The Talking Appalachian Podcast

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Author Valerie Fridland is the author of the new book Why We Talk Funny: the Real Story Behind Our Accents (Viking, 2026.) In this fascinating episode that launches Season 4, we'll talk about the Revolutionary-era origins of our American accents, how mainstream American English arose as the 'prestige' dialect, the shibboleth (which explains the hostility people feel about 'latch' versus 'lay' in A...

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"Kil't" lettuce is an Appalachian delicacy. In this encore episode from Season 1, we discuss how to make this delicious summer salad and why people use -t at the end of the word instead of -ed. We'll also hear clips from storyteller Ray Hicks, who illustrates this Appalachian English pronunciation. So, get your onion, bacon grease, leafy greens, and intrusive -t ready because summer's on the way!

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In this episode, we're looking for voice in some WWII-era letters and recipe books from my great-grandparents' era (I found a recipe called "Masculine Potato Salad"!) You'll also hear a voiceplace story from a western NC listener, who has decided to return to his voiceplace to teach his young daughter about her linguistic heritage. Then, we'll talk about the phrases "up and" and "up in," as in "Sh...

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Beth Macy is the bestselling author of Dopesick, Factory Man, and Paper Girl. Dopesick, her investigation of the opioid crisis, was short-listed for the Carnegie Medal, won the L.A. Times Book Prize for Science and Technology, and was described as a “masterwork of narrative nonfiction” by The New York Times. Dopesick was made into a Peabody- and Emmy Award-winning Hulu series on which ...

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Dr. Jennifer Cramer, Director of the Appalachian Studies Center at the University of Kentucky, joins me for a conversation about how she became a linguist (shifting from math to French and linguistics), her graduate training at Purdue and the University of Illinois-Urbana, and how Kentucky’s “in-betweenness” shaped her interest in Southern and Appalachian identities. She explains...

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We're revisiting Season One and an episode with the legendary Crystal Wilkinson, author of Praise Song for the Kitchen Ghosts (which was published after this episode aired) and other works. Crystal discusses her journey from trying to erase her Appalachian accent to embracing it as an essential part of her identity and craft. She calls her native dialect her "mother tongue" and describes the revol...

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This episode grows out of a moment earlier this year, when my great-grandmother’s words appeared in The Atlantic in a January 6 article by Annie Joy Williams on Appalachian speech and memory. But long before her voice was quoted on a national stage, it was part of our family’s oral history, spoken in her accent and in her words.

In this episode, I share more of her story. She talks abou...

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What did Appalachian English sound like before anyone could hit “record”?

In this episode revisit from Season 1, I’m doing a little linguistic time travel using letters instead of audio. I take a close look at two personal letters written nearly a century apart:
• one from 1862, during the Civil War, and
• one from 1954, written by a woman in Lee County, Virginia

On the surfa...

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In this edited episode revisit,  we talk about Old Christmas (or "Little Christmas) that many Appalachians still celebrate on January 6th. We'll also talk about favorite New Year's foods for luck (like Hoppin' John) and how to avoid bad luck (don't do laundry or sweep.) Then we'll talking about the word "untelling," as in "It's untelling what 2026 will bring, but I hope it's all good things!"

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In this episode, I'm joined by an Appalachian artist and fourth-year UVA-Wise student Bailey Lantman who shares her journey of discovering the academic study of her regional dialect and heritage. We talk about the importance of preserving Appalachian voices, the influence of family and regional history on her identity, and the experience of embracing her dialect in various settings (including New ...

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*This episode first aired in 2023*

Bestselling author and Western North Carolinian Ron Rash joins the Talking Appalachian podcast to discuss his latest novel, The Caretaker. Amy explores Rash's extensive body of work, including his contributions to Talking Appalachian (the book), the significance of dialect and voice in his writing, and his fascination with cemeteries and family stories. The conver...

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Renowned author of 19 books and former NASA engineer Homer Hickam sits down with me and a few students at UVA's College at Wise to talk about his journey from the coalfields of West Virginia to becoming a celebrated author and esteemed engineer. In this episode, Hickam shares his experiences writing Rocket Boys and other books, the inspiration to write both fiction and nonfiction, and his most mem...

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*From the Season 1 Archive*

"Molassey," as that smoky, syrupy mixture is known in central Appalachia, is a dying tradition. Appalachians call the process of making molasses a 'stir-off,' and everybody in the community would come by to help or sit around the boiling pan and talk.

The word 'molasses' becomes 'lasses' or 'molassey' in the local dialect, a vernacular blend resulting from English, German...

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Jeff Biggers is the author of The United States of Appalachia, In Sardina, Trials of a Scourge, and many more. You've heard me discuss his work on the podcast, particularly in New England, where we visited the grave of Washington Irving, who first proposed that the country's name be changed from "America" to "Appalachia." Biggers' book, published 20 years ago, is a "re-storification" of Appalachia...

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What does it mean to “tell the bees”? In this episode, we explore a centuries-old European custom carried into Appalachia by Scots-Irish, English, Welsh, and German settlers. Families once whispered news of births, marriages, and deaths to their hives, sometimes draping them in black cloth or feeding them bits of funeral cake.

Through oral histories and folklore, we trace how "telling t...

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If you're following Appalachian digital creators on social media, you've probably come across Appalachian_Bluebird, a vlog created by Southwest Virginia's Brittany Breeding. Inspired by her grandparents and upbringing in Meadowview, Virginia, Brittany shares what she learned from them, including features of her Appalachian dialect, folklore, the histories of old homes in the region, food culture, ...

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*This is an edited repost of an August 29, 2024 episode*

The word “redneck” might have different connotations today, but its roots tell a very different story. In this episode, we trace the surprising history of the word, from its early association with solidarity among coal miners in the hills of Appalachia to its lasting mark on the American labor movement.

We journey to 1921 and the B...

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 From mountain mists to coastal marshes, the American South is rich with stories that blur the line between weather, superstition, and the supernatural. In this episode, we explore the colorful world of Appalachian weather lore: old sayings and signs used to predict snow long before the weatherman came on the radio.

We’ll step onto haint blue porches in the Low Country, uncovering th...

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*This updated episode first aired on July 3, 2024*

Dog Days are upon us in Appalachia, stretching from July 3rd to August 11, but what does this 16th century phrase mean? Many of us in Appalachia have heard that dog days means avoiding swimming, touching bare feet to the morning dew, and taking care to avoid snakes. But why?

 Joining me in this episode is Shallon Payne of The Appalachian Homest...