"Kil't" lettuce is an Appalachian delicacy. In this encore episode from Season 1, we discuss how to make this delicious summer salad and why people use -t at the end of the word instead of -ed. We'll also hear clips from storyteller Ray Hicks, who illustrates this Appalachian English pronunciation. So, get your onion, bacon grease, leafy greens, and intrusive -t ready because summer's on the way!

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this episode, we're looking for voice in some WWII-era letters and recipe books from my great-grandparents' era (I found a recipe called "Masculine Potato Salad"!) You'll also hear a voiceplace story from a western NC listener, who has decided to return to his voiceplace to teach his young daughter about her linguistic heritage. Then, we'll talk about the phrases "up and" and "up in," as in "She up and slapped me for no good reason!" or "We've had up in 50 people at a time come to the house on holidays."

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Beth Macy is the bestselling author of Dopesick, Factory Man, and Paper Girl. Dopesick, her investigation of the opioid crisis, was short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, won the L.A. Times Book Prize for Science and Technology, and was described as a “masterwork of narrative nonfiction” by The New York Times. Dopesick was made into a Peabody- and Emmy Award-winning Hulu series on which Macy served as an executive producer and cowriter. Her most recent book, Paper Girl: A Memoir of Home and Family in a Fractured America, is a combination memoir and reported analysis of the rural-urban divide told through the lenses of backward mobility, political polarization, and the decimation of local news. 

Silas House is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the novels Clay’s Quilt, 2001; A Parchment of Leaves, 2003; The Coal Tattoo, 2005; Eli the Good, 2009; Same Sun Here (co-authored with Neela Vaswani) 2012, Southernmost, 2018, and Lark Ascending, 2022, as well as a book of creative nonfiction Something’s Rising, co-authored with Jason Howard, 2009; and four plays. His first book of poetry, All These Ghosts, was the recipient of the 2026 Southern Book Prize. He recently published his first murder-mystery (under the pseudonym S.D. House), Dead Man Blues. He was also Poet Laureate of Kentucky.

I sat down with these two amazing writers at the 50th John Fox, Jr. Literary Festival at Mountain Empire Community College to talk about writing, their process, and a what it means to chronicle the complex stories of this region.

Special thanks to MECC's Dr. Amy Greear, Brandon Maggard for audio, and MECC for allowing me to create this episode from our conversation.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Dr. Jennifer Cramer, Director of the Appalachian Studies Center at the University of Kentucky, joins me for a conversation about how she became a linguist (shifting from math to French and linguistics), her graduate training at Purdue and the University of Illinois-Urbana, and how Kentucky’s “in-betweenness” shaped her interest in Southern and Appalachian identities. She explains the Linguistic Atlas Project, a nearly century-long archive of U.S. dialect interviews now housed at the University of Kentucky and edited by Allison Burkette, and how it supports ongoing transcription, digitization, and new data collection. Kramer outlines perceptual dialectology methods (mental map tasks, labeling, and ratings) to study how non-linguists perceive dialect regions and attach attitudes and stereotypes that can affect discrimination. She argues that “dying dialect” claims are complicated, notes public reactions to reporting on Southern English change, and emphasizes accent pride, urging listeners not to judge people based on how they talk. 

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

We're revisiting Season One and an episode with the legendary Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praise Song for the Kitchen Ghosts (which was published after this episode aired) and other works. Crystal discusses her journey from trying to erase her Appalachian accent to embracing it as an essential part of her identity and craft. She calls her native dialect her "mother tongue" and describes the revolutionary act of allowing her "tongue to rest in its normal state."

Crystal reads several powerful poems featuring her grandparents' voices:

• "Black Rapunzel" about her mother's struggle with schizophrenia
• "The Water Witch" series: poems in her grandfather's voice about wisdom, land, and literacy
• "Old Tobacco": a love letter to Kentucky's tobacco heritage

Crystal Wilkinson, a recent recipient of a Writing Freedom fellowship ,  is the award-winning author of  Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts, a national-bestselling culinary memoir, Perfect Black, a collection of poems,  and three works of fiction—The Birds of Opulence , Water Street and Blackberries, Blackberries. She is the recipient of an NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Poetry, an O. Henry Prize, an Academy of American Poets Fellowship, a USA Artists Fellowship, and an Ernest J. Gaines Prize for Literary Excellence. She has received recognition from the Yaddo Foundation, Hedgebrook, The Vermont Studio Center for the Arts,  The Hermitage Foundation and others. Her short stories, poems and essays have appeared in numerous journals and anthologies including most recently in  The Atlantic, The Kenyon Review, STORY, Agni Literary Journal, Emergence, Oxford American and Southern Cultures.  She was Poet Laureate of Kentucky from 2021 to 2023. She currently teaches creative writing at the University of Kentucky where she is a Bush-Holbrook Endowed Professor and Director of the Divsion of Creative Writing. Her memoir Heartsick is forthcoming from Crown. 

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

This episode grows out of a moment earlier this year, when my great-grandmother’s words appeared in The Atlantic in a January 6 article by Annie Joy Williams on Appalachian speech and memory. But long before her voice was quoted on a national stage, it was part of our family’s oral history, spoken in her accent and in her words.

In this episode, I share more of her story. She talks about growing up on the mountain, birch sapping in the spring, and the rituals of courtin’ in a world before cars, phones, or much privacy. These are everyday memories, told plainly, the way people often tell the truth when they’re not performing for an audience.

She also reflects on harder chapters: her husband’s (my Papaw's) near-fatal bout with black lung and his time on supply ships during World War II. Her memories remind us how industrial labor and global conflict reached deep into mountain homes.

This episode is about what oral history gives us that written records often can’t: a sense of place and voice. It’s a reminder that Appalachian Englishes aren't meant to be “cleaned up” or corrected, but included in a living record of experience.

This is the longer story behind the quote in The Atlantic. And it’s one worth hearing.

*Though every effort has been made to clean up distortion, you may hear audio interference due to some disintegration of cassette tapes that are about 25 years old.*

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What did Appalachian English sound like before anyone could hit “record”?

In this episode revisit from Season 1, I’m doing a little linguistic time travel using letters instead of audio. I take a close look at two personal letters written nearly a century apart:
• one from 1862, during the Civil War, and
• one from 1954, written by a woman in Lee County, Virginia

On the surface, they’re just everyday letters. But read closely, they’re packed with clues about how people actually spoke.

We're using a method called content analysis, which is a fancy name for paying very close attention to spelling, grammar, and word choice. Before audio recording, and before widespread formal schooling, many people wrote the way they talked. That means these letters preserve dialect features we’d otherwise never hear.

So, what sticks around? What changes? And what can a pair of ordinary letters tell us about Appalachian speech across nearly 100 years?

