Roxy Todd
Reporter/ Producer Inside AppalachiaRoxy Todd joined West Virginia Public Broadcasting in 2014 and works as the Producer for Inside Appalachia, WVPB’s weekly podcast and radio show about the beautiful complexities of life in Appalachia. She's the recipient of a National Edward R. Murrow Award for "Excellence in Video," for a story about the demands small farmers face in West Virginia. She also won a National PMJA Award For "Best Feature" for her story about the history of John Denver's song "Country Roads." She's produced several episodes of Inside Appalachia that have won national awards, including an episode about homebirth in Appalachia, which won first place for Long Documentary from PRNDI. And an episode from 2019 about the struggles many working women face with breastfeeding won second place in PMJA's Audience Engagement Program category. She's also won several regional AP and Edward R. Murrow Awards for her feature reporting and her production on Inside Appalachia. She lives in Charleston, West Virginia with her husband, daughter, dog and cat. Roxy still uses a flip phone, and is proud of it. You can reach her at rtodd@wvpublic.org.
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Each October, storytellers and audiences of all ages gather at the International Storytelling Festival in Jonesborough, Tennessee. This year, because of the pandemic, the festival is going virtual. It takes place the first weekend in October. We thought it was a fitting time to listen back to an episode of Inside Appalachia — which is all about the art of live storytelling. -
Over the past 50 in West Virginia, jobs in coal mining have declined by 66 percent -- and experts don’t predict a comeback. But we’re not alone -- other industrial places around the world face similar dilemmas. As the last story in West Virginia Public Broadcasting's series about the state of coal in West Virginia, Roxy Todd spoke with some of the people who live in those places, to find out where we may be headed. She started in Germany 50 years ago - when coal executives and political leaders were forced to make tough decisions when it came to the future of coal, and their home.
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This week, we’ve pulled a few gems from our archive. We’re listening back to some of our favorite Inside Appalachia stories from the past year.
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A historic springs resort in Monroe County is embroiled in a lease dispute, pitting a local investor against the state of West Virginia.
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This week on Inside Appalachia, we meet parents like Megan Hullinger, a single mom with four kids in Pocahontas County. It took her nearly three years to get a spot at a childcare center for her son Nathan. During the pandemic, parents have faced pressures and decisions unlike any before in human history. How do you balance it all, and maintain positivity, in the midst of all these challenges? For many mothers, we’re not just talking about parenting questions — but also how to balance that against work.
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Parents in Appalachia can wait months, even years, to get their kids a space in a childcare center. That’s because more than 60 percent of people in West Virginia live in a child care desert, according to the Center for American Progress. A child care desert means there are more people who need childcare than there are spots available. Inside Appalachia producer Roxy Todd spoke to parents across the state about the difficulty of finding child care close to home.
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West Virginia children who are in foster or kinship care can now receive free membership to Girl or Boy Scouts with the groups waiving the $25 to $72 fee. The Girl Scouts of Black Diamond and the Buckskin Council, Boy Scouts of America have teamed up to offer the free programming, as part of a Benedum Foundation grant.
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Appalachian Zines, A Racial Revamp For Rock Climbing Routes And W.Va. Musician John R. Miller SpeaksIn the latest episode of Inside Appalachia, we’ll hear stories from creators across Appalachia and how they process their lives through their art. Everything from songwriting, to photography, to self-published zines. Suzie Kelly has been making zines for more than 20 years. She talks about how DIY publishing can connect people in unexpected ways.
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This week's episode of Inside Appalachia is an encore episode filled with 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 been named this year’s Kentucky Poet Laureate. You'll hear these stories and more in this episode.
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In this week’s episode of Inside Appalachia, we talk with students, educators, life coaches and psychologists about what can help more young people stay in school, and get trained so they can get jobs, and stay in Appalachia.We meet Sharell Harmon, who works for a nonprofit called Youth Build, training young people with hands-on skills so they can get jobs to help them get a job. Harmon was a participant in the program seven years ago. “I went from being homeless, a college dropout,” Harmon recalled. “And now I'm a college graduate. And, I'm going to buy my first house this year.”
