A new book for young adults Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire mixes historical fact with spooky Appalachian folklore.

Also, over 15 years, a photojournalist documented an Ohio family. Now, she’s a part of their lives.

And, an experimental guitarist records an album intended as a call to arms.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

In This Episode:

New YA Fiction Explores Witches In A Mountain Coal Town
An Act Of Witness In Appalachia
Tashi Dorji’s Album, we will be wherever the fires are lit
Southeast Ohio Residents Advocate For Clean Water
Online Gambling Impacts Students
Flies Annoyed Founding Fathers 250 Years Ago

New YA Fiction Explores Witches In A Mountain Coal Town

The cover of a book that reads, "Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire." There is an illustration of a young girl wearing a navy jacket and she is holding a broomstick. There is a black cat to her right. She is standing in the woods. — The cover of *Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire*.

*Courtesy of Don Martin/Page Street Publishing*

A new young adult novel tells the story of a witch-in-training who uses her magic to help a forgotten mountain coal town. It’s called Verity Vox and the Curse of Foxfire, and it blends fantasy and Appalachian social history, with a touch of Queer romance. It’s the debut novel by Don Martin, and it was an instant New York Times bestseller.

Producer Bill Lynch spoke with Martin about the book and his podcast Head on Fire.

An Act Of Witness In Appalachia

One white woman and three blond children smiling for a photo. It is sunny. Some of the children's faces are cut off in the frame. — Maddie McGarvey with the Casto children.

*Photo courtesy of Maddie McGarvey*

Late last year, The New York Times published an essay from photographer Maddie McGarvey with writer Emi Nietfeld. It's headlined, “An Act of Witness in Appalachia.”

The journey to that essay began 15 years ago, when McGarvey was a sophomore at Ohio University. She took on a project to document grandparents raising their grandchildren. That led her to meet 3-year-old Paige Casto and her family. She’s been photographing them ever since.

Associate Producer Abby Neff spoke with McGarvey about her relationship with Casto and how it’s changed since their first meeting.

Tashi Dorji’s Album, we will be wherever the fires are lit

A person standing in a dark room with a ray of light shining on their face. — Musician Tashi Dorji.

*Courtesy Photo*

Born in Bhutan in South Asia, Dorji moved to western North Carolina in 2000, and he’s been in in Appalachia ever since. Dorji released a slew of albums over the last 25 years, both as a solo artist and collaborator. Last year, he released, we will be wherever the fires are lit. It’s an instrumental record. The album title appears in a poem on its Bandcamp page.

Host Mason Adams asked Dorji to read it.

Southeast Ohio Residents Advocate For Clean Water

In Central Appalachia, water troubles are all too common. Residents of a town in southeast Ohio have been struggling with dirty tap water since last summer. The Allegheny Front’s Julie Grant reports on the string of issues that created the problem and what leaders are doing to fix it.

Online Gambling Impacts Students

Ads for online gambling have picked up. It seems like they’re everywhere: TV, radio, billboards and anywhere you go online.

The messages are getting to people you might not expect, like college students.

Marshall University Broadcast Journalism senior Abigail Ayes reported a story on student online gambling for the campus news program, MU Report.

WVPB’s Randy Yohe, who is also her instructor, spoke with Ayes about her research.

Flies Annoyed Founding Fathers 250 Years Ago

The sound of the pesky, annoying horse fly warns us all: stay still and you might get bit. But even more destructive is a particular silent fly that arrived on our shores about 250 years ago, around the same time Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence. It became one of the country’s first invasive species. And it spurred suspicions of biological warfare that would threaten the new nation’s economy and inspired citizen science.

WHYY’s Senior Climate Reporter Susan Phillips reports.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Mary Hott, Dinosaur Burps, Blue Dot Sessions, Tashi Dorji and John Inghram.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Abby Neff is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens.

You can send us an email: InsideAppalachia@wvpublic.org.

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Don Martin And Maddie McGarvey, Inside Appalachia