It Still Lives

Our final podcast episode features a conversation with director, writer, producer, AND teacher Evelyn Pollard of Louisville, Kentucky. Evelyn works with diverse student groups to capture their stories and experiences through filmmaking. She has also been working a documentary highlighting the Cleveland Buckeyes - a Negro League baseball team who took home the championship in 1945. Join us as we speak with Evelyn about her work and experience as a creative storyteller on the cusp of Appalachia. Visit www.foxfire.org to learn more.

Have you ever thought about what a superhero from Appalachia would look like? Coder and developer Justin Hall blends his love of art and storytelling with tech to create interactive comic book characters that retell the story of coal mining counties. Learn more at www.foxfire.org

Madison Whittle, a senior at Western Kentucky University, shares her work in User Experience and design this week as part of continuing miniseries on creatives in Appalachia as part of the Civic Imagination Incubator. Head to www.foxfire.org for more info!

Our next installment in the Civic Imagination mini series features Assistant Professor of Broadcasting at WKU, Ryan Dearbone. Ryan is active in his community as a leader in DEI practices. He shares his current project with us, which is examining the impact of covid and post-pandemic trends on churches in and around Appalachia.

We are continuing our mini series on the Civic Imagination Incubator! Join us as we sit down with sci-fi author and storyteller Clinton W. Waters. They share with us their vision for a utopic Kentucky known as the Commonwealth.

We're joined this month by the leaders of the Civic Imagination Project, an initiative started by a small team at the University of Southern California. We'll be talking about how imagination and storytelling can bring communities together in our region.

We are celebrating Black History Month with a featured interview from Lena Dorsey, who grew up in Bean Creek, Georgia. Head to foxfire.org for images and more information about this month's episode.

We're taking a listen to historic accounts of logging in the Southern Appalachian Mountains. Featuring interviews from Will Zoellner, Shirley Buchanan, Jake Waldroop, and Preach Parsons. Find images and bonus content at www.foxfire.org

As s we enter the holiday season, we're reflecting back on the real stories behind coal – that dreaded lump that shows up in naughty children's stockings on Christmas morning. Featuring interviews with retired coal miners Carl Shoupe, Connie McKnight, and Mike O'Bradovich.

In honor of Veterans' Day on November 11th, we're listening to stories from servicemen and women. Featuring Harley Penland (WWI), Teenie Howell (WWII), Ben Purcell (Vietnam), and James Jobbit (Iraq). Visit www.foxfire.org to learn more.

As we approach the annual Foxfire Fall Festival, we take a look at historic traditions and community activities here in the mountains, from corn shuckings to baseball games. Featuring interviews with Arie Carpenter, Carrie Stewart, Florence & Lawton Brooks, Harriet Echols, Richard & Margaret Norton, and Lena Dorsey. 

We're revisiting music in Appalachia and taking a look back at banjo making in Appalachia, from its origins in West Africa to mountain musicians in the 1970s. Visit www.foxfire.org/category/podcast for show notes and pictures!

This month, we are taking the podcast on the trail as we explore the history and impact of William Bartram's travels through Southern Appalachia with Brent Martin, Executive Director of the Blue Ridge Bartram Trail Conservancy.

In 1981, the Foxfire students dedicated an entire issue of the Foxfire magazine to the topic of fishing, from types of fish in the mountains to equipment and, of course, big fish tales. This month, we are pulling just a few excerpts from this robust issue to share with you! Interviews featured include Buck Carver, Minyard Conner, Melvin Taylor, Willie Underwood, and Florence Brooks.

We sat down with traveling artist and Appalachian-native Rosalie Haizlett to talk about her upcoming project Tiny Worlds of the Appalachian Mountains. Learn about how Rosalie explores nature to discover the miniature miracles of our mountains!

Several months back, Foxfire staff members met with Dr. Trey Adcock (Cherokee Nation) and Gilliam Jackson (Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians) to learn about their work in the Snowbird Community, near Robbinsville, North Carolina. 

We are carrying on the conversation around craft and community this month, as we sit down with quilter Zak Foster at the Foxfire Museum. 

We are continuing are exploration of weaving in the southern mountains with this look back at what the craft looked like during the first half of the twentieth century. In the 1970s and early 1980s, Foxfire students sat down with Marinda Brown, Edith Darnell, Lula Norton, and Lyndall Toothman to talk about their memories of the craft.

