Mountain News & World Report

In this episode we bring you recent news from the Ohio Valley Resource, an exploration into some curious billboards scattered around eastern Kentucky, some youth produced audio from the Appalachian Media Institute Library, and a story about this year’s free Levitt Amp concert series!

This episode begins with a celebration the craftsmanship of southwest Virginian musician and instrument builder Wayne Henderson, whose birthday is May 3rd. Then, we hear excerpts from an interview with Ash-Lee Woodard Henderson just days after a fire destroyed the main office building at the historic Highlander Center in New Market, TN on March 29, 2019. Henderson talks about the legacy of southern movements' resistance and resilience that Highlander has witnessed over its 87 year history. And finally, we visit the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative's Fire Summit in Pikeville this April, where high school students from across Eastern KY shared their inventions and ideas for economic and environmental changes in the region.

In this episode we’re remembering the Upper Big Branch Mine Disaster in Raleigh County, WV in 2010, celebrating the life and musical legacy of Addie Graham with her grandson Rich Kirby, and reviewing some federal bills related to land and health here in the coalfields.

In this episode we’re talking about artistic collaborations, as well as the various ways people come to experience the unique culture of southeastern Kentucky. Whitesburg has hosted artists from all over the country and all over the world this month, and as more and more visitors come to eastern Kentucky, some Knott Countians are developing a visitors center and regional tourism website to welcome folks to our mountains and help them plan their visits. First, we’ll hear sounds from earlier this March when a group of international and national musicians and artists visited Whitesburg for a week of musical and cultural exchange through the Mosaic Interactive Project. Then, we visit the Carr Creek Community Center in the old Carr Creek High School, for a recent press conference announcing the launch of a regional tourism initiative and visitors center. And last, we bring you a brief interview with Natalia Zuluaga, the Great Meadows Foundation’s 2019 Critic in Residence. Zuluaga will spend two months in Kentu

In this episode we bring you a variety of stories about research, events, and solutions to issues facing eastern Kentucky and the Appalachian Region. First, Bev May and Nell Fields talk about their work with the Mountain AIR Project - researching and treating respiratory health issues in Letcher and Harlan Counties. Then, from the Ohio Valley Resource we’ll hear three regional news pieces exploring: new online approaches to providing therapy for survivors of domestic violence in rural areas, updates on new federal funding to expand broadband to rural communities, and questions around the economic relationship between state prisons and county jails in rural Kentucky counties. We’ll wrap this show up with a short interview with Crystal Kinser about TEDxCorbin, which is taking place on Saturday March 9th.

In this episode we bring you stories - past and present - on health, the economy and education in the mountains. We begin with four pieces from the Ohio Valley Resource and wrap up with the fourth in a six-part series from Michael & Carrie Kline with Talking Across the Lines about race and class in Mt. Hope, WV in the 1960s.

In this episode we bring you two stories highlighting how the economic decline here in eastern KY is being talked about at a national level. Then, in honor of Black History Month, this episode wraps up with the third in a 6-part series from Michael & Carrie Kline, exploring the history of desegregation in Mount Hope, WV.

In this episode, we bring you stories of sickness and health in Appalachia. First, from WMMT’s own Ohio Valley Resource reporter, Sydney Boles - we’ll hear from widows of miners with Black Lung about how effects of the deadly disease ripple out into the community. Then, also from OVR we’ll learn about a vaping company that in marketing products to teenagers, is creating a major health risk for youth. While the first two stories focus on challenges to health in the region, we’ll finish this episode on a positive note with the second in a 6 part series from Michael and Carrie Kline. In this edition Fayetteville, WV residents Bernice Clayton and Nathan Shelton, describe their older family members’ ability to make do from scratch, from the land, with local and healthy home grown foods.

In this episode we bring you recent news from the Ohio Valley Resource on a proposed bill to shore up miners pension benefits and reinstate the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Then, WMMT’s Mimi Pickering takes us back a gathering of business women in Harlan County KY in November 2018. We finish this episode with the first in a 6 part series. Hope Shorts: Wit & Wisdom on Race Class & Community Survival from Mount Hope WV - was produced by Michael and Carrie Kline.

In this episode we bring you a range of stories past and present about some of the joys and challenges of life in Central Appalachia. WMMT reporter Sydney Boles brings us two recent stories: first about the struggle for clean drinking water in Wyoming County, WV in a community with lots of Mountain Top Removal mines, and then about a new LGBTQ+ safe space in Pikeville, KY. In the second half of this episode, we bring you two youth-produced stories made during the 2007 Appalachian Media Institute's Audio Lab. "Aunt Carol" celebrates a dear family member, and "Bluegrass Loving Girl" explores what it was like for a young woman to love bluegrass even when her peers didn't.

