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Radiolab

Our Common Nature: West Virginia Coal

with Yo-Yo Ma, Ana Gonzalez, Chris Saunders, Crystal Good, Kathy Matea, Dom Flemons, Diane Williams

Published November 21, 2025
View Show Notes

About This Episode

Radiolab introduces a special episode from the series "Our Common Nature" in which host Ana Gonzalez and cellist Yo-Yo Ma explore West Virginia's coal country to understand how coal, music, race, and nature shape people's lives. Through stories from miners like Chris Saunders and his mother Zora, poet-activist Crystal Good, musician Kathy Matea, and others, the episode examines the pride, danger, and environmental harm tied to coal, as well as the resilience and community that persist in Appalachia. The journey weaves together mine history, the Upper Big Branch disaster, iconic songs, rafting on the New River, and intimate moments of grief and connection.

Topics Covered

Coal power Pollution Race relations National parks Music and service Storytelling Trauma Identity Environmental crime Personal narrative

Disclaimer: We provide independent summaries of podcasts and are not affiliated with or endorsed in any way by any podcast or creator. All podcast names and content are the property of their respective owners. The views and opinions expressed within the podcasts belong solely to the original hosts and guests and do not reflect the views or positions of Summapod.

Quick Takeaways

  • Coal has powered U.S. industrial growth and global steel production while simultaneously endangering miners, polluting communities, and declining as a source of local employment.
  • Songs associated with West Virginia, from "Take Me Home, Country Roads" to "Lean on Me," carry complex and sometimes inaccurate stories about the state and its people.
  • Black West Virginians like Zora, Chris Saunders, and Crystal Good navigate both racial marginalization and economic dependence on coal, finding ways to survive, resist, and tell their own stories.
  • The Upper Big Branch mine disaster exposed deep failures in mine safety and corporate responsibility, leaving survivors and families to carry long-lasting grief and anger.
  • Nature and shared experiences on the land and water, like rafting the New River, become powerful spaces for healing, community-building, and artistic expression.
  • Yo-Yo Ma frames music and listening as ways to "report" and share lived experience, paralleling what journalists do with words.
  • Coal culture in Appalachia is intertwined with pride, duty, and financial survival, even as many recognize the health costs and environmental damage.
  • Artists and activists use poetry, song, and storytelling to articulate the pressures, injustices, and love of place that many residents feel but struggle to express.

Podcast Notes

Radiolab introduction and setup for the Our Common Nature series

Latif Nasser welcomes listeners and introduces Radiolab

Latif identifies himself and frames the episode as a conversation about another podcast series[2:20]
• He says "Hey, this is Radiolab. I'm Latif Nasser" and notes that he and co-host Lulu were recently starstruck by a guest

Meeting Yo-Yo Ma and Ana Gonzalez

Latif describes Yo-Yo Ma as a musical icon and famous cellist[1:58]
• He notes Yo-Yo Ma has won 19 Grammy Awards and produced more than 90 albums
Reason for conversation: Yo-Yo Ma has created a podcast series with Ana Gonzalez[2:20]
• Yo-Yo calls himself "a newbie at podcasting" and Latif explains Yo-Yo joined with producer and host Ana Gonzalez to make "Our Common Nature"
Latif and Lulu want to talk to Yo-Yo and Ana about why they made the new series[2:28]

Origins and intentions of the Our Common Nature project

Yo-Yo Ma's outdoor performances and reconnection with nature

Ana explains that the podcast idea started with Yo-Yo's series of outdoor performances[2:31]
• For about a year he had been doing performances outdoors, trying to reconnect with nature and bring music outside the concert hall
Unconventional performance locations[2:57]
• Ana lists examples such as a riverbed, by a coal mine, in a cave, and in the woods as places he played
Desire to reach more people and document the experiences[3:01]
• Yo-Yo decided he should have someone on the ground with a microphone making recordings and stories to share the performances more widely
How Ana got involved as on-the-ground producer and host[3:32]
• Ana recalls Yo-Yo's team asking if she wanted to travel with him and record; she enthusiastically said yes

Connection between Ana's work with children and Yo-Yo's childlike curiosity

Yo-Yo praises Ana's work on the family show Terrestrials[3:26]
• He points out she has a "wonderful podcast with children" and jokes that he never grew up and starts from a child's point of view
Yo-Yo's lifelong sense of wonder and constant "why" questioning[4:22]
• He says like many children he asked "why" at age two or three, but unlike most, he never stopped asking that question
Fascination with the natural world[4:44]
• Yo-Yo notes that everyone has looked at the night sky and wondered what's out there, describing his late-arriving but deep interest in nature

