Barbara Kingsolver’s Appalachian Epic

It took a long time for Kingsolver to be able to write a book that goes right at the hardest parts of her home. The notion that everybody in Appalachia is hanging out on their porch, eating cornbread and drinking moonshine is certainly a stereotype, but there is some truth to it.

2023-12-08T10:17:30-05:00December 4, 2023|

Charting the Pittsburgh Novel with Jake Oresick

"I do appreciate titles that use the terrain instead of making their characters sit inside. I also enjoy titles that reveal the parts of our region that outsiders are unlikely to see, like Homewood, Butler, or old school, residential Oakland. Yinzers don't gaze down from Grandview Avenue all day like the movies would have you believe."

2023-08-14T09:44:34-04:00August 9, 2023|

Wild and Wonderful Folklore of West Virginia

"Folklore is living and breathing, always evolving, and part of contemporary life—the twist you add to an heirloom recipe, a lullaby sung to a child at bedtime, the in-jokes that emerge among families, the vocabulary unique to a particular occupation, the beloved foodways of a certain place, the meme altered and shared among friends."

2022-12-26T10:17:58-05:00December 21, 2022|

When Labor Solidarity is a Game

Cooperative games don’t have to be cooperative just amongst players around a table, that cooperation can be the solidarity players feel (and act on) for workers.

2022-12-17T14:43:48-05:00December 14, 2022|