In this episode, we’ll talk about:

• How linguists study speech from the past without recordings
• Why “nonstandard” spelling is actually a goldmine
• Appalachian dialect features that show up again and again
• What language continuity tells us about place, community, and identity

Voice work: Brock Davidson (Civil War Soldier) and Addison Hutchison (Lee County woman)

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this edited episode revisit,  we talk about Old Christmas (or "Little Christmas) that many Appalachians still celebrate on January 6th. We'll also talk about favorite New Year's foods for luck (like Hoppin' John) and how to avoid bad luck (don't do laundry or sweep.) Then we'll talking about the word "untelling," as in "It's untelling what 2026 will bring, but I hope it's all good things!"

Happy Old Christmas and Happy New Year!

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this episode, I'm joined by an Appalachian artist and fourth-year UVA-Wise student Bailey Lantman who shares her journey of discovering the academic study of her regional dialect and heritage. We talk about the importance of preserving Appalachian voices, the influence of family and regional history on her identity, and the experience of embracing her dialect in various settings (including New York Fashion Week.) Bailey reads her published poem 'Bless Your Heart and Other Acts of Rebellion,' which reflects the inherent literary quality of Appalachian speech. The episode concludes with listener stories about their *voiceplaces and the impact of dialect on their lives.

00:00 Introduction and Poetry

01:49 Bailey's Appalachian Heritage

03:59 Academic Journey and Inspirations

07:06 Appalachian Identity in New York

08:24 Voice Place and Code Switching

17:13 Bailey's Poem: Bless Your Heart

27:12 Listener Responses

Share your own voiceplace via audio or email at talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com

*"Voiceplace" is a word created by Kentucky author George Ella Lyon

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

*This episode first aired in 2023*

Bestselling author and Western North Carolinian Ron Rash joins the Talking Appalachian podcast to discuss his latest novel, The Caretaker. Amy explores Rash's extensive body of work, including his contributions to Talking Appalachian (the book), the significance of dialect and voice in his writing, and his fascination with cemeteries and family stories. The conversation delves into the emotional core of Rash's novels, the influence of his Appalachian upbringing, and the profound moments of human connection that shape his storytelling.

00:45 Ron Rash's Contributions and Background

01:28 Discussion on Ron Rash's Works and Achievements

03:12 Ron Rash's New Novel: The Caretaker

05:12 Exploring Themes and Characters in The Caretaker

12:17 The Role of Voice and Dialect in Writing

16:23 The Significance of Work in Fiction

20:58 Excitement for the New Book

21:35 Cemetery Stories and Family Memories

24:17 Gravestones and Their Meanings

26:25 The Corpse Bird and Superstitions

28:40 Writing About Family and Appalachia

29:59 Appalachian Culture and Personal Reflections

32:25 Memories of Tweety Railroad and Family

34:43 Poetry and Personal Loss

38:07 Final Thoughts

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Renowned author of 19 books and former NASA engineer Homer Hickam sits down with me and a few students at UVA's College at Wise to talk about his journey from the coalfields of West Virginia to becoming a celebrated author and esteemed engineer. In this episode, Hickam shares his experiences writing Rocket Boys and other books, the inspiration to write both fiction and nonfiction, and his most memorable projects at NASA.  He also discusses his encounters with industry icons, the challenges and rewards of different genres, and offers practical advice to aspiring writers and engineers. Hickam recalls stories about the making of the ''October Sky'' movie and thoughts on the evolving publishing industry.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

*From the Season 1 Archive*

"Molassey," as that smoky, syrupy mixture is known in central Appalachia, is a dying tradition. Appalachians call the process of making molasses a 'stir-off,' and everybody in the community would come by to help or sit around the boiling pan and talk.

The word 'molasses' becomes 'lasses' or 'molassey' in the local dialect, a vernacular blend resulting from English, German, and Scotch-Irish migrants who flooded the Appalachian mountains in the 18th and 19th centuries.  

Molasses-making was an annual event every October in my family for years, so I'm sharing the process of a molasses 'run' from the podcast archive to talk about why we count it among our favorite memories.

Dialect source: Dictionary of American Regional English

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Jeff Biggers is the author of The United States of Appalachia, In Sardina, Trials of a Scourge, and many more. You've heard me discuss his work on the podcast, particularly in New England, where we visited the grave of Washington Irving, who first proposed that the country's name be changed from "America" to "Appalachia." Biggers' book, published 20 years ago, is a "re-storification" of Appalachia, as he puts it. He seeks to reveal the innovators in music, literature, resistance, and politics who are almost never associated with the region but were born and sometimes shaped here.

In this bonus episode, Jeff met with members of a class I teach at UVA-Wise, where he recounted meeting the great Don West as a 19-year-old hitchhiker. His education about Appalachia began with this meeting, when West started asking a series of questions with "Did you know....?"

Biggers didn't know any of what West told him about Appalachia, but that meeting made him question why he didn't know.

Did you know that Nina Simone, from Appalachian North Carolina, sang "Black is the Color of My True Love's Hair" in New York City? It was a mountain ballad she learned growing up.

Did you know the first woman to win the Nobel prize for literature was born in West Virginia?

Did you know the first abolitionist newspaper was founded in east Tennessee, where Rosa Parks trained in nonviolent protest four months before she refused to give up her seat on that bus?

Biggers discusses how his journey took him from Appalachia and across the world, most notably to Italy where he saw familiar themes in the way people from particular areas were perceived. The loss of his family's farm brought him back to Appalachia for a reckoning with what happens when land that is generations-old is erased.

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What does it mean to “tell the bees”? In this episode, we explore a centuries-old European custom carried into Appalachia by Scots-Irish, English, Welsh, and German settlers. Families once whispered news of births, marriages, and deaths to their hives, sometimes draping them in black cloth or feeding them bits of funeral cake.

Through oral histories and folklore, we trace how "telling the bees" became part of Appalachian death lore and what it reveals about a worldview where nature and humanity were kin. Finally, I'll share a poem by Jane Hicks inspired by this tradition.

Sources: John Greenleaf Whittier, “Telling the Bees” (1858); Leonard Roberts, South from Hell-fer-Sartin (1955); Richard Chase, The Jack Tales (1943); Loyal Jones, Appalachian Values (1995) 

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

If you're following Appalachian digital creators on social media, you've probably come across Appalachian_Bluebird, a vlog created by Southwest Virginia's Brittany Breeding. Inspired by her grandparents and upbringing in Meadowview, Virginia, Brittany shares what she learned from them, including features of her Appalachian dialect, folklore, the histories of old homes in the region, food culture, and funeral rituals. Her videos paired with research and a soothing voice have grown a following of close to 100k viewers who want to hear more about the place she calls home. We'll talk about Appalachia in the digital space, the book (and newspaper column) she's writing, and what we want our kids to remember about their homeplace. You'll also hear interludes of Brittany's content from @appalachian_bluebird.

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

*This is an edited repost of an August 29, 2024 episode*

The word “redneck” might have different connotations today, but its roots tell a very different story. In this episode, we trace the surprising history of the word, from its early association with solidarity among coal miners in the hills of Appalachia to its lasting mark on the American labor movement.

