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Dorothy Allison is a self-described "feminist, working class storyteller, Southern expatriate, and sometime poet." The author of "Bastard Out of Carolina," she gave the keynote at the 2019 Appalachian Writers' Workshop at the Hindman Settlement School in Knott County, KY. Our own Rachel Garringer was there to capture her thoughts on writing, identity, class, memory and using language as a weapon. We’ll hear Kentucky writer Silas House introduce her. Listen in for an hour of humor, brilliance, and fire from an iconic Southern writer.

On July 1st, 2019 the coal company Blackjewel declared bankruptcy. In the middle of their shift, miners were told to stop working. Blackjewel employed over a thousand miners across the Appalachian coalfields, who soon discovered that their last paycheck had bounced and their insurance policies had been cut off. In Cumberland, Kentucky, dozens of miners have been protesting for weeks by blocking the tracks in front of a Blackjewel coal train. The company's CEO, Jeff Hoops, was almost immediately fired by court-order, but as of August 12th (when this episode aired) miners have not yet received compensation. WMMT reporter Benny Becker, arrived at the railroad tracks at 7 PM on the strike's second day, July 30, 2019 and recorded throughout the night.

In this episode we’re exploring Appalachia’s complicated ongoing relationship to national media coverage. First, WMMT's Rachel Garringer chats with Appalshop staff: Ada Smith, Mimi Pickering, and Taylor Pratt about how the organization has produced media despite, and in spite, of oversimplified national stories about our home for 50 years. Then, we hear Garringer's recent interview with long-time NPR Reporter Howard Berkes, who talks about how technologies and conversations around journalism have shifted over the course of his nearly 40 year career; and shares a few favorite stories & tips for national reporters from his decade as NPR’s rural reporter.

Sheila Kay Adams and Bobby McMillon are both master storytellers and ballad singers from western North Carolina. The audio you'll hear in this episode is a segment of their live performance at the Hindman Settlement School on April 4, 2019 as the finale of their Seeds & Stories event.

In this episode, we're exploring the power of music to connect us across difference. Found Sound Nation's #MosaicInteractive crew guides us through this journey of musical and cultural exchange: connecting memories of Kurdish women in northern Turkey with those of women here in Eastern Kentucky, dreams of Palestinian children to international conversations around borders, and Moroccan Gnawa rituals to Appalachian old time songs. They passed through Whitesburg, KY in March 2019 while the project was in development, and sat down in the studio to talk about their process in building a multidisciplinary multimedia performance that premiered at Big Ears Festival March 21-23, 2019.

In this episode, we're celebrating 50 years of Appalshop, with the second in our series. Tanya Turner interviews Eli Smith of the Brooklyn Folk Festival about the JuneAppal artists performing there in April 2019. Then, she talks with Caron Atlas, a former Appalshop staff member and host of a Appalshop house party in NYC this spring. And finally, we hear from Appalshop's Executive Director Alex Gibson about where we've come from and where we're heading this 50th birthday year.

In this episode we’re celebrating Women’s History in the Mountains, by featuring an oral history project aimed to document the stories and experiences of women in Little Cowan and Big Cowan in Letcher County, KY. Letcher County’s own Nell Fields tells us about her motivation to record women’s stories in her own community, and then we’ll hear excerpts from two of interviews she recorded in October 2018 , the first with Carol Ison, and the second with Pat Yinger.

In this episode we’re exploring a different side of the black lung epidemic through the stories of women who lost their husbands to black lung. OVR Reporter Sydney Boles talks with Deborah Boggs, Joyce Birman, Vickie Salyers (pictured), and Nancy Potter who share fond memories from their husbands lives, as well as some of the struggles they faced while living with black lung. She also talks with Evan Smith, an attorney with AppalReD Legal Aid, about the federal black lung benefits system and how a program that was designed to help miners and their families became mired in bureaucracy. You’re listening to Mtn. Talk on WMMT. In this episode we bring you an hour of interviews with women who lost loved ones to black lung disease. Up next, we hear from Deborah Boggs, whose husband Ronnie died in 2016. Interviews/etc continued That’s it for this episode of Mtn. Talk, featuring interviews with women who lost spouses to the black lung epidemic. If you’d like to hear this or previous episodes again, vis

In this episode WMMT's Rachel Garringer spoke with Karida Brown - assistant professor of Sociology and African American Studies at the University of California in Los Angeles - who is also a member of what she calls the Eastern Kentucky African American diaspora. She has deep personal ties to Harlan County, KY where her grandparents lived, and much of her extended family still lives. In this interview Dr. Brown talks about her new book “Gone Home: Race & Roots Across Appalachia” and the Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project - a public humanities project and community archive out of which Brown’s book was born. She also shares memories of coming home to Lynch from New York during the summers as a child to visit her grandparents and cousins, and she talks about her calling to document histories of Black community, work, and migration into and out of the eastern Kentucky coalfields.