Host Kami Ahrens and Foxfire weaver Sharon Grist take a field trip to the John C. Campbell Folk School to meet with Allie Dudley, the school's new resident artist and a flourishing young historic weaver. Listen in as Sharon, Kami, and Allie talking weaving patterns, the future of craft, and it's role in communities.

We are kicking off Season 4 of It Still Lives with an interview from with art lover, gardener, and author Mignon Durham to talk about her passion project Devotion and how it helped her cope with the uncertainty we faced during 2020. Listen as Foxfire curator Kami Ahrens and Blue Ridge Public Radio regional reporter Lilly Knoepp talk with Mignon about her experiences in Appalachia and creating a space in our community that honors the culture here.

While we work on bringing you more great content in season 4, we are taking a look back at this fun episode from season 2 that's all about movies filmed in Rabun County, Georgia!

We are pulling more excerpts from A Foxfire Christmas, and taking a look at handmade decorations, holiday foods, and other special traditions here in the mountains. Take a listen to Huell & Margaret Bramlett, L.B. & Ruth Gibbs, Janie P. Taylor, Clyde English, and Icie Rickman. 

As we approach the end of fall, we're looking at ways to preserve the year's harvest for the winter. We sit down with stories from Andy & Bashey Webb, Granny Gibson*, Mrs. Algie Norton, Jean Eller*, Bessie Underwood, Harriet Echols, and John Freemon. (*Omitted by accident from list on podcast)

Back in April, host Kami Ahrens was joined by Blue Ridge Public Radio reporter Lilly Knoepp on an interview with the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indian's first published author, Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle. Born and raised on the Qualla Boundary, Annette shares stories from her childhood at the foot of the Smokies. In fall 2020, Annette released her debut novel, Even As We Breathe, which explores the American culture during World War II from an indigenous perspective.

September in the North Georgia mountains means it is finally apple season! Listen along as we explore an old method of preserving apples: bleaching apples. This unique process preserve fruit by drying it over coals with sulfur. We hear from Lucy York, Edith Parker, and Ada Kelly.

Join us on this episode as we follow Sarah and Rowan's journey through learning about herbalism, foraging, and natural medicine.

In this episode, we explore Celton and Jayton's SEED Project regarding the traditional methods of boat construction and the modern methods through which they have updated the historic craft. 

Join guest host Madi as she talks to two students who are going back to the roots of Foxfire - way back in 1966! From a class of uninterested high school students to a community organization that Rabun County families have passed down from generation to generation, Foxfire is in its fifty-fifth year of preserving Appalachian culture and history. 

Join guest host and Foxfire student Madi as we explore the inspiration, goals, and plans for the first SEED project and find out why they've got us all Hooked On Fishin'.

For the next few weeks, we'll be introducing a mini series documenting our high school leadership students' summer SEED projects. The SEED projects — Students Experiencing Education Differently — allow the Fellows to choose topics in which they are interested as their focuses as they create additions to the museum, interview experts, and summarize their experiences for future generations of Foxfire students to learn. 

Back in March, we received an email from poet Louise Morgan Runyon that sent us down a rabbit hole of Western North Carolina history. Listen as we explore the founding of Macon County and listen to oral histories from Rufus Morgan and Louise.

In preparation for our Native Plant Week this summer, we sit down (virtually) with Appalachian poet and Western North Carolina native Rose McLarney. Rose shares her journey to becoming a poet and some sources of inspiration for her writing.

We're taking a break from the archives this month to sit down with our friends over at the Mainspring Conservation Trust, a nonprofit based in Western North Carolina that works to conserve the water, forests, farms and heritage of the Little Tennessee and Hiwassee river basins. Learn more at https://www.mainspringconserves.org/

Ever wanted to have your fortune told? Would you believe it if you heard it? Foxfire contacts Lawton Brooks and Leila Gibson sure did! They recall a group of nomadic traders in Appalachia commonly called gypsies, although we bet they aren't like the gypsies you're thinking of!

For part 2 of our celebration of Women's History Month, we're taking a look at a unique woman in our archive: Angelina del' Arciprete Davis, an Italian-born woman who immigrated to Southern Appalachia shortly after World War II. 