We journey to 1921 and the Battle of Blair Mountain, the largest armed labor uprising in U.S. history, when thousands of miners tied red bandanas around their necks and marched for fair wages, safe working conditions, and dignity on the job. Their fight became a defining chapter in the struggle between working people and corporate power.

Along the way, we hear rare 1974 interviews (courtesy of Appalshop Archive) with two coal miners-Hobart Grills and John Tiller- who remember the stories passed down to them about the danger, the bravery, and the price of standing up against the coal companies.

Included in this episode: a discussion of the word "hillbilly" and what that means to me.

 If you think you know what a redneck or hillbilly is, this episode may change your mind. 

Music: "Roots" by Andy Bracken

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Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

 From mountain mists to coastal marshes, the American South is rich with stories that blur the line between weather, superstition, and the supernatural. In this episode, we explore the colorful world of Appalachian weather lore: old sayings and signs used to predict snow long before the weatherman came on the radio.

We’ll step onto haint blue porches in the Low Country, uncovering the Gullah-Geechee traditions behind this sky and water-blue paint that’s said to ward off restless spirits. Then, as night falls, we join a ghost walk in Charleston, South Carolina, where history and haunting intertwine in moonlit streets lined with live oaks. Finally, we end our low country journey at a most unusual grave.

I'm also talking about the r-deletion pattern in our Appalachian accents...one that came across the water from Ulster.

If you love folklore, dialect quirks, and tales that travel from the mountains to the marshes, this episode will have you listening with the lights on.

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*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

*This updated episode first aired on July 3, 2024*

Dog Days are upon us in Appalachia, stretching from July 3rd to August 11, but what does this 16th century phrase mean? Many of us in Appalachia have heard that dog days means avoiding swimming, touching bare feet to the morning dew, and taking care to avoid snakes. But why?

 Joining me in this episode is Shallon Payne of The Appalachian Homestead. For generations, her family has learned and passed on the  "old ways" of cultivating, foraging, hunting, and preserving their food. We'll talk about planting by the signs as well as some Dog Days folklore (and chilling superstitions), and what a dry or wet July can mean for the rest of the season.  

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

A coal miner's daughter, granddaughter, and great-granddaughter from Eastern Kentucky, Tiffany Williams followed her dreams of singing and songwriting to Nashville. I knew her first as a writer and linguist, specializing in Appalachian dialects, a background that she continues to use in her work as a dialect coach for films set in the region. We'll talk about the intersections between her love of linguistics and music, and you'll hear interludes of one of Tiffany's beautiful songs, "When You Go."

You can find Tiffany's music and merchandise here

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Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

*This episode originally aired August 1, 2024*

Barbara Kingsolver's novel just keeps on giving: this month she opened the Higher Ground Women's Recovery Residence in my home county of Lee (VA) because, as she says in this episode, what Demon needed most was his mother. In this episode, the eastern Kentucky native gives her last talk on her novel, Demon Copperhead on the campus of The University of Virginia's College at Wise  following our discussion in Part I. She reads from the opening scene of the novel; talks about the places that inspired her in Lee County, Virginia (my home county and the setting for the book); expands on her extensive research process and how she found Demon's voice; and discusses the the recovery center she promised would be opening (and it did). Later, she talks about her writing process, what she's reading now, and what it was like to find out she had won the Pulitzer Prize.

Enjoy "The Waiting" by Tiffany Williams (https://tiffanymwilliams.com/about/)  in this episode, and stream more of her music on Spotify.

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*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

The Ballad of Falling Rock is one of the best novels I've read this year, so I was fortunate to be able to interview its author, Jordan Dotson. Listen in as we talk about his inspiration for the novel (which began with a snow day and no electricity) and the family stories that helped form the historical context for the novel. From the real tuberculosis sanatorium in Roanoke to the churches of the fictional town called Trinity, we'll explore the musical story that begins with Saul Crabtree and extends through the haunted generations who follow.

Get your copy of the novel and learn more about Jordan at Home - Jordan Dotson

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

This week, I'm collaborating with another podcaster, Kendra Winchester, from Appalachian Ohio. She hosts and produces the award-winning Read Appalachia podcast. Naturally, we're talking about books and authors, but also the way language shaped us, and how we grew into an understanding of what it means to be Appalachian.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Landon Bryant, author of Bless Your Heart: A Field Guide to All Things Southern and social media sensation @landontalks, launches Season 3 of the podcast. We'll talk about everything from hollers to waspers, Dolly and Loretta, cornbread and poke cakes, the overlap between deep South and Appalachian culture, literature and lore, and what being Southern means to us. 

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Southern accents are in the news again (but they've really never left our hearts and minds). Maybe it was Parker Posey's White Lotus character from North Carolina, who stole hearts with her syrupy vowels that created the latest buzz. But the conversation always leads to: are Southern accents fading?

The short answer is, it's more complicated than a yes or no, but I'm tackling that question about Southern and Appalachian accents (as well as the overlap in Southern Appalachian) in this episode.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this episode, we head back to May 2, 1929, when a deadly tornado tore through the small mountain community of Rye Cove, Virginia, claiming the lives of 12 schoolchildren and one teacher and leaving lasting scars on the region.

We explore:

• What happened that spring afternoon in Rye Cove and the impact on the community.
• How the tragedy inspired a haunting ballad by the Carter Family, written by A.P. Carter who witnessed the storm and its aftermath.
• A little-known legal battle that followed: a surprising lawsuit settled in 1931 that raised questions about school safety, weather preparedness, and district accountability.

From the winds of tragedy to the echoes in old-time music and the courtroom, this episode weaves together history, culture, and Appalachian resilience.

To see photos of the storm's aftermath and hear a full account of the tornado from one of the schoolchildren subscribe to Talking Appalachian on Patreon

🎶 Featuring clips from "The Cyclone of Rye Cove" by the Carter Family.

📚 For more on the history of Rye Cove and its legacy, see my full interview on YouTube with WCYB's Kristen Quon

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Outlander fans will enjoy this episode, where we trace the winding trail of language from the misty Highlands of Scotland to the shaded hollers of Appalachia. Along the way, we unpack double modals like “might could,” trace the evolution of the word highlander and outlander, and reflect on how language becomes a legacy you carry in your mouth. Hear about the real-life Scottish festival held in July, called the Grandfather Mountain Highland Games, which was featured in season 4 of Outlander.

Plus, if you're a fan of traditional Appalachian music, I've got a road trip for you that you won't want to miss.

Music featured in this episode:

Master of the Feast by Kevin MacLeod is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 license. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Have you ever tried text to speech with your accent, only to find your message garbled? In this episode of The Talking Appalachian Podcast, we'll explore speech technology and how AI interacts (and doesn't) with the unique accents found across America, including those in Appalachia. We discuss the 30 most misunderstood American accents by AI, trace the timeline of how AI speech recognition has developed, and uncover the struggles faced by speakers with regional accents. Finally, we spotlight the efforts researchers are making to train AI to better recognize and understand these accents that don’t always conform to “standard” English, and why it matters.

