Zack Harold

Some of the world's best steelpan drums are made in W.Va. It all began with the vision of Ellie Mannette.

Last year, Inside Appalachia brought you the story of rock climbers taking on racist, sexist and other offensive route names in West Virginia’s New River Gorge. Inside Appalachia reporter Zack Harold recently checked in with DJ Grant, a climber who helped kickstart the effort to change the names, to see if climbers were successful in their efforts.

When you need to check the time, where do you look? Most people turn to their phones or digital watches. These days, it seems like every electronic device has a clock function, but it hasn’t always been this way. Not all that long ago, marking the passage of time was the job of one device — a clock. Folkways reporter Zack Harold recently spent some time with Carl Witt, a man in Fairview, West Virginia who learned how to repair clocks after crossing paths with the late Charles Decker.

The nearly forgotten Estler Mortgage Lifter is available again to the public, thanks to a passionate family member.

The process of making Kentucky pull candy is long and difficult, but the payoff is worth it. The candy is buttery and melt-in-your-mouth. Folkways reporter Zack Harold caught up with a man who's a confectionary master to see how it's made.

If you live in West Virginia and care about food, you probably know about DiCarlo’s in Wheeling, where they serve pizzas topped with cold cheese. You’ve probably heard — or even been to — the big springtime ramp feed in Richwood. And you probably know that, when it comes to hotdogs joints, Yann’s Hotdogs in Fairmont is on a level all its own.

Have you ever heard of the Marmet Slaw Dog? The secret recipe for the was thought to be lost, but in recent years, has been rediscovered.

There is a story about a special type of heirloom tomato, called the Mortgage Lifter. These tomatoes are big, pink and sweet, that were so popular in southern West Virginia, they helped their creator pay off his mortgage. Except, that’s not the end of the story. There is another “mortgage lifter” tomato.

Climbers have identified around 100 racist and otherwise offensive route names and hope to have them changed before a new guidebook goes to print this fall.

In Appalachia, we’re all too familiar with black lung disease, and how it takes the breath away from coal miners. For a time, it seemed black lung was going away, thanks to tougher mine safety regulations. Now it's seeing a resurgence.There is another problem that doesn’t seem to have gone away, either, and that is racism. It shows itself in places you never would have thought of, including in the names given to rock climbing routes in West Virginia’s New River Gorge.