Podcasts about wmmt

The United States is the world's largest incarcerator. Many of the prisons built since the 1990s are in rural places, particularly in Central Appalachia as an economic development strategy to replace the coal industry. The prison economy of Central Appalachia figures strongly into the work of both our guests, multimedia artist and organizer Sylvia Ryerson and professor and author Judah Schept. Ryerson is a multimedia artist, organizer and PhD candidate in American Studies at Yale University. For over a decade, her work rooted at the intersection of scholarship, activism and art, has probed the overlapping crises of racialized mass incarceration, rural economic abandonment, and environmental destruction. She is also the director of a new documentary Calls from Home, which documents WMMT.FM's longstanding radio show that sends familial messages of love over public airwaves to reach people incarcerated in Central Appalachia. Schept is a professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. His most recent book is Coal, Cages, Crisis: The Rise of the Prison Economy in Central Appalachia. He has been active with numerous organizations and campaigns centered on decarceration, criminalization and abolition.  About our guests Sylvia Ryerson is a PhD Candidate in American Studies at Yale University, with a Master's concentration in the public humanities. Prior to graduate school she worked as an independent radio producer, and at the Appalshop media arts and education center in Whitesburg, Kentucky. There she served as a reporter and the director of public affairs programming, and co-directed Appalshop/WMMT-FM's Hip Hop from the Hilltop & Calls from Home radio show, a nationally recognized weekly radio program broadcasting music and toll-free phone messages from family members to their loved ones incarcerated, and Making Connections News, a multimedia community storytelling project documenting efforts for a just transition from coal extraction. Her research questions build from this work, and are rooted at the intersection of scholarship, activism, and art.  Judah Schept is a Professor in the School of Justice Studies at Eastern Kentucky University. He is the author of Coal, Cages, Crisis: The Rise of the Prison Economy in Central Appalachia (New York University Press, 2022) and Progressive Punishment: Job Loss, Jail Growth, and the Neoliberal Logic of Carceral Expansion (New York University Press, 2015. He is co-editor of The Jail is Everywhere: Fighting the New Geography of Mass Incarceration (Verso Books, 2024). He holds a PhD from Indiana University and a BA from Vassar College. https://youtu.be/CPlHM3aIsXQ Everywhere Radio spotlight the good, scrappy and joyful ways rural people and their allies are building a more inclusive nation. Everywhere Radio is a production of the Rural Assembly. Get the Rural Assembly in your inbox: https://www.ruralassembly.org/newsletters

Jessica Shelton and Katie Myers have been on the frontlines of responding to the flooding disaster in Eastern Kentucky in a variety of roles. We talk with them about their work and the region's recovery. Jessica Shelton is the director of the Appalachian Media Institute at Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky. We talk with her about her work as an organizer with the grassroots organization EKY Mutual Aid, which has been helping those directly impacted by the devastating floods that hit southeastern Kentucky in late July by meeting needs in real time and offering direct cash assistance. Katie Myers is the economic transition reporter for the Ohio Valley ReSource and WMMT 88.7 FM in Whitesburg, Kentucky. Her work has also appeared on NPR and Inside Appalachia, and in Belt Magazine, Scalawag Magazine, the Daily Yonder, and others. We talk with Katie about reporting on the flood and her own experience waking up to the disaster. To get these podcasts and more rural stories in your inbox, register at www.ruralassembly.org/newsletters

Pitt discusses with Sylvia Ryerson the importance of radio station WMMT-FM as an airwave of hope for prisoners and asks that we support their efforts to recover from a recent flooding. You can find more…

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

In this edition of Mountain Talk, as part of our ongoing storytelling series Prevent Diabetes EKY, we begin with a story on the Healthy Perry Challenge, an initiative of the Perry County Diabetes Coalition last summer. The Challenge aimed to bring people in the community together around building healthier everyday habits, with the ultimate goal of helping to lower participants' A1C (a/k/a "blood sugar") levels. Also in this episode, while Ukraine is of course a world away, it has something substantial in common with Appalachia: coal, including a long history of mining, and then having to face the thorny question of what to do after coal declines. And the hard times and instability caused by coal's decline in Ukraine have formed part of the complex backdrop for Russia's recent invasions, first in 2014 & then this year. In this piece from the WMMT archive, which first aired back in 2000, Tom Hansell interviews Ukrainian coal miner Valentin Chukalov, who describes the difficulty his country's coal industry faced in transitioning away from the Soviet system and into private enterprise. Music in this episode was performed by the Dutch Cove String Band (from the June Appal Records release "Sycamore Tea"), Don Bikoff (“Traveling Riverside Blues”, from the Free Music Archive), and by Glenn Jones (“Bergen County Farewell", also from the Free Music Archive).

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.

"There's four words a girl loves to hear," said Cynthia Nicholson at a December rally outside the Tudor's Biscuit World location where she works. "Tudor's biscuits and unions." In West Virginia, Tudor's Biscuit World is widely beloved, part of the fabric of the state's heritage. Many will say a strong labor movement is in their heritage, too. When the workers at one store in Elkview, a small town outside of Charleston, decided to start a union, it made waves throughout the state. Katie Myers visits workers at the store to hear them, in their own words, tell their story. Music in this episode is "Everybody's Favorite," by John Herrod, from June Appal Recordings. This story is part of the “America Amplified” initiative. America Amplified is a national public media collaboration focused on community engagement reporting. This reporting is a part of WMMT's new labor series.

WMMT celebrates Indigenous Peoples' Day by speaking with Carol Davis, coordinator of Dine Citizens Against Ruining Our Environment, or DINE CARE. DINE CARE is a nonprofit organization located in the Navajo Nation, and works with Navajo communities impacted by environmental issues, particularly coal, oil, gas, and timbering. With Carol, we discuss the retiring of coal mines and plants, the advent of renewable energy on tribal land, and the natural resource challenges still faced by the tribe.

In this episode WMMT's Katie Myers travels to Big Stone Gap, Virginia for the small Appalachian town's first-ever Juneteenth celebration, taking place on June 19. Juneteenth is a historically Black holiday dating back to 1865, the year Black people in the United States were emancipated from slavery. The news didn't travel everywhere at the same rate, and Juneteenth marks the day it reached many people in the deep South. This year, the Biden administration recognized Juneteenth as a federal holiday. In this piece, you'll hear speeches, music, and storytelling from Big Stone Gap community members, many of whom can recall a time when the town was segregated, about what this celebration means to them - about how far we've all come, and how far we have to go.

In this episode WMMT's Katie Myers speaks with residents of the North Fork Mobile Home Park in Morehead, Kentucky. These residents formed a campaign called Justice 4 North Fork after a Lexington developer purchased their land for use as a strip mall, leaving the roughly eighty North Fork families facing eviction, even as rent continues to rise. Demands from the campaign included financial support for moving costs and assurance that affordable housing would become a funding priority for the city of Morehead. WMMT followed residents Mindy Davenport, Penny Gozzard, Shayna Plank, and others as they made demands on the Morehead City Council and rallied their community, drawing attention to a looming housing crisis in rural Kentucky.