To register for the Appalachian Writing Project's institute for educators on Harnessing the Power of AI, follow this link

Research for this show: Which Accents Does AI Find Hardest to Understand? [Survey]

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Jeannette Walls is hailed as one of the world's most gifted storytellers, and she's been sharing her remarkable story of resilience and redemption with audience since her memoir, The Glass Castle, was published in 2005. The book chronicles her dysfunctional and nomadic upbringing, part of which took place in Welch, West Virginia. It was a NYT bestseller for over eight years. In 2017, the Glass Castle was made into a movie starring Brie Larson, Woody Harrelson, and Naomi Watts.

Listen as we talk about this incredible story with parents who, despite their flaws, taught Walls and her siblings to embrace life fearlessly. She offers a unique perspective on overcoming unimaginable obstacles, confronting challenges, and pursuing a life of authenticity.

Thank you to Andy Bracken for his song "On Diamond Creek."

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In episode 50, we will talk about the word "Melungeon," its multiple meanings, and the history of a mysterious Appalachian people known as the "lost tribe" (who claim Elvis and Abraham Lincoln among their members.) Appalachian historian Dr. Brian McKnight joins me as we dive into a dark part of Virginia's history, the 1924 Racial Integrity Act and Walter Plecker's policies, and what that meant for Melungeon people. We'll also explore what the latest DNA studies say about their ancestral background, and learn about one of the most storied Melungeons, moonshiner Mahalia "Big Haley" Mullins.

Research for this episode comes from:

New DNA study on Melungeons attempts to separate truth from fiction

Melungeon Heritage Association | Document. Preserve. Sustain

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Listen to find out what word people are replacing with the euphemism "dadgum." Then, author and Kentucky Poet Laureate Silas House reads from his essay "In My Own Country," about how his parents learned to defeat those who were making fun of their accents....one word at a time.

Listen to holocaust survivor Yvette Purdue's story of escaping the nazis to find refuge in the Appalachian mountains, now on Patreon. (If you don't want to subscribe, you can purchase it for a one-time donation to her favorite charity.)

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

You know the phrases "How do you like them apples?" and "Them's fightin' words!" We'll talk about the Scotch-Irish roots of them for these and those. Then, I'll tell you three of the top reasons why Appalachian speakers won't give up their dialects despite the risk of stigma. Then listen to an excerpt from the essay "Southern Exposure" by the wonderful Appalachian author Lee Smith, as she describes how she came to own her voice as a writer and explains why her accent is a means of power.

Sources: The Yale Grammatical Diversity Project and Dictionary of American Regional English

Barbara Kingsolver announced the opening of Higher Ground Women's Recovery Residence in Lee County Virginia, this week (my native county.) She calls it "the house that Demon built." 

Help HGWRR by making monetary donations through their secure link or by mailing a check to their Post Office Box 3, Pennington Gap, VA 24277. All donations are tax deductible. Another way to help is by purchasing from their Amazon Wish List, as items can be sent directly to the residence at shipping address: 10 Spring St., Big Stone Gap VA, 24219. Additionally, consider giving the gift of self. The women of Higher Ground need volunteers to help integrate them into their new community.

To learn more, go to www.hgwrr.org and find out how you can help families.

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

"Here's you a piece of pizza. Where's me some silverware? There's us a table." We'll talk about this common grammar pattern and where it's spoken. Then, we'll switch to the word "wool," a word used as a verb in vernacular southern Englishes since the 19th century, as in, "The little boy is wooling that kitten."

Research for this episode comes from the Yale Grammatical Diversity Project and Dictionary of American Regional English.

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Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Listen to more of the best clips from 2024's podcast episode, including:

• Jack Beck talking about the influence of Scots Gaelic;
• Jane Hicks reading from her book of poetry, The Safety of Small Things;
• The origins of the word "redneck,";
• A conversation with Hillbilly documentary director Ashley York;
• Adriana Trigiani on what it means to be Appalachian;
• Appalshop and 50 years of storytelling about the region;
• A conversation with the editors of Appalachian Reckoning and what it means to keep our authentic voices;
• Mourning and death rituals with Burke Greear;
• "Needs washed" and "directly";
• Washington Irving's connection to Appalachia, and a mailbox by the sea;
• the tradition of the "Christmas poke" in Appalachia

Music courtesy of: Tiffany Williams, Jack Beck, Andy Bracken, and Appalshop archives

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*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

This episode includes highlights from some of the best episodes of 2024, which include:

• my interview with Pulitzer-winning reporter and memoirist Rick Bragg;
• a study of two letters written a century apart and their dialect similarities;
• what I learned about an ancient Pictish language during a visit to Ireland;
• my interview with co-researcher Will Isom and the story of a mysterious burial ground;
• the fight to save the Cherokee language from extinction
• and the one and only Barbara Kingsolver, author of the Pulitzer-winning book Demon Copperhead.

I hope you enjoy Part I of 2024's highlights!

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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

We're exploring some Appalachian Christmas traditions in this episode from The Christmas poke, or treat bag, to the term "Hard Candy Christmas," made popular in a Dolly Parton song. We'll also talk about Old Christmas, its origins, and why people still recognize January 6th as the one true Christmas Day.

Support the show

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*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this places and spaces episode that starts in the northern reaches of the Appalachian plateau, we travel from quaint Sleepy Hollow, New York to the serene sands of Sunset Beach, North Carolina, uncovering stories of history, literature, and connection (in a special little mailbox) along the way.

This adventure begins in the Hudson Valley, where we explore the legacy of Washington Irving, the author behind The Legend of Sleepy Hollow. From the Old Dutch Church to the unmarked grave of the mysterious Hulda of Bohemia, we delve into the folklore that inspired one of America's most enduring ghost stories. 

Next, we travel to Connecticut, where we uncover fascinating facts about Mark Twain at his Victorian mansion in Hartford. The home where Twain wrote The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn offers a glimpse into his creative genius, as well as the personal struggles that shaped his work.

Finally, we head south to the peaceful shores of Sunset Beach, where we discover the Kindred Spirit Mailbox. Nestled in the dunes, this unassuming mailbox has served as a place of solace for visitors for over 45 years. Join us as we reflect on the power of words and the beauty of a simple mailbox that connects strangers through shared stories. Listen in as I talk with one of the mailbox Keepers.

Whether you're a fan of ghost stories, literary history, or heartfelt reflections, this episode has something for you. Tune in for a journey of connection, inspiration, and the spirit of Appalachia.

Links:

• Visit the Kindred Spirit Mailbox at Sunset Beach
• Learn more about Washington Irving and Sleepy Hollow
• Explore the Mark Twain House in Hartford, Connecticut

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*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

This episode is about a word and a phrase that are still commonly used in the Appalachian region. First, I'll offer a little refresher on what makes up a dialect and how these words fit in. We'll talk about "directly" as in "I'll be there directly" and the phrase needs + a participle (like washed.) Who uses them and where? What's the history behind them? And how should teachers treat words and phrases like this if they appear in their students' writing?

