Temperature Blankets Tell A Story And Deviant Hollers, Inside Appalachia

Podcast - Inside Appalachia Story Archives - West Virginia Public Broadcasting

A good blanket will keep you warm — but a handmade temperature blanket can convey a message to a loved one. This week, we talk to crocheters who make and share their art.

Since 2018, there’s been an explosion of LGBT writing about Appalachia. The editor of the new essay collection “Deviant Hollers” tells us about it and more.

And there’s an alternative to invasive bamboo, and it’s native to the region and found by rivers.

In This Episode

• Temperature Blankets Record Life
• New Book Explores Queer Appalachian Life And The Environment
• A Bamboo To Call Our Own
• Henderson Guitars For The Next Generation

Temperature Blankets Record Life

Karen Long is making a blanket of 2024’s high temperatures for herself.
Photo Credit: Wendy Welch/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Temperature blankets are a popular project among crocheters. They began as a way for artists to document the daily temperatures of a year, using red yarn for record highs and shades of blue for the cooler days. But the tradition of telling a story through textiles goes back to ancient times.

Folkways reporter Wendy Welch had the story.

Henderson Guitars For The Next Generation

Jayne Henderson builds her own future as a guitar and ukulele maker.
Photo Credit: Margaret McLeod Leef/West Virginia Public Broadcasting

Guitars by Wayne Henderson are prized by players who are willing to wait up to a decade to get their hands on one, but his daughter, Elizabeth Jayne Henderson, grew up wary of following in her father’s footsteps.

But Jayne decided to carry on the family tradition, but in her own way. Folkways reporter Margaret McLeod Leef had this story.

New Book Explores Queer Appalachian Life And The Environment

Courtesy "Deviant Hollers," edited by Zane McNeill and Rebecca Scott with foreword by Stephanie Foote.

The number of books and articles about Appalachia’s LGBT communities has grown with recent works like Neema Avashia’s “Another Appalachia” and Willie Carver Jr’s “Gay Poems for Red States.” Now, a new collection of essays explores the intersection of queer Appalachian life and the environment. The book is titled “Deviant Hollers: Queering Appalachian Ecologies for a Sustainable Future.”

Mason Adams spoke with the book’s editor Zane McNeill.

A Bamboo To Call Our Own

Volunteers in southwestern Virginia are trying to revitalize river cane.
Photo Credit: Roxy Todd/Radio IQ

There are more than 1400 varieties of bamboo in the world. The most common variety in the U.S. is Golden or fishpole bamboo from China, but America has a native species, too. It was once commonly found in Appalachia near rivers and streams.

The species was nearly wiped out, but a group of mostly volunteers is working to restore the plant in southwestern Virginia.

Roxy Todd reported.

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Our theme music is by Matt Jackfert. Other music this week was provided by Jeff Ellis, Blue Dot Sessions, John Inghram, Paul Loomis and Frank George.

Bill Lynch is our producer. Zander Aloi is our associate producer. Our executive producer is Eric Douglas. Kelley Libby is our editor. Our audio mixer is Patrick Stephens. We had help this week from folkways editors Mallory Noe Payne and Jennifer Goren. You can find us on Instagram and Twitter @InAppalachia.

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Inside Appalachia is a production of West Virginia Public Broadcasting.