Our Common Nature: West Virginia Coal

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Nov 21, 2025

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Chris Saunders, a third-generation coal miner, shares gripping tales of mining life and the tragic Upper Big Branch disaster. Kathy Mattea, a West Virginia native and beloved singer-songwriter, explores how music like 'Take Me Home, Country Roads' represents Appalachian culture. Dom Flemons adds to the mix with traditional performances, touching on the deep emotional connections to the land. Together, they paint a portrait of resilience, pride, and the complex legacy of coal in their community.

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ANECDOTE

Singing 16 Tons To Make Change

Diane Williams sang "16 Tons" to coal miners and earned pennies for candy as a child.
The song captured coal miners' hardships and connected personal history to community memory.

INSIGHT

Song Trumps Geography

"Take Me Home, Country Roads" became West Virginia's anthem despite inaccurate geography.
The song's emotional resonance mattered more than literal truth for community identity.

ANECDOTE

Zora's Tough Life Underground

Chris Saunders described his mother Zora working underground for 20 years despite harassment.
He shared stories of her resilience and how mining provided a livable wage for the family.

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Today on the show, we’re bringing you an episode from Our Common Nature (https://link.podtrac.com/v7mx144d), a new podcast series where cellist Yo-Yo Ma and host Ana González travel around the United States to meet people, make music and better understand how culture binds us to nature. The series features a few familiar voices, including Ana González (host) and Alan Goffinski (producer), from our kids podcast, Terrestrials (https://link.podtrac.com/vysacqn1).

About the episode:
West Virginia is defined by its beauty and its coal, two things that can work against each other. Yo-Yo Ma felt this as soon as stepped foot in its hills.This episode explores how music and poetry help process the emotions of a community besieged with disaster and held together by pride and duty. We travel down the Coal River with third-generation coal miner Chris Saunders, who tells us how coal has saved and threatened his life. Poet Crystal Good shares her poetry, which channels her rage and love. And musician and granddaughter of West Virginia coal miners, Kathy Mattea, explains the beauty of belting out your home state in a chorus. The end of the episode finds host Ana floating down the New River with help from a group of high schoolers and Yo-Yo Ma.

Listen to the full series Our Common Nature (https://link.podtrac.com/v7mx144d).

Featuring music by Yo-Yo Ma, Dom Flemons, and Kathy Mattea and poetry by Crystal Good.

EPISODE CREDITS:
Radiolab Bits Produced - Anisa Vietze (Radiolab bits)

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