February is Black History Month and to celebrate & honor the long legacy of Civil Rights Struggles across the South - and the continued work towards justice and equity in Kentucky - we spoke with Representative Attica Scott who serves the 41st district in the Kentucky House of Representatives. At the time of her election in 2016, Scott became the first African American woman to serve in the Kentucky General Assembly since 2000. In this interview, Representative Scott talks about how her work as a community organizer, her faith, and her children all influence her approach to leadership as an elected official.

In this episode we talk about the beginnings of Appalshop’s 50th Anniversary celebrations, starting in our home state. As Appalshop celebrates 50 years of art & media making across the country through 2020, we’re getting an early start in our biggest Kentucky cities. Brett Ratliff tells us about the Lexington Old Time Gathering coming up in February, where Appalshop will be celebrated at the 21c Hotel & Museum. Filmmaker Mimi Pickering, of Appalshop’s founding generation, shares some about the early years and current work of Appalshop, as well as her most recent film, screening in March at The Speed Cinema. Finally, the Founding Speed Cinema Curator, Dean Otto will tell us about the Appalshop at 50 Speed Cinema Series bringing Appalshop Films to Kentucky’s largest art museum every month in 2019.

In September 2018 the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum hosted a Strike Supper. Their goals were: to bring people in the museum doors to learn more about the rich legacy of labor organizing in the area, and, to work towards busting the myth of Appalachia as a culturally and racially homogeneous region. They did this by exploring and celebrating the diverse cultural histories of Southern WV through food. Folks from near and far gathered to share dishes from the region, and while they shared food they also shared stories of personal family histories, immigration to and from the area in the 1900s, and the rich cultural legacies of the Southern Appalachian coalfields. In this episode we'll hear some of those stories. To learn more about the WV Mine Wars Museum visit www.wvminewars.com.

This episode is jam-packed with memories of the one and only Jim Webb. Also known as Wiley Quixote, Jim was the eccentric and punny heart of this radio station since WMMT first took to the airwaves in 1985. Jim passed on October 22, 2018 at his home, Wiley's Last Resort, on top of Pine Mountain in Letcher County, KY. On this show, friends and family share some of their favorite memories of the unforgettable Wiley Q.

In this episode we bring you on a foodie audio journey of last weekend's Dumplins n' Dancin' at the historic Hindman Settlement School: a weekend event bringing people together to learn and share about food, recipes, and traditional dance. You'll hear sounds from a variety of cooking workshops & sounds of the eating, conversation, and dancing that filled the Settlement School all weekend long.

The Black Lung Disability Trust Fund is set to expire on December 31st, 2018. The fund provides crucial support for miners suffering from the disease, as well as widows who have lost their husbands to the disease. In late November a group of citizens from across the country, including right here in eastern KY, traveled to Washington D.C. to urge their representatives to uphold the Trust Fund and to support the Reclaim Act. The trip was put together by organizations across the country, including the Appalachian Citizens Law Center. In this episode we'll hear audio of the press conference itself, and interviews with one of the retired miners who attended, Kenny Fleming, and one of the organizers, Eric Dixon of the ACLC.

In this episode we hear from Angie Hagaman, Operations Director for the ETSU Center for Prescription Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment. Angie talks about the current state of the drug epidemic in the region, and describes how the Center works to partner with affected communities to research the epidemic. She also tells us about her own research, through her PhD program, with the Letcher County Culture Hub and some local volunteer fire departments. She says story circles and listening projects might be the missing piece to combating the opioid epidemic, and hopes that by adding more “heart” to the healing process we can start to see a real decline in the epidemic.

Happy Halloween from WMMT! In this episode we bring you an interview with Sabrina Flick of Whitesburg, KY’s favorite haunted house, Brimstone. Sabrina talks about her love of all things Halloween, and shares some history and stories about how to create creepy scenes.

In this episode we bring you a recent debate between two candidates vying to represent Virginia’s 9th District in the US House of representatives: Democrat Anthony Flaccavento and incumbent republican Morgan Griffith. The debate took place at the Bristol Hotel, in Bristol VA. It was sponsored by the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, and the recording comes courtesy of WYCB. WMMT does not endorse political candidates, but we welcome interviews with anyone running for political office as a public service. Opinions expressed in this episode of Mountain Talk are not necessarily those of WMMT or Appalshop, Inc.

In this episode we hear from the new All Access EKY fellows about their work to raise awareness about reproductive health justice in southeastern KY through youth media. All Access Media Director Willa Johnson and Peer Trainer Taylor Pratt host the show.

There's a reason #YourWMMT staff work in radio: we MUCH prefer being behind the mic to being in front of the camera! For this special Fall 2018 Fund Drive episode WMMT's General Manager Elizabeth Sanders, Public Affairs Director Rachel Garringer, and Ohio Valley Resource Reporter Sydney Boles went live on the radio: telling stories about our personal relationships to radio, sharing some behind the scenes details about how a community radio station works, and playing some clips from WMMT history!