While local health professionals encourage all eastern Kentuckians to get vaccinated against COVID-19, it's even more important for those with underlying health issues including those with diabetes and prediabetes. Reporting for our WMMT series "Prevent Diabetes EKY," Parker Hobson speaks to several eastern Kentucky folks who have diabetes, some in health care and some not, on why they think it made sense to get the shot. If you have type 2 diabetes, and you’re looking to get your a1c under control, health departments and clinics across the region offer Diabetes Self-Management Support and Education classes. And if you think you might be at risk for type 2, there are also Diabetes Prevention Program classes that support stopping diabetes before it starts. You can find out more about these programs—and hear local stories about preventing and dealing with type 2—at preventdiabeteseky.org.

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.

The first episode of Breaking Beans that I hosted focused on land access in and around Fayette Co. The general consensus we heard from those interviewed was that land is expensive and whoever owns the land has the power. This month, we hear from Jann Knappage, co-owner of Fox and Hen farm, yoga teacher, board member of Community Farm Alliance, extension agent, and all around super pleasant human. This interview took place in June of this year when Jann and her partner Kevin were moving their farmstead operation from Winchester to Campton, KY. Jann talks about the difficulty of leaving the land they’ve been tending and letting things go. Breaking Beans is now on WMMT at 6 PM the first Wednesday of every month, Spotify, Apple podcasts, Google Podcasts, andiHeart Radio! If you know someone we should hear from or have feedback for the show, email me! My email is shelby@cfaky.org. Have a good month y’all! Resources Fox and Hen Farm foxandhenfarm@gmail.com Loans for Folks of Color https://www.washingtonpost.com/realestate/large-numbers-of-loan-applications-get-denied-but-for-blacks-hispanics-and-asians-the-rejection-rate-is-even-higher/2018/05/22/dac19ffc-5d1b-11e8-9ee3-49d6d4814c4c_story.htmlKentucky Black Farmer Fund https://cfaky.org/kybff/

Kenya, her husband Iyad Abraham, and their four children went from living the “American retail dream,” with seven cell-phone stores and two tea shops in Ohio to homesteading,then moving to Lexington to try their hands at farming. Already business savvy and willing to put in the work, they started Slakmarket Farm and are now producing halal meat and raw milk. In addition to being a farmer, mother, and business woman, Kenya runs a non-profit organization, Stack-a-Story-Bookshop, is a board member of Community Farm Alliance, homeschools her children, and engages with the community as much as she can. She even brings her goats out to community for “Barnyard Days.” Kenya and I first met in Novemeber of last year, and an hour long meeting turned into a four hour long hang out. This time, we met in her milking room and chatted about everything from commercial diaries to racism and islamophobia in rural ohio. With roots in Appalachia and Palestine, this farming family is a treasure to us in Fayette Co. Note: “Sale barn” is term used for a livestock auction. Resources: SlakMarket Farm Website (https://www.realmilklexington.com/) SlakMarket Facebook Page (https://www.facebook.com/groups/208710903058661) Kenya and the Folks of Black Soil featured on Spectrum News (https://spectrumnews1.com/ky/lexington/news/2020/05/23/black-farmers-respond-to-covid) Stack-A-Story Bookshop (Kenya’s Non-profit) (https://www.stackastory.org/) Lego Halal Slaughter Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XnfGePBCsbE) The Healthy Butcher (https://www.thehealthybutcher.shop/?gclid=CjwKCAjwrcH3BRApEiwAxjdPTWvi7SBayuUwg6RWkq4GJXxbzvz5jBRubcZfUZXxTxG-mcahxKStABoC1cQQAvD_BwE) Kenya Mentioned in the National Sustainable Agriculture Blog (https://sustainableagriculture.net/blog/meat-and-poultry-supply-chain/) Black Soil (https://www.blacksoil.life/) Joe Salatin’s Website (Part of Kenya’s inspiration) (http://www.polyfacefarms.com/joels-bio/) CFA’s Commitment to Stand with Black Farmers (https://cfaky.org/stand-with-black-farmers-families/) Breaking Beans Radio Show (http://cfaky.org/what-we-do/breaking-beans/") airs the first Wednesday of every month at 6pm on WMMT (http://www.wmmt.org/"). Hosted by Shelby Wheeler Breaking Beans: The Appalachian Farm 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 here (http://cfaky.org/blog/"). Special Guest: Kenya Abraham.

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.

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.

Tyler Childers was nominated for a Grammy in early 2020. He’s an emerging talent who is true to his Appalachian roots. He grew up in the foothills of East Kentucky, his father worked in the coal industry, and his songs reflect the tough life in that part of the world - unemployment, broken relationships, drugs, alcohol. He draws on these themes in order to stay faithful to the place: "I hope that people in the area that I grew up in find something they can relate to. I hope that I'm doing my people justice and I hope that maybe someone from somewhere else can get a glimpse of the life of a Kentucky boy." The lyrics of one of his songs describes the exhilaration of driving recklessly: “A damn good feeling to run these roads". For his most recent Country Squire album, Tyler says much of it was written on the road, including love songs dedicated to his wife. He also drew inspiration from unusual sources, including Allen Touissant's 1970s album Southern Nights. We take will a deep dive into contemporary life, music and culture of East Kentucky, with help from Brett Ratliff, programme director of community radio station WMMT in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia's coal fields, and hear about Kentucky story-telling from author Silas House. And with his US tour suspended because of the coronavirus lockdown, we hear how Tyler and his wife Senora May - also a singer songwriter - are drawing on their home, and their own relationship, for creative inspiration. A Voiceworks Production for the BBC World Service. Presenter/Reporter: Brett Ratliff. Produced by Philip Reevell. Image: Tyler Childers performing in Berlin (Credit: Frank Hoensch/Redferns via Getty Images)

Tyler Childers was nominated for a Grammy in early 2020. He’s an emerging talent who is true to his Appalachian roots. He grew up in the foothills of East Kentucky, his father worked in the coal industry, and his songs reflect the tough life in that part of the world - unemployment, broken relationships, drugs, alcohol. He draws on these themes in order to stay faithful to the place: "I hope that people in the area that I grew up in find something they can relate to. I hope that I'm doing my people justice and I hope that maybe someone from somewhere else can get a glimpse of the life of a Kentucky boy." The lyrics of one of his songs describes the exhilaration of driving recklessly: “A damn good feeling to run these roads". For his most recent Country Squire album, Tyler says much of it was written on the road, including love songs dedicated to his wife. He also drew inspiration from unusual sources, including Allen Touissant's 1970s album Southern Nights. We take a deep dive into the contemporary life, music and culture of East Kentucky, with help from Brett Ratliff, programme director of community radio station WMMT in Whitesburg, Kentucky, in the heart of Appalachia's coal fields, and hear about Kentucky story-telling from author Silas House. And with his US tour suspended because of the coronavirus lockdown, we hear how Tyler and his wife Senora May - also a singer songwriter - are drawing on their home, and their own relationship, for creative inspiration.