Parallels between music-making and audio reporting

Ana describes traveling with Yo-Yo as fun and filled with pranks and people skills[5:23]
• She recalls him pretending he wants to say something important and then making duck sounds into her microphone
Music as an offering that opens people up quickly[4:41]
• Ana says Yo-Yo playing cello as an offering helped people open up in ways that would normally take years of relationship-building but happened in a day
Yo-Yo compares his role as musician to that of a reporter[4:50]
• He says he also "reports," but through sound rather than words, and says Ana comes close to reporting through sound as well
Apple pressing anecdote as shared sound experience[5:20]
• In West Virginia they attended a dinner with a cider press, where Ana recorded Yo-Yo pressing apples, people eating, fire crackling, and crickets chirping
Reporting on experience rather than just facts[5:53]
• Yo-Yo says Ana is able to report on experience, not only facts or knowledge, through her audio work

Scope and tone of the Our Common Nature series

Description of traveling to varied landscapes[6:00]
• Latif explains the series follows Ana and Yo-Yo to different locations across the country: climbing mountains, rafting rivers, chanting to whales, and bringing music to people in those places
Aim to convey what it feels like to be in each place and community[6:34]
• Yo-Yo says the podcasts aim to give a sense, through sounds and words, of what it feels like to be in each place and part of each special community
Latif's reaction: spiritually refreshing media[6:56]
• Latif tells Ana the series felt spiritually refreshing, slower, richer, and more human than a lot of current media and news
Ana's motivation: giving people a four-dimensional view of their lives[7:24]
• She says that hearing it made all the work worth it because everyone deserves that deeper, multi-dimensional view of their lives and where they live

Introducing the West Virginia coal episode

Latif previews key elements of the West Virginia story[7:31]
• He mentions a huge recent tragedy he had never heard of, an ancient river called the New River, and a famous karaoke song based on a lie

Opening scene in West Virginia: Diane Williams and coal miners by the New River

Diane Williams sings "16 Tons" from childhood memories

Diane recalls singing for coal miners at the company store as a child[7:58]
• She would go with her granddad to the company store, miners would ask her to sing "16 Tons," and they would pay her a few pennies to buy penny candy
Lyrics highlight indebtedness to the company store[8:23]
• She sings the refrain "16 tons and what do you get, another day older and deeper in debt... I owe my soul to the company store," underscoring the exploitative system

Gathering at New River Gorge National Park near Nuttelburg mine

Setting: early fall picnic outside a historical mine[8:39]
• Ana describes sitting with Yo-Yo and coal miners in New River Gorge National Park, surrounded by tight Appalachian hills and a constantly flowing river, after a picnic of pepperoni rolls and soda from coal miner lunch buckets
Yo-Yo expresses gratitude to miners[9:06]
• He stands up and says he is overwhelmed with appreciation and gratitude for what they have done, noting that their work once united people and asking what they would like others to take away

Ana frames coal's role and the "dark irony" of coal

Coal's formative influence on West Virginians and the country[9:26]
• Ana says coal has formed the lives of many West Virginians and formed the country, but carries a dark irony captured in "16 Tons" and its line about owing one's soul to the company store
Difficulty outsiders have in getting to know coal[9:50]
• She notes that because of coal's contradictions and current controversies, it's hard for outsiders to get to know coal, especially as the industry shrinks in West Virginia while the culture persists
Episode thesis: digging into music and stories tied to coal[10:00]
• Ana says the episode will explore the music and stories of West Virginians whose lives are defined by coal, to understand what keeps people holding on to the place and the "black fossil" in its hills

Ana introduces the Our Common Nature series and Yo-Yo Ma

Series description as a musical journey[10:32]
• Ana says "this is Our Common Nature," a musical journey with Yo-Yo Ma through the country to help people find a connection to nature that many are missing, involving climbing mountains, music, dirt roads, poetry, rivers, oceans, and even their own brains
Yo-Yo Ma introduces himself[11:04]
• When Ana asks for the classic intro, he says, "I'm Yo-Yo Ma and I play the cello" and reacts with delight to having a podcast together

Why Ana and Yo-Yo chose West Virginia

Motivation: learning about a place they don't know well[11:16]
• Ana says they traveled deep into West Virginia because neither knew it well, and the trip through Appalachian towns was a way to learn about a place central to U.S. history and identity
First impressions of West Virginia's beauty and kindness[12:13]
• She was struck by the immense beauty of rivers and mountains and the extraordinary kindness of the people they met