Sources for this episode: The Yale Grammatical Diversity Project, the Dictionary of American Regional English, and Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community (Eds. Clark and Hayward, 2014).

Support the show

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*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
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*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this "Places and Spaces" episode, we'll mark the October anniversary of Edgar Allen Poe's mysterious death with a visit to Poe's house in Baltimore and the cemetery where he is buried. 
Then, listen to a haunting reading of "The Raven" (with audio by Brock Davidson.)

Special thanks to Brock Davidson for lending his voice to The Raven. Contact: gbdavidson7@icloud.com.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

 In this chilling episode (just in time for spooky week), SWVA Museum Education Specialist Burke Greear joins me to talk about pre-funeral industry Appalachian customs and superstitions surrounding premonitions, death and burial. We'll explore the roots of terms like "death watch," "sitting up with the dead," "pallbearer," "kick the bucket," "living room" and "funeral parlor." Later, we'll talk about memorialization in death photography, memory pieces made of the hair of the deceased, and gravestones. We'll cover the do's and don'ts of death lore involving entering and exiting a house, covering mirrors, stopping clocks, and heeding the warning of a bird flying into the house (many people still live by these). And there's more: I'll share with you an excerpt of my favorite short story, "The Corpse Bird" by Ron Rash (set on Halloween). Trust me, if you've never read it, you'll want to after hearing the first part!

Special thanks to Burke Greear and the Southwest Virginia Museum and Historical State Park for the research and interview material.
"Corpse Bird" excerpt is from the short story collection Burning Bright by Ron Rash

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

The co-editors of Appalachian Reckoning: a Region Responds to Hillbilly Elegy  and the author of Hillbilly: a Cultural History of an American Icon  join me to talk about the region's literary response to J.D. Vance's book, the layered meanings of "hillbilly," and why reclaiming accent matters to so many of us. We'll also talk about Hurricane Helene and its impact (not just economic, but psychological) on the region.

Support the show

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*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Appalshop was founded in eastern Kentucky in 1969, providing "space for Appalachians to tell their own stories in their own words." Its founding followed the War on Poverty, when Appalachia was put on display for the rest of the world in a way that cemented stereotypical thinking about the region. Since then, it has grown to include not only filmmaking but oral history projects, a radio station, a record label, a reading series, theatre programs, and a priceless archive of film, photography, and artifacts.

I'm talking with Communications Director Rachel Rosolina and Visual Communications Manager Aaron Asbury about Appalshop's role in giving Appalachians a voice to tell their own stories, recovery and mediating archives since the flood of 2022, and who can benefit from their resources and programs.

Check out their web site here: Appalshop
Appalshop's Archives: Appalshop Archive
Featured music: "Lonesome Pine" from the album Fields Where We Once Played by The Payroll Boys (1983) courtesy of Appalshop and June Appal Recordings

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Adri and I sit down at the Library of Virginia to catch up and talk about writing, The Origin Project, her podcast (You Are What You Read), and ten years since the release of her hometown movie Big Stone Gap.

Beloved by millions of readers around the world for her “dazzling” novels, (USA Today) Adriana Trigiani is The New York Times bestselling author of twenty books in fiction and nonfiction (she just finished her 21st manuscript). She has been published in 38 countries around the world. The New York Times calls her “a comedy writer with a heart of gold,” her books “tiramisu for the soul.” She wrote the blockbuster The Shoemaker’s Wife, the Big Stone Gap series, the Valentine trilogy and Lucia, Lucia. Trigiani’s themes of love and work, emphasis upon craftsmanship and family life have brought her legions of fans around the world. Their devotion has made Adriana one of “the reigning queens of women’s fiction” (USA Today).

Adriana is host of the hit podcast, You Are What You Read, sponsored by Book of the Month. Adriana interviews the luminaries of our time about the books that built their souls. Episodes feature Sarah Jessica Parker, Kristin Hannah, David Baldacci, Whoopi Goldberg, Rainn Wilson, Amor Towles, Fannie Flagg, Katie Couric, Mitch Albom, Jhumpa Lahiri, Craig Ferguson and many more.

In 2013, Adriana co-founded The Origin Project with the late Nancy Bolmeier Fisher, who served as Executive Director of the program for over a decade. The Origin Project is an in-school writing program that brings professional authors into the classroom to work with students on their creative writing skills – specifically, stories inspired by their own family history. The project culminates with a published anthology of student work at the end of the school year. Since The Origin Project’s launch in 2013, the program has expanded to include many more schools, now serving over 1,700 students grades 2-12 in the Appalachian mountains of Virginia.

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Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Poet Jane Hicks is the author of three award-winning poetry collections: Blood and Bone Remember, Driving with the Dead, and recently, The Safety of Small Things (University Press of Kentucky/Fireside Imprint). She also wrote the essay "A Matter of Perception" for Talking Appalachian (the book.) In our conversation, we talk about our speech patterns as a "political choice" (of course), the healing inspiration for her latest collection, and why we look for glimmers (the opposite of triggers) in the darkest days.

You can contact Jane for workshops and readings via email: jane.cosmicpossum.hicks@gmail.com

Opening poem: "Longing" by Jane Hicks from The Safety of Small Things
Music: "When You Go" written and performed by Tiffany Williams

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this episode, I explore the word "hillbilly" with native Kentuckian and documentary filmmaker Ashley York, who co-directed the award-winning film by the same name in 2018. I talk about the history of the word first, and then Ashley and I discuss what it was like to return to central Appalachia  to interview family, friends, and "heroes" as she unpacked this complicated word against the backdrop of the 2016 election. We also talk about her interview and friendship with Billy Redden, who played the banjo-pickin' boy in the 1972 film Deliverance. We discuss what "Hillbilly" means in a new election season, and her plans for a follow-up film.

Watch the Hillbilly documentary here on Vimeo for just 2.99 and support the creators

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Redneck. Hillbilly. White Trash. These are some of the class-based words used to describe people of Appalachia. But did you know that redneck, in particular, has a very special meaning associated with red bandanas worn in solidarity by striking coal miners? Included is an excerpted interview from 1974 with coal miners Herbert Grills and John Tiller, who talk about the "gun thugs" that terrorized miners, and their decades long battles for the union.
Then we'll go back in time to the 1500's when historian Nancy Isenberg, in her book White Trash, talks about the first origins of these words and how they became nicknames for the "expendable" working class, tracking the evolution of these words to modern times, as people begin to embrace them.

Thanks to western North Carolina's Andy Bracken for his song "Roots" from his album Fading Appalachia on Spotify.

