Podcasts about Appalshop

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 25, 2022 29:16

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.

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Buffalo Creek Disaster Remembered

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 21, 2022 62:06

Feb. 26, 2022 is the 50th anniversary of the Buffalo Creek Flood in Logan County, WV. 125 people were killed and left 4000 homeless when a poorly constructed coal waste dam collapsed at the head of Buffalo Creek. This program features the soundtrack of Mimi Pickering's film about what happened and why, and a follow up focusing on the efforts to rebuild the communities after the disaster. Both films, The Buffalo Creek Flood: An Act of Man and Buffalo Creek Revisited, are available for rent or purchase from Appalshop.

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Infrastructure4Us

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 17, 2021 60:00

This episode begins with a first-hand account of the economic challenges facing towns and counties in Central Appalachia, but then celebrates the positive impact the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is going to have on the region. Also included is a report on Build Back Better, a bill, that if passed by Congress, would invest in our human infrastructure – that is children, students, families, health care, community wellbeing and more. Featured are Marley Green from Appalshop, Dustin Pugel who is Senior Policy Analyst with the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, and Rebecca Shelton, Research Director at Appalachian Citizens Law Center.

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Recording Black History in Eastern Kentucky (with Dr. William Turner)

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 15, 2021 30:04

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.

Peter Hille: Building a Just Transition and a New Economy

Yes! We Rise

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 15, 2021 45:21

In this episode of the We Rise Podcast, Christine interviews Peter Hille, President of The Mountain Association. Peter shares what it takes to create a new economy and the empowerment of seeing progress. Learn about a “just transition” and the importance of starting at the local level to create lasting and sustainable change for a community. The Mountain Association Some organizations collaborating with The Mountain Association include: The Brushy Fork Institute, Appalshop, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth. Learn more about Gwen Christon and her store, Isom IGA. Collective Resilience: We Rise is produced by Dialogue + Design Associates, Podcasting For Creatives, with music by Drishti Beats. Follow Collective Resilience: We Rise on Facebook and Instagram. Please rate, review, and subscribe to the podcast so we can continue spreading our message far and wide. Find our email list at the website: www.yeswerise.org. Thanks for listening.

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Remembering Eula Hall, Blair Mtn Battle

Gumption, Grit, and Grace: A Podcast by Coalfield Development

Play Episode Listen Later May 26, 2021 60:01

Eula Hall, health care leader and self described “hillbilly activist,” spent a lifetime assisting her Eastern Kentucky neighbors and encouraging poor people to fight for their rights. After passing away on May 8 at age 93, she was lauded in her native Floyd County, by a Kentucky Congressman and Senator, and in the New York Times and Wall Street Journal. Longtime friends Steve Brooks and Maxine Kenny recall experiences with Eula that began when they came to Eastern Kentucky in the late 1960s and early 70s and worked with her to get the Mud Creek Clinic started, and to address other injustices that poor people were facing at that time. That's followed by a 2013 interview with Eula at an Appalshop book signing event for "Mud Creek Clinic: The Life of Eula Hall and the Fight for Appalachia" by Kiran Bhatraju. Also featured is an interview with labor historian Chuck Keeney, the author of a new history on West Virginia’s Battle of Blair Mountain, now in its centennial year. This story comes to us from Appalach-America, a new podcast produced by the Ohio Valley ReSource and Louisville Public Media.

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Episode 20: Clara Harris

19Stories

Play Episode Listen Later May 22, 2021 59:34

My guest today is a stage and screen actor, writer, and audio drama maven. Clara’s writing includes essays and plays for stage and audio drama and her stage plays have been shortlisted and recognized nationally and internationally. In 2014, she was honored by the Kentucky Arts Council with the Emerging Artist Award, Playwright and her writing is a regular feature in the audio drama podcast, Night Owl Theatre and she is the producer and host of the “Yoga with Clara” podcast. She is a grantee of the Kentucky Foundation for Women, working on an audio drama script that explores the experiences of women in mining communities in Kentucky and the United Kingdom. She can be seen in the films Dark Waters, starring Mark Ruffalo and The Old Man and the Gun alongside Casey Affleck, starring Robert Redford. She co-stars in the film Damaged Goods, that is currently in post-production. I look forward to hearing about all her creative endeavors and would like to welcome Clara Harris to 19 Stories... You may connect with Clara via: Facebook @claraharrisactor, where you can find links to her audio drama, Night Owl Theatre, Great Monologues Coaching for high schoolers, and yoga offerings. or Clara-Harris.com

Dee Davis

Play Episode Play 49 sec Highlight Listen Later Apr 2, 2021 30:38 Transcription Available

This week we have a virtual conversation with Dee Davis. Dee is a lot of things...He is the president of the Center for Rural Strategies, executive producer at Appalshop (a documentary production company that also established a media training program for Appalachian youth), a member of the Rural Advisory Committee of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation and Feral Arts of Brisbane, Australia. He is also a member of the Institute for Rural Journalism’s national advisory board, a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Work and the Economy, a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. As well as the former Chair of the board of directors of Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation, and the list goes on....An author and writer for The Daily Yonder (dailyyonder.com) He's also a native Appalachian and lives in Whitesburg, Kentucky.To learn more about Dee and his work go to: dailyyonder.comhttps://www.ruralstrategies.org/We will be releasing new episodes bi-weekly, sometimes even more regularly, for the remainder of 2021! https://coalfield-development.org/

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241: A Conversation with Dee Davis

Rural Health Leadership Radio™

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 16, 2021 31:56

In this episode of Rural Health Leadership Radio, we’re talking about improving economic and social conditions in rural communities around the world. We’re having that conversation with Dee Davis, President of the Center for Rural Strategies. “Life is what happens when you’re not making plans.” ~Dee Davis Dee Davis is the founder and president of the Center for Rural Strategies. Dee has helped design and lead national public information campaigns on topics as diverse as commercial television programming and federal banking policy. Dee began his media career in 1973 as a trainee at Appalshop, an arts and cultural center devoted to exploring Appalachian life and social issues in Whitesburg, Kentucky. As Appalshop's executive producer, the organization created more than 50 public TV documentaries, established a media training program for Appalachian youth, and launched initiatives that use media as a strategic tool in organization and development. Dee is the chair of the National Rural Assembly steering committee; he is a member of the Rural Advisory Committee of the Local Initiatives Support Corporation, Fund for Innovative Television, and Feral Arts of Brisbane, Australia. He is also a member of the Institute for Rural Journalism’s national advisory board. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Institute for Work and the Economy. Dee is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences Commission on the Practice of Democratic Citizenship. Dee is also the former Chair of the board of directors of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation.