Music, identity, and iconic songs of West Virginia

Musical culture among coal miners

Coal miners' musical preferences[12:04]
• On the riverbank, someone notes that for coal miners it's gospel and country music, leading into a mention of singer-songwriter Kathy Matea

Kathy Matea's family mining background and music

Kathy identifies coal miners as "her people"[12:09]
• She says the miners are "my people" and notes both her grandfathers worked in West Virginia mines
Story of a 30-inch coal seam and improvised workwear[12:25]
• Kathy describes a grandfather who mined a 30-inch seam with a pick, working sideways; her grandmother sewed leather patches on his shirt backs so the ceiling wouldn't wear through them
Family gatherings where stories and music shaped her[12:52]
• Her family would gather at grandparents' homes to tell stories and play music, and her parents encouraged her to perform there

"Take Me Home, Country Roads" as unofficial West Virginia anthem

Frequency of performing "Country Roads"[13:06]
• When asked how many times she has played "Country Roads," Kathy estimates "hundreds and hundreds and hundreds"
Role of the song in West Virginian life[12:13]
• Ana notes it is played at university football games, high school graduations, and weddings, representing a nostalgic, feel-good version of West Virginia
Geographical inaccuracies in the lyrics[14:23]
• Ana points out that specific places in the lyrics-Blue Ridge Mountains, Shenandoah River-are Virginia landmarks, and the songwriters had never been to West Virginia when they wrote it
Why songwriters chose "West Virginia" anyway[14:21]
• They were D.C.-based singer-songwriters naming pretty local landmarks; one was thinking of Massachusetts, but they chose "West Virginia" because it sounded nice
Emotional importance of being named and seen[15:38]
• Kathy says West Virginia is a place where people feel invisible, so a nationally popular song proclaiming "West Virginia, mountain mama" is profound, letting people on different political and social sides still sing together

Bill Withers and "Lean on Me" as mining camp song

Miner Dorsal connects Bill Withers to coal camps[15:38]
• A miner named Dorsal mentions Bill Withers, noting he grew up in a coal mining town in West Virginia and wrote "Lean on Me" about living in the coal camp
Kathy's conversation with Bill Withers about the song[16:03]
• Kathy recalls Bill telling her that "Lean on Me" was about people leaning on and supporting each other in the coal camp, regardless of race
Miners' description of racial dynamics underground[16:15]
• Miners at the gathering say nobody cared about race in the community as long as everyone did their job and looked out for each other on the crew

Zora and Diane's family mining history and realities of discrimination

Diane challenges the idealized picture of solidarity

Zora's voice is weakened by years in the mines[17:03]
• Because Zora's lungs are damaged from decades of mining, Diane often speaks for her and clarifies her experiences
Stories of harassment and exploitative co-workers[17:12]
• Diane recounts that men would pick on her mother, make her do extra work like cleaning their belts, and she would threaten to beat them up outside

Multigenerational mining family and introduction of Chris Saunders

Diane lists miners in the family[17:59]
• Her grandfather and uncle were miners, her mom Zora worked in the mines, and her brother Christopher Saunders is still working as a miner
Ana decides she must meet Chris to understand coal culture more deeply[18:17]
• Ana notes that in coal mining they say everybody is black at the end of the day because of the coal dust, setting up Chris's story after the break

Chris Saunders' experience as a Black coal miner and son of Zora

Underground camaraderie vs. surface prejudice

Chris distinguishes underground work culture from aboveground attitudes[22:05]
• He says that underground you must put prejudice aside to work and stay safe together, but when people come back up it might be a different story

Visiting the coal mining museum and exhibit about Zora

Exhibit shows Zora's crew and her hardened demeanor[22:25]
• Chris points out a photo of Zora in a hard hat and aviator sunglasses, leaning on a chain-link fence with the look of someone who has put up with a lot
Stigma around women, especially Black women, in mines[22:50]
• Chris says there is still a stigma about women being in the mines and that Zora also faced being a Black woman, so that double stigma was present

Zora's path into mining and her work ethic

Zora moved from New York to care for parents and entered mining for a livable wage[23:04]
• She came down as a single mother of four, returned to her coal-miner father's region, and took mining because it could support house, kids, and parents
Zora's strategy for facing discrimination[23:09]
• Chris says she resolved to prove she could outwork and outthink others and would treat them with love and kindness despite their behavior, letting some insults "roll off" her back
Handling a co-worker's racist jokes[23:50]
• When a man kept wanting to tell her N-word jokes, she told him to write them down for her to read; she saved them all, joking she was making him a book, which eventually led him to apologize
Other tactics like sabotaging lunch thieves[24:32]
• Chris recalls her baking brownies with egg sacks so she could tell who was stealing from her lunch bucket, one of many inventive responses to harassment