A story from our archive on the importance of the US Postal Service to rural people and their communities. Dateline: 12/15/2011: As the U.S. Postal Service faces financial crisis, Central Appalachia and much of rural America may be hard hit by pending closures of post offices and mail processing centers.  To avoid bankruptcy, the Postal Service had announced plans to make reductions amounting to approximately $3 billion.  Such drastic cuts would result in slower first class delivery and close hundreds of mail facilities nationwide.  After public and Congressional outcry, USPS announced a moratorium on closures until May 15, 2012. In this expanded WMMT report customers at the Burdine and Premium post offices, two of the nine in Letcher County, KY on the closure list, describe what the service means to their communities while officials from the USPS and the American Postal Workers Union offer differing solutions to the Postal Service financial crisis.

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."

On July 1st, 2019 the coal company Blackjewel declared bankruptcy. In the middle of their shift, miners were told to stop working. Blackjewel employed over a thousand miners across the Appalachian coalfields, who soon discovered that their last paycheck had bounced and their insurance policies had been cut off. In Cumberland, Kentucky, dozens of miners have been protesting for weeks by blocking the tracks in front of a Blackjewel coal train. The company's CEO, Jeff Hoops, was almost immediately fired by court-order, but as of August 12th (when this episode aired) miners have not yet received compensation. WMMT reporter Benny Becker, arrived at the railroad tracks at 7 PM on the strike's second day, July 30, 2019 and recorded throughout the night.

In this episode we're exploring local history and regional news. First, WMMT’s Ohio Valley Resource Reporter Sydney Boles sets out to learn the history behind the RC Cola signs around Whitesburg. Then, from the WMMT archives, we revisit a story about the Houndog Hookers, rug makers from Blackey who grew to national notoriety during the 1950s and 60s. And finally from the Ohio Valley Resource, some recent regional news.

In this episode we’re exploring a different side of the black lung epidemic through the stories of women who lost their husbands to black lung. OVR Reporter Sydney Boles talks with Deborah Boggs, Joyce Birman, Vickie Salyers (pictured), and Nancy Potter who share fond memories from their husbands lives, as well as some of the struggles they faced while living with black lung. She also talks with Evan Smith, an attorney with AppalReD Legal Aid, about the federal black lung benefits system and how a program that was designed to help miners and their families became mired in bureaucracy. You’re listening to Mtn. Talk on WMMT. In this episode we bring you an hour of interviews with women who lost loved ones to black lung disease. Up next, we hear from Deborah Boggs, whose husband Ronnie died in 2016. Interviews/etc continued That’s it for this episode of Mtn. Talk, featuring interviews with women who lost spouses to the black lung epidemic. If you’d like to hear this or previous episodes again, visit our website at www.wmmt.org or download Mtn. Talk wherever you get your podcasts. Music on this episode features Carla Grover with a tune called “Could You Love Me One More Time” from the album “Hush, my restless soul.” That album was produced by Appalshop's own June Appal Recordings.

In this episode, 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 recent news from the Ohio Valley Resource on a proposed bill to shore up miners pension benefits and reinstate the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund. Then, WMMT’s Mimi Pickering takes us back a gathering of business women in Harlan County KY in November 2018. We finish this episode with the first in a 6 part series. Hope Shorts: Wit & Wisdom on Race Class & Community Survival from Mount Hope WV - was produced by Michael and Carrie Kline.

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 is jam-packed with memories of the one and only Jim Webb. Also known as Wiley Quixote, Jim was the eccentric and punny heart of this radio station since WMMT first took to the airwaves in 1985. Jim passed on October 22, 2018 at his home, Wiley's Last Resort, on top of Pine Mountain in Letcher County, KY. On this show, friends and family share some of their favorite memories of the unforgettable Wiley Q.

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.

Happy Halloween from WMMT! In this episode we bring you an interview with Sabrina Flick of Whitesburg, KY’s favorite haunted house, Brimstone. Sabrina talks about her love of all things Halloween, and shares some history and stories about how to create creepy scenes.

In this episode we bring you a recent debate between two candidates vying to represent Virginia’s 9th District in the US House of representatives: Democrat Anthony Flaccavento and incumbent republican Morgan Griffith. The debate took place at the Bristol Hotel, in Bristol VA. It was sponsored by the Bristol Chamber of Commerce, and the recording comes courtesy of WYCB. WMMT does not endorse political candidates, but we welcome interviews with anyone running for political office as a public service. Opinions expressed in this episode of Mountain Talk are not necessarily those of WMMT or Appalshop, Inc.

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.

There's a reason #YourWMMT staff work in radio: we MUCH prefer being behind the mic to being in front of the camera! For this special Fall 2018 Fund Drive episode WMMT's General Manager Elizabeth Sanders, Public Affairs Director Rachel Garringer, and Ohio Valley Resource Reporter Sydney Boles went live on the radio: telling stories about our personal relationships to radio, sharing some behind the scenes details about how a community radio station works, and playing some clips from WMMT history!

Individuals and organizations in Eastern Kentucky's Letcher County came together to develop the former Whitesburg High School cafeteria into a community kitchen. Calling the project Community Agricultural and Nutritional Enterprises (CANE), they see the commercial kitchen providing an avenue for farmers to take the necessary risks involved with scaling up the area food system to meet both local, and eventually, regional demand for fresh, healthy, Appalachian-grown food. WMMT reports on the well attended grand opening of the kitchen, which CANE organizers believe could serve as a model for other Eastern Kentucky counties struggling to build the economy and health of their communities.

What makes a town or small community a place where people want to live? Where strangers want to move to? WMMT reports on the Great Mountain Mural Mega Fest organized by the Southeast Kentucky Revitalization Project, which is coordinated by the Appalachian Studies Program at Harlan County's Southeast Community and Technical College. The goal of the Fest was to train artists and community development personnel in the art and business of mural making as public arts projects that can bring residents together, beautify communities, and visibly demonstrate that these are places people care about -- something the organizers believe is essential to revitalizing our coalfield communities.

In this episode we bring you two stories about local efforts to invest in our towns and communities, both recorded by WMMT’s Mimi Pickering. First we’ll learn about the recent Naloxone Training held at the Letcher County Health Department, which provided attendees with a free training on how to spot and respond to an opioid overdose, and upon completion of the training a free Naloxone nasal spray. In the second piece we learn about the first ever Great Mountain Mega Mural Fest held in Harlan County, KY in early August.

