Rural Remix

Cherokee people have been making pottery in the mountains of western North Carolina for nearly 3,000 years. But after centuries of colonization and targeted, cultural oppression, there are relatively few Cherokee potters carrying on the art form today. Thanks to a community-led pottery workshop, a new generation of Cherokee potters is emerging. They’re sustaining age-old traditions, while building a contemporary practice of their own.

For most studio potters, making a new piece starts with opening a fresh bag of commercially produced clay. But Naomi Dalglish and Michael Hunt of Bandana Pottery have a different process. They produce their own clay bodies out of local clay dirt from their community in Bakersville, North Carolina. “A really wonderful side effect is our connection to the place and people where we live. Not just to the geology, but also to the community,” Hunt said.

Anna Gomez, Federal Communications Commissioner, advocates fiercely for First Amendment rights. During her visit to Fleming-Neon, Kentucky, she addresses the importance of protecting free speech amid increasing government censorship. Gomez highlights the vital role of local journalism in democracy and shares insights on how storytelling fosters community healing. The discussion emphasizes the need for civic engagement and the intertwined relationship between faith, freedom, and rights, rallying support for local voices and press freedom.

 In this episode we travel to Westel, Tennessee, home to fiddle maker Jean Horner. For more than seventy years, Horner built instruments that traveled across the country—Carnegie Hall to California, the Grand Ole Opry to the Smithsonian. Two factors shaped Horner’s fiddles. The first was his deep roots in the Cumberland Plateau. The second? His fascination with great Italian violin makers of the 17th and 18th centuries. Jean died this past January at age 91, an acknowledged master of his craft. Reporter Lisa Coffman interviewed him at his workshop in 2023. Recently, she attended his memorial service in Westel, and brings us this story of how he came to be known as the Stradivari of the Cumberlands. All fiddle tunes in this piece are played on Jean Horner fiddles. 

In this Beyond the Clock episode, Ash Hanson from Department of Public Transformation and Anna Claussen from Voices for Rural Resilience converse with Eastern Kentucky-based artist and advocate, Lacy Hale about resilience, restoration, and reciprocity in rural places. In this conversation, they explore the role of the artist in times of disaster and division. Lacy inspires us to advocate for our rural people and places with projects like "No Hate in My Holler" and to support our communities, while still caring for ourselves. 

What’s it like to cover the renewable energy transition in rural America? Daily Yonder reporters Claire Carlson and Julia Tilton spoke with Canary Media’s Kari Lydersen during a live show recording at the Rural Journalism Collective on May 14, 2025. This week, we’re bringing you an edited version of that conversation.Kari has spent extensive time reporting on coal mining communities and the clean energy transition in the Midwest. Her recent work follows individuals who participated in a state-funded clean energy job training program in rural Decatur, Illinois. Kari joins the conversation with Claire and Julia to discuss her reporting process as well as some of the joys and challenges of reporting on energy topics in rural places.Read Kari’s story here.The Rural Journalism Collective is a space for journalists and media professionals who cover rural places to network, share ideas, and uplift excellent work.

Today’s story takes us to western North Carolina, where the Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians is working to preserve the Cherokee language.  Their dialect of Cherokee is considered “severely endangered” by UNESCO.  To help revitalize the language, community leaders opened the New Kituwah Academy in 2004.  It’s a Cherokee language immersion school for elementary-age students.  A partnership with a print-making instructor at Western Carolina University is bringing beautiful, hand-printed classroom materials to the Cherokee language learners. 

In the final episode of Twang, host Lane Wendell Fischer and Daily Yonder reporter Ilana Newman explore queerness in country music’s past and present. Though there is only one openly queer artist currently signed by a major country music label, the rising popularity of artists like Chappell Roan, Orville Peck, and Brandi Carlile mark the increasing visibility of queer artists in the genre. Lane and Ilana discuss these contemporary artists – and the lesser known queer musicians who came before them – and the mark they’ve made on country music. Artists discussed include: Chappell Roan, Orville Peck, Brandi Carlile, Tracy Chapman, Kacey Musgraves, Wilma Burgess, Patrick Haggerty.Listen to the episode companion playlist here.

In the third episode of Twang, host Lane Wendell Fischer is joined by writer, marketing specialist, and country music enthusiast Tracy Staley to discuss the role women have played in the development of country music. Despite the genre’s conservative reputation, iconic artists like Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton, and Reba McEntire have used country music as a platform to discuss issues from birth control to domestic violence. In this episode, we explore how these songs, and the women who sing them, fit into a musical ecosystem currently dominated by ultramasculine ‘bro-country.’Artists discussed include: Dolly Parton, Loretta Lynn, Reba McEntire, Martina McBride, Gretchen Peters, The Chicks.Listen to the episode companion playlist

This week, Daily Yonder reporters Claire Carlson and Julia Tilton are continuing the conversation about environmentalism in rural places. In this episode, Claire and Julia dig deeper into the conservative corner of the climate movement. They speak with Chris Barnard, the president of the American Conservation Coalition (ACC), a nonprofit organization dedicated to mobilizing young conservatives around environmental action. Points of conversation include popular rural clean energy sources, state-level clean energy action in conservative districts, and how the media can build trust with conservatives.ANNOUNCEMENT: Join us for a live recording of the Rural Reporter’s Notebook podcast next week! Claire and Julia will be interviewing Canary Media’s Kari Lydersen as part of the Rural Journalism Collective virtual event on Wednesday, May 14, 2025 at 2 p.m. Eastern. Register for a spot here.Photo: Robert F. Bukaty/AP.