Participation Type
Panel
Session Title
The Struggle to Stay: Inside Appalachia
Session Abstract or Summary
For seven months, Inside Appalachia (a radio show and podcast from West Virginia Public Broadcasting) has featured six in depth, long form stories of six Appalachians in a series called The Struggle to Stay. The series is a result of more than a year's worth of repeated interviews and documenting of six people in their struggle to find meaningful employment, joy, and belonging, Inside Appalachia and beyond our borders. We hear WV native Marc Combs, an Iraq War veteran, leave for California to try to make it as a stand-up comedian. But his California dreams are dashed when he discovers the high rate of rent, the difficulty of finding an apartment that allows pets, and a sense of belonging when he reaches LA. In this series, we also hear from Crystal Snyder and Colt Brogan, who are hoping agriculture can be their ticket to stay in their home of West Virginia. But intergenerational poverty, drug abuse, and other challenges force them to question, is it a good idea for them to stay? Is it bad for their children's health. In this panel, which is a "listening session", we will air segments from this series. People who were documenting in this series will also be at the screening, and there will be a discussion with the audience following the listening session. They will talk about what it was like to "self-record" their journey (all six people were given recorders and microphones. We trained them to keep audio diaries throughout the year to track their ups and downs, joys and disappointments). We'll record the discussion portion of the session for our podcast and radio show.
Presentation #1 Title
The Struggle to stay Inside Appalachia
Presentation #1 Abstract or Summary
Parts of Appalachia are bleeding population; the 2015 U.S. Census showed West Virginia was losing population faster than any other state. There’s a palpable struggle to leave, but also to stay in these hills.
In April of 2017, West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s podcast, Inside Appalachia, launched a series of stories called “The Struggle to Stay”. Reporters have spent about a year following the lives of 6 individuals as they decide if they will stay or leave home - and how they survive either way.
As people watch friends and neighbors move away, some want to join them, but can't afford it. Others feel obligated to stay. Some are compelled to remain in Appalachia with dreams of turning their region into one that's economically and culturally vibrant, while proving its value to the rest of the country.
At-A-Glance Bio- Presenter #1
Jessica Lilly covers southern West Virginia for West Virginia Public Broadcasting and is the host and co-producer of Inside Appalachia. The show airs Sunday at 7:00 a.m. and 6:00 p.m. and is also available as a podcast. Jessica can also be heard weekdays on West Virginia Morning, the station’s daily radio news program.
Jessica joined West Virginia Public Broadcasting in 2008 as the Southern West Virginia Bureau Chief. She’s committed to reporting stories of the people in her region and across Appalachia. She's passionate about following issues and developments in worker safety, community tap water, and more.
Conference Subthemes
Economic Development, Education, Migration
The Struggle to stay Inside Appalachia
Parts of Appalachia are bleeding population; the 2015 U.S. Census showed West Virginia was losing population faster than any other state. There’s a palpable struggle to leave, but also to stay in these hills.
In April of 2017, West Virginia Public Broadcasting’s podcast, Inside Appalachia, launched a series of stories called “The Struggle to Stay”. Reporters have spent about a year following the lives of 6 individuals as they decide if they will stay or leave home - and how they survive either way.
As people watch friends and neighbors move away, some want to join them, but can't afford it. Others feel obligated to stay. Some are compelled to remain in Appalachia with dreams of turning their region into one that's economically and culturally vibrant, while proving its value to the rest of the country.