This episode features stories centering the land we live on, and how we craft healthy lives for our families and communities on that land. From the archives we’ll hear a delightful story produced during the Appalachian Media Institute's 2009 Audio Lab. Sarah Craft recorded her family on hog-killing day. Then, WMMT reporter Sydney Boles brings us an update on Letcher County’s CANE commercial kitchen. Last, we’ll hear three pieces from the Ohio Valley ReSource. The first focuses on state policies across the region that restrict the expansion of renewable energy sources like solar. In the second, we learn about record breaking rates of Sexually Transmitted infections across the U.S. And last, we’ll hear about some ideas for how to clean up and re-purpose abandoned mine lands throughout Central Appalachia. Photo of Letcher County Farmers Charlie and Joyce Pinson at the CANE Kitchen, by Sydney Boles.

It's been a heavy week in national news, so in this episode of Mtn. News we’re bringing you a hopeful story about the first ever pride festival in eastern KY, which took place in Pikeville on October 20th. And, from the Ohio Valley Resource, How is Healthcare shaping this mid-term election?

First, in this episode we bring you an update on the water crisis in Martin County, from WMMT’s new Ohio Valley Resource reporter, Sydney Boles. Then, from OVR, a piece about Dr. Rahul Gupta - Chief Health officer for the State of WV. And last, but not least, we’re in the midst of our Fall 2018 Fund Drive, so we wanted to share some clips from WMMT’s history with our listeners. We’ll hear an excerpt from a 2012 Mtn. Talk featuring stories of the early days here at the station.

In this episode we bring you two recent stories from the Ohio Valley Resource, and, we dust off a piece from our archives. First, we learn about a recent lecture at West Virginia University by David Zatezalo - Assistant Secretary of Labor for Mine Safety and Health Administration. Zatezalo lays out the Trump Administration’s priorities for MSHA. Then, we learn about the challenges facing one West Virginia woman in recovery. Wendy Crites was stopped for driving under the influence of suboxone - even though it’s a prescribed medication aiding in her recovery. And last, from the archives, we’ll hear a 2014 interview that Sylvia Ryerson did with Tom Brown - an apple grower from Clemmons, NC who has saved hundreds of varieties of Heirloom apples.

In this episode we bring you stories of Letcher County events aimed at supporting local community members. First, we'll hear audio from the recent Black Lung Town Hall hosted by the Appalachian Citizens' Law Center which brought together researchers, health care providers, lawyers, and community members affected personally by Black Lung to discuss the current epidemic, and strategies towards gaining government support for miners and their families. Then, we'll learn about the recent opening of a brand new commercial kitchen run by Community Agricultural Nutritional Enterprises, Inc. or CANE. The kitchen is located at the old Whitesburg High School and aims to support local farmers in producing value added products to expand their economic possibilities.

In this episode we bring you two stories about local efforts to invest in our towns and communities, both recorded by WMMT’s Mimi Pickering. First we’ll learn about the recent Naloxone Training held at the Letcher County Health Department, which provided attendees with a free training on how to spot and respond to an opioid overdose, and upon completion of the training a free Naloxone nasal spray. In the second piece we learn about the first ever Great Mountain Mega Mural Fest held in Harlan County, KY in early August.

In this episode we bring you stories, history, and dreams for the future of the STAY Together Appalachian Youth Project. STAY is a regional youth network that has been working to create mountain communities where young Appalachians can and want to stay for the past 10 years. In July of 2018, STAY celebrated it’s 10th birthday at the Highlander Center in New Market, TN. We spoke with STAY members, and alums about what STAY means to them and to the region. Join us for the next hour as we celebrate the power and vision of mountain youth.

In this episode we bring you four stories exploring challenges to community health in our region. First we hear about the ACLU of VA's recent report on the use of solitary confinement in VA Prisons. Then from the Ohio Valley Resource we hear three stories about: Pension Problems, Spiking Black Lung Rates, and Climbing Hepatitis A cases in the Ohio Valley.

In this episode we bring you two stories about families in crisis. The first from right here in KY focuses on Governor Bevin’s cuts to Medicaid Vision and Dental Benefits which has left nearly 500,000 Kentuckians without coverage. The second features audio from a recent rally in Big Stone Gap VA, where nearly 60 community members came out in protest of the Trump Administration’s separation of immigrant children from their parents at the border.

In this show we bring you stories of historically marginalized communities creating space in the mainstream. First, WMMT’s Rachel Garringer brings us along for the opening of Letcher County, KY’s first ever LGBTQ Safe Space. Then from the Ohio Valley Resource we’ll learn about the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and, the UN’s report on Poverty in the U.S.