PODCAST · news
Making Connections News
by Making Connections News
A Story Bank Sharing New Ideas, Opportunities & Challenges For Diversifying Appalachia's Economy & Renewing Her Communities, from WMMT-FM & Appalshop Community Media Initiative
Episodes
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Preventing Diabetes-Fannie's Story
Even if diabetes runs in your family, if you find out that your own A1C, or blood sugar level, is in the diabetes range, that doesn’t mean your future with diabetes is set in stone. Fannie Callahan, of Lee County, KY, is living proof. Despite having a family history of diabetes, when Fannie found...
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Scotia Disaster Remembered
On March 9, 1976, the Scotia mine in Eolia in Letcher County, KY, exploded killing fifteen coal miners. On March 11, the mine blew up again, killing eight miners and three federal inspectors. The Scotia mine was owned by Blue Diamond Coal Company in Knoxville, TN This Making Connections News...
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Overcoming Diabetes
Diabetes is a very serious disease that can lead to loss of limbs, heart disease, kidney failure, stroke, blindness, and death. Kentucky has the 9th highest death rate from diabetes in the nation. The good news is that Type 2 diabetes can be prevented or managed. Individuals with prediabetes can...
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Remembering Nikki Giovanni + Jean Ritchie
Delving into the WMMT archive to hear from two amazing Appalachian women artists, poet Nikki Giovanni and folk singer/songwriter Jean Ritchie. Nikki Giovanni died on December 9th, 2024, at age 81. A native of Knoxville, TN, she is a celebrated African American poet, writer, and activist who…
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Black Appalachians Talk Health & Healthcare
This program features a special selection of conversations with Appalachian African Americans. There's no Appalachian history without Black history. Despite so many of the stereotypes about this region, African Americans have long been a vital part of the fabric of mountain communities. As part…
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On Kids & Coal Miners
This Making Connections News edition of WMMT's Mountain Talk shares some good news from the Boys and Girls Clubs of Appalachia for Letcher County kids and their parents. Then Conan Cao, summer intern at Appalachian Citizens Law Center, describes the prevalence of black lung disease in his native...
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Public Health Is Public Safety
Harm Reduction specialists, law enforcement, business people, faith leaders and directly impacted Kentuckians relayed personal experiences and offered policy advice during Dream.org‘s first event in their Public Health Is Public Safety campaign. The event took place April 19, 2023 at Jenny Wiley...
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Buffalo Creek Flood 51rst Anniversary
Feb. 26, 2023 was the 51rst anniversary of the Buffalo Creek Flood, a coal mining disaster that killed 125 people and left 4000 homeless in this Logan County, WV community. This episode features audio from "Buffalo Creek Revisited," a 1985 documentary film produced by Mimi Pickering that looks at...
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Scoping a Letcher County Prison
In Sept. 2022, the Bureau of Prisons announced that it was reviving a plan to build and operate a federal correctional institution and prison camp in Letcher County, KY, an area that was devastated by flooding on July 28, 2022. This episode shares the comments, both pro and con, that members of…
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Prevent Diabetes In EKY
November is National Diabetes Month and our Making Connections News show at 6 pm tonight is sharing stories of eastern Kentuckians who are making lifestyle changes to prevent or slow down type 2 diabetes. Many are participating in Diabetes Prevention Programs that are supporting their efforts…
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Looking To The Future
This episode is looking to the future with interviews with Diane Wilson about her book “The Seed Keeper,” and Brian Anderson, the leader of the Biden Administration effort to make sure coal communities are not left behind in the transition to cleaner energy. Thanks to Everywhere Radio from the...
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Potpourri: Broadband, Reclamation, Diabetes Prevention & Naomi Judd
A potpourri of topics on this episode, beginning with a look at the federal government’s Affordable Connectivity Program which has the potential to increase broadband access for millions of Americans. From there environmental reporter James Brugger talks with Tom Martin, from WEKU's Eastern...