In this episode we bring you an hour of interviews with wrestlers who will be competing in the Summer Bash on July 21st in Whitesburg, KY. WMMT's general manager Elizabeth Sanders guides us through this adventure through the drama and history of Appalachian Mountain Wrestling.

In this show we bring you stories of historically marginalized communities creating space in the mainstream. First, WMMT’s Rachel Garringer brings us along for the opening of Letcher County, KY’s first ever LGBTQ Safe Space. Then from the Ohio Valley Resource we’ll learn about the Poor People’s Campaign: A National Call for Moral Revival, and, the UN’s report on Poverty in the U.S.

In this episode we're learning about the Mountains of Music Homecoming series of concerts and other events held throughout Southwest Virginia each summer. Ted Olson, a music historian at East TN State U and MC of many past Mtns of Music concerts, sat down in the studio with myself and WMMT programmer Rich Kirby to talk about the history of the program, and to highlight this summer’s excellent schedule. Along the way we’ll hear tunes recorded live at past Mtns. of Music concerts!

It's Spring Fund Drive at WMMT and this week we're talking about radio! What is this thing, and why does it matter? Why is it unique in today’s world of constant visual media input? What makes community radio different than commercial? And, we’ll learn about the life-long professional and personal journeys of two super cool women in radio. Neenah Ellis’s parents ran a small commercial country radio station in northern Indiana when she was growing up. Neenah went on to work at National Public Radio in Washington, D.C. for 30 years, before becoming the general manager at WYSO in Yellow Springs, Ohio. Sally Kane’s parents started a small community radio station in a coal mining community in Colorado when she was a kid, and she now directs the National Federation of Community Broadcasters. Neenah & Sally talk about their histories with radio, their love for the form, and why they believe in the community radio model.

We're celebrating National Poetry Month here at WMMT by bringing you a 2012 interview with Nikky Finney from Profiles, a show out of Bloomington Indiana’s WFIU station, where they interview notable artists, scholars and musicians. Nikky Finney is a powerful poet, born in South Carolina, who taught at the University of Kentucky for twenty years. She’s a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets and her Book "Head Off & Split" won the National Book Award in 2011.

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.

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.

This month we’re celebrating Women’s History in the Mountains and beyond. In this episode, we’re drawing from our Archives here at WMMT. In 1995, then WMMT producer Maxine Kenny recorded 15 Appalachian women writers talking about their lives and reading their work. The recordings were edited into an audio series, narrated by Tennessee Poet Nikki Giovanni. The series is made up of interviews with Jo Carson, Lou Crabtree, Denise Giardina, Wilma Dykeman, Michelle Y. Green, Barbara Kingsolver, George Ella Lyon, Bobbie Ann Mason, Sharyn McCrumb, Rita Quillen, Mary Lee Settle, Ann Shelby, and Lee Smith. And with Marilou Awiakta and Nikki Giovanni whose interviews and readings you'll hear in this episode

Continuing our month-long series celebrating Black histories, current realities, and futures in the Appalachian region and beyond - we bring you the story of Derek Akal - a 22-year-old African-American athlete struggling to stay in Lynch, KY where he was raised. WMMT’s Benny Becker followed Akal for a four part series which originally aired on West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Inside Appalachia. This episode also features a 2016 interview with sociologist Karida Brown - Akal's cousin and the Director of the Eastern Kentucky African American Migration Project.

Sometimes rebuilding an economy, and lives, means adding one or two jobs at a time. A new bakery established by folks at the Hemphill Community Center in hard pressed coal country aims to provide Letcher County residents with healthy, locally sourced breads and baked goods while supporting Drug Court participants in their journeys to recovery. Rachel Garringer reports for WMMT.

In the first of our month-long series of Mountain Talks celebrating Black histories and futures in the region and beyond we explore the Appalachian African-American Cultural Center. Founder and Director Ron Carson led WMMT's Benny Becker on a tour of the Center in 2016. And, we hear a piece from the archive, produced for WMMT in 1992 by Maxine Kenny - which focuses on the life and music of Ron Carson's grandfather: Spike Carson.

On this week’s program we bring you voices of women in eastern KY. First, we’ll hear speeches and poetry from Pikeville, KY on the one year anniversary of the historic 2017 Women’s March. The speakers eloquently and powerfully lay out the situation for women in Eastern KY and the world today. Then, we’ll travel back in time with a story from our archive’s here at WMMT. Produced by Maxine Kenny in 1991, the piece brings us voices of women in fast food restaurants. And last, we’ll hear two brief interviews conducted by Kelli Haywood in 2016. All of these stories paint a picture of the strength, resiliency, and leadership of mountain women.

In this episode of WMMT’s Mountain Talk we explore the idea of social haunting, or how the troubles of the past might be playing a role in community problems of today. We hear from Dr. Geoff Bright who is leading a participatory research project based around the theory of social haunting in formerly industrialized areas in the north of England, and Max Munday shares his documentary, Songlines and Social Haunting, which further details the project’s arts-based process used in "Ghost Labs" in former coal mining communities. We are joined by Dr. Wayne Coombs, recently retired as director of the West Virginia Prevention Resource Center, who speaks about the role that social haunting or historical trauma may be playing in the growing substance abuse crisis in central Appalachia. Take a listen and tell us what you think about this concept of "social haunting." You can send your comments to wmmt@appalshop.org with "Social Haunting" in the subject line and we will share them as part of an international conversation with Max Munday and colleagues in Manchester, U.K. Released by: Ribbon Road Music

In this episode of WMMT’s Mountain Talk we explore the idea of social haunting, or how the troubles of the past might be playing a role in community problems of today. We hear from Dr. Geoff Bright who is leading a participatory research project based around the theory of social haunting in formerly industrialized areas in the north of England, and Max Munday shares his documentary, Songlines and Social Haunting, which further details the project’s arts-based process used in "Ghost Labs" in former coal mining communities. We are joined by Dr. Wayne Coombs, recently retired as director of the West Virginia Prevention Resource Center, who speaks about the role that social haunting or historical trauma may be playing in the growing substance abuse crisis in central Appalachia. Take a listen and tell us what you think about this concept of "social haunting." You can send your comments to wmmt@appalshop.org with "Social Haunting" in the subject line and we will share them as part of an international conversation with Max Munday and colleagues in Manchester, U.K.

As efforts continue to rebuild the economy of eastern Kentucky, the quality of the educational system, so dependent on the excellence and commitment of the region's educators, is a critical part of the solution, as is adequate state support for health care, social services, public protection, and economic development. WMMT aired this report on a Dec. 2, 2017 rally by Letcher County teachers and other state workers who opposed a plan put forth by Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin and GOP leaders that would drastically overhaul the public pension system, and, the educators say, make it much more difficult to attract and retain the most qualified teachers and other public servants. At the rally, speakers called on the legislature to keep its promise to provide a livable pension after years of public service, and to address the real issue facing the state - the need for tax reform that raises the revenue necessary to support a high quality educational system and the public services that benefit all Kentuckians. Gov. Bevin did not succeed in calling a special session in 2017, but the issue of pension reform is high on the agenda as the 2018 General Assembly begins. For further information, the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy (kypolicy.org)has outlined possible revenue options to fund the Kentucky pension system, education, and other essential services.

