Mountain Talk Monday Every Tuesday!

In this edition of Mountain Talk, as part of our ongoing storytelling series Prevent Diabetes EKY, we begin with a story on the Healthy Perry Challenge, an initiative of the Perry County Diabetes Coalition last summer. The Challenge aimed to bring people in the community together around building healthier everyday habits, with the ultimate goal of helping to lower participants' A1C (a/k/a "blood sugar") levels. Also in this episode, while Ukraine is of course a world away, it has something substantial in common with Appalachia: coal, including a long history of mining, and then having to face the thorny question of what to do after coal declines. And the hard times and instability caused by coal's decline in Ukraine have formed part of the complex backdrop for Russia's recent invasions, first in 2014 & then this year. In this piece from the WMMT archive, which first aired back in 2000, Tom Hansell interviews Ukrainian coal miner Valentin Chukalov, who describes the difficulty his country's coal industry fac

2022 marks the 50th anniversary of the Buffalo Creek Flood, a disaster that occurred in Logan County, West Virginia, when a coal slurry impoundment dam suddenly burst and inundated multiple small communities along the creek. Over 4,000 were left homeless, 1,127 injured, and 125 killed. Community members in Logan County gathered this February to tell stories, bear witness, and commemorate the event. Benny Becker brings you the story.

In this edition of WMMT's Mountain Talk, in honor of Black History Month, we open with a profile on a one-of-a-kind Black Appalachian: the activist Evelyn Williams. Evelyn was a unique and influential figure in the region, and the subject of an eponymous 1995 Appalshop documentary film (produced by Anne Lewis). This radio story is an adaptation of that film, and includes Evelyn's recollections of growing up Black in East Kentucky in the 1920's and 30's. Then, as a part of our ongoing series Prevent Diabetes EKY, we hear from Letcher County's Tiffany Scott about a local program & research project, Appalachians in Control, that has been helping people in the area live better with type 2 diabetes. (For more stories of managing & preventing type 2 diabetes in East KY, check out our project website: http://www.preventdiabeteseky.org.) And finally, from the Appalshop Archive, we close with a clip of the inimitable Black Southwest Virginia musician Earl Gilmore, who discusses the blues (it's like being in a fight—

"Everybody's got something to say...." That's a lyric from a new song called "Bad Faith" by a Tennessee-born duo called the Montvales. The song was released after an arsonist burned a Knoxville, Tennessee Planned Parenthood to the ground, a song meant to make people who seek reproductive healthcare - and yes, abortion - feel less alone. Of people that can get pregnant, one in four will have an abortion sometime in their lives. We know not all of our listeners may support abortion, but we also acknowledge that it's a fact of life. Teenagers have abortions, but so do mothers. People have them for medical reasons, for personal reasons, for financial reasons. Statistically, someone you know - someone you love - has had one, or might someday. And in the mountains, access to reliable, accurate information about safe sex that might allow young people to make informed choices, is not always available. In this episode of Mountain Talk, we talk with Sally Buice and Molly Rochelson of the Montvales about communic

"There's four words a girl loves to hear," said Cynthia Nicholson at a December rally outside the Tudor's Biscuit World location where she works. "Tudor's biscuits and unions." In West Virginia, Tudor’s Biscuit World is widely beloved, part of the fabric of the state’s heritage. Many will say a strong labor movement is in their heritage, too. When the workers at one store in Elkview, a small town outside of Charleston, decided to start a union, it made waves throughout the state. Katie Myers visits workers at the store to hear them, in their own words, tell their story. Music in this episode is "Everybody's Favorite," by John Herrod, from June Appal Recordings. This story is part of the “America Amplified” initiative. America Amplified is a national public media collaboration focused on community engagement reporting.

"One da longer, one day stronger." In the Ohio Valley, the stresses of the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing labor shortage have encouraged workers to join what many say is a national and growing wave of labor actions. In Huntington, WV, steelworkers at Warren Buffett-owned Special Metals, and hospital workers at Cabell Huntington Hospital went on strike this fall, citing the need for better benefits and safety protections. Reporter Katie Myers traveled to Huntington to hear why they took action, and what's at stake for them. Listen to hear the workers in their own words. Music is the Coal Creek March, and is sourced from the Blair Pathways Project. This story is part of the “America Amplified” initiative. America Amplified is a national public media collaboration focused on community engagement reporting.

In the early 20th century, Harlan County, Kentucky was a thriving center of Black life. The good and the bad often came together. In this episode, we listen to the dedication of a new roadside memorial to Leonard Woods, a Black man from Jenkins, Kentucky who was lynched in Pound, Virginia in 1927. Reverend Steve Peake of Fleming-Neon, Kentucky dedicates the memorial with a prayer. Then, we hear from Dr. William Turner. Dr. Turner, writer of acclaimed sociological book "Blacks in Appalachia", grew up in the multicultural coal camp town of Lynch as the son of a Black coal miner. Now, in his latest work, "Harlan Renaissance", Turner writes a history of his hometown, and reconstructs the sometimes difficult but always vibrant lives of Black coal camp residents in Appalachia. This talk by Turner was given at the Southeast Kentucky Community and Technical College in Hazard, Kentucky. Music from this episode comes from Appalshop film "East Kentucky Social Club", about an annual reunion of the Black Harlan Coun

WMMT celebrates Indigenous Peoples' Day by speaking with Carol Davis, coordinator of Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, or DINE CARE. DINE CARE is a nonprofit organization located in the Navajo Nation, and works with Navajo communities impacted by environmental issues, particularly coal, oil, gas, and timbering. With Carol, we discuss the retiring of coal mines and plants, the advent of renewable energy on tribal land, and the natural resource challenges still faced by the tribe.