Emotional cost of mining life and Zora's parenting

Zora's regret about not being home more[24:54]
• Chris says she would apologize for not being home a lot but he insists she did the best she could and was a great mother who taught them how to love people
Chris and interviewer bond over being "softies"[25:15]
• He admits he is a big softie and Ana agrees, underlining the emotional weight of the stories

Chris's commitment to his co-workers and economic reality of mining

For Chris, "Lean on Me" spirit is real[25:15]
• He says the sentiment behind "Lean on Me" may not have held for his mother, but it does for him: he is committed to his job and co-workers through thick and thin
High starting wages and benefits for young miners[25:28]
• Chris notes that in Appalachia an 18-year-old high school graduate can make about $100,000 right away in mining, plus health insurance for the whole family
Health costs and fear of needing oxygen[25:43]
• He acknowledges the risk, saying he chose this work but if he has to be on oxygen again, he doesn't want it
Worry about Zora's worsening condition[25:49]
• Ana notes that Zora's condition worsened after the riverbank meeting to the point she can't speak without oxygen, and Chris is worried about her

Driving Route 3 with Chris: isolation, politics, and dependence on coal

Route 3's winding roads and coal-linked towns

Chris nicknames dangerous curves "kiss my butt curves"[26:06]
• He explains they are approaching curves so sharp he calls them "kiss my butt" curves, as the road follows the twists of the coal route
Route 3 passes through multiple coal communities[27:02]
• Ana notes the map shows Route 3 as a squiggle going through Eccles, Glen Daniel, Rock Creek, and Dry Creek, closely tied to the coal economy

Suspicion of outsiders and microphones

Local support for Trump and outsider plates[27:24]
• Chris remarks on numerous Trump signs and says "we love Trump" around there, and notes locals are suspicious of a car with out-of-state plates driving around
Reluctance to speak with media[27:47]
• Ana says many miners, like Chris, are not quick to trust people with microphones; they couldn't even get permission to enter mine parking lots

Isolation of West Virginia and centrality of coal

Cultural and geographic isolation[27:59]
• Ana calls West Virginia an isolated place both geographically and culturally, where outsiders often "don't get it"
Coal's formative role in towns and unions[27:47]
• She says coal formed these towns, built houses, set up families for duty, formed unions, and undergirded billion-dollar deals, while also killing and polluting
Chris's fear of negative portrayals[28:32]
• He admits he was initially leery about talking because he didn't want anything negative said about what he does, emphasizing every job has negatives but coal has been good to his family

Chris's past, faith, and choice of mining

From drug trade to church and mining in 1993[28:39]
• Chris says he was involved in the drug trade and drugs in the 1980s, then started going to church in 1993, the same year he entered the mines after praying for a way to provide for his family
Following in his mother's footsteps[29:04]
• He wanted to emulate Zora, sees mining as a great way to provide, and acknowledges the situation is complicated

History and global role of West Virginia coal

Coal's geologic nature and long human use

Coal as fossilized plant material used for millennia[29:30]
• Ana explains coal is fossilized plant material millions of years old and humans have burned it for thousands of years, originally just picking it from hills

Rise of "king coal" in last century

Scale of modern U.S. coal mining[29:38]
• She notes that only in the past century did U.S. coal mining grow to "king coal" status, powering much of the modern world

High-metallurgical coal and steel-making pride

West Virginia's high-met coal qualities[29:45]
• She says West Virginia produces "high metallurgical coal," high in carbon and low in moisture, ideal for making iron and steel compared to thermal coal used for heat
Yo-Yo reflects on pride in powering development[30:15]
• He says people in West Virginia can feel pride at being the power source behind iron and steel development, westward expansion, railroads, buildings, and cities

Current exports and ongoing global demand

Chris lists countries buying U.S. coal[30:56]
• He says his company exports to China, South Korea, India's steel mills, and formerly to Ukraine as a major European steel producer

Automation, shrinking workforce, and ghost towns

Fewer workers needed due to mechanization[31:20]
• Ana notes mines have become more automated and mechanized, requiring fewer workers even as coal is still mined and used to make things like electric cars, solar panels, and housing
Visible decline in Route 3 towns[31:31]
• Driving deeper down Route 3 they see smaller towns, abandoned company stores, and ghostly downtowns

Upper Big Branch mine disaster and its aftermath

Arriving at Upper Big Branch and seeing the infrastructure

Chris points out coal seams and conveyor infrastructure[35:50]
• They park beneath a long metal tube connecting mountains-the conveyor belt that moved coal-and Chris identifies the "eagle seam" they mined on a black line on the hillside
Ana's realization about modern mining scale[36:36]
• She says she had imagined hand tools in low seams, but Upper Big Branch is a colossal compound, revealing the industrial scale of contemporary mining