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Anthony Flaccavento + bell hooks: Learn + Love
On this episode Whitney Kimball Coe from the Rural Assembly shares a conversation with Anthony Flaccavento, a farmer in southwestern VA, as well as an author, political candidate, and most recently co-founder of the Rural Urban Bridge Initiative. This interview comes from the Everywhere Radio...
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Diabetes Alert
Kentucky has the 4th highest death rate from diabetes in the US. In recognition of March 22nd's Diabetes Alert Day, stories from eastern Kentuckians who have reduced their risk of diabetes through participation in National Diabetes Prevention Programs or through lifestyle changes made on their…
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Buffalo Creek Disaster Remembered
Feb. 26, 2022 is the 50th anniversary of the Buffalo Creek Flood in Logan County, WV. 125 people were killed and left 4000 homeless when a poorly constructed coal waste dam collapsed at the head of Buffalo Creek. This program features the soundtrack of Mimi Pickering’s film about what happened…
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Congress Must Act To Secure Black Lung Fund
The Black Lung Benefits Disability Trust Fund has lost $22,400,000 since the excise fee supporting the fund was slashed at the end of 2021. At a January 14 press conference, leaders from the National Black Lung Association, Appalachian Voices and the Appalachian Citizens Law Center call on…
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MLK, Black Lung, Invest Appalachia
In this episode, Daily Yonder producer Xandr Brown celebrates Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. for the disruptor that he was; Appalachian advocates call for Congress to quickly restore the excise fee supporting the Black Lung Disability Trust Fund and miners’ health care; speakers at a ReImagine...
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Infrastructure4Us
This episode begins with a first-hand account of the economic challenges facing towns and counties in Central Appalachia, but then celebrates the positive impact the recently passed Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act is going to have on the region. Also included is a report on Build Back...
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Inspiring Appalachians
Three amazing Appalachians talk about their efforts to make their communities – be they local, regional or statewide – better places to live and thrive. Attorney John Rosenberg, who just turned 90, is the founding director of the Kentucky office of Appalachian Research & Defense Fund – AppalRed –...
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Lessons from The Battle Of Blair Mountain
WV’s Battle of Blair Mountain happened 100 years ago, but what’s it’s significance for working people today? That’s the topic explored in this Making Connections News episode by historians, authors, artists, activists who make the case that understanding what the miners and their families were...
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Black Lung Benefits Endangered
This month Making Connections News features an August 13th webinar, Black Lung: People, Power and Policy. At this virtual event, Gary Hairston, President of the National Black Lung Assoc., says the disease is diminishing his life while Debbie Wills, who helps miners at one of West Virginia's…
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Black Appalachian Coalition Launched
This episode focuses on the June 18th launch of the Black Appalachian Coalition in partnership with the NAACP. The launch featured a discussion of black invisibility in the Appalachian region and an urgent call to include African Americans and their communities in regional redevelopment efforts...
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Reclaim, Renew, Repurpose
This episode looks at the future for coal miners, former mine lands and efforts to rebuild coalfield communities. UMWA President Cecil Roberts speaks about the future he believes his members deserve. At the Reclaim Act Town Hall, Pennsylvania Rep. Matt Cartwright describes the importance of two...
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Repairing The Damage
On Wednesday, April 14, the Ohio River Valley Institute and ReImagine Appalachia held a press conference and released a timely set of reports titled "Repairing the Damage from Orphan Wells and Abandoned Mine Lands." The reports describe an extraordinary opportunity to develop pathways to address...
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Remembering Eula Hall, Blair Mtn Battle
Eula Hall, health care leader and self described “hillbilly activist,” spent a lifetime assisting her Eastern Kentucky neighbors and encouraging poor people to fight for their rights. After passing away on May 8 at age 93, she was lauded in her native Floyd County, by a Kentucky Congressman and...
