter Molly Born ventured inside the Dingess tunnel to find out what makes it so unsettling.
Ghost Story
Some people are afraid of ghosts. Others want to figure out ways to communicate with them – like Anita Allen, a writer and paranormal investigator in Roanoke.
Mason Adams talked to her about a couple of her ghost encounters.
Another Ghost Story
Haunted places dot Appalachia – moonlit hollers, mist-shrouded cemeteries, and dusty buildings that hold unspoken secrets. Playwright and theater director Dan Kehde knows just such a place in Charleston, West Virginia.
Return Of the Headless Man And The Murdered Girl
James Froemel, an actor and storyteller in Morgantown, West Virginia brought us two stories from Ruth Anne Musick.
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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by The Animals, Amy Lavere, Jason Isbell, Gerry Milnes, Sierra Ferrel, Southern Culture on the Skids and Red Sovine.
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.
This week, in the 1920s, Oscar Micheaux was an entrepreneur filmmaker in western Virginia. He became a world-renowned director and producer. Also, Kentucky’s poet laureate lives down the road from what has been called the country’s most lethal cryptid. Attempts to spot it have led to deaths. And, we talk soul food with Xavier Oglesby, who’s passing on generations of kitchen wisdom to his niece.
On this episode of The Legislature Today, bills must be out of their respective committees by Sunday to be able to meet crossover day next Wednesday, and lawmakers are still working their way through next fiscal year’s budget. Also, we speak with Emmett Pepper, the policy director for Energy Efficient West Virginia, to learn about the Ratepayers Bill of Rights.
We listen to an excerpt from the latest Inside Appalachia and learn about the influence and contributions of Oscar Micheaux, an African American filmmaker who lived in Virginia in the 1920s and shattered stereotypes.
America’s drug crisis is evolving — and so is the fight over how to define recovery. As medication-assisted treatment gains ground, some question whether it’s sobriety at all. In this encore episode, Trey Kay steps inside a West Virginia recovery mission where faith, medicine and survival intersect.
