Mountain Talk Monday— every Tuesday!

In this edition of WMMT's Mountain Talk, we dive into the history and legacy of radical Eastern Kentucky healthcare advocate Eula Hall. Eula was a larger-than-life presence, and over the decades, she organized and agitated around everything from black lung benefits, to food stamps, to clean water, and workers' rights, among many other issues. But she's perhaps best known for founding the Mud Creek Clinic in Floyd County, in 1973. First, follow us to the field, where we visit the Mud Creek Clinic, now called the Eula Hall Health Center. Hear from clinic doctor Jeremy Parsons, Director of Strategic Planning and Development Pam Spradling, business administrator April Herald, and community health worker Jessica Atkins about the clinic's commitment to treating the uninsured, and to viewing healthcare as fully integrated with communities and their daily lives. Then, we hear from Eula herself, through a 2010 interview with Bev May, discussing the continued urgency of healthcare, SNAP assistance, and workers' rights in rural Kentucky. This story is part of the “America Amplified” initiative. America Amplified is a national public media collaboration focused on community engagement reporting. This reporting is a part of WMMT's new labor series.

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 faced in transitioning away from the Soviet system and into private enterprise. Music in this episode was performed by the Dutch Cove String Band (from the June Appal Records release "Sycamore Tea"), Don Bikoff (“Traveling Riverside Blues”, from the Free Music Archive), and by Glenn Jones (“Bergen County Farewell", also from the Free Music Archive).

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—but with yourself, he says) and closes the show with a gospel tune.

"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 communicating through music about this deeply personal and highly politicized topic. We also speak to Shaylan Clark of Sexy Sex Ed, a peer sex education group in Eastern Kentucky formed to counter abstinence-based sex education with frank, open, and even fun discussion of sex, birth control, consent, and LGBTQ issues. Songs featured are "Bad Faith" by the Montvales, and "The Pill" by Loretta Lynn. If you have a response to this Mountain Talk segment, you can DM us on social media or email Katie at katie@appalshop.org to start a conversation.

"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. This reporting is a part of WMMT's new labor series.

"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 County diaspora that continues to occur annually.

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.

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, visit our website at www.wmmt.org or download Mtn. Talk wherever you get your podcasts. Music on this episode features Carla Grover with a tune called “Could You Love Me One More Time” from the album “Hush, my restless soul.” That album was produced by Appalshop's own June Appal Recordings.

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!

In this episode we’re learning about the Artists Collaborative Theater in Elkhorn City, KY. We were joined in the studio by some of the youth theater participants to learn more about the theater, their youth education programming, and their upcoming play "The Adventures of Peter Rabbit."

In this episode we’re celebrating Indigenous People’s Day. Many states across the nation celebrate Columbus Day, but a growing number have done away with a celebration of Columbus, and instead, celebrate Indigenous Histories and Presents each October. For this episode, we spoke with Bonnie Brown, coordinator of West Virginia University’s Native Studies Program. Brown talks about the legacy of genocide sparked by Columbus’s arrival in North America. Then, we spoke with Angela Arnett Garner, from the Legislative Committee of the Kentucky Native American Heritage Commission. Garner talks about her work organizing across the state encouraging towns and counties to celebrate Indigenous People’s Day. The image is a screenprint by Jesus Barraza of the Just Seeds Artist Cooperative.

In this episode we were joined in the studio by two Letcher County, KY Fire Department Chiefs. Sand Lick Fire Chief Mike Amburgey and Kings Creek Fire Chief Bill Meade spoke about the many public services that volunteer Fire Departments Provide in Letcher County, the funding crisis they are facing, and the unique importance that volunteer fire departments play rural communities.

1 in 5 veteran miners now has Black Lung, and yet the Black Lung Disability Fund is at risk of effectively disappearing. This week a group of retired miners, widows, lawyers and organizers traveled from Appalachia to Washington D.C. to lobby on Capitol Hill. In this episode of Mountain Talk we chat with some of them about their personal experiences with Black Lung Disease, and their work to try to save the Black Lung Trust Fund. We hear from retired miners Bethel Brock and Jimmy Moore, Patty Amburgey who lost her husband to Black Lung, and Appalachian Citizens' Law Center's Evan Smith.

In this episode, we bring you an interview with Kevin Rashid Johnson, who has been incarcerated since 1990 in prisons throughout the U.S., most recently in Southwest VA. Benny Becker spoke with Johnson by phone, about his own experiences on the inside, histories of organizing from within prison walls, and the national prison strike taking place right now. The strike, which runs from August 21st - September 9, 2018 has a list of demands, including that "All persons imprisoned in any place of detention under United States jurisdiction must be paid the prevailing wage in their state or territory for their labor." Currently, incarcerated folks are paid next to nothing for their work. So, on this Labor Day, we bring you voices from an ongoing labor struggle inside U.S. Prisons. Self portrait by Rashid Johnson from his website rashidmod.com

In this episode we’re honoring the history of the Battle of Blair Mountain which took place from August 25-Sept 2, 1921. The Battle of Blair Mountain was the largest labor uprising in United States history, and it took place in the context of the decade long WV Mine Wars. During that time miners and their families fought to bring a union, and through it, safer and more just working and living conditions to the Southern WV Coalfields. We'll talk with people involved in honoring this history today, through the WV Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, and through work to preserve the Blair Mountain Battlefield itself as a National Historic Site. We’ll also hear audio from the Appalshop Film: Nimrod Workman: To Fit My Own Category - Nimrod participated in the Battle of Blair Mountain and was a proud union miner.

In this episode we’re learning about a new App developed right here in Letcher County, KY that launches this week in conjunction with Jenkins Homecoming Days. The app, Jenkins: A City Built on Coal, is a virtually guided walking and driving tour. Users are guided on the tour by oral history recordings of nine local residents who share memories of 14 different locations throughout the town. We'll hear from Appalshop based Project Director Elizabeth Barret and Archivist Caroline Rubens, and excerpts from the interviews with nine past and present residents of Jenkins - recorded and edited by Benny Becker.

In this episode we bring you Nikki Giovanni’s keynote address to the 2018 Appalachian Writers Workshop. Nikki Giovanni is an award winning prolific poet, activist and educator. She was born in Knoxville in 1943, and raised in Cincinnati, OH. She now makes her home in Blacksburg, VA where she has taught at Virginia Tech since 1987. Each July writers gather in at the Hindman Settlement School for the Appalachian Writers Workshop. This year was the 41st annual workshop, and Giovanni delivered the keynote address.

In this episode we bring you an hour of history and poetry from the Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative (SAWC). Formed in 1974 out of a gathering at the Highlander Center, SAWC aims to support Appalachian writers in their efforts to take control of a regional identity, and to take action on issues impacting mountain land and people. Each year members of SAWC travel to Whitesburg from near and far, to read poems as a part of Appalshop’s annual Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival. We sat down with a handful of SAWC members at this year’s festival to learn more about their personal and collective writing histories, and to hear some great poems!

In this episode we'll hear about this summer's Appalachian Media Institute. This is a special AMI summer, because it’s the first in Appalshop’s history to be themed. To celebrate its 30th anniversary, AMI partnered up with another Appalshop program, All Access EKY, to bring a female/non-binary summer, focusing on the issues of reproductive health care and access to birth control in Eastern Kentucky. Seven talented interns have spent six-weeks studying documentaries, partaking in hands-on workshops, and researching women’s reproductive healthcare in preparation to make their own films. This mountain talk, produced by AMI peer trainer Hannah Adams, will include media created throughout this summer and past semesters of All Access, as well as interviews with the interns themselves.