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Episode 18: Ben Fink- A Communist Jew from the Northeast CH. 2

Change the Story / Change the World

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 3, 2021 24:30

CSCW EP 18: Ben Fink – A Communist Jew from the Northeast – Chapter 2Threshold Questions and Delicious QuotesAs a self described "communist Jew from the Northeast, what kind of hostility did you encounter in coal country? Honestly, the most hostility I got was from some of the liberals who are like, this is our way of doing things and we have this way of doing activism, and this way of doing community development, and this way of, who we relate to and who we don't relate to and blah, blah, blah. How can traditional hymn singing help build trust? And, you know what I have been told that a lot of ice was broken at some of these events. When I got up in front of the room, I didn't need a mic cause I'm loud, and I was able to line out, Poor Wayfaring Stranger, or What Wonderous Love is This, ... and that became my identity to a lot of people. I was the shape note guy. I was the guy who could come in and lead a sing and, line out of him. And it just, it broke down some walls.What is Performing Our Future? Yeah. So, Performing Our Future began as a community-based research project to figure out how can people tell their stories, communities that have long resisted, systematic, organized exploitation, how those communities can collectively tell their own stories, connected to building their own power connected, to creating their own and do so in coalition with each other, both locally, as well as nationally. "What is the difference between cooking and catering?" As Gwen said, we never done cater and we just done cooking. What's the difference between catering and cooking? The difference is what our economist friend Fluney Hutchinson calls, bounded imagination. Cooking is something you do for yourself and your neighbors to survive. Catering is something that you can do to add value and create jobs.And in this case, jobs for neighbors that were coming back from incarceration and addiction and serve in the armed forces overseas, with various kinds of trauma who were really having trouble finding other jobs. How did culture figure in the Letcher County organizing effort? A central building block was a play that roadside theater made alongside these folks, and with these folks, sharing their stories, developing this grip, performing in it called the future of Letcher County, which is literally people of all ages, ideologies backgrounds, debating about the political, cultural and economic future of Letcher County.We've now performed this, actually performed in West Baltimore just before the pandemic hit. It was... I'll tell you what happened was, I heard somebody in the audience say "I didn't know, white people dealt with that stuff too " Transcript Ben Fink: What is a thing that this group of people likes to do together or cares about, and it's not just cares about, but also wants to make together like that act of making things together and owning what we make. It's so central to the work, because when you make something together, then you are changing that story because you now have a story of, we built this we have added to our world in a way that is deeply meaningful of both of us. From that foundation. It is really hard to dehumanize someone. You can disagree, you can be pissed. You can have all sorts of, all sorts of conflict, right? Bill Cleveland: That was Ben Fink talking about how important the simple act of “making things together” is to creating trust in communities that have a history of being exploited and betrayed. In our last episode we learned how Ben, an activist theater worker and community organizer from the northeast came work for an arts-based community development organization called Appalshop, in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letcher_County,_Kentucky (Letcher County Kentucky). We also heard about how his hands-on approach to building partnerships panned out in his collaboration with a Trump loving, ex-coal miner, volunteer fire chief producing bluegrass concerts in the firehouse, and bringing... Support this podcast

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Episode 17: Ben Fink- A Communist Jew from the Northeast - CH.1

Change the Story / Change the World

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 20, 2021 29:45

CSCW EP 17: Ben Fink – A Communist Jew from the Northeast – Chapter 1 Threshold Questions and Delicious QuotesWhat defines the work of Appalshop and Performing our Future? The work is creating the conditions, for people in communities to tell their own stories, build their own power, and create their own wealth, and doing it really intensely locally rooted in local traditions and local valuesWhat is the difference between community engagement and working with your neighbor? ...What I'll usually say, I come in, I'm supposed to talk to a group about community engagement. First thing you got to know, fuck community engagement. And then they say, oh, what do you mean? Ben now, how do you describe your work if you don't talk about community engagement? I said, "I work with my neighbors". Sometimes my neighbors are across the street. Sometimes my neighbors are across the country. We are neighbors. We are living together and we're going to work together. Does that mean we're all the same? Hell no. What community is composed of all people that are the same. How can working with your neighbor help change a community's story? ...that act of making things together and owning what we make. It's so central to the work, because when you make something together, then you are changing that story, because you now have a story of, "we built this we have added to our world in a way that is deeply meaningful of both of us." From that foundation. It is really hard to dehumanize someone. Transcript So, where do I start. I think I start by asking your help. by joining in a little song. This may seem crazy on a podcast – but here is the lyric: We who believe in freedom cannot rest. Before we sing it, please take a moment to ponder what these words mean to YOU, in your life, or in your work, OK here we go. Here is the beat ………and the melody. We who believe in freedom cannot rest. Now you: We who believe in freedom cannot rest. Again: We who believe in freedom cannot rest. If you actually did sing while listening here … Give yourself a hand. So, what have we just done: In a little over a minute we have manifested the three human behaviors that many believe have most contributed to survival and proliferation of the human species. They also happen to be three of the THINGS, that artists are particularly good at making happen in the world. So, what are they? First, if we were in a group, what we just did would have captured and focused the attention of those folks. If you are not alone, you may have had that experience just now. Of course, this singing thing is not new. In fact, our singing here, was a reprise of one of the first strategies that our early ancestors used maybe 100,000 years ago to capture and focus the attention of the tribe to support what we now call ----building community, Now next Beyond focusing attention, our singing together also provided a very simple and direct way of connecting our heads and our hearts — inside, individually, and with each other. This visceral, bodily connecting, is no small thing This is because we humans need nudges like these to begin forging the bonds, the trust we all need to join with others outside of our families and kinship circles to work together. There are no cultures that do not sing. Music…. A Wayfaring Stranger And finally our singing connected OUR STORIES: if we were singing these words together at the same place and time with others, like the members of the http://sites.rootsweb.com/~kyletch/articles/ib_church.htm (Indian Bottom Old Regular Baptist Church) you hear in the background, singing A Wayfaring Stranger, we would have added one more tiny layer to the growing web of stories that we spin together every day to define our community—in this case a congregation in Letcher County Kentucky whose faith and hymn singing and sense of mutual support are viscerally connected to the stories they make and share together. Now, a bonus,... Support this podcast

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Holler Back! Season 2 Episode 6: Appals to Appals with Willa Johnson

University of Kentucky College of Arts & Sciences

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 9, 2020 68:51

Holler Back! is once again interviewing talented folks that dedicated their lives to bettering our Appalachian Region. Willa is the Director of the Appalachia Media Institute and she gives us an inside look as to what the program is all about, other programs Appalshop offers, and her thoughts on Hillbilly Elegy. You don't want to miss this one!

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Prevent Diabetes EKY

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 24, 2020 60:00

One in seven Kentuckians have been diagnosed with diabetes, and it is estimated that 1 in 3 have elevated blood sugar levels that could lead to diabetes. Prevent Diabetes EKY shares stories of folks in our region who are showing a way forward by making lifestyle changes to improve their health and the National Diabetes Prevention Programs that are supporting their efforts. On this show we are bringing together stories produced over the past year and a half and celebrating the launch of a new website, www.preventdiabeteseky.org, where stories and resources can be found. Prevent Diabetes EKY is a project of Appalshop, WMMT and the KY Department for Public Health, with support from the Centers for Disease Control.

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Wendy Ewald: Photography Education and the Power of Collaboration

B&H Photography Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 1, 2020 57:20

It is important to be reminded of the power of photography to educate and explore, and to be a vehicle of self-expression, even self-realization. Equally crucial—through process and through memory—photography’s ability to bring people together, to share and to collaborate, is vital. On this week’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome a photographer who has built her life’s work around this idea of education through creative collaboration. For more than forty years, Wendy Ewald has lead documentary “investigations” and collaborative projects that encourage the participants to use cameras to examine their own lives, families, and communities, and to make images of their fantasies and dreams. During these projects, she also photographs—normally with a 4 x 5 camera—and asks her students and subjects to then manipulate her images and negatives, further engaging with the process and adding to the authorship of the final work. With support of the most prestigious fellowships, from universities, NGOs, even from camera and film manufacturers, Ewald has directed photography programs in South America, India, Africa, Canada, and most notably in Appalachia. In the 1970s, Ewald worked with schools and the Appalshop media center to teach photography to children living in rural Kentucky and in 1985 published the groundbreaking book Portraits and Dreams: Photographs and Stories by Children of the Appalachians. This book has been an inspiration to countless educators and community photographers and this year, Mack Books has published an expanded edition, which includes updates on the lives of several of the original students. Also, Ewald has co-directed a documentary film on the project and the reunion with her former students, which recently aired on the PBS program POV. Join us as we speak with Ewald about teaching in Kentucky and elsewhere, about the power of collaboration and creative expression, and about reuniting with her former students and the making of her powerful documentary. Guest: Wendy Ewald Photograph © Russel Akemon, from the book, "Portraits and Dreams" by Wendy Ewald

