100 Days in Appalachia

The first time I went to Muskingum Island was in 2024, before the work began.

Listen to the sounds of the island. On an unusually cool and dry morning in late July, I met Victor Elam, the Refuge Manager of the Ohio River Islands National Wildlife Refuge, at a boat launch just ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Grammy Award-Winning Musician Tim O’Brien and the Next Generation of Appalachian Bluegrass

On April 1, Grammy Award-winning bluegrass musician Tim O’Brien conducted a day-long masterclass with alumni and current members of the West Virginia University Bluegrass and Old-Time Bands.
100 Days in Appalachia

They Needed Treatment for Drug Addiction. The Company They Turned to May Have Used Them to Commit Fraud.

This story was originally published by ProPublica in partnership with the Lexington Herald-Leader.
100 Days in Appalachia

The AI Boom Has Plunged a Small Pennsylvania Town Into Chaos

“I don’t like to see anyone upset,” said Nick Farris of Provident Real Estate Advisors. He was sitting in the front of a crowd of roughly 150 inside Valley View High School’s auditorium in Archbald, a ...
100 Days in Appalachia

As Federal Immigration Agents Descended on Minneapolis, Residents Deployed Mutual Aid to Protect Their Neighbors

The U.S. Department of Homeland Security deployed 3,000 federal immigration agents to Minneapolis and St. Paul in December 2025, under the name Operation Metro Surge. Previously, there were 190 agents ...
100 Days in Appalachia

100 Days in Appalachia

Like neighbors mucking-out flooded basements in McDowell County, to public showings of solidarity across the rust belt, to miners striking in the 1920s — Minneapolis is leading in the long grassroots ...
100 Days in Appalachia

More ICE Detainees Ordered Released by West Virginia Judges: ‘A Threat to Anyone’s Constitutional Rights is a Threat to Us All’

This story was originally published by Mountain State Spotlight. Get stories like this delivered to your email inbox once a week; sign up for the free newsletter at ...
100 Days in Appalachia

In Virginia, People in Prison are Still Working For Pennies

Talib Muwahhid has a knack for woodworking, and over the years, he’s tinkered with a variety of different projects. “I was making things like little chess sets and storage boxes and stuff out of ...
100 Days in Appalachia

Are Data Centers the Next Frontier of Extraction in West Virginia?

Mingo County, West Virginia, was once thriving, but the coal industry’s decline left it one of the poorest counties in the US. Now, several data centers could be built in the region. Are data centers ...
100 Days in Appalachia

100 Days in Appalachia

Mingo County, West Virginia, was once thriving, but the coal industry’s decline left it one of the poorest counties in the US. Now, several data centers could be built in the region. Are data centers ...
100 Days in Appalachia

In Kanawha County, WV, Opioid Settlement Funding for Syringe Services Faces Barriers

In the early afternoon of Wednesday, Sept. 17, emergency rooms in Charleston, West Virginia, began experiencing an influx of people in the throes of a drug overdose. By the following morning, some ...
100 Days in Appalachia

‘In the Boat Together’: Post-Helene, Faith Communities Have Been Central to NC’s Long-Term Recovery

In late September of last year, Tropical Storm Helene dumped up to 20 inches of water in parts of western North Carolina. In Ashe County, where Reverend Blake Smaar leads the congregation at West ...