Podcast appearances and mentions of howard berkes

In 2011, NPR correspondent Howard Berkes noticed an anomaly in the sidebar of a government report on the Upper Big Branch mine disaster in West Virginia. It suggested that there was an extraordinarily high rate of black lung disease among the coal miners who'd been killed in the explosion. And it set him on a decade-long investigation to understand the cause of a hidden epidemic, the toll it took on miners and their families, and why government agencies had failed to prevent it.You can find more of Howard's landmark reporting on black lung disease on the episode page.

A new rule proposed by the Labor Department could help limit coal miners' exposure to a toxic dust called silica.  “The purpose of this proposed rule is simple: prevent more miners from suffering from debilitating and deadly occupational illnesses by reducing their exposure to silica dust,” Chris Williamson, assistant secretary for mine, safety and health, said in a statement. “Silica overexposures have a real-life impact on a miner's health.” Williamson has said the proposal was inspired, in part, by FRONTLINE and NPR's 2019 investigation, which exposed a link between silica dust and an epidemic of severe black lung disease. Our documentary Coal's Deadly Dust highlighted the resurgence of black lung — and how federal regulators and the industry had failed to protect miners.  “Struggling for Breath in Coal Country” was originally released alongside the film in 2019. In this archival episode of The FRONTLINE Dispatch, correspondent Howard Berkes spoke with coal miners whose lives were forever changed when they were diagnosed with the disease. Coal's Deadly Dust is streaming at pbs.org/frontline, in the PBS App and on FRONTLINE's YouTube channel. Want to be notified every time a new podcast episode drops? Sign up for The FRONTLINE Dispatch newsletter.

Jeff Johnson is a juvenile lifer who was just released from prison after 25 years. This is his life outside. Then, real-life Black Klansman Ron Stallworth reacts to the film's nominations. Next, retiring NPR reporter Howard Berkes reflects on his stories. Finally, a Tony Award-winning playwright debuts his new play in Denver.

Rep. Bobby Scott returns to HearSay to talk about his new leadership role in Congress and his plans for the upcoming year. Then, NPR reporter Howard Berkes discusses a new Frontline special on the dangers of coal mining. Finally, the head of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in Norfolk tells us about the Bureau's work fighting hate in our community. Join us at noon on 89.5 WHRV-FM.

This week on the Charleston Gazette-Mail’s Mountain State Morning, we’re talking about West Virginia’s public schools employees, who were named the 2018 Gazette-Mail West Virginians of the Year. We’re also talking to NPR’s Howard Berkes, whose recent story showed regulators have known about black lung disease without acting to stop it. Listeners: We’d love your feedback and to learn a bit about you! Fill out our short survey by clicking here.

For our December Narrative Medicine Rounds, we welcome Michael Grabell, an investigative reporter for ProPublica, covering economic issues, labor, immigration and trade. He has reported on the ground from more than 35 states, as well as some of the remotest villages in Alaska and Guatemala. His work has appeared in the New Yorker, the Atlantic and the New York Times and on NPR, Vice and CBS News. This year, his stories on retaliation against immigrant workers won the Aronson Award for social justice journalism. Mr. Grabell will speak about the process reporters and journalists go through to delve into the truth of a breaking news story, specifically discussing how a reporting team at ProPublica approached the news about the treatment of children at the border, both the groups who were unaccompanied as well as those separated from parents, this past summer. In 2016, he and NPR reporter Howard Berkes received a Gerald Loeb Award for business journalism and top honors from Investigative Reporters and Editors for their series on the dismantling of workers’ comp systems across the country. Grabell’s series on the growth of temp work and its impact on workplace safety helped spur new laws in California and Illinois. The series won the Barlett & Steele Award for investigative business journalism, the American Society of News Editors Award for reporting on diversity and an award from the Online News Association for innovation in investigative journalism. He is the author of two books — a narrative history on President Obama’s attempts to revive the economy called Money Well Spent? and the poetry chapbook Macho Man, which won the Finishing Line Press competition in 2013. He is a graduate of Princeton University and started his journalism career writing obituaries for the Daily Record in Parsippany, N.J. Note: Topher Sanders, who was originally scheduled to speak, has scheduling conflicts.