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Have Diabetes? Get The Shot
While local health professionals encourage all eastern Kentuckians to get vaccinated against COVID-19, it's even more important for those with underlying health issues including those with diabetes and prediabetes. Reporting for our WMMT series "Prevent Diabetes EKY," Parker Hobson speaks to...
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Promise of Vaccines, Jobs, Environmental Clean Up
In this edition of Making Connections News, eastern Kentuckians dealing with diabetes and prediabetes describe the benefits of getting the COVID 19 vaccine, White House National Climate Advisor Gina McCarthy talks about President Biden’s plans for investment in coal-dependent communities, and two...
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AML Reauthorization, RECLAIM Act Filed
This show features Rep. Matt Cartwright and Rep. Glenn Thompson, both from Pennsylvania coal mining districts, introducing the RECLAIM Act and legislation to reauthorize the Abandoned Mine Lands Fund at a March 10 Press Conference. Sponsors describe these bills as bipartisan, and state they could...
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A New Deal For Appalachia
Speakers at the January 12th ReImagine Appalachia Strategy Summit describe their policy blueprint for creating a New Deal - a green economy with good paying jobs in Appalachia, followed by comments from the mayors of Pittsburgh and Huntington who support a "Marshall Plan for Middle America" to...
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Black Lives Matter In Kentucky
This Black History Month episode focuses on current black lives and why they matter for all of us. First, an interview with KY State Rep. Attica Scott who talks about Breonna's Law, legislation she has filed in response to the police killing of Breonna Taylor in Louisville last March, as well as...
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Chronic Empathy Needed To End Racism
Pastor Edward L. Palmer addresses the issue of racism, which he describes as a policy failure, equity, and the differing impact that Kentucky state policies often have on African Americans and other People of Color. He also identifies proposed legislation that would improve the juvenile justice...
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Tiffany Scott: Take That First Step
"Here in our area, nobody’s alone with diabetes. Any street corner you turn down, every grocery store aisle, every church pew— you know, you’ve probably got somebody sitting right there with you who is battling it, or a close family member who is," says Tiffany Scott. But, she adds, the...
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To Thrive We Have To Fight
As 2020 was coming to an end, Kentuckians were experiencing unemployment, food insecurity, and housing evictions due to the coronavirus, and frightened about the looming cut off of many aid programs that were passed as part of the CARES Act last spring. At this Dec. 3 press conference they shared...
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Prevent Diabetes EKY
One in seven Kentuckians have been diagnosed with diabetes, and it is estimated that 1 in 3 have elevated blood sugar levels that could lead to diabetes. Prevent Diabetes EKY shares stories of folks in our region who are showing a way forward by making lifestyle changes to improve their health…
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A Model For Worker Training
Brandon Dennison, CEO of the Coalfield Development Corporation in southern West Virginia, contributed his organization's successful model of a wholistic worker training program to the National Economic Transition or (NET) platform, which was released by the Just Transition Fund in June of 2020.…
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Black Lives Matter In Appalachia
The population of Appalachia, like most of rural America, is more diverse than many people realize. And the recent support for racial justice has been larger than many expected. When Joseph Palumbo signed on to help organize a Black Lives Matter march in his Eastern Kentucky hometown of Hazard…
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Rural Assembly Is Everywhere Next Week
Whitney Kimball Coe provides a preview of the Rural Assembly Everywhere, the first time the gathering will be online beginning Monday October 26 and wrapping up Friday October 30. The Rural Assembly is a nationwide movement of people and organizations building a smarter, greener, more inclusive...