Early Signs of a New Society - Sarah van Gelder - ND3606 (1)

New Dimensions

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 30, 2020 57:20

Van Gelder launched a 12,000 mile trip across America to explore the many dynamic movements taking root around the country. She collected a myriad of stories and examples that give us hope for our future. She observes that the sustainable systems change that is required in these threshold times is now being modeled on local levels across the country. Sarah van Gelder is cofounder and editor-at-large of the award-winning YES!Magazine. She writes and speaks internationally on environmental, social, and economic alternatives and on community-based change. She is the editor of: Sustainable Happiness: Live Simply, Live Well, Make a Difference (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2015), This Changes Everything: Occupy Wall Street and the 99 Percent Movement (Berrett-Koehler publishers 2011). She is the author of The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey Through a New America. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2017) Interview Date: 3/11/2017 Tags: Sarah van Gelder, poverty, wealth, inequality of wealth, Otter Creek Montana, Coal strip mining, Bakken Oil fields, fracking, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, community, potlucks, isolation, DIT, Do It Together, Halima Cassells, swap meets, extractive economies, sharing economies, Greensboro N.C., farmers markets, Whitesburg Kentucky, Appalshop, Archimedes, Community, Social change/Politics, History, Indigenous Wisdom

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KY Workers Demand Federal Aid

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Play Episode Listen Later Sep 18, 2020 61:00

The Kentucky Labor Day Town Hall was held virtually on September 7 because of COVID 19, the virus that has now infected 58,000 Kentuckians and killed more than 1,000 of our friends and neighbors. COVID 19 is also devastating our economy. Nearly 40% of KY workers have applied for unemployment, the highest rate in the country. Meanwhile The US Senate has failed to act on additional relief, instead letting emergency unemployment payments and other COVID relief benefits expire. At the Town Hall we hear from Kentucky workers, union leaders, experts and policy makers who call on Congress to provide the federal aid that workers, their families and their communities need during this crisis. McKenzie Cantrell, KY State Representative from Louisville is the host of the Labor Day Town Hall. We end this show with Elaine Purkey singing her song "America, Our Union" from the Appalshop film "Justice in the Coalfields, which covered the Pittston coal strike. Elaine, a singer, songwriter, and community organizer from Logan County, WV died on Sept. 2 at the age of 71 from COVID 19. #FederalAid4KY #Savethe600

Archives: Woven Roots #1 (5/16/17)

Breaking Beans Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 20, 2020 54:46

This show was originally published May 16, 2017. On CFA's first Breaking Beans Podcast on natural fiber systems, Fellow Sam Hamlin interviews alpaca farmer, Alvina Maynard of River Hill Ranch, sheep farmer, Kathy Meyer, and fiber mill owner, Ed Crowley who is soon opening Crowley’s Mill. Pictures courtesy of Hope Hart, Appalachian Transition Fellow with Appalshop. This show is a new Breaking Beans feature that focuses on the fiber industry and was recorded and edited by Fellow Sam Hamlin, airing for the first time on the the Community Farm Alliance Blog. Breaking Beans: Appalachian Food Story Project is an initiative of Community Farm Alliance to tell the story of how local food and farming in Eastern Kentucky can contribute to a bright future in the mountains. Find the stories at cfaky.org/blog.

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Program for June 25, 2020

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Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2020 53:00

Segment One: The 19th Amendment, ratified 100 years ago, guarantees all American women the right to vote. But, according to the latest in our 19th Amendment Centennial series, it wasn’t always universal | Who was Lexington-born Sophonisba Breckinridge? Her remarkable story in an interview with historian Anya Jabour . LISTEN Segment Two: What is the post-pandemic future of live Theatre? We ask playwright and producing director Bo List | Appalshop “went solar” a year ago. A look into how this renewable energy source has impacted the non-profit’s bottom line. LISTEN Interviews in order of appearance: 19th Amendment - Kathi Kern with Anastasia Curwood Sophonisba Breckinridge - Anya Jabour Pandemic Impact on Live Theater - Bo List Solar Savings at Appalshop - Marley Green

Program for June 25, 2020

american amendment lexington appalshop

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 2, 2020 53:00

19th Amendment Series: Uneven equality The story of fierce, Lexington-born social activist Sophonisba Breckinridge How is the pandemic impacting live theatre performance? One year later: Appalshop goes solar Segment One: The 19th Amendment, ratified 100 years ago, guarantees all American women the right to vote. But, according to the latest in our 19th Amendment Centennial series, it wasn’t always universal | Who was Lexington-born Sophonisba Breckinridge? Her remarkable story in an interview with historian Anya Jabour . LISTEN Segment Two: What is the post-pandemic future of live Theatre? We ask playwright and producing director Bo List | Appalshop “went solar” a year ago. A look into how this renewable energy source has impacted the non-profit’s bottom line. LISTEN Interviews in order of appearance: 19th Amendment - Kathi Kern with Anastasia Curwood Sophonisba Breckinridge - Anya Jabour Pandemic Impact on Live Theater - Bo List Solar Savings at Appalshop - Marley Green

Program for June 4, 2020

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2020 53:00

Graphic by Shutterstock On this week's program: Segment One: WEKU's Samantha Morrill talks with Kentucky Contact Tracing czar Mark Carter about the need for tracing, how it's done and concerns about privacy. And, a conversation about a statewide survey to gauge Kentuckians' thoughts and habits during a pandemic. With Marc Kivimiemi, professor and chair of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the University of Kentucky. LISTEN Segment Two: What about the future? A futurist's reading of trends and indicators for what a post-pandemic world. | What's in those archives? Appalshop celebrates 50 years of documenting life in Appalachian Kentucky. A conversation with Appalshop archivist Caroline Rubens and Brett Ratliff of the organization's community radio station, WMMT. LISTEN Contact: Tom Martin at es@eku.edu or leave voicemail at 859-622-9358 People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Central and Eastern Kentucky. To support more stories and interviews like those featured in this edition of Eastern Standard, please consider making a contribution.

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Program for June 4, 2020

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 8, 2020 53:00

Graphic by Shutterstock On this week's program: Segment One: WEKU's Samantha Morrill talks with Kentucky Contact Tracing czar Mark Carter about the need for tracing, how it's done and concerns about privacy. And, a conversation about a statewide survey to gauge Kentuckians' thoughts and habits during a pandemic. With Marc Kivimiemi, professor and chair of the Department of Health, Behavior and Society at the University of Kentucky. LISTEN Segment Two: What about the future? A futurist's reading of trends and indicators for what a post-pandemic world. | What's in those archives? Appalshop celebrates 50 years of documenting life in Appalachian Kentucky. A conversation with Appalshop archivist Caroline Rubens and Brett Ratliff of the organization's community radio station, WMMT. LISTEN Contact: Tom Martin at es@eku.edu or leave voicemail at 859-622-9358 People like you value experienced, knowledgeable and award-winning journalism that covers meaningful stories in Central and Eastern Kentucky. To support more stories and interviews like those featured in this edition of Eastern Standard, please consider making a contribution.