Thanks to Appalshop and Appalshop Archive for the 1974 interview

Information cited from Nancy Isenberg's book White Trash: The 400-Year Untold History of Class in America and Storming Heaven by Denise Giardina

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Musician and storyteller Jack Beck, a native of Dunfermline, Scotland, joins me in this episode to talk about his homeland's cultural connection to the Appalachian region. He'll tell us about: how Scots-English came to be part of the Appalachian dialect (in our surnames, occupational names, and place names, for example); how he was discouraged from speaking Scots in school; the coal mining areas of Scotland, and more.

Music: Fordell Ball performed by Jack Beck, a song about a long-gone coal camp near Beck's hometown in West Fife.
Recommended reading: Wayfaring Strangers by Doug Orr and Fiona Ritchie (Jack was a consultant for this book)

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this continuation of the Barbara Kingsolver episodes, the eastern Kentucky native gives her last talk on her novel, Demon Copperhead on the campus of The University of Virginia's College at Wise, following our discussion in Part I. She reads from the opening scene of the novel; talks about the places that inspired her in Lee County, Virginia (my home county and the setting for the book); expands on her extensive research process and how she found Demon's voice; and discusses the nonprofit she's co-founding in Lee County for women in recovery. Later, she talks about her writing process, what she's reading now, and what it was like to find out she had won the Pulitzer Prize.

Enjoy "The Waiting" by Tiffany Williams in this episode, and stream more of her music on Spotify.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this first of two episodes with the author of Demon Copperhead, Barbara Kingsolver says she is "bringing Demon home" in her last talk about the novel. She discusses her love of her Appalachian language, how the novel began at the desk of Charles Dickens, and her research into foster care, football, and addiction. (Recorded in Wise County, Virginia at UVa's College at Wise in April, 2024.)

This episode features music by Nashville artist and Kentucky native Tiffany Williams. "All Those Days of Drinking Dust," written and performed by Tiffany Williams from the album All Those Days of Drinking Dust (2022). You can find more of her albums at the links here and on streaming services like Spotify.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Join us as we spend a weekend at beautiful Mountain Lake Lodge in this Appalachian Places and Spaces episode. Hear about the history of the lodge, dating back to the 1700's, and why the property was once known as "Salt Pond." We'll fast forward to the 1980's to find out how directors of the classic Dirty Dancing movie discovered Mountain Lake Lodge, and some behind-the-scenes tidbits about the movie (and the expected filming of Jennifer Grey's Dirty Dancing II.) I'll talk with VP of Sales Lyndsi Hale about how the lodge embraces its Dirty Dancing connections, and you'll hear everything you need to know about the first Dirty Dancing Summer Festival August 16-17th. 

• For video and photos of our weekend at the lodge, subscribe on YouTube and follow Talking Appalachian on social.
• For bonus content (ghostly happenings and ten facts about the filming of the movie, subscribe on Talking Appalachian or Patreon.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Dog Days has begun, and I'm exploring the origins of this 16th century phrase. Did you know the season from July 3rd to August 11 coincides with Sirius, or Canis Major (in the shape of a dog) of the Orion Constellation?  Joining me in this episode is Shallon Payne of The Appalachian Homestead, whose family-for generations-has learned and passed on the "old ways" of cultivating, foraging, hunting, and preserving their own food. We'll talk about planting by the signs as well as some Dog Days folklore (and chilling superstitions), and what a dry or wet July 3rd can mean for the rest of the season. 

Also, join in me in Knoxville, Tennessee, a beautiful southern Appalachian city. Go Vols!

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Prayer cloths are symbols of a deep and widespread faith that has been in Appalachia since its settlement. From simple squares to quilts to shawls, prayers are embedded in the fibers, along with a promise that faith has healing power. Learn about the practice of prayer cloths, the verses that may inspire them, and what they mean for the giver and recipient.

Also in this episode: the little town of Appalachia and its two world records.

The episode on the Science of Prayer with Wall Street Journal columnist Elizabeth Bernstein mentioned in this episode can be found here on YouTube

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Those of us who grew up in a "holler" know that they can be deep, dark valleys or winding roads between hills. But did you know holler also refers to yodeling, calling, yelling? And if you've never heard "holler down a rainbarrel" you might be surprised to learn what it means. We'll also explore the Americanism "lightning bug" versus the British "firefly." Finally, hear the delightful poem "Spellcheck" by Kentucky author Anne Shelby, about fighting with technology's determination to standardize our dialects.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

We know modern Appalachia isn't isolated, so why do people keep using that word to describe a region that includes 13 states and 25 million people? This episode is a commentary on the origins of isolation (the word and the concept), how that perception became grounded over the years, why it couldn't be more untrue, and how words can have the power to change the resources allocated to Appalachian parts of our states.

Then, I'll tell you about one of my favorite historic places to stay, just along the Appalachian corridor.

Sources: ARC.gov, National Geographic, Blackburn Inn and Conference Center
Documentary mentioned in the episode: The Teacher Exodus

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Early authors used "eye dialect," or a deliberate misspelling of words that doesn't change how they sound (like "tu" for "to" or "uv" for "of.") This literary practice, based on the authors' observations of what they heard people say, was to make their Appalachian characters seem foolish or uneducated. This use of eye dialect carried forward into comic characters like Snuffy Smith.
The late Dr. Michael Montgomery's research provided valuable-and more legitimate- groundwork for those of us studying dialect today, as documented in his essay "The Englishes of Appalachia" in Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community. He isolates several words and phrases used in early letters that give us insight into how 1700's settlers of central Appalachia would have sounded, and the English, Scots, and Ulster roots that defined them.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

A Cherokee language revival is underway, thanks to the efforts of the Cherokee Nation and their communities in Oklahoma and western North Carolina. The story of Cherokee language history and the work to create Cherokee language schools and immersion communities are told in the award-winning documentary, We Will Speak. I'm talking with one of the directors and Blurry Pictures co-founder, Michael McDermit, about the making of this documentary and what it meant to collaborate with Native speakers and teachers to tell this story. Then, we'll pivot to another project of McDermit's called Strange Devotion, a book of photography and creative prose that tells a different story of resilience in Appalachia's rustbelt.

Audio clips from We Will Speak were included with permission from Michael McDermit
More about Cherokee language schools: Cherokee Nation Education Services
More about McDermit's projects and Blurry Pictures (to purchase a video or educational license:Blurry Pictures (blurry-pictures.com)

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

How do ghosts speak through their artifacts? As we continue the story of the burial ground in the woods, I'm joined by Dr. Angela Washington, my co-researcher and family. We talk about the chilling death portrait that proved to be our starting point, the coverlet supposedly woven by enslaved women linking the land to the folklore, and the surprising things you find when you search old barns. We're talking to ghosts in this episode, so join us as we talk about the kind of genealogical research that rewrites the family narrative. For photos of the artifacts we discuss in the podcast, subscribe to our You Tube channel and check out the community tab or here on our Patreon page, where a paid subscription will give you access to the full story of the burial ground, plus behind the scenes content, early access, and bonus photos/videos.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

What secrets does a 19th century burial ground hold, when the stones have no words or dates, and family folklore says they belonged to enslaved people?  In this episode, I'm joined by William Isom II of Black in Appalachia, my co-researcher on this burial ground project for the past ten years. For almost two centuries, gravestones with no inscriptions have huddled in the woods on my family's land, covered in graveyard ivy. From a death portrait to a woven coverlet to ground penetrating radar that revealed the remains, we slowly pieced together their story as we asked the questions: Who were they? Is the family story true?  And listen as Will narrates an  incredible discovery.

