Ronni Lundy: Listen to the People

Ronni Lundy, whose recent book “Victuals” won the prestigious James Beard Award, was guest speaker at the 2018 East Kentucky Leadership Conference. She spoke about Appalachia’s natural abundance and her people’s deep knowledge of how to use it sustainably. She concluded by encouraging those who want to help Appalachia “to listen to the people” and […]

Western Front Hotel: Model Remodel

Can a boutique hotel and restaurant in a former downtown department store spark an economic revival in and around St. Paul, a coalfields town located on the Clinch River in southwestern Virginia? The newly opened Western Front Hotel and Milton’s Restaurant grew from community-wide efforts begun over 15 years ago to plan the place residents […]

Black Sheep Brick Oven Bakery

Sometimes rebuilding an economy, and lives, means adding one or two jobs at a time. A new bakery established by folks at the Hemphill Community Center in hard pressed coal country aims to provide Letcher County, KY residents with healthy, locally sourced breads and baked goods while supporting Drug Court participants in their journeys to […]

From Social Haunting to Community Healing

In this episode of WMMT’s Mountain Talk we explore the idea of social haunting, or how the troubles of the past might be playing a role in community problems of today. We hear from Dr. Geoff Bright who is leading a participatory research project based around the theory of social haunting in formerly industrialized areas […]