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.)
Anyone in the WMMT listening area probably needs no introduction to the notion of substance use disorder, and just the massive and overwhelming toll it’s had on Appalachian people, and communities.
Here at WMMT, we’ve partnered with the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky to be a part of their statewide FREE II project, which, among other goals, is trying to raise awareness and reduce the stigma around substance use disorder, treatment, and recovery. As part of this work, WMMT will be airing a brand-new podcast series over the coming months all about substance use disorder and recovery here in the mountains.
In this edition of Mountain Talk, we bring you the very first episode of this new series, a roundtable discussion between several Appalachian people, who are all actively in recovery. In this candid conversation, hosted by FREE II Intern Austin Callahan, we hear their stories, and about what led them to take that crucial step of getting into recovery; we also hear about how trauma can play a role in addiction. These voices you’ll hear are that of local residents Samantha Colleen, Chris Campbell, Beckie Rose-Bowman, Iesha Elam, and Austin Callahan.
Stay tuned in coming months for more episodes from this series!
(Music in today's show was by Malcolm Dalglish & Grey Larsen, from the June Appal Records release "Banish Misfortune," and by Don Bikoff, from the Free Music Archive.)
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.)
