Inside Appalachia

Series produced by West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Series image

Inside Appalachia is our weekly radio and podcast, hosted by Mason Adams. The show highlights West Virginia’s cultural heritage and brings those stories to a broader audience.

Inside Appalachia is currently heard on 33 stations in West Virginia, Kentucky, and Tennessee.
The show highlights West Virginia’s cultural heritage and brings those stories to a broader audience. We strive to tell real stories about what it’s like to live here, and feature Appalachians who are finding unique solutions.
The program gives voice to and provides a platform for the underserved, overlooked, and often dismissed residents of Appalachia.
We’ve recently expanded the show to tell more stories about our region’s diverse arts and culture, through our grant-funded Folkways Project.


179 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Piece image
This week, we look at a new film that discusses how coal mining shapes Appalachian culture. And, the results of a new survey show alarming mental h...

  • Added: May 23, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, a North Carolina potter is reviving an art form brought to America by enslaved Africans. And, the town of Hindman, Kentucky, endured cat...

  • Added: May 17, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week on Inside Appalachia, we’re talking about traditional ballads -- how they tell stories and connect us to the past. These old tunes can me...

  • Added: May 09, 2023
  • Length: 53:31
Piece image
This week, a southern Ohio college writing class recently learned about the idea of Appalachian identity. Also, Kentucky has a new poet laureate. ...

  • Added: May 03, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, we speak with the author of a new book about grief rituals, and how they’re practiced here in the mountains. And, a new study recently f...

  • Added: Apr 26, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, we listen back to three award-winning folkways stories from last year. First, we visit a luthier’s shop, where old musical instruments g...

  • Added: Apr 18, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
After last year’s flooding in Eastern Kentucky, some people had trouble getting insurance reimbursement. But it wasn’t just flood waters that destr...

  • Added: Apr 11, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, we’ll visit Jerry Machen of Kingsport, Tennessee. When he first started making art from old carpets, his wife Linda wasn’t impressed. W...

  • Added: Apr 06, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, we step on the Appalachian Trail with one of America’s most accomplished hikers, Jennifer Pharr Davis, who went from being an absolute n...

  • Added: Mar 29, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
Family recipes are a way to connect generations, but what happens when you’ve got grandma’s recipe, and it doesn’t have exact measurements? We als...

  • Added: Mar 22, 2023
  • Length: 53:32
Piece image
This week, we look back at a shocking crime near the Appalachian Trail and speak to the author of a book that re-examines the case. We also sample...

  • Added: Mar 14, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
One thing about Appalachians... we can get competitive. We’re proud of our local food. Love a good hunt. And enjoy competition with friends. This...

  • Added: Mar 07, 2023
  • Length: 53:31
Piece image
This week, climate change is changing what grows in Appalachia, and where. Some peach varieties usually found in Georgia are moving north. We also ...

  • Added: Feb 22, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, we hop a tiny train to discover the miniature wonders of a West Virginia model railroad club, that now faces an uncertain future. We al...

  • Added: Feb 17, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, we discuss how amid recent hospital closures, how Appalachian women are having to travel farther and farther to give birth. We’ll also h...

  • Added: Feb 07, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, we meet a West Virginia high-school student whose love of reading inspired her to bring books to young children. We also check in on peo...

  • Added: Jan 31, 2023
  • Length: 53:31
Piece image
For working comedians, mean-spirited hecklers are part of the job. But what happens when someone gets angry enough to throw a beer? And, West Virgi...

  • Added: Jan 25, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, we go back to school with West Virginia women who are training to fill the shortage of construction jobs. And, EMTs and first responders...

  • Added: Jan 17, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
You'll visit a farm in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania that can grow a LOT of agriculture on one acre on a former industrial site. We’ll also hear about a ...

  • Added: Jan 10, 2023
  • Length: 53:30
Piece image
This week, author Mesha Maren takes us from the hills of West Virginia — to the Texas/Mexico border region, the land of the Luchador. We’ll also he...

  • Added: Jan 03, 2023
  • Length: 53:30