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Program for April 9, 2020

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 13, 2020 53:00

(Image by Shutterstock) Lexington restaurateur Ouita Michel on how she is helping laid-off employees cope with the coronavirus crisis. | Those devices, our minds: latest installment in our mental health series | The literacy of early 20th century Appalachia | As Appalshop celebrates its 50th year, a visit with the folks at Possum Radio, the organization’s community station in Whitesburg. Segment One: Ouita Michel - LISTEN Segment Two: Dr. Melinda Moore, host of our series on mental health issues, interviews Father Steve Roberts of the Newman Center at UK on how our mobile devices affect who we are and how we behave | Samantha NeCamp, author of "Literacy in the Mountains: Community Newspapers and Writing in Appalachia" on the inaccurate portrayal of early 20th century Appalachians as generally illiterate. | Appalshop's 50th: "Possum Radio" with Rachel Garringer and Rich Kirby. - LISTEN Interviews: OUITA MICHEL MELINDA MOORE SAMANTHA NeCAMP RACHEL GARRINGER & RICH KIRBY

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Program for April 9, 2020

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 13, 2020 53:00

(Image by Shutterstock) Lexington restaurateur Ouita Michel on how she is helping laid-off employees cope with the coronavirus crisis. | Those devices, our minds: latest installment in our mental health series | The literacy of early 20th century Appalachia | As Appalshop celebrates its 50th year, a visit with the folks at Possum Radio, the organization’s community station in Whitesburg. Segment One: Ouita Michel - LISTEN Segment Two: Dr. Melinda Moore, host of our series on mental health issues, interviews Father Steve Roberts of the Newman Center at UK on how our mobile devices affect who we are and how we behave | Samantha NeCamp, author of "Literacy in the Mountains: Community Newspapers and Writing in Appalachia" on the inaccurate portrayal of early 20th century Appalachians as generally illiterate. | Appalshop's 50th: "Possum Radio" with Rachel Garringer and Rich Kirby. - LISTEN Interviews: OUITA MICHEL MELINDA MOORE SAMANTHA NeCAMP RACHEL GARRINGER & RICH KIRBY

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Program for March 19, 2020

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 23, 2020 53:00

A 333% increase in alcohol-related deaths in Kentucky over the last two decades with dramatic increases among women and the middle-aged. | Efforts are underway in Eastern Kentucky to reduce Kentucky's high rate of type 2 diabetes . | In our continuing series on the 19th Amendment, we look at the major, society-shifting changes after establishing women's right to vote. | A Transylvania University student has created trading cards of influential women. Segment One: LISTEN* Segment Two: LISTEN Interviews: Tara McGuire - Alcohol rates in Kentucky Parker Hobson - Confronting KY's high rate of type-2 diabetes (see note below) Jackie Jay with Sara Egge - 19th amendment series Shawna Morton - Influential Women trading cards *Note: The report by Appalshop's Parker Hobson is the first in a series about efforts underway in Eastern Kentucky to reduce through lifestyle changes Kentucky's high rates of type 2 diabetes. This report was made possible, in part, by the Kentucky Department of Public Health. To see if you might be at risk for pre-diabetes, there is a short quiz you can take at http://doihaveprediabetes.org. Music in this report ("Bergen County Farewell" and "Across the Tappen Zee") was performed by Glenn Jones & Laura Baird, from the WFMU collection on the Free Music Archive.

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Regional History & Health Research

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 2, 2020 30:04

In this episode we bring you stories on regional history, and innovative new approaches to meeting the healthcare needs of east Kentuckians. First, from Ohio Valley Resource Reporter, Brittany Patterson, we look back on Two Decades Of Resistance to Mountain Top Removal with the Coal River Mountain Watch. Then, WMMT's Sydney Boles brings us an interview with Bella Black about a project that gave young people in Letcher County, KY cameras to document potential causes of lung disease. And finally, Parker Hobson brings us the second in his series on diabetes and prediabetes in eastern Kentucky. Music on this episode features Jean Ritchie with a tune called Stream of Time from her album Sweet Rivers. Sweet Rivers was released by Appalshop’s own JuneAppal Recordings in 1981.

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Appalshop at 50. Multimedia folk opera "The Way Forth." Historian Thomas Weyant on the cold war and Christmas

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Play Episode Listen Later Dec 19, 2019 53:00

DECEMBER 19 EDITION - FULL LENGTH _______________________ SEGMENTS ONE: Appalshop at 50: a conversation with an "original," filmmaker Herb E. Smith, and Willa Johnson, director of the Appalachian Media Institute. LISTEN TWO: Composer , pianist and arranger Rachel Grimes and filmmaker Catharine Axley discuss the original multi-media folk opera "The Way Forth." LISTEN THREE: Historian Thomas Weyant talks about his research into the influences of the cold war between the US and former Soviet Union on the modern American Christmas. LISTEN

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Cultural Organizing at Appalshop and Highlander

Radical Southern History

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2019 33:20

Cultural Organizing at Appalshop and Highlander by Radical Southern History

Appalshop at 50. Multimedia folk opera "The Way Forth." Historian Thomas Weyant on the cold war and Christmas

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2019 53:00

DECEMBER 19 EDITION - FULL LENGTH _______________________ SEGMENTS ONE: Appalshop at 50: a conversation with an "original," filmmaker Herb E. Smith, and Willa Johnson, director of the Appalachian Media Institute. LISTEN TWO: Composer , pianist and arranger Rachel Grimes and filmmaker Catharine Axley discuss the original multi-media folk opera "The Way Forth." LISTEN THREE: Historian Thomas Weyant talks about his research into the influences of the cold war between the US and former Soviet Union on the modern American Christmas. LISTEN

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Bookmobiles, Archives, & More

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 6, 2019 30:32

In this show we learn about the history of Letcher County’s Bookmobile. And, we’ll celebrate American Archives Month by listening back to an oral history interview from the Appalshop archives. Last, but not least from the Ohio Valley Resource & the Center for Public Integrity we’ll hear about the intersection of pollution, climate change, and floods in Central Appalachia.

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Sexy Sex Ed with Tanya Turner

Strong Feelings

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 11, 2019 43:52

Did your school offer sex ed? If you grew up in the U.S., there’s a good chance it didn’t—or that the information you received was incomplete, unhelpful, or even… inaccurate. Tanya Turner is changing that—by bringing “Sexy Sex Ed” workshops to teens in Kentucky. Tanya started Sexy Sex Ed when she realized how many teens weren’t getting honest, inclusive, and consent-base sex ed anywhere else. Now she’s bringing her interactive workshops to all kinds of groups, including adults. When she’s not teaching consent-focused sex ed, you can find Tanya spouting “smut and socialism” on the Trillbilly Workers Party Podcast, advocating for Appalachian arts and media at Appalshop, or...maybe even handing out condoms in a parking lot. Sex ed is not doing its job if it’s not encouraging and motivating people to share knowledge. So, my goal every time I lead a Sexy Sex Ed is that the information ripples out from there and people are sharing what they’re learning. —Tanya Turner, creator of Sexy Sex Ed We talk about: Why so much of sex ed should really be “Communication 101.” “A lot of the workshop is how to talk to other people—how to talk to yourself, really—how to listen to your body, and how to trust your instincts.” When and how we should really start educating kids about sex. “It’s never too early to start talking with kids about what love feels like, and consent, and language for their body parts.” The value of learning about your own body. “You can’t trust a doctor to know everything going on with you. A doctor is only as powerful, and strong, and good for you as you are able to communicate with them. And you have to be able to listen to your body.” ...And learning about everyone else’s, too. “I feel like all people have a responsibility to understand the anatomy of all other people so that we can help each other and support each other.” Why bringing sex ed to Appalachia matters so much. “Rural sex education has actually decreased by 20% in the past ten years, so we’re getting less than we used to and we weren’t getting much to begin with.” Plus: Sara and Katel go deep on the sad state of sex ed across the United States, wave a middle finger at abstinence-only education, and get to know the Dildo Duchess. Follow Tanya: Tanya on Twitter The Trillbilly Workers Party podcast on Twitter Email Sexy Sex Ed

Ky infrastructure report card; bridge repairs underway; how old is that dam above your town? Ky employers take on the opioid epidemic. A community discussion about immigration. Appalshop goes solar.

