Roxy Todd
Former Reporter/Producer for Inside Appalachia, @RoxyMToddPerson Page
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In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear about Black musicians and luthiers who are reclaiming the banjo — an instrument with deep roots in Africa and a difficult history in The United States. We’ll also hear about The Bristol Sessions — recording sessions known for bringing country music out of the hollers and onto radios, and for making stars of Jimmie Rodgers and the Carter Family.
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This week’s episode is all about ballad singers and storytellers. We’ll hear an interview with West Virginia native Becca Spence Dobias who wrote a novel called ‘On Home.’ And co-host Mason Adams sits down with ballad singer Elizabeth LaPrelle, who grew up in Rural Retreat, Virginia. We’ll also hear about a song called “Tom Dooley,” which was first released shortly after the Civil War, and much more.
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This week on Inside Appalachia we’ll visit a luthier’s shop where old instruments get new life, and hear about a new comedy film set in Beckley, West Virginia. We’ll also hear from author Neema Avashia, whose new book is "Another Appalachia: Coming Up Queer And Indian In A Mountain Place."
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The downturn of coal in Harlan County, Kentucky has led to an exodus of Black residents in search of work. This week on Inside Appalachia, we listen back to our conversation with William Turner, whose book about growing up in a vibrant Black community in eastern Kentucky just won the Weatherford Award for nonfiction from the Appalachian Studies Association.
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This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ll listen back to an encore episode, all about how women in the mountains spearheaded movements to battle racial injustice, defend healthy communities, and fight for the rights of all Appalachians. We’ll talk with the author of a book called “To Live Here You Have To Fight,” hear from podcaster Anna Sale, and visit a camp that teaches young people to play rock music.
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Lawmakers across Appalachia are debating how issues of race are taught in public schools, but the U.S. isn’t the only country with an unsettling history to deal with.In Germany, teachers are mandated to include lessons about one of their nation’s darkest chapters — the Holocaust.
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This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ll look at the origin of beans and cornbread. And we’ll meet a woman originally from Honduras who opened a restaurant in Moorefield, West Virginia. She makes pinto beans in her restaurant, Pupuseria Emerita. We’ll also learn about a new board game based on West Virginia foods and local monsters, like Mothman, and talk with bear photographer Bill Lea.
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The Russian invasion in Ukraine is sending shockwaves throughout the world. Did you know that the geography and culture of the people who live in the mountains of southwest Ukraine have a lot in common with Appalachia? Google images of the Carpathian mountains and you’ll see stunning images that look very similar to views in our own backyard.
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Last December, tornadoes ripped through our region, killing almost a hundred people and leaving many more without homes.Thousands of people applied for federal assistance — but the government denied most of them. This week on Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear from residents in Kentucky who were denied aid. We’ll also hear a special documentary about the Buffalo Creek Flood of 1972, one of the worst catastrophes in U.S. history. Fifty years later, what do people remember? How is that disaster inspiring a new generation to take better care of the land and water? We’ll also learn about West Virginia’s first, and only, curling club, and meet a woman in the small town of Helvetia, West Virginia who’s reviving her family’s tradition of making swiss cheese.
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Think back to your American history class. We all learned about the Civil War, but what did you learn about the years after the war ended? On Inside Appalachia this week, we’ll hear how that history parallels events today. We’ll also learn about a women’s mountain biking group called the Roanoke Valley Riveters, how a dance company in North Carolina has adapted during the pandemic, and hear about a podcast that features first-hand accounts of West Virginia healthcare workers.