Alert (09/29/2026): Our Parkersburg TV transmitter is still undergoing maintenance and remains temporarily inoperative. We apologize for the inconvenience.
All our programming is available via our TV livestreams on our website and WVPB Passport. Thank you for your patience!
This week, ballads tell stories about all kinds of real-life events, but after Hurricane Helene, one group of ballad singers felt some topics were still too raw. Also, the author of a book on ancient Ohio credits a former grad student with introducing him to the region’s mysterious earthworks. And, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage.
Taxidermist Amy Ritchie is sharing the love of her craft with other enthusiasts. Margaret McLeod Leef/West Virginia Public Broadcasting
Listen
Share this Article
This week, a high school football game, a street festival, and a kids’ classroom are all settings in a new film about how coal mining shapes Appalachian culture.
We also learn about the results of a new survey showing alarming mental health trends in Appalachia’s LGBTQ community.
And we meet a taxidermist in Yadkin County, North Carolina who was just a teenager when she found her calling.
You’ll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.
Lanie Marsh in the Cranberry Backcountry filming for “King Coal.” Courtesy
Elaine McMillion Sheldon is best known for the academy award nominated documentary “Heroin(e),” which highlighted the opioid epidemic in Appalachia through the city of Huntington, West Virginia.
Her latest film is the visionary “King Coal,” which is a kind of hybrid documentary that explores Appalachia’s relationship to coal.
Host Mason Adams spoke with Sheldon, co-producer Molly Born and breath artist Shodekeh Talifero.
The Troubling Toll Revealed In The Trevor Project
The Trevor project is a national non-profit organization that focuses on suicide prevention among LGBTQ youth. In May, the project released the results of a survey about mental health and the LGBTQ community. It revealed some concerning numbers.
If your allergies are making you miserable this spring, you’re not alone. Caroline MacGregor talked to a West Virginia allergy specialist who confirms this year is a particularly tough one for seasonal allergy sufferers.
I Was A Teenage Taxidermist
A lot of people are fascinated by taxidermy, but we tend to be a little uncomfortable with the process that goes into making these animal mounts. The preservation and mounting of dead animals has been around for centuries.
Folkways Reporter Margaret McLeod Leef has the story of one expert practitioner in Yadkin County, North Carolina.
------
Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Tim Bing, John Blisard, Erik Vincet Huey and Little Sparrow
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.
On this West Virginia Week, rules are in the works for data centers, lawmakers request a meeting with Flock, and the fate of West Virginia's chestnuts.
This week, ballads tell stories about all kinds of real-life events, but after Hurricane Helene, one group of ballad singers felt some topics were still too raw. Also, the author of a book on ancient Ohio credits a former grad student with introducing him to the region’s mysterious earthworks. And, the legacy of Affrilachian poet Norman Jordan includes a summer camp for teens to study their heritage.
When Hurricane Helene tore through western North Carolina in 2024, it took lives and upended communities. A community of ballad singers lost a place where they could share their tradition, but what was lost could be restored.
In Mason County, West Virginia, new data center developments are changing local landscapes and communities. One of the computing campuses is also threatening a special stand of trees. Reporter Andrea “River” Peterson reports.