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2019 53:00

Listen to the full length program Listen by Segment: One: A report card for Kentucky infrastructure; much needed bridge repairs underway; how old and in what shape is that dam above your town? LISTEN Two: Kentucky employers, concerned about the workforce, take on the opioid epidemic. LISTEN Three: "On Common Ground”, a community discussion about immigration in central Kentucky. Appalshop installs Eastern Kentucky's largest net metered solar power system. LISTEN Listen to the interviews Kentucky's Infrastructure Report Card: Paul Maron Kentucky Bridge Repairs: Royce Meredith Kentucky Dams: Caitlin McGlade Business Gets Into the Opioid Battle: Beth Davisson Immigration Forum in Lexington: Mark Royse, Rowena Mahlock Appalshop Goes Solar: Marley Green

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Ky infrastructure report card; bridge repairs underway; how old is that dam above your town? Ky employers take on the opioid epidemic. A community discussion about immigration. Appalshop goes solar.

Think Humanities Podcasts

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2019 53:00

Listen to the full length program Listen by Segment: One: A report card for Kentucky infrastructure; much needed bridge repairs underway; how old and in what shape is that dam above your town? LISTEN Two: Kentucky employers, concerned about the workforce, take on the opioid epidemic. LISTEN Three: "On Common Ground”, a community discussion about immigration in central Kentucky. Appalshop installs Eastern Kentucky's largest net metered solar power system. LISTEN Listen to the interviews Kentucky's Infrastructure Report Card: Paul Maron Kentucky Bridge Repairs: Royce Meredith Kentucky Dams: Caitlin McGlade Business Gets Into the Opioid Battle: Beth Davisson Immigration Forum in Lexington: Mark Royse, Rowena Mahlock Appalshop Goes Solar: Marley Green

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Episode 91 - Appalshop 50th Anniversary

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 17, 2019 34:27

On this week’s episode, we welcome Alex Gibson and Alexandra Werner-Winslow of Appalashop in Whitesburg, KY. Alex serves as the Executive Director and Alexandra is the Communications Director. Founded in 1969, Appalshop has often been said to be the voice and vision of the people of Appalachia. It “houses media production and training facilities in film and video, a community radio station, a 150-seat theater, art gallery, and regional archive of over 4,000 hours of film, audio recordings, and still images.” In October, Appalshop will celebrate its 50th anniversary.

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How National Media Misses the Mark on Appalachian Communities

Clean Power Planet | A Renewable Energy Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 9, 2019 62:29

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.

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Retraining Coal Miners for Energy Efficiency Work - Frank Morris

Play Episode Listen Later Jun 23, 2019 20:48

Frank Morris is a former coal miner who was retrained as a residential energy specialist through the New Energy Intern program. This is the third episode in a three-part series about the program, which helps out of work coal miners train for jobs in energy efficiency. Frank now works for the Appalachia Heat Squad and the Housing Development Alliance. The New Energy Intern program is run by MACED (the Mountain Association for Community and Economic Development) with funding from the Appalachian Regional Commission (ARC) Here is an excerpt DB: Would you like to see your kids work in coal mining when they get older? FM: If my son picks up a coal shovel I might smack him with it. DB: Alright, you should warn him about that in advance though. FM: Oh yeah! Please support the show If you would like to support Clean Power Planet please make a donation on Patreon. If you would like to hire Keaton Butler to engineer or produce your podcast contact her at KeatonButlerRecording@gmail.com Please give us a review in Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. We would love to hear from you. Just email david@cleanpowerplanet.com. Links mentioned in the show MACED has a lot of fantastic programs for people and businesses in Eastern Kentucky. You can find out more about them at MACED.org. If you’re interested in the New Energy Intern program contact Chris Woolery (cwoolery@maced.org). The episodes in this series were recorded at Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky which is a fantastic organization that helps people in the region tell their stories through music, film, video, art - you name it. You can find out more about them at Appalshop.org. Music Credits Original music for this episode was provided by: Wonderhills Keaton Butler - keatonbutlerrecording@gmail.com Avery Reidy

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Healthy Communities, Healthy Bodies, & Summer Celebrations

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Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2019 30:12

This episode previews multiple upcoming events in Letcher & Perry Counties in late May and early June 2019: -a film screening of "Coal's Deadly Dust" followed by a panel discussion hosted by long-time NPR Reporter Howard Berkes at Appalshop on May 31st -a Healthy Communities Forum hosted by the Foundation For a Healthy Kentucky at CANE Kitchen on June 6th, -a weekend of free healthcare in Hazard, KY June 8-9 with the Remote Area Medical Clinic - and Appalshop's 33rd annual Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival, June 7-8, 2019 under our brand new solar pavilion!

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Nostalgia Trap - Episode 147: Anti-Capitalist in Appalachia w/ Tanya Turner

Nostalgia Trap

Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2019 75:48

Tanya Turner is one of the hosts of the Trillbilly Worker’s Party podcast, a smart, funny take on left politics in Whitesburg, Kentucky. In this conversation, we talk about the wider political world of Appalachia, her work with the media and arts center Appalshop, and how sex education is a vital space for talking about capitalism’s insidious control over our bodies.

Retraining Coal Miners for Energy Efficiency Work - John Craft

Clean Power Planet | A Renewable Energy Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later May 1, 2019 26:46

This is the second episode in a three part series about out-of-work coal miners in Eastern Kentucky that are being retrained to do energy efficiency work through the New Energy Intern program. It was created by the Mountain Association for Community and Economic Development or MACED. In the first episode of the series Rachel Norton from MACED told us about the program. Today we’re talking to John Craft. He’s spent a lot of his working life as a coal miner, in both underground and surface mines. He started out doing surface mining permit work at 19 and did a lot of different types of mining jobs over the years. He finally left mining in 1995, partly because he got a bad chest x-ray but also because he saw the decline coming in the coal industry. Now John’s starting his own energy efficiency company, and looking forward to helping people in Eastern Kentucky cut their electricity and gas bills and save money. That means more fossil fuels can stay in the ground. He’s got some great stories to share. Here’s an excerpt. David: So if you realized that coal didn’t have a great future in ‘92 I’d say that you were a few years ahead of people because there’s still plenty of people that are hoping it will come back. John: Coal will never be back. Ever. It’s too dirty. We can’t do it and live on this planet. David: When you talk to guys that you used to work with, what do they say about it? Do they feel the same way as you? John: Everybody I used to work with is on disability man. Our next episode will feature Frank Morris, another of MACED’s New Energy Interns. MACED has a lot of fantastic programs for people and businesses in Eastern Kentucky. You can find out more about them at maced.org. The episodes in this series were recorded at Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky which is a fantastic organization that helps people in the region tell their stories through music, film, video, art - you name it. You can find out more about them at appalshop.org.

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Retraining Coal Miners for Energy Efficiency Work - Rachel Norton

Clean Power Planet | A Renewable Energy Podcast

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 11, 2019 31:38

This is a very exciting episode. It's the first in a three part series about a cool internship program that retrains out-of-work coal miners for energy efficiency jobs. All three episodes were recorded at the historic Appalshop media center in Whitesburg, Kentucky, right in the middle of the Appalachian coalfields. Our guest for this first episode in the series is Rachel Norton. She's not an out-of-work coal miner. She's an energy efficiency expert that works for the Mountain Association for Community Economic Development (MACED) the organization that created the New Energy Intern program. The coal industry in Appalachia has been in decline for many years and it’s left behind a struggling economy with very few job opportunities. Retraining miners to do energy efficiency upgrades has several positive outcomes. Obviously it helps the miners find work or start businesses but it also helps homeowners and businesses lower their energy bills, which allows them to invest the savings in something more important. When energy costs are reduced it helps the entire local economy and the efficiency upgrades pay for themselves through the savings they generate. Rachel studied Biosystems Engineering at the University of Kentucky. She wanted to find a job that would allow her to work toward a progressive energy future. She knew that there weren’t many opportunities to do that in her home state of Kentucky, but she decided to stick it out because she felt she could do the most good here. MACED has given her an opportunity to make a big difference. She also has her own energy efficiency consulting business called GreenStep. Our next two episodes will feature Frank Morris and John Craft, two of MACED’s New Energy Interns. Here is a little more detail about Appalshop. It’s a unique organization that's been around for 50 years. It houses an art gallery, a theater, a community radio station, and recording studios. It's really an amazing place that helps people from around the region share their stories. You should check it out at appalshop.org.