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Preventing Diabetes During COVID
Avoiding type 2 diabetes is always a good thing for your health. But health professionals say that diabetes is one of several underlying conditions that could make the symptoms of COVID-19 more severe and potentially deadly. In this story we meet Marilyn Morgan, of Johnson County, and Connie…
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The NET Plan for Coal Communities
Over 80 local, regional and national leaders worked together for several years to develop the National Economic Transition, or NET, Platform which was released to the public this summer. Built on community driven solutions, it is a framework for large scale investments to assist communities…
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We Can ReImagine Appalachia
Members of ReImagine Appalachia, a coalition of policy organizations, grassroots groups, individuals and activists from West Virginia, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, and Ohio, offer ideas at a March convening for building a 21rst century sustainable regional economy. That is followed by a July 21rst…
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KY Workers Demand Federal Aid
The Kentucky Labor Day Town Hall was held virtually on September 7 because of COVID 19, the virus that has now infected 58,000 Kentuckians and killed more than 1,000 of our friends and neighbors. COVID 19 is also devastating our economy. Nearly 40% of KY workers have applied for unemployment, the...
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Taylor Pratt: Youth Can Change
Young people sometimes think that prediabetes and type 2 diabetes are health issues that younger people don't really need to worry about. But Taylor Pratt found out in high school that she was in danger of developing the disease, despite the fact that it did not run in her family. On a visit to…
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Federal Aid Urgently Needed For KY
Anna Baumann, Deputy Director of the Kentucky Center for Economic Policy, talks about the impact federal stimulus funding has had to date and the urgent need for more. According to census data, half of Kentucky adults say they or someone in their household have lost employment income since the...
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Census 2020 (Still) Time To Be Counted
Despite roadblocks presented by the COVID-19 pandemic, the 2020 Census count is continuing. Michelle Elison, Portfolio Manager at the National Partnership Program of the US Census Bureau, provides an update on response rates in Kentucky and the Census Bureau plans for the next phase of data...
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Coal Miners Must Stay Vigilant
Dr. Brandon Crum from United Medical Group and Rebecca Shelton from Appalachian Citizens' Law Center describe the efforts underway in eastern Kentucky to help protect miners with black lung and other respiratory diseases who are especially vulnerable to COVID-19. Speaking at the June 10th meeting...
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Cecil Roberts: Miners Moved Congress
On June 12, Cecil Roberts, President of the United Mine Workers of America, was the final speaker at the 2020 West Virginia Association of Black Lung Clinics annual conference. Roberts began his remarks with a video clip of former miners testifying before the House Education and Labor Committee…
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Keeping Miners Safe During COVID-19
On this Making Connections News episode, we are covering COVID-19 and the continuing health danger it poses for coal miners and those with black lung, about precautions to take to prevent exposure, and efforts to pass a silica dust standard to lower rates of black lung disease. We hear from Dr....
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Census: Not Too Late To Be Counted
2020 Census count is underway and the data will determine how much money and power comes to each community. Yet eastern Kentuckians have been slow to respond. Rachelle Seger from the Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky, KY State Rep. Angie Hatton, and the US Census Bureau's Michelle Elison talk…
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More Than Mail: Rural Postal Service Threatened
A story from our archive on the importance of the US Postal Service to rural people and their communities. Dateline: 12/15/2011: As the U.S. Postal Service faces financial crisis, Central Appalachia and much of rural America may be hard hit by pending closures of post offices and mail processing...
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Dr. Connie White on Coronavirus & Testing
Dr. Connie White describes the coronavirus, its symptoms, and the precautions we need to take, including testing and staying at home, to prevent its spread. She notes that eastern Kentucky residents are very vulnerable due to high rates of lung disease, heart disease, diabetes, obesity and other...
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A Story Bank Sharing New Ideas, Opportunities & Challenges For Diversifying Appalachia's Economy & Renewing Her Communities, from WMMT-FM & Appalshop Community Media Initiative
HOSTED BY
Making Connections News
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Making Connections News currently has 122 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
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A Story Bank Sharing New Ideas, Opportunities & Challenges For Diversifying Appalachia's Economy & Renewing Her Communities, from WMMT-FM & Appalshop Community Media Initiative
How often does Making Connections News release new episodes?
Making Connections News publishes regularly with 122 episodes available. Check the episode list for the typical release schedule.
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Making Connections News is created and hosted by Making Connections News.
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