About this podcast
Vital Voices features interviews with a wide variety of people talking about the subjects they are most passionate about in life.
Episodes
- New Leadership at The Carter Family Fold · 18 min · Episode 161We talk with Ellen Stroud, the new Executive Director of The Carter Family Fold and Memorial Music Center in Hiltons, Virginia.
- Conversations with NPR Authors · 18 min · Episode 160In a special fundraising edition of "Vital Voices," we talk with three NPR colleagues about their latest books. Our guests are Scott Detrow and Daniel Burke, co-authors of…
- A Fall Tradition Continues in Southwest Virginia · 18 min · Episode 159We explore the role of apple butter in keeping an Appalachian community together.
- Addressing Hunger in Appalachia · 18 min · Episode 158We take a look at the work of the organization Feeding Southwest Virginia and how it is attacking hunger in the region.
- A Visit to the Fruit Tea Capital of the World · 18 min · Episode 157The city of Columbia, Tennessee, is proclaiming itself the Fruit Tea Capital of the World, and city leaders are busy preparing for the first festival to honor the designation. We…
- Back Home in Indianola · 18 min · Episode 156From our archives, the late B.B. King revisits his hometown in the Mississippi Delta and remembers his musical beginnings.
- A Brief History of Scottish Fiddling · 18 min · Episode 155We look back to the 18th century and trace the history of fiddle music in Scotland, with award-winning fiddler Dr. Jane MacMorran.
- The Importance of Organ Donation · 18 min · Episode 154Dr. Douglas Hale from Vanderbilt University Medical Center explains how renal transplants are done and emphasizes the importance of organ donation.
- A Record Harvest · 18 min · Episode 153We visit the family farm of Mike Fields in Hawkins County, Tennessee. In the summer of 2026, Mike grew a pumpkin that weighed in at 1,494 pounds. The pumpkin was a popular…
- The Life of Country Comedian Minnie Pearl · 18 min · Episode 152Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon was a member of the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville for over 50 years. She was best known through her stage persona, Minnie Pearl. We talk with Belmont…
- A Ritual at Summer's End: The Making of Chow-Chow · 18 min · Episode 151We visit a kitchen in Scott County, Virginia, where late summer means the making of the garden-clearing relish known as chow-chow.
- A Pawpaw Primer · 18 min · Episode 150Dr. Kirk Pomper at Kentucky State University discusses the cultivation and uses of the pawpaw, the largest edible fruit native to North America.
- More About Coping with PTSD · 18 min · Episode 149In the second part of our interview, Retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Miles Burdine of Kingsport, Tennessee, continues his story about living with PTSD.
- Coping with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder · 18 min · Episode 148Retired U.S. Marine Corps Colonel Miles Burdine, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Kingsport Chamber of Commerce, shares his story of dealing with PTSD that resulted…
- Cyclosporiasis · 18 min · Episode 147Our topic is the recent outbreak of Cyclosporiasis in the United States, and our guest is Dr. William Schaffner, Professor of Preventive Medicine in the Department of Health…
- Meet K9 Buck · 18 min · Episode 146We learn about the valuable work of a new member of the police force in Johnson City, Tennessee.
- The Long Island Iced Tea Trail · 18 min · Episode 145Kingsport, Tennessee, lays claim to a recipe for Long Island Iced Tea that originated in the 1920s. We discover how city leaders are using that history to promote tourism.
- Larry Proffitt · 18 min · Episode 144We remember one of the leading figures in the field of Southern barbecue. Larry Proffitt, second-generation owner of Ridgewood Barbecue in Bluff City, Tennessee, died on June 20…
- John U. Bacon (Part Two) · 18 min · Episode 143John U. Bacon's book The Gales of November is a New York Times non-fiction best-seller. In this second part of our interview, Bacon speculates about the causes of the sinking of…
- John U. Bacon · 18 min · Episode 142We contemplate the final hours of the freighter The Edmund Fitzgerald, with author John U. Bacon.