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Appalshop's 50th Celebrations - Part Two

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 5, 2019 49:44

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.

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Collaboration and Connection in eKY and Beyond

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2019 31:06

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 Kentucky researching arts in the commonwealth, and as part of her fellowship she visited Appalshop to learn more about the organization’s history.

Stories from Widows of Miners with Black Lung

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 12, 2019 57:21

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.

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10. Ben Fink and Sonja Kuftinec

IAStoryShare

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 11, 2019 24:56

Ben works at Appalshop, a grassroots multimedia arts center in Kentucky. He spent most of his life in cities and suburbs, but in 2015 he moved to rural Kentucky to become Appalshop’s creative placemaking project manager. He now sits on the board of the organization. Sonja is a professor at the University of Minnesota, where she teaches courses in theater historiography, leadership and performance and social change. She’s developed collaborative theater projects with youth in the Balkans and Middle East. And, Sonja works as a conflict resolution facilitator with Seeds of Peace, an organization that brings together youth from the Middle East, South Asia and Balkan regions. The two have known each other for years. Sonja was once Ben’s professor, then dissertation chair and now colleague and friend. Ben and Sonja discuss the importance of understanding people with different points of view and unexpected complications related to transformational work, such as recognizing your blind spots and being careful not to infringe on spaces meant for others, however well-intentioned you are.

Appalshop's 50th Birthday Celebrations - Part 1

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Play Episode Listen Later Jan 29, 2019 60:00

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.

Flaccavento & Griffith Debate for VA's 9th District

Play Episode Listen Later Oct 30, 2018 59:08

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.

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Jenkins Kentucky's New App

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 22, 2018 62:55

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.

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All Access EKY at AMI

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2018 50:24

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.

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Southern Appalachian Writers Cooperative

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 25, 2018 60:00

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!

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Happy 30th Birthday AMI!

Play Episode Listen Later May 29, 2018 57:28

In this episode we’re celebrating the 30th Birthday of an important youth leadership and media training center based here at Appalshop: the Appalachian Media Institute. First we’ll hear from current AMI Director Kate Fowler, and All Access EKY Project Director at Appalshop, Willa Johnson, who share their personal histories with the program, as well as an overarching history of the project’s 30 year legacy. Then, Oakley Fugate and Destiny Caldwell, two former AMI interns, who are still involved with the project today, share a few favorite memories and describe how AMI has shaped their lives.

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Mothers Day

Play Episode Listen Later May 23, 2018 63:16

On this episode of Mountain Talk we're celebrating, remembering, and reckoning with mothers. Maybe you had the best mom in the world, or maybe the worst, or maybe (and most likely) your mom is a complex, contradictory, nuanced individual - deeply wonderful, and deeply flawed, and only human like the rest of us. Maybe you’re a mom, maybe you’re about to be a mom, maybe you were raised by two moms, or no moms. Holiday’s are complicated times for many people, and in this episode Appalshop staff share their gratitude and lessons, and their stories of resilience and healing from their relationships with their mothers. Others share dreams and hopes about types of mothers they aim to be. These aren’t all happy stories, and one person talks about childhood abuse (though not in great detail). But there are moments of joy and kindness and growth too. This one's for all the moms! And all the children of moms!

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Behind the Scenes with The Moth

Play Episode Listen Later May 10, 2018 60:40

On this episode we’re learning about The Moth: a live storytelling series that will be here at Appalshop on Thursday May 10th! First, director Jenifer Hixson joins us on the phone to talk about some history and behind the scenes details of how The Moth works. And then, we hear two Moth stories recorded at live shows across the country. The first features Dame Wilburn who will MC the Moth event here at Appalshop, and in the second Wilburn introduces Australian comedian Jon Bennett.

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Remembering James Still

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 12, 2018 60:53

We're celebrating National Poetry Month through spending time with the renowned eastern Kentucky author James Still. Still was born in Alabama in 1906, and lived most of his adult life on Dead Mare Branch in Knott County, Kentucky and the Hindman Settlement School. This episode features an interview with Mr. Still conducted by Judi Jennings at Appalshop in 1991, and audio of him reading some of his work from a recording made in the 1970s.

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Ethical Appalachian Reporting

Play Episode Listen Later Apr 10, 2018 55:02

In this episode we bring you voices and ideas from a recent event we held here at the Appalshop. On March 31st, WMMT and Scalawag Magazine co-hosted a day long event focused on Ethical Appalachian Reporting, followed by a screening of Appalshop film Stranger With A Camera and a Q&A with author Elizabeth Catte. In this episode we’ll hear part of the community discussion about media coverage of the region, as well as Elizabeth Catte’s Q&A.

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Organizing Women

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Play Episode Listen Later Mar 27, 2018 58:55

As our #WomensHistoryMonth series comes to a close we celebrate organizing women in Appalachia. In this episode, we bring you voices of women on strike today, and voices of women from strikes past. We’ll hear from West Virginia teachers who walked out earlier this month demanding a pay raise and affordable healthcare for all public employees, and we’ll hear from teachers in Letcher County, KY who protested Governor Bevin’s proposed pension reform bill just last week. And finally, from the Appalshop archives we bring you audio of women in Brookside KY who supported miners on strike in Harlan County in 1973.

Amythyst Kiah

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 20, 2018 59:22

Our women’s history month series continues on this episode, with one of our favorite Appalachian women in music: Amythyst Kiah. Amythyst is a powerful singer, songwriter, guitar and banjo player from Johnson City, TN. In November of 2016 she joined WMMT’s DJ Aunt Bernice on Pine Mountain Morning’s Feminist Friday radio show for an interview. Later that evening she performed live in the Appalshop theater with the Local Honeys for the first ever Feminist Friday Live Concert. We’ll hear excerpts from both their conversation and her performance on this episode.

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Women's Health, Women's History

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 13, 2018 53:20

This episode of Mountain Talk explores women's reproductive health and history in Southeastern Kentucky. It's brought to us by four young women who are Fellows with All Access EKY: an initiative coordinated by the Kentucky Health Justice Network, Appalshop, and Power to Decide. All Access EKY works with ten Southeastern Kentucky counties to build support for programs and services to ensure young people have access to the full range of contraceptive methods. This is the second episode in our month-long series celebrating Women's History in the mountains and beyond. Fellows interview women young and old about their experiences with reproductive health care in the mountains, and about gender roles in the mountains we call home.

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Mtn. News: Community Health from the Ground Up

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Play Episode Listen Later Feb 2, 2018 27:49

This week we bring you stories about community health, from the ground up! First we’ll hear about a new bakery which aims to provide Letcher County residents with healthy, locally sourced breads and baked goods while supporting Drug Court participants in their journeys to recovery. Then, we’ll hear Whitesburg’s own Dr. Van Breeding speaking on a panel presentation at Appalshop last week, in which local media makers, lawyers, and healthcare providers talked to students with the Harvard Kennedy School of Governance about healthcare needs in EKY.

Appalachian Thanksgiving

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 21, 2017 57:09

This week's show is all about food! We begin with a recorded conversation between chef Travis Milton, who grew up in southwest Virginia - and food writer Sheri Castle, who was raised in western North Carolina. Travis stopped by the studio earlier this week, and Sheri joined us by phone. They share stories about who taught them to cook, their own definitions of Appalachian cuisine, some innovative new takes on the food of our region, and a few of their own Thanksgiving favorites. Our program today wraps up with some Appalshop staff members’ favorite Thanksgiving Recipes. You might want to grab a snack, cause this program is sure to make you hungry! We hope you enjoy!

