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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: "Steam Train" written by Elizabeth Cotten and performed by Landon Spain

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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

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support us 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
*Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu or message me at the link here or on social.

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

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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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*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support us 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
*Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu or message me at the link here or on social.

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

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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)

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support us 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
*Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu or message me at the link here or on social.

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

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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.

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support us 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
*Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu or message me at the link here or on social.

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

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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.

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support us 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
*Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu or message me at the link here or on social.

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

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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.

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support us 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
*Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu or message me at the link here or on social.

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

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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!

Support the show

*Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts and review us (if you like it)!
*Support the show by sharing links to episodes on social
*Subscribe to support us 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
*Paypal to support the show: @amyclarkspain
*Follow and message me on IG, FB, YouTube: @talkingappalachian
*To sponsor an episode or collaborate: aclark@virginia.edu or message me at the link here or on social.

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