Everett Ruess and Barbara Newhall Follett were born in March 1914 at opposite ends of the U.S. Both followed distinctly unusual lives as they pursued a love of writing. And both disappeared in their 20s, leaving no trace of their whereabouts. In this week's episode of the Futility Closet podcast we'll describe the brief lives of two promising young authors and the mystery that lingers behind them. We'll also patrol 10 Downing Street and puzzle over when a pigeon isn't a pigeon. Intro: In the 1890s, tree-sized corkscrews were unearthed in Nebraska. Pyrex vanishes when immersed in oil. Sources for our feature on Everett Ruess and Barbara Newhall Follett: W.L. Rusho, Everett Ruess: A Vagabond for Beauty, 1983. Philip L. Fradkin, Everett Ruess: His Short Life, Mysterious Death, and Astonishing Afterlife, 2011. David Roberts, "Finding Everett Ruess," National Geographic Adventure 11:3 (April/May 2009), 75-81,101-104. Howard Berkes, "Mystery Endures: Remains Found Not Those of Artist," Weekend Edition Saturday, National Public Radio, Oct. 24, 2009. Susan Spano, "Not Finding the Lost Explorer Everett Ruess," Smithsonian, Nov. 4, 2011. Thomas H. Maugh II, "The Mystery of Everett Ruess' Disappearance Is Solved," Los Angeles Times, May 2, 2009. Jodi Peterson, "Everett Ruess Redux," High Country News, April 30, 2013. Peter Fish, "The Legend of Everett Ruess," Sunset 200:2 (February 1998), 18-21. Bruce Berger, "American Eye: Genius of the Canyons," North American Review 274:3 (September 1989), 4-9. Kirk Johnson, "Solution to a Longtime Mystery in Utah Is Questioned," New York Times, July 5, 2009, 13. Kirk Johnson, "Bones in a Desert Unlock Decades-Old Secrets for 2 Families," New York Times, May 1, 2009, A14. "A Mystery Thought Solved Is Now Renewed," New York Times, Oct. 22, 2009, A25. "Lost Artist Believed Living With Sheepmen," Los Angeles Times, March 10, 1935, 15. "Artist Believed Murder Victim," Los Angeles Times, Aug. 27, 1935, 9. "Burros Found in Snow Spur Hunt for Artist," Los Angeles Times, March 5, 1935, A10. "Flyer-Miner Joins Hunt for Artist Lost in Hills," Los Angeles Times, March 3, 1935, 3. Norris Leap, "Utah Canyons Veil Fate of L.A. Poet: Everett Ruess' Literary, Artistic Promise Lost in His Beloved Wilderness 18 Years Ago," Los Angeles Times, June 15, 1952, B1. Ann Japenga, "Loving the Land That Engulfed Him: New Interest in Young Man Who Vanished 53 Years Ago," Los Angeles Times, March 15, 1987, F1. Harold Grier McCurdy, ed., Barbara: The Unconscious Autobiography of a Child Genius, 1966. Paul Collins, "Vanishing Act," Lapham's Quarterly 4:1 (Winter 2011). "Barbara Newhall Follett, Disappearing Child Genius," Weekend Edition Saturday, National Public Radio, December 18, 2010. "Girl Novelist Held in San Francisco," New York Times, Sept. 21, 1929, 40. Floyd J. Healey, "Freedom Lures Child Novelist," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 21, 1929, A8. "Child Writer in Revolt," Los Angeles Times, Sept. 22, 1929, 8. Listener mail: Jane Mo, "Woman Wakes Up to Find 3 Bears Inside Her Car," KUSA, Oct. 4, 2017. Sara Everingham, "Town Under Siege: 6,000 Camels to Be Shot," ABC News, Nov. 26, 2009. Wikipedia, "10 Downing Street: Front Door and Entrance Hall" (accessed Nov. 25, 2017). Molly Oldfield and John Mitchinson, "QI: Quite Interesting Facts About 10 Downing Street," Telegraph, May 29, 2012. Wikipedia, "Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office" (accessed Nov. 25, 2017). "Larry, Chief Mouser to the Cabinet Office," gov.uk (accessed Nov. 25, 2017). "Purr-fect Ending Fur Humphrey!" BBC News, Nov. 25, 1997. "'Pro-Cat Faction' Urges Downing Street Rat Rethink," BBC News, Jan. 25, 2011. "No. 10 Has Its First Cat Since Humphrey," Reuters, Sept. 12, 2007. Andy McSmith, "Farewell to the Original New Labour Cat," Independent, July 28, 2009. Lizzie Dearden, "George Osborne's Family Cat Freya Sent Away From Downing Street to Kent," Independent, Nov. 9, 2014. This week's lateral thinking puzzle was contributed by listener Doug Shaw, who sent this corroborating link (warning -- this spoils the puzzle). You can listen using the player above, download this episode directly, or subscribe on iTunes or Google Play Music or via the RSS feed at http://feedpress.me/futilitycloset. Please consider becoming a patron of Futility Closet -- on our Patreon page you can pledge any amount per episode, and we've set up some rewards to help thank you for your support. You can also make a one-time donation on the Support Us page of the Futility Closet website. Many thanks to Doug Ross for the music in this episode. If you have any questions or comments you can reach us at podcast@futilitycloset.com. Thanks for listening!