We're starting 2018 off right here at WMMT with this re-broadcast of an hour long program of stories and songs of the late great Jean Ritchie! Jean Ritchie was a folk musician, ballad singer and songwriter - well known for her dulcimer playing. Ritchie was born and raised just up the road from WMMT in Viper, KY. She is dearly missed, but we're grateful her legacy lives on through recordings and words such as those in this week's edition of Mountain Talk.

If you use the Internet, or are one of the many rural residents who hope to get the Internet, December 14 was a big day. Under a plan proposed by Anjit Pai, President Trump’s choice for chairman, the Federal Communications Commission voted 3 to 2 to dismantle Net Neutrality, the open Internet principles that more than 80 percent of Americans support. FCC commissioners also voted along party lines to eliminate Internet as a utility, or Title II service. That will result in a loss in universal service requirements and consumer protections. What does this mean for rural parts of the country that are still struggling to get high speed Internet services? What does this mean for rural parts of the country that are still struggling to get high speed Internet services? We asked Whitney Kimball Coe, a young woman raising a family in Athens, TN, a small town south of Knoxville. She also coordinates the National Rural Assembly and is director of national programs for the Center for Rural Strategies. For our report, she adapted an editorial she wrote for the Daily Post Athenian in which she relates her concerns about the impact the FCC changes will have on rural communities such as those in our WMMT listening area.

This week on Mtn. Talk we bring you voices of concerned residents of southeastern Kentucky speaking out against Kentucky Power’s proposed double-digit rate increase. In June of this year Kentucky Power filed a request to the Public Service Commission for a 16.8% increase, which would mean an increase of about 80 cents a day, or 24 dollars a month for the average customer. KY Power’s stated reason for the increase is to make up for the the loss of nearly 2,000 residential customers and 450 industrial customers in Southeastern Kentucky, since 2014. The Public Service Commission held three meetings in order to gather public comments which will be used in their decision making process. WMMT attended the November 6th meeting in Hazard, Kentucky. About 40 people signed up to speak to the PSC, and out of those only one spoke up in support of Kentucky Power’s rate increase. Today’s edition of Mountain Talk brings you some of the concerns of the southeastern Kentuckians present at the November 6th meeting. If you would like to submit comments to the Public Service Commission about the proposed rate hikes you can submit them up until December 6th when the PSC will hold a formal hearing in the case. You can submit comments by mail: P.O. Box 615 Frankfort, KY 40602, or through the website at psc.ky.gov.

This week on Mountain Talk we explore how black lung looks from right here in Eastern Kentucky. Benny Becker of the Ohio Valley Resource and WMMT brings us 3 pieces. The first is Fighting For Breath where Dr. James Brandon Crum diagnoses a man with black lung. Dr. Crum lives in Pike County and is responsible for getting the Federal Government to begin an investigation into the black lung epidemic in the mountains. The second piece is a recording of Dr. Crum's August 2017 presentation to the Southeast Kentucky Black Lung Association in Whitesburg. The third is an update about the Federal investigation into the black lung epidemic. And last, but certainly not least, we listen to the audio from a short documentary, "Dying Breed" produced during the summer of 2017 by youth at Appalshop's Appalachian Media Institute. We hope you enjoy!

The 4th SOAR - Shaping Our Appalachian Region - Summit was held in Pikeville on August 4 and over 1,200 listened to Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin, Rep. Hal Rogers, and featured speaker UK Basketball Coach John Calipari as they each laid out their visions for eastern Kentucky's future and how to get there. WMMT reports with highlights from their comments.

This episode looks deeper into the struggle that many Appalachian people experience with wanting to remain in the place they came from to live, work, and raise their families. With fewer economic opportunities, many are choosing to leave the region they call home simply to find work. Yet, there's always the pull to face the struggle and stay home come hell or high water. West Virginia Public Broadcasting's Inside Appalachia, and the Ohio Valley ReSource with WMMT contribute to this episode. Additional music is "Oh Girl" by The Chi-Lites as played by Kentuckian Issac Boone Davis.

Our region has incredible cultural assets, especially our music and dance, as well as traditional arts, crafts and foodways. In this episode of Mountain Talk Monday, we learn about the Mountains of Music Homecoming happening throughout Southwest Virginia June 9-17. Its a project of the The Crooked Road: Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail, which came into being to provide economic opportunities locally through showcasing the region's distinctive music, venues and musicians. Host Kelli Haywood and guest host Rich Kirby from WMMT’s Deep in Tradition speak with the MOMH assistant coordinator and professor of Appalachian Studies at ETSU, Ted Olsen on the upcoming 9 days filled with wonderful traditional music and cultural events. Find out more at www.mtnsofmusic.com!

Lack of reliable broadband in this small Kentucky community costs people a lot, residents say: jobs, educational opportunities, real estate sales, and even time with their kids. WMMT reports on a meeting at the Campbells Branch Community Center where the Letcher County Broadband Committee came to gather information and gauge interest in a plan to lessen this community's digital divide.

This is an episode dedicated to the Ohio Valley ReSource, a regional news collaborative of seven radio stations across three states. WMMT is one of those stations, and our reporter Benny Becker represents eastern Kentucky in the OVR. - Benny Becker has the story of the troubled past of water quality in Martin County, Kentucky and how many have lost trust in their water and their government. (This piece was recently picked to air on NPR.) - Aaron Payne delivers the startling statistics and stories behind the region's infants born to addicted mothers in - Born Addicted: The Race to Treat the Ohio Valley's Drug Addicted Babies. Payne is based in Athens, Ohio at WOUB. - WMMT's Kelli Haywood speaks with Jeff Young who is the managing editor of the Ohio Valley ReSource and works from WFPL in Louisville, Kentucky, about the importance of regional journalism and the OVR model in these questioning times.

January is Radon Awareness Month. Have you ever had your home's radon gas levels tested? Dr. Ellen Hahn Ph.D of the University of Kentucky College of Nursing and Director of the BREATHE Program, stopped by WMMT to speak with host Kelli Haywood about the dangers of radon gas in your home and what you can do to limit your risk. Radon gas is the 2nd leading cause of lung cancer. Listen and learn more.

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.

-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.

WMMT brings you Anthony Flaccavento’s recent book talk held at the University of Virginia at Wise. His book Building a Healthy Economy from the Bottom Up: Harnessing Real-World Experience for Transformative Change was published this year by the University of Kentucky Press and features six components to building a sustainable economy in regions going through the worst economic hardship. Flaccavento highlights those six components in his talk and gives real world examples of their effectiveness in communities across the country.

