Caitlin Tan
Inside Appalachia Co-Host and ReporterCaitlin Tan is working as Inside Appalachia’s folklife reporter, as part of a Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies grant. The goal of her reporting is to help engage a new generation in Appalachian folklife and culture.
Caitlin comes from a rural mountain town in Western Wyoming. She grew up ski racing, showing her horses in 4-H and moving cows in the high mountain deserts. It was in this town she discovered her love for journalism. Caitlin’s career began in print, interning for the local newspaper. She went on to write and eventually worked as news editor at the Branding Iron newspaper, part of the University of Wyoming, where she later graduated with a B.A. in journalism.
Although she was always an avid listener to NPR, she found her love for public radio journalism as an intern with Wyoming Public Media. After, Caitlin spent a whirlwind summer as a fisheries reporter in Bristol Bay, Alaska - international sockeye salmon capital - working for KDLG, the local NPR affiliate station. She was a solo-correspondent based in Naknek - a Native village of 500 people - where she climbed on commercial fishing boats and trudged the rainy, muddy beaches to find the fishing scoop.
This job helped her land a producing internship, and later a job as news assistant for NPR’s All Things Considered in D.C. She worked closely with the entire team - helping to produce everything from a manicly decorated Christmas house to live interviews with U.S. senators to an exclusive interview with fashion designer Alexander Wang.
All along, Caitlin always knew she wanted to return to feature reporting in a rural area. As shown from her fisheries reporting, she loves to immerse herself in new cultures. So when the Inside Appalachia folklife position opened up she jumped at the opportunity. Caitlin and her Border Collie up and moved to Morgantown, WV. As someone who grew up in a rural area, Caitlin understands the value and heritage of tradition and craftsmanship in a culture. She’s very eager to further her knowledge, as well as engage and report on folklife in Appalachia.
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Crystal Wilkinson is Kentucky’s new poet laureate, the first Black woman to have this title in the state. She recently spoke with Inside Appalachia’s co-host Caitlin Tan. Wilkinson began by reading a poem that is an ode to tobacco and her grandfather. The poem is featured in her soon-to-be-released collection of poems, ‘Perfect Black.’ -
This week's episode of Inside Appalachia is a mix of rich storytelling and cross-cultural collaborations. What happens when a musician from Belarus gets together with Appalachian folk musicians? And we’ll talk with Affrilachian writer Crystal Wilkinson, who has just been named Kentucky’s Poet Laureate.
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Mental health across the nation has taken a toll since the pandemic began -- and this includes eating disorders. According to the National Eating Disorders Association, hotline calls are up nearly 80 percent in the past year.
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This week on Inside Appalachia, we talk with folks who are planting seeds of change — literally and figuratively. While many are finding joy through their gardens and food work, there are some people in Appalachia who are going through some of the most challenging times of their lives.
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Appalachia has had hundreds of years of connection to Wales -- people have been immigrating back-and-forth between the two regions since the late 1600s.Our Inside Appalachia team has continued this through its Folkways program, by connecting teenage students in both Wales and West Virginia.
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The pandemic has reshaped our world in many ways. Can you remember what life was like before you wore a mask to the grocery store? This has been a historic year for so many people, and we wanted to mark the moment. Let’s be clear, the pandemic isn’t over yet. But it’s good to think back on how far we’ve come. In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia, we check back in with some of the people we've had on our show over the past year, and hear how they're doing now.
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The world is one-year into the COVID-19 pandemic. It has taken a toll on mental health, as four in 10 adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorders in 2020, up from one in 10 in 2019, according to a U.S. Census survey.
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This week’s episode of Inside Appalachia features several children's authors, including Cynthia Rylant, David Perri, Bil Lepp, and Lyn Ford. And while these stories were written for children, like many children's stories, each have messages for all of us, including grown-ups.
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The pandemic has been a nightmare for many businesses, with likely more than 100,000 small businesses shut down permanently nationwide, according to a survey from the National Bureau of Economic Research. But West Virginia saw an uptick in new businesses registered in 2020 compared to the last three years.
