A Floyd County Fiddler, Midwives And Home Births, And Student Stories From The Fayette Institute of Technology

Inside Appalachia

This week, we begin our journey throughout Appalachia in Floyd County, Virginia, home of Earl White. White is working to amplify the often-overlooked participation of Black musicians in old-time music. Then, we’ll travel back to the early 20th century, when nurse Mary Breckenridge launched a midwifery program in Eastern Kentucky. That program would become known across the world for its positive impacts on infant survival rates. We hear from the director of the film, Angels on Horseback to learn more. Today , births by midwives are less common but we learn about that from Lauren Santucci, a film director whose documentary “Birth Place” follows a mother in Parkersburg, West Virginia. We’ll also meet two student reporters at the Fayette Institute of Technology, who bring us stories about Anstead, West Virginia and about safety concerns along Route 60. And finally, we meet journalist Kim Kelley, who recently authored “Fight Like Hell: The Untold History of American Labor,” to learn about the pro-Union history of Appalachian people.