Carrie Mullins joins host Kelli Haywood in WMMT studios for this edition of Mountain Talk Monday. Carrie’s debut novel, Night Garden, was released by the Lexington small publisher Old Cove Press in 2015. In Night Garden, Carrie tackles the issue of substance misuse and addiction in Appalachia from the eyes of 17 year old Marie Massey. Kelli speaks with Carrie about the process of writing her book, the realities of the Appalachian experience with addiction, solutions, and the importance of literature tackling the hardest issues working in our communities.

In this special edition of Mountain Talk Monday, host Kelli Haywood takes you on an exploration of an Appalachian Halloween! The episode begins with a general history of the holiday tracing it back to the Celtic New Year – Samhain, which was later transformed by the Catholic church into All Hallow’s Eve or Halloween. From there, you will hear tales of ghosts and mischief pulled from the WMMT archives and told by our staff and volunteer DJs. Add in a few good old-time murder and death ballads, and you got yourself one scary good time. Listen and share this episode with your friends! Happy Halloween!!!

On this episode of Re:sound, we're featuring an audio postcard from the Restorative Radio Project plus an interview with the series' producer, Sylvia Ryerson. 'Envision Yourself Being a Free Man' by Sylvia Ryerson with recordings by Essie Mannes (Restorative Radio Project, WMMT, 2016) Essie Manns is the grandmother of DeVaughn Hall, currently incarcerated at Red Onion State prison. Essie lives in Roanoke, Virginia, a 4 hours drive from the prison. She cannot drive long distances, but she gets rides from her friends and family as often as she can to go and visit DeVaughn in prison. For her audio postcard, Essie recorded a Sunday with the family. She took the recorder to church, and then returned home for a fish fry with their whole extended family. Read our behind-the-scenes interview with Sylvia: http://thirdcoastfestival.org/explore/article/sylvia-ryerson-bts This episode of Re:sound was produced by Isabel Vázquez See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

-Mary Gail Adams tells the story of her mother and the Hound Dog Hookers, a group of wool rug makers in Blackey, Kentucky established in the 1960s as part of Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty effort. -The Administrator of the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration, Jay Williams, speaks on the correlation between the economic difficulties of eastern Kentucky and that experienced in his hometown of Youngstown, Ohio with the collapse of the steel industry. -Along with the Humans of Central Appalachia project, WMMT pays tribute to Whitesburg, Kentucky’s beloved artist, restaurateur, volunteer, and grandmother – Judith Vermillion.

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.

Over 30 people spoke out about KY Governor Matt Bevin’s proposed changes to the state’s Medicaid system that through its expansion has seen almost 500,000 low income Kentuckians find health care coverage. WMMT covered the July 7 Public Hearing in Hazard on the Section 11-15 Medicaid waiver that the Bevin Administration is seeking. This Mountain Talk features comments from health care providers, mental health advocates, policy analysts, and regular works who work with those on Medicaid or are themselves beneficiaries of the program. Kentucky Voices for Health and the Kentucky Center for Budget Policy and Kentucky Voices for Health are also good sources of information.

-Former WMMT reporter and DJ Sylvia Ryerson (aka Sly Rye) speak on WNYC’s nationally syndicated program The Takeaway. She along with story contributor Michelle Hudson and host John Hockenberry discuss her project Restorative Radio which connects those incarcerated in prisons across Central Appalachia with their loved ones at home. -The National Academy of Sciences is launching a comprehensive study of how mountaintop removal coal mining affects the health of those who live nearby. WMMT’s Benny Becker reports for the Ohio Valley ReSource, on how past efforts at research ran into roadblocks and delays. -WMMT’s Kelli Haywood spoke with two community college professors in southeastern Kentucky about ways the Kentucky Community and Technical College System is working to prepare their students to adapt to a changing economy in eastern Kentucky through the STEAM model of education.

WMMT visits the Letcher County Farmers’ Market in Whitesburg, KY where an innovative program called Farmacy is improving health and getting nationwide attention. Formed through an unusual partnership between medical providers – area medical clinics, Medicaid insurance companies, doctors and nurses – and local farmers, the Farmers’ Market, and nonprofits such as Community Farm Alliance, the Farmacy program is offering locally grown fruits and vegetables as alternatives to medical prescriptions. Now in its second year, the Farmacy has already made an impact on the health of the community as well as begun to expand economic opportunity for area farmers.

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.

-Joe’s Drive-In Chicken (aka Joe Pack’s) is celebrating 50 years as a Letcher County, Kentucky business this year. How does a family business survive 50 years in a boom and bust economy? This story was created with Malcolm J. Wilson of Humans of Central Appalachia. -A community health forum was recently held in Whitesburg, Kentucky including representatives from the University of Kentucky, Kentucky Homeplace, Mountain Comprehensive Health Care, and the federal agency – National Institutes of Environmental Health and Sciences. The forum’s goal was to collect the information about what the community views as its top health concerns. WMMT reporter Benny Becker highlights the forum.

-WMMT reporter Kelli Haywood explores the impact that the region’s opioid addiction problems are having on our ability to transition the economy now and the ramifications for the future. -Aaron Payne, from the Ohio Valley ReSource, gives the latest update on CARA (Comprehensive Addiction and Recovery Act). -In celebration of what would have been the 92nd birthday of Kentucky Civil Rights activist, Anne Braden, filmmaker and reporter Mimi Pickering shares stories of Braden’s early work and experiences from the film she made along with Anne Lewis – Anne Braden: Southern Patriot.

On June 22, 2016, Gov. Matt Bevin presented Kentucky HEALTH, a comprehensive plan to transform Kentucky’s Medicaid program, which he says will empower individuals to improve their health and well-being while simultaneously ensuring Medicaid’s long-term fiscal sustainability in the commonwealth. See the proposed changes here – http://chfs.ky.gov/…/0/62216KentuckyHEALTHWaiverProposal.pdf As a means of receiving public feedback, the administration held a series of public forums. WMMT reporter Mimi Pickering attended the forum in Hazard, Kentucky. This episode of Mountain Talk Monday presents the overview of that forum. Many Kentucky citizens are concerned that the proposed changes will be a drawback to the positive changes we’ve seen in coalfields, Kentucky and for those previously uninsured Kentuckians. The public comment period ends on July 22nd @ 5pm. Written comments on the Kentucky HEALTH waiver proposal can be mailed to: Commissioner Stephen Miller Department for Medicaid Services 275 E. Main Street Frankfort, KY 40621 Or via email to kyhealth@ky.gov.

