In recent months, the media spotlight on Appalachia has resulted in complicated conversations about whose mountains we inhabit and who’s telling our stories and how. This conversation rapidly escalated from a slow boil to a forest fire. I met with Aaron Carey of the Apalači folk metal band Nechochwen — […]
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In post-Depression-era Appalachia, moonshining was a way of life. It was a respected, although technically illegal, profession. It kept food on the table for the Butler family for over 100 years. Raymond Butler recalls his first job in the family business: “I was about six. My dad put me down […]
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As the coal industry continues its steady retreat from Appalachia, much is at stake for the workers who once populated its nearly endless sea of jobs. But many white working-class men are staying right where they are. A recent report from Business Insider evidenced this denial of the coal industry’s […]
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