Join us on Patreon for the full account, an essay narrated by Amy. Previously titled "The Rocks," it garnered honorable mention in 2016's Best American Essays, edited by Jonathon Franzen and won the 2014 Lamar York Prize for Nonfiction.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Join us in beautiful Ireland where we learn about a town with two names (Londonderry/Derry), an Irishman's take on "hillbilly," familiar words and pronunciations, and a primitive alphabet inspired by trees.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

The sisters remembered her "witchy" looking dolls, but they were forever haunted by that one day when the woodcarver's knife nearly took their mother's life.

In this episode, I retell a chilling story told to me by my great-grandmother and her sisters...one that has given me nightmares. But it's also a story about mental illness, and family, and how we reconsider stories passed down through time from 21st century perspectives. Later in the episode, I'm joined by my cousin, Dr. Angela Washington, as we examine this horror story once passed among the grandchildren,  and consider what really might have happened and why. 

For a photo of the woodcarver, subscribe to our Patreon community or join us over on our YouTube channel.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Listen to the voice of John Gregory, a Civil War infantryman writing home from a cold, February campsite in 1862, a year before he would die at Gettysburg. Then, listen to the voice of Cordia Nichols, a woman diagnosed with tuberculosis in 1959 and recovering in the Catawba Sanitorium. John's letter allows us to study his dialect before audio-recording was invented, and Cordia's letter helps us to see (and hear) patterns that were still being spoken almost 100 years later in Virginia. This is just one example of what old documents like letters, journals, recipes, and more can teach us about voice through content analysis.

Thank to Brock Davidson (gbdavidson7@icloud.com) and Addy Hutchison for lending their voices to these letters.
Gregory's letter comes from the Corpus of Civil War Letters
Cordia's letter was found in an old sewing machine given to me.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

If you've ever found yourself in the position of having to defend your accent or dialect, or if you're an educator who wants to support your students' home voices but you're not sure whether you can do that while teaching standard English, this one is for you. We'll cover three (among many) justifications for Appalachian home voices (as well as others.)
1. It's a legitimate way of speaking a language, and that is backed by research.
2. It can co-exist alongside standard English.
3. Stigma and stereotype fill the void when people do not know the histories or reasons for accent (and dialect in general.)

We'll also cover "sworp" and "watch for deer."

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In Part II of my conversation with one of my favorite writers, Pulitzer-winning southern writer and journalist Rick Bragg, he talks about some of the news stories that haunt him. He also gives both teachers and students his best advice for becoming a journalist or novelist...what to do and definitely what not to do.

Rick Bragg is the author of memoirs like Ava's Man, All Over But the Shoutin' , The Best Cook in the World, and The Speckled Pup  that draw on his rural Alabama upbringing and his blue-collar family.  He won a Pulitzer prize in journalism for his work at The New York Times, and now teaches writing at The University of Alabama. He writes monthly columns for Southern Living and Garden and Gun.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Author Rick Bragg is a true storyteller. Though his work as a Pulitzer-winning journalist at the New York Times took him all over the world, the Alabama native came back home in his memoir writing. His books such as Ava's Man (my favorite), All Over But the Shoutin' (another favorite) The Best Cook in the World (well, they're all my favorites), and the Prince of Frogtown  take you to sharecropping fields, dusty country roads, hot, flavor-filled kitchens, and the cool banks of a river as we get to know his family and the grandfather he never met, but whose shadow looms large. He has even written about his dog in The Speckled Beauty. He has several collections of works, and is a regular contributor to Garden and Gun. Listen to the end of this episode to learn the word "whomp-sided." 
This interview took place in front of a live audience at UVA's College at Wise in 2018, and is re-broadcast with Mr. Bragg's permission. This is Part I of a two-part episode.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

It's "untelling" what 2024 will bring, but in this episode we'll talk about why you should eat black- eyed peas on New Year's Eve, why you shouldn't do housework on New Year's Day, and why some people refuse to take down their trees until Old Christmas on January 6th. We'll also explore the word "untelling," our first word in 2024.
Have a Happy New Year!

To purchase a 2024 Talking Appalachian Desk Calendar, click here



Research: WV Public Broadcasting, Dictionary of American Regional English, Southern Living website, "Old Christmas" fiddle tune (1937) by Asher Boyd, American Folklife Center

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In this episode, I research the history of "Fixin' to" (as in "I'm fixin' to put up the holiday decorations.) Add the very old (middle English) dialect feature "a-prefix" and you've got "I'm a-fixin' to put up the holiday decorations.) Then, I'll tell you about the link between our dialect and "The Twelve Days of Christmas" song (bet you didn't know you're Talking Appalachian when you sing it). Finally, listen for an excerpt from Knott County, KY native Verna Mae Slone's book How We Talked, a book she published later in her life that preserves so much of her eastern KY dialect.

Sources in this episode:
Yale Grammatical Diversity Project (online)
American English by Walt Wolfram and Natalie Schilling-Estes
How We Talked by Verna Mae Slone
Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community, Eds. Amy Clark and Nancy Hayward

Support the show

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Part II begins with a story about how Napoleon Hill's influence reached all the way to the Kennedy White House. Then, Executive Director of the Napoleon Hill Foundation and bestselling author, Don Green, continues our interview with what he knows about the four uses of money from years of experience, lots of books, and discussions with some of the world's most successful people, who credit Napoleon Hill for their achievements. Mr. Green shares the reasons why most people never move out of the survive mentality and what everyone should consider in order to thrive.

Get a bonus episode and more when you subscribe to our Patreon community.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Long before Napoleon Hill, author of Think and Grow Rich, became a global bestselling author, he was a poor boy from Pound, VA in the mountains of Wise County, running through the woods with a rifle, stirring up trouble. His stepmother bought him a typewriter and the rest is history. His groundbreaking book Think and Grow Rich has sold millions of copies, and is still cited by some of the world's wealthiest businesspeople, U.S. presidents, and celebrities as the inspiration for their journeys. In Part I of this episode series, I'm talking with Don Green (also from Wise County), who is Executive Director of the Napoleon Hill Foundation and knows the most about Hill's influence, which has remained constant for nearly a century. A success story himself, Don shares what he has learned from Hill's principles of success, which has resulted in several books and invitations worldwide to share his expertise. 