-Kara Lofton, health reporter for West Virginia Public Radio, speaks with UMWA members and others about the recent rally in Lexington, Kentucky and what the stalemate in Congress surrounding shoring up retirement benefits for miners and their families will mean for their future. -Hear audio recordings of the late balladeer and organizer Sarah Ogan Gunning and those close with her and her family from Mimi Pickering’s 1988 Appalshop Films release – Dreadful Memories. -The Cowan Creek Mountain Music School just ended its 15th year with a record attendance. WMMT reporter Kelli Haywood covers how the music school, Cowan Community Center, and others are exploring a new way of organizing the community for the greater good of all – the Letcher County Culture Hub.

This episode of Mountain News & World Report considers the efforts of central Appalachians to create resources to address critical public health needs. From our very beginnings, we have had to develop our own way of caring for our communities. As illustrated in the audio for the third segment of this show, through trial and error, and a little ingenuity, we have found remedies that work to bring better health to the people. When John Long and Elizabeth Barret released Nature’s Way in 1973 through Appalshop Films, many mountain folks were still going their entire lives without ever seeing a doctor. Babies were born at home. Fevers were sweated out. Pain was treated with a poultice of herbs. Effort was put behind the troubleshooting of the communities’ healthcare needs and the successes were adopted and passed down through generations as tried and true. The need to give an effort to the crises of our people is evident in the story of our second segment – Beldon Scott Mullins. He is a twenty year veteran of law enforcement in Wise, Virginia and shared his story with Malcolm J. Wilson as part of the Humans of Central Appalachia Project. Mullins has seen the use of drugs change in his community over his years in the force, and he grieves about the impact on the people. In our first story from WMMT reporter Kelli Haywood, you will hear of the year long effort of public health professional and Whitesburg, Kentucky resident, Danielle King, to see a clean needle exchange program created for Letcher County. Recent reports from the CDC has placed 54 Kentucky counties at the highest risk in the nation for an epidemic of HIV and Hepatitis C brought on by the use of intravenous drugs. King and her colleagues have worked to investigate what operating a needle exchange to address this problem might entail and they have put forth a public education campaign to move the need for a program along to a reality. However, it seems like a needle exchange is still far from an actuality for Letcher County. Haywood also speaks with Dr. Rafael Rangel, Director of the Pike County Health Department, who’s experience in finding support and funding for creating a needle exchange program in neighboring Pike County is in deep contrast to that of King and her colleagues. Dr. Rangel’s program begins July 6, 2016 in Pikeville. Jon, a recovering addict, describes to Haywood the first time he was subjected to intravenous drug use at the age of twelve when his true informed consent was not possible.

In this episode of Mountain News & World Report, we highlight two regional happenings-- the Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival here on the grounds of Appalshop in Whitesburg, Kentucky starting Friday June 3rd and going through Saturday, June 4th, and the SOAR Innovation Summit which will be held at the Pikeville Exposition Center on Monday, June 6th. In the Seedtime rundown you will hear a clip from the Tom Hansell film, After Coal which compares the Appalachian coalfields experience to that of the coalfields of South Wales who have already had to transition their economy away from mining. Also, in that segment, Appalshop Archive shares with us a clip of a 1981 Headwaters film of Lee Sexton and his former fiddle player, the late, great Marion Sumner. Then, to end the show, WMMT reporter Benny Becker discusses the future of the SOAR – Shaping Our Appalachian Region with Jared Arnett-- SOAR's executive director, and with Willa Johnson who works with youth through the Kentucky Valley Educational Cooperative (KVEC) and an online learning platform called The Holler.

WMMT’s Mimi Pickering traveled to Lexington to talk with author Katherine J. Black in her home and garden about her book Row by Row: Talking with Kentucky Gardeners, and how the idea for a simple oral history project turned into a book that is truly an illustration of how growing gardens of all types ultimately brings new levels of personal growth for those who choose to take it on

An act of marking one’s pleasure at an important event or occasion by engaging in enjoyable, typically social, activity… that is the formal definition of a celebration. As we know, sometimes the need for having a celebration precedes the cause. In this episode of Mountain News & World Report, we are looking at – Reasons to Celebrate. Our show begins in Harlan County, where Benny Becker met George Ella Lyon, a native East Kentuckian, who is currently serving as the state’s poet laureate. Her works spans many genres including poetry, novel, picture books, and children’s literature. For our next segment, we visit the small towns nestled along the banks of the Clinch River in Virginia. WMMT Contributor Rich Kirby takes us there to note the celebration of the Clinch River Valley Initiative. A coalition of public and private groups sought to have a patchwork of land spread across 130 miles of the Clinch River declared as a state park in spite of its unconventional layout to help the area realize its potential as a major tourist attraction. Documentary filmmaker, Sellus Wilder, who is running for the democratic nomination for Kentucky’s U.S. Senate seat, visited WMMT studios during his recent driving tour of eastern Kentucky. His new documentary, “The End of the Line“ tells the story of how grassroots organizing defeated the proposed Bluegrass Pipeline, and the film celebrates the power of everyday people, working together. WMMT does not endorse political candidates, but as a public service, we welcome interviews with anyone running for political office. Kelli Haywood spoke with Sellus Wilder on April 25th when he passed through Whitesburg to meet with local citizens and community leaders. For the final piece, we add the voice of Elizabeth Ramey as part of WMMT’s ongoing collaboration with Malcolm J. Wilson and Humans of Central Appalachia. Elizabeth’s story brings our exploration of celebration home to family.

Being a region in transition, it is inevitable that we will not always agree on what is the best way to move forward. At times, we have seen that we aren’t at odds with outsiders, elusive government officials, or big corporations, but we are at odds with ourselves. As residents invested in the future of the region, we each have a right to have our voice heard and our opinions considered when addressing the future economy and current need to make ends meet. How much is too much? How far is too far? When do we end up shooting ourselves in the foot? For the first story in this exploration, WMMT’s Benny Becker interviews the key players in the recent addition of the Russell Fork River to the American Rivers 10 Most Endangered listing by the group Appalachian Voices. It seems some citizens in Elkorn City, a town we recently featured on Mountain News & World Report, believe that the move could be detrimental to their efforts to maintain the current tourism boom they are seeing around the river and their hopes to increase it. When both partners at the table have a similar goal, but a different idea on how to get there, who is right? Does it matter? Recently, Kentucky state politicians put forth two bills in the legislature that received support from the governor and the Kentucky Coal Association, that would have rolled back some of the safety regulations that had been put into place to protect miners after years of public push for such measures. In our second segment, Kelli Haywood seeks to find out if such cut backs will actually be of any benefit the jobs miners, the financial integrity of struggling coal companies, and the state budget, or will it put miners’ lives at undue risk. And finally, from Appalshop Archive and the late Buck Maggard, we present an interview with “The Grandfather of Bluegrass” – Wade Mainer, who would have celebrated his 109th birthday on April 21st. From Buncombe County, North Carolina, Mainer’s innovative 2-finger banjo picking style is considered the precursor to the 3-finger playing style used in today’s bluegrass music. Mainer plays a few tunes with his wife Julia, discusses his favorite song, and his take on environmental stewardship.