In honor of women's history month, we are listening to three interviews conducted in 1975, the "International Women's Year." Foxfire students sat down with women from three generations, all raised in the mountains. Join us as we learn Addie Norton, Lassie Bradshaw, and Emma Chastain's ideas of what it means to be an Appalachian woman!

Celebrate February with a few love stories from our archive! Learn about courtship (dating) practices and marriage customs from the early 20th century. We'll sit down with Granny Mary Cabe, Bessie Underwood, Lawton & Florence Brooks, Margaret Norton, Selma Mosley, L.M. & Mary Olive Keef, and O.S. & Olene Garland.

While we work on bringing you more great content in season 3, we are revisiting one of our very favorite episodes from season 1, featuring an interview with Aunt Arie Carpenter.

Join us for some holiday cheer as we travel back in time with Christmas memories from John & Margaret Bulgin, Lessie Conner, Louise Coldren, and Louise & Hubert Hooper. Stories from A Foxfire Christmas.

November often marks the beginning of hunting season for many in rural areas. This month, we're exploring folk tales, tips, and tricks for hunting in the mountains. Featuring interviews with Taylor Crockett, Minyard Conner, and Jake Waldroop.

In the 1980s, Foxfire students conducted a project to document the many varieties of wine here in the mountains, and just how those wines were made. Join us as we hear from Jake Waldroop, John Bulgin, Albert Greenwood, and Lawton Brooks on their secret recipes for success, along with a few stories about mishaps they made!

As students every where prepare for drastic changes to their schooling, we thought we'd take a look back at school in the early 1900s. This month, we feature interviews from Richard Norton, Stella Burrell, Lola Cannon, Billy Long, and Arie Meaders. All attended what were called "country schools"--small, one-room schoolhouses that were scattered throughout Rabun County.

Our small corner of Northeast Georgia has surprisingly been the filming site of several movies, as far back as the 1950s. In this month's episode, we feature oral histories from local folks who have dealt with the movie industry -- from loading train cars in "The Great Locomotive Chase" to restoring appliances for "Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull."

In Appalachia, shape-note singing dominated musical and religious groups. Shape-note music, also referred to as sacred heart music, uses different shapes, like squares, triangles, and diamonds, to represent notes instead of traditional music notes. Join host Kami Ahrens and guest Barry Stiles in a discussion of shape-note music, and listen to original recordings of Christian Harmony singers.

This month's update on the coronavirus focuses on the threat it presents to indigenous communities. We "sat down"--virtually, of course--with Dakota Brown, program director at the Museum of the Cherokee Indian, and citizen of the Cherokee Nation. Dakota shared the Eastern Band's quick response to the virus, and how it has impacted life and business on the Qualla Boundary. 

Gardening season is in full swing as summer quickly approaches! For the month of June, we're talking about planting by the signs, a common folk belief throughout Southern Appalachia. We dive into the history of this practice, and listen to some believers who always planted by the signs. 

This bonus episode features just a few short excerpts from submissions to our COVID-19 Crowd-sourced Oral History Project, many from high school and college students through Appalachia. As public historians and folklorists, we have a responsibility (and interest!) to capture history as it happens around us, and to engage the community in that pursuit. In light of the current coronavirus pandemic and trend of "social distancing," we are turning to you, our community, to help us document this moment in history. Share your own story at www.foxfire.org

In this episode, we're taking a look at how moonshine is made, and the experiences of both moonshiners and lawmen in Appalachia. Join hosts Kami Ahrens and TJ Smith, along with special guest Barry Stiles, as we talk all things moonshine and listen to excerpts from Conway Watkins, Lamon Queen, Leona Carver, and Simmie Free. Learn more about moonshine in The Foxfire Book!

As we approach the long-awaited release of Foxfire's newest book, Foxfire Story, we decided to bring you a small sample of the folktales you'll encounter in this volume. Foxfire Story is filled with tales and legends collected throughout the 50+ years of Foxfire's history. Listen in and hear from storytellers May Justice, Pat Cotter, Lyndall Toothman, Will Seagle, and Luther Rickman.

's finally spring on the mountain, which means wild plant foods and medicines are popping up all over the mountain! Join us as we learn about some of these important wild sources of food both historically and now, and go on a short foraging walk with local herbalist Cara-Lee Langston of Wildcraft Kitchen.

After several requests for more information about gardening, we've put together a special bonus episode on traditional heirloom gardening practices, straight from the Foxfire archives.