In this edition of Mountain Talk: he may be retiring, but he’s still fired up— we start our show with a lively, feisty speech from longtime UMWA President Cecil Roberts, who stepped into that role back in 1995, and just retired last month, after 30 years. In this talk, which he gave this summer at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, Roberts, a WV native, reflects on the long and rich history of coal union organizing in Appalachia—including how his own great-grandparents were evicted from their Fayette County home, back in 1902, by a coal company, because they’d been suspected of supporting the union—and why he thinks, given the state of the country and the economy, the union is as important now as it’s ever been. Our thanks to the folks at the WV Mine Wars Museum for sharing the audio of this speech with us.
Then: November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and, sadly, eastern Kentucky has higher rates of type 2 diabetes than both the state and national averages. But even if it runs in your family, diabetes *can* be managed, or even prevented in the first place. And for the second half of our show this week, as part of our ongoing series Prevent Diabetes EKY, we sit down with Allie Vogel, director of the Letcher County Public Library, to hear about both her challenges and her successes in her diabetes journey— including how she cut her A1C level plum in half. And as a quick PS, for more stories like this, of preventing and managing type 2 diabetes in eastern Kentucky, check out our project website: www.preventdiabeteseky.org.
(Music this week is by J.P. & Annadeene Fraley, from the June Appal Records release “Galleynipper,” and by Don Bikoff, from the Free Music Archive.)
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In this edition of Mountain Talk: he may be retiring, but he’s still fired up— we start our show with a lively, feisty speech from longtime UMWA President Cecil Roberts, who stepped into that role back in 1995, and just retired last month, after 30 years. In this talk, which he gave this summer at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, Roberts, a WV native, reflects on the long and rich history of coal union organizing in Appalachia—including how his own great-grandparents were evicted from their Fayette County home, back in 1902, by a coal company, because they’d been suspected of supporting the union—and why he thinks, given the state of the country and the economy, the union is as important now as it’s ever been. Our thanks to the folks at the WV Mine Wars Museum for sharing the audio of this speech with us.
Then: November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and, sadly, eastern Kentucky has higher rates of type 2 diabetes than both the state and national averages. But even if it runs in your family, diabetes *can* be managed, or even prevented in the first place. And for the second half of our show this week, as part of our ongoing series Prevent Diabetes EKY, we sit down with Allie Vogel, director of the Letcher County Public Library, to hear about both her challenges and her successes in her diabetes journey— including how she cut her A1C level plum in half. And as a quick PS, for more stories like this, of preventing and managing type 2 diabetes in eastern Kentucky, check out our project website: www.preventdiabeteseky.org.
(Music this week is by J.P. & Annadeene Fraley, from the June Appal Records release “Galleynipper,” and by Don Bikoff, from the Free Music Archive.)
On this episode of Mountain Talk:
Hosts Austin Callahan and Iesha Elam are taking us through Recovery Advocacy Day 2025, organized by People Advocating Recovery for the third consecutive year. It was a rainy day in Frankfort, Kentucky, on February 5th, where over five-hundred people were lined up to celebrate people in recovery, spread awareness, and advocate for policy that supports breaking the stigma around substance use disorder.
Austin and Iesha speak to several advocates and attendees, including Tara Mosley-Hyde, CEO of People Advocating Recovery, and Amanda Hall, Senior Director of National Campaigns at Dream.ORG. We’ll also hear from the Governor’s address in the rotunda with an introduction from State Senator Keturah Heron.
Austin and Iesha are interns for a special project at WMMT, funded through the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky’s Funding For Recovery Equity and Expansion (FREE) II project. Together, we are working together to raise awareness and reduce stigma around substance use disorder, recovery and treatment in Eastern Kentucky.
WMMT Public Affairs & Podcasts
In this edition of Mountain Talk: he may be retiring, but he’s still fired up— we start our show with a lively, feisty speech from longtime UMWA President Cecil Roberts, who stepped into that role back in 1995, and just retired last month, after 30 years. In this talk, which he gave this summer at the West Virginia Mine Wars Museum in Matewan, Roberts, a WV native, reflects on the long and rich history of coal union organizing in Appalachia—including how his own great-grandparents were evicted from their Fayette County home, back in 1902, by a coal company, because they’d been suspected of supporting the union—and why he thinks, given the state of the country and the economy, the union is as important now as it’s ever been. Our thanks to the folks at the WV Mine Wars Museum for sharing the audio of this speech with us.
Then: November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, and, sadly, eastern Kentucky has higher rates of type 2 diabetes than both the state and national averages. But even if it runs in your family, diabetes *can* be managed, or even prevented in the first place. And for the second half of our show this week, as part of our ongoing series Prevent Diabetes EKY, we sit down with Allie Vogel, director of the Letcher County Public Library, to hear about both her challenges and her successes in her diabetes journey— including how she cut her A1C level plum in half. And as a quick PS, for more stories like this, of preventing and managing type 2 diabetes in eastern Kentucky, check out our project website: www.preventdiabeteseky.org.
(Music this week is by J.P. & Annadeene Fraley, from the June Appal Records release “Galleynipper,” and by Don Bikoff, from the Free Music Archive.)