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App Fellows, Alpacas, And Agriculture

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Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2017 55:30

This week on Mountain Talk we learn about the work of two Appalachian Transition Fellows working on agricultural projects in the Central Appalachian region. First, Hope Hart, an AppFellow working at Appalshop, visits AppFellow Courtney Boyd in Huntington, WV. Hope guides us as we learn more about Courtney’s work with Unlimited Future, Inc., The Wild Ramp, and Refresh Appalachia - organizations supporting economic development and local agriculture. Next Sam Hamlin, an AppFellow with the Community Farm Alliance, brings us a story about alpaca farmers in Kentucky. Enjoy!

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Early Signs Of A New Society - Sarah van Gelder - ND3606

New Dimensions

Play Episode Listen Later May 31, 2017

Van Gelder launched a 12,000 mile trip across America to explore the many dynamic movements taking root around the country. She collected a myriad of stories and examples that give us hope for our future. She observes that the sustainable systems change that is required in these threshold times is now being modeled on local levels across the country. She is the author of: The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey Through a New America. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2017)Tags: Sarah van Gelder, poverty, wealth, inequality of wealth, Otter Creek Montana, Coal strip mining, Bakken Oil fields, fracking, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, community, potlucks, isolation, DIT, Do It Together, Halima Cassells, swap meets, extractive economies, sharing economies, Greensboro N.C., farmers markets, Whitesburg Kentucky, Appalshop, Archimedes, Community, Social change/Politics, History, Indigenous Wisdom

Early Signs Of A New Society - Sarah van Gelder - ND3606

New Dimensions

Play Episode Listen Later May 30, 2017

Van Gelder launched a 12,000 mile trip across America to explore the many dynamic movements taking root around the country. She collected a myriad of stories and examples that give us hope for our future. She observes that the sustainable systems change that is required in these threshold times is now being modeled on local levels across the country. She is the author of: The Revolution Where You Live: Stories from a 12,000-Mile Journey Through a New America. (Berrett-Koehler Publishers 2017)Tags: Sarah van Gelder, poverty, wealth, inequality of wealth, Otter Creek Montana, Coal strip mining, Bakken Oil fields, fracking, Turtle Mountain Chippewa, community, potlucks, isolation, DIT, Do It Together, Halima Cassells, swap meets, extractive economies, sharing economies, Greensboro N.C., farmers markets, Whitesburg Kentucky, Appalshop, Archimedes, Community, Social change/Politics, History, Indigenous Wisdom

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Episode 4: No Sympathy for Coastal Elites (w/ special guests: Caroline Rubens + Lil Prosperino)

Trillbilly Worker's Party

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 22, 2017 60:20

Since we've been on a brief hiatus, we decided to bring you a double episode this week. In part one, we welcome special guest Caroline Rubens of Appalshop to talk about proposed cuts to arts funding in the new Trump budget and what that might mean for cultural documentation on the mountains. In part two, we examine, with special guest Lil Prosperino (@shittykittymom), the cottage industry of think pieces written by so-called 'coastal elites' about the so-called 'white working class.'

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129: Helen Matthews Lewis: "Living Social Justice in Appalachia"

StoryWeb: Storytime for Grownups

Play Episode Listen Later Mar 5, 2017 12:36

This week on StoryWeb: Helen Matthews Lewis’s book Living Social Justice in Appalachia. In honor of International Women’s Day, coming up this Wednesday, I want to pay tribute to one of the great teachers of my life, Helen Matthews Lewis. Known fondly as the mother or grandmother of Appalachian studies by the many people whose personal and professional lives she has touched, Helen – as always – modestly denies this title, saying instead that other leaders gave birth to and shaped the interdisciplinary movement. But as her colleague Stephen L. Fisher points out, “there is little question that her program at Clinch Valley College [in Virginia] served as the major catalyst for the current Appalachian studies movement and that no one has done more over the years to shape its direction than Helen.” For me, as for so many others, Helen set the standard for engaged scholarship, activist teaching, and pure regional enjoyment – whether that region is Appalachia or Wales or southern Africa. Helen weaves it all together: she revels in learning, delights in talking with and listening to everyone she meets, energetically taps her foot at bluegrass and sings gospel songs with unbridled glee. It’s perfect, then, that her 2012 book, Living Social Justice in Appalachia, is a quilt of her writings (essays, articles, and poems), her reflections given through numerous interviews, pieces others wrote about her influence on them, photographs of Helen at key times in her life, and even her famous recipes (including instructions for making chowchow, one of my grandmother’s favorite foods). Longtime friends and colleagues Patricia D. Beaver and Judith Jennings edited the volume, working with Helen to bring to life the many facets of her career and her personal journey. How do you separate the lived self from the professional self? In Helen’s mind, you don’t – and Living Social Justice in Appalachia in its form and in its very title makes clear that the personal, professional, and political are tightly fused. I’ve spoken before on StoryWeb of the special and powerful way I met Helen – in a series of visits to the Highlander Research and Education Center, founded by Myles Horton and located in New Market, Tennessee. In Appalachian studies circles, it is not at all uncommon to hear of the way Helen has touched someone’s life. In my case, she actively encouraged me to embrace participatory, liberatory teaching and offered a much-needed critical and supportive eye to my memoir, Power in the Blood, when it was just starting to form in my mind. I thought I was writing a novel. Helen gently disagreed, telling me she thought I was writing “cultural and family history told in a narrative form.” We had that conversation one afternoon at her home in Highlander. Her comment crystallized the entire project for me and remains one of the most important discussions of my life. The time I spent with Helen at Highlander was always special, whether we were tending to her garden, watching videotapes of Bill Moyers interviewing Myles Horton on the back porch of what was now Helen’s home, or chatting with friend after friend and colleague after colleague who stopped by to say hello. Helen can whip up a mean cocktail, and she was always at the ready to welcome her frequent visitors. One of my favorite stories about Helen involves a leadership award she won in the 1990s. The organization giving her the award commissioned an artist to create a small sculpture in Helen’s honor. Rather than giving her a standard trophy, the organization wanted to capture the spirit of Helen’s example. The sculpture depicted a figure leading a line of figures behind her. Looking back over her shoulder at those following her, the figure’s face is a mirror: she understands that real leadership is about reflecting back to each “follower” her own image, her own potential. This small sculpture – which Helen displayed proudly in her home at Highlander – perfectly summed up Helen’s way of leading. Helen has lived a lot of life in her ninety-plus years. She was born in rural Georgia and raised in Cumming (notorious for its extremely racist views and brutal treatment of African Americans), attended the Georgia State College for Women (along with her classmate and fellow yearbook editor, Mary Flannery O’Connor, who drew the illustrations to accompany Helen’s text), and became radicalized through the church and through state political activities. Attending graduate school at Duke University, she met her future husband, Judd Lewis, and then moved with him to Virginia. After a teaching stint at East Tennessee State University and a PhD in sociology from the University of Kentucky, Helen was divorced from Judd. From there, she traveled the world, exploring the connection between working people and participatory education in Appalachia, Wales, Nicaragua, Cuba, Holland, Belgium, France, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Namibia, and South Africa. She’s been let go from more than one teaching position, no doubt due to the empowering, engaged pedagogy she practiced. She’s directed Highlander and the Appalachian Center at Berea College. She’s worked at AppalShop in Whitesburg, Kentucky, and co-led community-based, participatory research in Ivanhoe, Virginia. She’s received a commendation from the Kentucky state legislature and been the recipient of honorary degrees. She’s had awards, study experiences, and lecture series named in her honor. And along the way, more than anything else, she has lifted up those she has met, provided that empowering mirror so that everyone in her field of vision sees all the potential they have inside. If you know Helen or her work, reading Living Social Justice in Appalachia will be a real treat. It brings our colleague and friend to life in such vivid ways. If you don’t know Helen or her work, reading Living Social Justice in Appalachia will give you the chance to “meet” one of the great thinkers, teachers, and leaders of our time. The book is a fantastic read from beginning to end, whether you’re jotting down her notes for growing a great garden or mixing up an old fashioned from her recipe (which specifies that you should make just one glass at a time!), whether you’re learning about how she developed anti-racist consciousness or reading first-hand accounts of those whose lives she’s touched. In the end, Helen understands that it all comes back to story. She believes strongly in telling the story of Appalachia, her region, and she believes in hearing and celebrating the stories of other folks in other regions. With StoryWeb, I celebrate stories of all kinds – and I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Helen Matthews Lewis for helping me see the value of stories. “Why am I here?” she asks near the end of the book. What is my story? Which story do I tell? Everybody and every community, place, and region needs stories, narratives, tales, and theories to serve as moral and intellectual frameworks. Without a “story,” we don’t know what things mean…. We are swamped by the volume of our own experience, adrift in a sea of facts. A story gives us a direction, a kind of theory of how the world works and how it needs to work if we are to survive. . . . We need to take back our stories. Visit thestoryweb.com/lewis to view “Keep Your Eye Upon the Scale,” a short documentary film about Helen’s exploration of the connections between coal miners in Appalachia and those in Wales. A recent interview with Helen is woven throughout the film, and you’ll also see her collaborators on the project, John Gaventa (an American political sociologist) and Richard Greatex (a British filmmaker). Those who follow old-time and bluegrass music will be especially interested to see the appearance of the Strange Creek Singers: Hazel Dickens, Alice Gerrard, Mike Seeger, and Tracy Schwarz. They came from Appalachia to Wales to share American coal mining music with the Welsh miners. Helen Matthews Lewis’s Living Social Justice in Appalachia is one good story. I highly recommend it.