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

It's a 't' where no 't' ought to be....we call it "the intrusive -t" as in once't, across't, and kil't.  In this episode:

• I talk about the Appalachian delicacy of "killed lettuce"
• You'll hear some clips of storyteller Ray Hicks and his use of the intrusive -t and -n
• Listen to a Civil War soldier's accent and how he used the intrusive -t 100 years before Hicks
• I'll tell you about the Dictionary of American Regional English (DARE), a great resource for researching dialects

Ray Hicks audio clips: Alan Lomax Archive and Association for Cultural Equity
Voice of Civil War letter: Bernard Manatu V
Music: Landon Spain

Thanks to our newest Country Roads and Kindred Spirits subscribers: 
HH Reed and The Southern Drifter

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

The Legend of Bouncing Bertha was a story I heard straight from an eyewitness several years before he passed away, but I'd heard about little Bertha my whole life as a ghost tale, told and retold at spooky season. What made this Depression-era Appalachian ghost tale so scary was that by all accounts it was true. Years later, I researched and wrote about her, collecting photos and interviewing her cousin, Ralph, who went to school with Bertha and lived nearby. He recounted seeing the events you'll hear about in this episode....events so ghastly, no other family wanted to talk about them. News of her haunting spread worldwide, making her a child celebrity for a short period of time.  Listen and decide for yourself: hoax or haunted?


Original article published by Amy Clark in Blue Ridge Country Magazine
Photo by: Virgil Wacks courtesy of son Stephen Wacks
Music from Just Off the Wilderness Road

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Bestselling author and western North Carolinian Ron Rash joins me to talk about his latest novel, The Caretaker. We also get into some of his other works, the importance of voice and dialect (he contributed to Part II of the Talking Appalachian book), cemeteries, and family stories.

Welcome new Patreon subscribers: The Southern Drifter-David C., and Allison M.!

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Crystal Wilkinson, author of the forthcoming Praisesong for the Kitchen Ghosts (PenguinRandomhouse) was Kentucky's Poet Laureate from 2021 to 2023. She is the award-winning author of Perfect Black; The Birds of Opulence; Water Street; and Blackberries, Blackberries. Join us as we talk about using authentic voice as a revolutionary act, and why she says she embraces, in her words, "the voice of my people." 

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Appalachians call the process of making molasses a 'stir-off.' The word 'molasses' becomes 'lasses' or 'molassey' in the local dialect, a vernacular blend resulting from English, German, and Scotch-Irish migrants who flooded the Appalachian mountains in the 18th and 19th centuries.  Kentucky writer Jesse Stuart was among the first to put 'molassey' to print in his 1938 memoir Beyond Dark Hills. Whether they are talking about several jars or just a teaspoonful, 'molasses' is referenced by central Appalachians in the plural, a southern grammar pattern recorded as early as 1895, according to the Dictionary of American Regional English.

Molasses-making was an annual event in my family for years, so I'm sharing the process of a molasses 'run' and why we count it among our favorite memories.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In part II and a separate interview, Silas and I discuss the pride and prejudice associated with Appalachian dialects, and he reads from his essay "In My Own Country"  from the book Talking Appalachian.  Teachers, you'll want to hear this one. (You'll never hear the word "oil" the same way again.) We also discuss class prejudice as it pertains to dialect, and the Appa-la-cha/Appal-ay-cha controversy.

We sat down for this interview in April, 2021.

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

In part I of this two-part interview series from August 2023, Silas House joins me on the campus of UVa.'s College at Wise to talk about accent, making art about the complexity of Appalachia, and (ironically, since we're sitting by a pond) how mountain people seem drawn to water.

Silas House is the New York Times bestselling author of seven novels — “Clay's Quilt” (2001), “A Parchment of Leaves” (2003), “The Coal Tattoo” (2005), “Eli the Good” (2009), and “Same Sun Here” (2012, with Neela Vaswani) — including his most recent, “Lark Ascending,” which was a Booklist Editors' Choice and is the winner of the 2023 Southern Book Prize. Four of his plays have been produced. He is also the author of the 2009 book of creative nonfiction “Something's Rising” (with co-author Jason Kyle Howard). In 2022 he was the recipient of the Duggins Prize, the largest award for an LGBTQ writer in the nation. The same year he was named Appalachian of the Year in a nationwide poll. In 2021 House was given the Artist Award as part of the Governor's Awards in the Arts.

His writing has appeared recently in The Washington Post, The Atlantic, Time, Garden & Gun, The New York Times, Oxford American, Ecotone, Tri-Quarterly and many more of the country's leading publications. House is a former commentator for NPR's “All Things Considered” and is the executive producer and one of the subjects of the documentary “Hillbilly,” winner of the LA Film Festival's Documentary Prize and the Foreign Press Association's Media Award; the film ran on Hulu, where it was seen by millions of viewers, and is now available to stream on all platforms. His 2018 novel Southernmost is currently in pre-production as a feature film.

As a music journalist, House has worked with Jason Isbell, Kacey Musgraves, Lucinda Williams, Tyler Childers, S.G. Goodman, Lee Ann Womack, Kris Kristofferson, and many other musicians. He is a member of the Fellowship of Southern Writers, the recipient of three honorary degrees, and has been given such honors as an E.B. White Award, the Storylines Prize from the New York Public Library/NAV Foundation, the Lee Smith Award, the Caritas Medal, the Hobson Medal and many others. In 2015 he was invited to read at the Library of Congress.

House teaches at Berea College, where he is the National Endowment for the Humanities Chair, and at the Naslund-Mann Graduate School of Creative Writing. This year he is serving as one of five judges of the National Book Award in Fiction. A native of eastern Kentucky, he now lives in Lexington.-(Bio from Kentucky Arts Council)

Subscribers to our Patreon page will get a bonus episode with more of the interview with Silas.

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Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

This episode is bound to stir up a hornet's nest, because I'm getting into that controversy over the vowel in the middle of our region's name. But first, some history. How did Appalachia get its name? And why do some people pronounce it differently? I put that question to the Talking Appalachian Facebook community and got an earful, so tune in for what I've concluded after all the dust settled.

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*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

This episode covers the "why" of Appalachian Englishes, and the historical origins of some of its most popular (and really old) features. I also break down some of the myths and truths about Appalachian Englishes, namely the long-held belief that we speak Elizabethan English, and the one place where you might hear traces.

(Audio clip "How Great Thou Art" recorded by Loretta Lynn, courtesy of Library of Congress audio archives)

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Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

Welcome to the first season of the Talking Appalachian podcast, based on the book Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community that I co-edited with Dr. Nancy Hayward. Listen as I share a little bit about how I grew to love my "voiceplace" (as George Ella Lyon calls it.) This season will blend story, interviews, research, and teaching practices for educators at all levels.

Thanks to Brock Davidson for lending his voice in this introductory episode.

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*Subscribe to support the podcast on the Facebook Talking Appalachian page, or here at our Patreon page to get bonus content:
Talking Appalachian Podcast | Covering the Appalachian Region from North to South | Patreon
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: talkingappalachianpodcast@gmail.com or message me at the link here or on social.

Unless another artist is featured, acoustic music on most episodes: "Freight Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain