Our Common Nature: West Virginia Coal

2025-11-21 · 54 min · episode 669 · 13 entities

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Entities found in this episode

concepts 11

mentioned Society & Culture concept

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mentioned Science concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Science
mentioned History concept

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Feed category: History
mentioned Documentary concept

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Feed category: Documentary
mentioned Natural Sciences concept

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mentioned West Virginia Coal concept

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Our Common Nature: West Virginia Coal
discusses Society & Culture concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Society & Culture
discusses Science concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Science
discusses History concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: History
discusses Documentary concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Documentary
discusses Natural Sciences concept

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evidence rules-v4
Feed category: Natural Sciences

companys 2

mentioned WNYC Studios company

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Feed author/publisher: WNYC Studios
hosted by WNYC Studios company

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evidence rules-v4
Feed author/publisher: WNYC Studios

Episode description as stored

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) Signup for our newsletter!! It includes short essays, recommendations, and details about other ways to interact with the show. Sign up (https://radiolab.org/newsletter)! Radiolab is supported by listeners like you. Support Radiolab by becoming a member of The Lab (https://members.radiolab.org/) today. Follow our show on Instagram , Twitter and Facebook @radiolab, and share your thoughts with us by emailing radiolab@wnyc.org . Leadership support for Radiolab’s science programming is provided by the Simons Foundation and the John Templeton Foundation. Foundational support for Radiolab was provided by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.