Podcast appearances and mentions of sydney boles

The challenges that the Appalachian region faces aren't just Appalachian problems; they're American problems. Those problems include addiction, poor health outcomes and the need for communities to make a transition from fossil fuel extraction, and they will largely determine whether we, as a nation, can meet challenges of inequality, climate change and economic recovery. Far from being a backwater, Appalachia is a bellwether for the country. This week is the debut of Louisville Public Media's very first book, "Appalachian Fall," written by Jeff Young, Managing Editor of the Ohio Valley ReSource collaboration, and the rest of that reporting team. The book is a collection of the reporting this team has done on the future of Appalachia — from the Blackjewel coal miners blocking the train tracks in Harlan County to people on the front lines of the opioid crisis and others fighting for a just economic transition for coal country. Kirkus Reviews says the book is: "Blunt, essential reading on today's Appalachia that is less elegiac and more forward-thinking than most." This week we talk to Jeff Young, and reporters Brittany Patterson, who covers energy and environment, and Sydney Boles, who covers economic transition in Appalachia. Donate to support this and future episodes of In Conversation.

19th Amendment Series guest, Professor Vanessa Holden Kentucky coal miners, especially those with Black Lung disease, are urged to take precautions against COVID-19 | How women’s suffrage and the abolition movement converged: our 19th Amendment series continues | A chronicle of the courage and determination of Appalachian women | Dealing with hair during a pandemic  Segment One: Coal mining in a pandemic: reporter Sydney Boles with radiologist Norman Crum - LISTEN  Segment Two: 19th Amendment series: the convergence of abolition and suffrage |  Book chronicles the courage and determination of Appalachian women | Your hair in a pandemic LISTEN  Interviews/reports listed in order of appearance  Sydney Boles  Kathi Kern with Vanessa Holden  Jessica Wilkerson  Wendy Barnett

Photo: UK Professor of African American and American History Vanessa Holden On this week's program: Segment One: Coal mining in a pandemic. Kentucky coal miners, especially those with Black Lung disease, are urged to take precautions against COVID-19 reporter Sydney Boles with radiologist Norman Crum - LISTEN  Segment Two: 19th Amendment series: the convergence of abolition and suffrage |  Book chronicles the courage and determination of Appalachian women | Your hair in a pandemic LISTEN  Interviews/reports listed in order of appearance  Sydney Boles  Kathi Kern with Vanessa Holden  Jessica Wilkerson  Wendy Barnett

There's no playbook for how to conduct elections during a global pandemic. A few weeks ago, Wisconsin held their primary like normal. In Kentucky, we've already delayed ours until June, and we're still trying to figure out whether in-person voting will be safe by then.  Some states already have absentee voting available on request, while some (like Kentucky) require the voter to have a valid reason why they can't go to the polls on Election Day. And some lawmakers worry that allowing mail-in voting for all could lead to fraud. On today's show, we talked about election plans in Kentucky and surrounding states, and the challenges facing those who are in charge of making the decisions. Sydney Boles with the Ohio Valley Resource joined us at the top of the hour; she's been looking into election plans in Ohio, West Virginia and Kentucky. Later in the hour, we checked in with Kentucky Secretary of State Michael Adams, who said it's unlikely Kentucky will be able to hold a traditional election in June. Adams said it takes 16,000 poll workers to make an election happen, and most of them are over age 65, so particularly vulnerable to complications from coronavirus. He told us he and Governor Beshear are negotiating an agreement for what Kentucky's primary election will look like. To wrap up the show, we talked to Kentucky Public Radio's statehouse reporter Ryland Barton about the General Assembly session that came to a close on Wednesday.In Conversation Donate to support this and future seasons of In Conversation.

In this episode (from July 25, 2019) we bring you updates and stories about changing regional & federal policies that could impact working families in central Appalachia. First, WMMT’s Sydney Boles speaks with Virginia congressman Morgan Griffith over his recent participation in a hearing on the black lung epidemic. Then, WMMT’s Mimi Pickering interviews Dustin Pugel, a policy analyst at the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy. Pugel talks about the potential impact that changes to state and federal food assistance programs could have on families in eastern Kentucky.

In this episode we’re talking about coal company bankruptcies, creative uses for abandoned mine lands funds, and diabetes prevention. First, we hear WMMT’s Sydney Boles interviewing Cornell University professor Josh Macey about the ways coal companies use bankruptcy to avoid cleaning up the land and paying employees. Then, from Ohio Valley Resource Reporter Becca Schimmel we learn about how Murray Energy’s bankruptcy could bring a collapse of coal miners’ pensions. And, from OVR Reporter Brittany Patterson we learn about Harlan County, Kentucky’s Portal 31 Coal Mine Tour. And last, for National Diabetes Month Parker Hobson brings us a story about pre-diabetes, and diabetes prevention.

Scott Shoupe is interviewed by WMMT reporter Sydney Boles about his experience mining coal in Harlan County, Kentucky and in Alabama, and the transition he believes miners will have to make to other kinds of work if they and the region are going to stay afloat. Shoupe quit work in mines he felt were unsafe, came home, and recently completed training that has enabled him to start an energy efficiency business. "People can sit and argue all they like about liking coal, disliking coal, but anybody that has true knowledge of the industry knows it's not profitable long-term — and all that started years ago with all the technology and advances in the industry...We needed new industries here yesterday."

Becca Holmes and Joe Gorman run Pollinator Produce Partners in Duffield, Virginia. There they grow different vegetables than some other farms might, and they do it at a smaller scale, on purpose. In this episode reporter Sydney Boles visits Becca and Joe who discuss their farming philosophy, and how climate change has shifted how they think about their work.

This Week In Conversation, we talk labor. From recent right-to-work legislation in Kentucky to groundbreaking reporting on failures in the way the state investigates on-the-job deaths to Harlan County miners protesting to demand their pay, these issues have been in the news lately. We talk with AFL-CIO of Kentucky President Bill Londrigan, University of Louisville labor law professor Ariana Levinson, Eleanor Klibanoff of the Kentucky Center for Investigative Reporting and Sydney Boles of the Ohio Valley ReSource. Click here to support the work we do.

Could maple syrup become an income generating crop in the hills of Appalachia? Seth Long, who operates a small farm in Letcher County, KY, thinks so as do others in the region. OVR/WMMT reporter Sydney Boles details the economic potential of maple syrup, a non-timber forest product found in hilly regions like eastern Kentucky and West Virginia.

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

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

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

Across Appalachia, communities are experimenting with ways to develop sustainable agriculture as a business sector and to increase access to nutritious foods. WMMT recently reported on the opening of the CANE (Community Agriculture and Nutritional Enterprises) industrial kitchen in Letcher County which is designed to do just that. In the months since its opening, CANE has provided local farmers with the tools they need to grow their businesses. WMMT’s Sydney Boles has this update.

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