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Talking Diversity for Coalfields Economy

Play Episode Listen Later Feb 1, 2017 60:11

What does it take to successfully build the economy of a small community once dependent on coal? Economic diversity. But why are some residents wary of business diversification and the entrepreneurial spirit? Can arts and cultural heritage play a critical role in that economic diversification? WMMT Mountain Talk host Kelli Haywood discusses small town economics with a group of folks reflecting a range of experiences and political opinions: Harry Collins, educator and CANE (Community Agriculture & Nutrition Enterprises) leader; Betsy Whaley from the regional economic development organization MACED; and Ben Fink of Appalshop and the Letcher County Culture Hub.

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Writer Ronni Lundy Explores Appalachian Victuals

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 12, 2017 55:40

If you are a fan of cooking, music, and culture, listen in as noted writer Ronni Lundy reads and discusses her latest, "Victuals," a gorgeous book exploring Appalachia's intertwined foodways and heritage. This edition of WMMT's Mountain Talk Monday features her December reading at Appalshop, and an appearance on WMMT’s Honky Tonk Jukebox with hosts Elizabeth Sanders and Mimi Pickering. If you are interested in the role farming and/or artisan foods could play in our local economy, Lundy has plenty to say.

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Economic Diversification & the Letcher Co. Culture Hub

Play Episode Listen Later Jan 8, 2017 60:11

Host Kelli Haywood discusses small town economics with a group of politically diverse members of the local community - Harry Collins of CANE, Betsy Whaley of MACED, and Ben Fink of Appalshop and the Letcher Co. Culture Hub. What does it take to transition the economy of a small coalfields community? Economic diversity. But, why are some residents wary of diversification of business and the entrepreneurial spirit? Can arts and cultural play a critical role in that economic diversification? The group discusses these topics and much more.

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Mines To Minds

Play Episode Listen Later Dec 18, 2016 58:44

On Mountain Talk Monday, host Kelli Haywood talks with Shawn Lind, director of Mines to Minds. Sign up before Jan. 5 for Mines to Minds, a technology training program from SKCTC & Appalshop. Financial aid is available & after the short 16 week program, a tech job could be yours. The two Accelerated Certificate options include Systems Administration (IT Networking and Support) and Multimedia Design and Implementation (Designing, Creating, marketing, and branding using High Tech Creative Software tools and websites). And, hear the entire 3 Part collaboration of WMMT's Benny Becker for the Ohio Valley ReSource with NPR.

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Neighbors Work To Revive Appalachian Community

Play Episode Listen Later Nov 8, 2016 12:52

What role can a community center play in increasing residents’ well being and encouraging efforts to reimagine and revitalize the local economy? That’s the question WMMT Reporter Kelli Haywood was asking when she visited Hemphill, KY, a former coal company town, where a group of volunteers are working to bring people together and add some liveliness into their community. Keeping its doors open in order to serve its mission of providing low cost, family friendly entertainment and educational opportunities to the community has not been easy. But through its participation in the Letcher County Culture Hub, a collaboration led by Appalshop, Hemphill and other community centers, public and private organizations, and local businesses are coming together to strengthen Letcher County’s cultural assets and identify ways to use them to grow the economy.

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Appalachian Culture As Hub For Growth

Play Episode Listen Later Sep 14, 2016 11:48

Can artists, dancers, actors, musicians and creative thinkers of all varieties contribute to the economic rebuilding of our Appalachian communities? WMMT’s Kelli Haywood looked for answers to that question as she visited the 15th annual Cowan Creek Mountain Music School at the Cowan Community Center. The Center is one partner in a creative placemaking effort led by Appalshop called the Letcher County Culture Hub. Organizations and individuals throughout the county are bringing together arts, culture, and business enterprise to establish a more diversified economy and communities that are healthy, happy, and whole.

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Appalachian Youth Envision Their Future

Play Episode Listen Later Aug 17, 2016 10:46

The 2016 Appalachian Media Institute interns speak with WMMT about their experiences in this year’s Summer Documentary Institute and thoughts about the region and their futures within it. Since 1988, Appalshop’s Appalachian Media Institute (AMI) has provided opportunities for young people from central Appalachia to explore their communities and develop their creative skills through the arts and media. This is a pivotal time for central Appalachia as we work for a transition to a more diversified regional economy, and this year AMI focused on Envisioning Our Future. Six youth from eastern Kentucky participated in this 8-week program providing training in documentary storytelling and a chance to explore, produce and share youth-led visions for the region’s future.

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In the Trenches of Social and Economic Transition

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 31, 2016 59:05

On July 14-18, Appalshop and Imagining America, a national consortium of 100 colleges and universities based at Syracuse University in rural upstate New York, co-hosted a gathering. 45 people — faculty, students, and community members — sponsored by nine institutions of higher education from Oregon to Ontario,Canada to Florida came to Whitesburg and Letcher County to learn about the economic revival just beginning in our mountains. The participants’ goal was to take lessons home. In this episode of Mountain Talk Monday, some of those who made the trip speak about what motivates and challenges them to work for better economic, political, and cultural opportunities for everyone back in their home towns.

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The Art That Tells Our Story

Play Episode Listen Later Jul 13, 2016 31:16

-To celebrate the 108th birthday of Appalachian writer Harriette Simpson Arnow, hear an excerpt from the 1987 Appalshop Film by Herb E. Smith - Harriette Arnow 1908-1986. -WMMT's Rich Kirby interviews Appalshop filmmaker Herb E. Smith, maker of the 2000 film - The Ralph Stanley Story, on the life and passing of bluegrass great Dr. Ralph Stanley. -From the Humans of Central Appalachia project and Malcolm J. Wilson, we feature the story of Morgan Canty, a 21 year old young man of color from Bristol, TN who encourages us all to act out what we know best - getting to know our neighbors. (And, he has the voice of an angel!)

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