One hundred years ago, years of conflict between unionizing West Virginia coal miners and coal company bosses culminated in the Battle of Blair Mountain, where thousands of coal miners confronted coal company militias and, eventually, the US Army. During the #Blair100 celebration, we spoke with marchers and members of both United Mine Workers of America and American Federation of Teachers about their inheritance of the Blair Mountain struggle, and the state of labor in today’s Appalachia. Music is sourced from the Blair Pathways Project, and includes samples of "The Company Store", performed by Riley Baugus and Tim Erekson; "Hang Don Chafin", performed by Jamie Laval; and "Welcome, Mother Jones" performed by the Stray Birds.

This month's Mountain Talk takes listeners to the Grayson Art Gallery in Grayson, Kentucky, where Appalachian artists collaborated to raise money for the Eastern Kentucky Mutual Aid Network to continue helping people in times of need. This episode is a meditation on what it means to be both an artist and a community member, how ordinary people help each other out, and the ways we find joy in our lives even in hard times. Along the way, you'll hear from comedians, jewelry makers, poets, musicians, and more, as well as excerpts of performances from the day.

In this episode WMMT's Katie Myers travels to Big Stone Gap, Virginia for the small Appalachian town's first-ever Juneteenth celebration, taking place on June 19. Juneteenth is a historically Black holiday dating back to 1865, the year Black people in the United States were emancipated from slavery. The news didn't travel everywhere at the same rate, and Juneteenth marks the day it reached many people in the deep South. This year, the Biden administration recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday. In this piece, you'll hear speeches, music, and storytelling from Big Stone Gap community members, many of whom can recall a time when the town was segregated, about what this celebration means to them - about how far we've all come, and how far we have to go.

In this episode WMMT's Katie Myers speaks with residents of the North Fork Mobile Home Park in Morehead, Kentucky. These residents formed a campaign called Justice 4 North Fork after a Lexington developer purchased their land for use as a strip mall, leaving the roughly eighty North Fork families facing eviction, even as rent continues to rise. Demands from the campaign included financial support for moving costs and assurance that affordable housing would become a funding priority for the city of Morehead. WMMT followed residents Mindy Davenport, Penny Gozzard, Shayna Plank, and others as they made demands on the Morehead City Council and rallied their community, drawing attention to a looming housing crisis in rural Kentucky.

In this episode WMMT's Rachel Garringer talks with novelist Carter Sickels about his second book "The Prettiest Star" - which will be published in May of 2020 by Hub City Press. "The Prettiest Star" is set in 1986 and it tells the story of a young gay man living with HIV who leaves New York City and moves back in with his family in rural Appalachian Ohio. In the interview Sickels reads an excerpt of the novel and talks about the process of writing this book, his interest in the intersection of rural and queer stories, and the challenges of finding stories of the AIDS epidemic in rural communities. And, Sickels talks about getting to spend time on set in Harlan County, during the production of a film based on his first novel "The Evening Hour."

In this episode we talk with Matthew Algeo - a journalist based in Sarajevo - about his book "All This Marvelous Potential: Robert Kennedy’s 1968 Tour of Appalachia" which was published in March 2020. Algeo talks about why he wanted to tell this story, what he learned about Appalachia as a researcher from Philadelphia, and he talks about some of the folks in eastern Kentucky he got to interview about their memories of RFK’s visit in 1968.

April is National Poetry Month, and so, we're bringing you two episodes celebrating Appalachian poetry with women writing in the region. This is Part Two, and in it, we'll hear from Savannah Sipple, Ansel Elkins, and George Ella Lyon!

April is National Poetry Month, and so, we're bringing you two episodes celebrating Appalachian poetry with women writing in the region. In Part One we'll hear from Pauletta Hansel, Rebecca Gayle Howell, and Rose McClarney!

In this episode WMMT's Rachel Garringer sits down with Black in Appalachia Director William Isom II, and audio producer Terence Harris, to learn more about the nearly-10-year-strong community history project documenting Black histories & communities in the region, and the upcoming podcast! Along the way, we’ll hear excerpts from some of the oral history interviews in the Black in Appalachia community archive.

In this episode we hear from Sister Bernie Kenny & Nurse Tauna Gulley about the book they co-wrote. It’s called “Better for Being With You: A Philosophy of Care” and it describes the life events of sister Bernie Kenny - who has worked as a nurse in Ireland, Tanzania, Ethiopia, and CA before she settled in swVA forty years ago. She helped establish a mobile health unit & has been a tireless advocate for the advancement of healthcare delivery in rural Appalachia. Sister Bernie & Tauna joined Rachel Garringer in the studio to talk more about the book, their work, and the state of rural healthcare.

Blue Ridge tacos, kimchi with soup beans and cornbread, family stories hiding in cookbook margins, African American mountain gardens—these are a few of the stories readers find in a new anthology from Ohio University Press. “The Food We Eat, The Stories We Tell: Contemporary Appalachian tables” includes writings from diverse contributors, showing us that contemporary Appalachian tables and the stories they hold offer new ways into understanding past, present, and future American food practices. The book was edited by Elizabeth Engelhardt and Lora Smith, who joined me by phone to talk about the project’s history and scope. Plus, we’ll hear contributors Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, Courtney Balestier, Emily Hilliard, and Robert Gipe reading excerpts from their chapters.

In this episode we learn from Micah & Jakeli Swimmer. Micah & Jakeli are brothers, educators and enrolled members of the Eastern Band of Cherokee. They grew up hearing their grandmother, Amanda Swimmer, speak the language. And as the last remaining fluent speakers age and pass away, Micah & Jakeli find themselves in an urgent race to learn as much of the language as they can, and to help teach it to others in their community.