Federal regulators counted 99 cases of advanced black lung over a five-year period in the U.S. So why is it that hundreds of miners with the most serious stage of the disease are walking into clinics across Appalachia? That’s the question NPR’s Howard Berkes set out to answer last year. Howard ultimately found that the number of advanced black lung cases was at least 10 times the number generated by federal regulators. On this episode, Howard takes us through his reporting and explains how he found and counted cases the regulators missed. EPISODE NOTES: bit.ly/2uIxT04

In this episode, Dr. Edward Lee Petsonk, a professor of Medicine specializing in Pulmonary and Critical Care at West Virginia University and former leader of the NIOSH Black Lung Program, speaks on the proper diagnosis of black lung disease and navigating applying for related health benefits. In the second half, we revisit the award winning story produced by WMMT's Benny Becker for the Ohio Valley ReSource in collaboration with Howard Berkes of NPR about 38 year old Mackie Branham Jr. and his fight with the worst form of black lung disease.

-NPR's Howard Berkes delivers the final segment of his two part investigative reporting collaboration with WMMT's Benny Becker with the Ohio Valley ReSource on the resurgence of complicated black lung disease among miners in Central Appalachia. -West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Jessica Lily interviews Howard Berkes on the making of his newest radio series on black lung disease. -WMMT pays tribute to former West Virginia Democratic Congressman, Kenneth William Hechler who passed away on December 10th, 2016.

-Benny Becker of WMMT and the Ohio Valley ReSource highlights the struggle and immense strength of the Branham family of Pike County, Kentucky whose father at the age of 38 was diagnosed with the most severe form of black lung disease and rendered unable to work. -Howard Berkes of NPR in collaboration with Benny Becker and the Ohio Valley ReSource reports on the data revealing an alarming increase of the form of black lung Mackie Branham Jr. is experiencing across all of Central Appalachia. -WMMT’s Kelli Haywood shares the progress of The City Built on Coal Project funded in Jenkins, Kentucky by the National Endowment for the Arts – Our Town Program, and the unveiling of a new mural at one entrance to Jenkins.

-NPR's Howard Berkes reports on West Virginia gubernatorial candidate Jim Justice being the nation's top delinquent mine owner, owing millions in back taxes and safety violation fines. -With WMMT and OVR, Benny Becker reports on Justice's most troubling debts and damaged lands in eastern Kentucky. -WVPB's Ashton Marra interviews Howard Berkes on the process of reporting on Jim Justice and why such reports are pertinent around election day.