It seems everything in our mountain home is in a state of transition. Change can be hard, but also good. It is a time to take the bull by the horns and stop beating the dead horse — to use some commonplace phrasing. This week on Mountain News & World Report, we are looking at a few of our Traditions in Transition. What traditions are worth putting time, money, and effort toward preserving? What time honored traditions might serve us as we transition into a new economy and which ones should we release in order to make room for new thoughts and ideas? WMMT’s Kelli Haywood begins this episode asking just those questions as she explores the efforts of the Letcher County Culture Hub in introducing squaredancing to a new generation and attempting to reinvigorate the tradition in that generation’s parents and grandparents. What she found might surprise you. Be sure to let us know what you think as well by commenting. In our second story, Benny Becker attends the 4th Annual Appalachian Seed Swap and speaks with Joseph Simcox and Joyce Pinson who participate in the event. Simcox has traveled the world collecting and swapping seeds and along with Pinson believes that Appalachia can be a hub for the revival of small scale, sustainable agriculture. Not only does Simcox share some of the seeds of knowledge he’s collected from his world travels, but puts forward his idea for how Central Appalachia can use agriculture to transform our economy and reclaim our mined lands. And, to end the show, we include the story of Brian Fields as interviewed by Malcolm J. Wilson of Humans of Central Appalachia. Fields works in retraining former miners for a variety of careers. He also comes from a long line of musicians and farmers. His story illustrates how it is just second nature at times to take on tradition as part of your own identity.

This is a mind bending edition of Mountain News & World Report, as we attempt to imagine the (im)possible – a real, just, economic transition for the mountains. In exploring what it means to have faith in our abilities to create something out of little to nothing, we discovered that this faith is the legacy of our mountain ancestors. Mountain people have been “making do” since time immemorial, not only to simply survive, but to thrive and find joy in the least obvious of places. For this episode, we begin in 1950s Knoxville, TN at the Fellowship House Summer-Day Camp, one of the first successful attempts at racially integrating activities for children. This effort was dreamed of by community members and brought to fruition by those same people. WMMT contributor Beth Bingman attended the camp as a child, and brings us this story. In our second segment, we take a leap into the future with KVEC’s FIREShare podcast producers Willa Johnson and Tanya Turner as they bring us a report on The Holler. University of Pikeville professor Bruce Parsons details the efforts of The Holler – a website and physical space geared toward opening a dialogue about technology in the region while serving as a tool for those who want to learn to use technology more effectively and develop technological skills as a personal asset. Those working on The Holler believe ” using technology in this way shows that the people of Central Appalachia can utilize the same tools as those around the world and put it to use for our own purposes and betterment of our own communities.” As Parsons and other believe, projects like The Holler show that technology could be a real key to our future ability to stay, work, and live in the mountains. Finally, we feature the launch of the newest player in the coined “Silicon Holler,” – Mountain Tech Media (MTM) in Whitesburg, Kentucky. MTM is a diversified technology and media services company that prides itself on being a “creative cooperative” by encouraging the professionals working for MTM to own the company they are helping to build. Companies like MTM hope to be the future employers of these tech savvy mountain folks. We are actively working together to make the impossible possible. It is innovation in action. A true mind expansion from the depths of the deepest night to the light of what will be tomorrow.

This edition of Mountain News & World Report brings us the complicated legacy that coal is leaving in the mountains of southeastern, Kentucky. While on one hand we are proud to be miners and the children of miners, and we are grateful for the good paying jobs the industry has brought to the region, on the other hand, we are left wondering what now. In this time when the coal industry is in decline, we are reminded that the changes brought about by over a century mining coal aren’t easily adjusted. The first segment of this episode shares the story of Phillip Johnson and his family whose land has been strip-mined without their consent in recent years not unlike what was seen in the days of the Broadform Deed. While use of the broadform deed ended in 1988 through popular vote, the Johnsons found that there continues to be means by which a company can mine for minerals underneath the ground of a landowner who has not agreed to mining. Not only can they, but they can do so perfectly legally in Kentucky. WMMT contributor, Parker Hobson, brings us the story in collaboration with Tarence Ray of Appalachian Voices who has provided the photo of the Johnson property for this post. You can read Ray’s article and see more photographs at this link. Then, we revisit coverage from WMMT’s Rich Kirby in 2010 of the dedication of a permanent marker in remembrance of the Scotia Mine Disaster. March 9, 2016 marked the 40th anniversary of two mine explosions in Letcher Co., Kentucky. Dr. Greg Wagner gave an informative and thought-provoking commemorative speech revealing the complexities and sorrows these tragedies leave behind. And, finally, we have the story of Jeremy Brock of Evarts, Kentucky in our ongoing feature with Humans of Central Appalachia. Brock is an underground miner, father, and competition barbecuer. Like all of us, he’s wondering what happens when the mining jobs are all gone. Will his passion for barbecue be enough to carry him and his family through?

Crystal Wilkinson is a well known Kentucky author, owner of Wild Fig Books & Coffee in Lexington KY, and a founding member of the Affrilachian Poets. In this edition of Mountain Talk Monday, host Kelli Haywood with the help of WMMT’s Mimi Pickering interviews Crystal on the eve of her upcoming book release, The Birds of Opulence. Kelli and Crystal delve deep into what it means to be Appalachian and to write about Appalachia for the contemporary audience. Crystal tells the story of Frank X. Walker’s coining of the term “Affrilachian” and how it has grown from representing a very specific group of people to being the identifying term for those contributing to the world stage in a wide variety of ways. Crystal also reads from her newest book which will be released in early March. Find Crystal where she is the Appalachian Writer in Residence at Berea College, or at Wild Fig Books & Coffee in person or on the web. Come to Seedtime on the Cumberland Festival here on the WMMT/Appalshop grounds in June of this year to visit the Wild Fig Pop-Up Bookstore display!

In this episode of Mountain News & World Report, we go a little deeper with two very important news stories that point to the fact that our way of life in the Kentucky mountains is changing drastically and it all boils down to money, or the lack thereof. We begin this broadcast with a story from WMMT reporter Benny Becker. He looks at how the current state of the economy is affecting the senior citizens of Letcher County, Kentucky. Shrinking income from coal severance taxes have led to budget shortages, and just recently, that led to a big reduction in services for seniors when all of the senior citizens centers across the county closed doors and the Meals on Wheels program discontinued. For us here at WMMT, that raised a question– Are we letting the economy change how we take care of our elders? And finally, Kelli Haywood reports on the February 12th visit of Governor Matt Bevin to Hazard where he addressed the concerns of economy that we are facing in coalfields Kentucky. Bevin addressed a substantial crowd at Hazard Community and Technical College, but did he bring along any hope? What could our future look like in these mountains and in Kentucky in general? Bevin speaks to the decline in coal production, education, technology, prisons, and the strength of will among eastern Kentuckians.