Massey Energy's safety record

Pattern of citations and fines for violations[36:29]
• Ana states that Massey Energy, which owned Upper Big Branch, was often cited and fined for failing to follow safety regulations even as more regulations were imposed

Explosive coal dust, methane, and the 2010 explosion

Coal dust's explosiveness and ventilation needs[37:13]
• Ana explains that heavy machinery creates fine coal dust that is explosive when suspended, requiring huge ventilation systems that never work perfectly
Chain of events on April 5, 2010[37:28]
• On that afternoon a team hit a methane pocket, which exploded and ignited unventilated coal dust, leading to a massive disaster

Chris's recollection of the disaster from underground

He was a section boss underground when it happened[37:46]
• Chris recalls being in a safety meeting as a storm rolled in; he overheard colleagues say it was bad, that many could be dead or trapped, and they initially withheld the information to avoid panic
Rapid oxygen drop and suffocation[38:31]
• He explains that oxygen likely dropped to around 15-16%, suffocating miners who were "packed in there"
Personal loss of friends and co-workers[38:54]
• Chris says he knew every one of the 29 who died and lists several nicknamed friends like Spanky, calling the experience deeply painful

Memorial site with 29 hardhats and offerings

Description of makeshift monument[39:44]
• They stand before 29 hardhats on 29 crosses, surrounded by items like Christmas trees, lunch pails, necklaces, and liquor bottles placed by families and friends

Company response and lack of mourning time

Miners had to report to work the next day[40:15]
• Ana notes miners like Chris had to show up the very next day despite 29 funerals to plan and attend
Chris's anger at not pausing operations[41:03]
• He questions why they didn't stop at least a day out of respect, saying corporate leaders didn't want to admit wrongdoing, but he believes the company should have shut down to regroup and show compassion
Tension between loyalty to employer and criticism[41:03]
• Ana notes Chris is careful not to speak too harshly about the company, because his job, identity, and livelihood could be at risk

Crystal Good's activism, poetry, and Black Appalachian perspective

Genesis of the poem "Black Diamonds" after Upper Big Branch

Phrase "what you know about black diamonds" echoed in her mind[41:29]
• Crystal says for about two years she walked around singing "what you know about black diamonds" as the seed of the poem
Poem links mine disasters to pressure creating diamonds[42:05]
• In performance, she describes April 5, 2010 as a day like others when earth fell in on miners, and portrays miners' wives' tears and injustices as pressure forming metaphorical black diamonds

Visibility of Black miners and historical erasure

Nation's surprise at seeing Black miners on TV[42:16]
• Crystal notes national news coverage of Upper Big Branch led many viewers to react, "wait, Black coal miners?" showing ignorance of Black labor history in West Virginia
Anger at injustice and corporate accountability[42:29]
• She watched some Massey executives pay fines and go to jail, and spoke with widows who never got to tell their full stories

Performing "Black Diamonds" and audience reactions

Dom Flemons accompanies performance by the river[42:58]
• Crystal performs the poem at the New River gathering among miners, Yo-Yo, Kathy, and others, invoking "industrial homicide" and the pressure of grief
People cry when hearing the poem[44:01]
• Ana says whenever Crystal performs it, people cry, underscoring its emotional power

Coal seeping into every aspect of life

Mixture of enrichment and loss from coal[44:03]
• Ana says everyone has a story of how coal has enriched or taken from them, often both, and Crystal feels a responsibility as an artist to articulate those complex emotions

Being Black in a state that is only 3% Black

Crystal calls it "survival" to be Black in West Virginia[44:34]
• She says West Virginia is 3% Black and asks how you can survive in a coal town while openly espousing militant rhetoric, implying strategic navigation of identity is necessary

Water poisoning, legal victory, and ambivalent "wins"

Coal company poisoned her water supply[44:59]
• Crystal recalls waking up to a licorice smell everywhere, later learning a coal company had contaminated the water; she still can't stomach licorice
Class-action suit and small payouts[45:15]
• She joined a lawsuit and technically won, but says people received small checks, maybe about $500, leading her to question what "winning" really means
Social cost: friends leaving the state[45:35]
• Many of her friends who could leave did so because of fear it might happen again; she stayed but feels she lost her community

Health statistics, fatigue, and limited energy

Shorter life expectancies and population decline[46:05]
• Ana notes West Virginia has the second lowest life expectancy and fastest population decline among U.S. states, due to drugs, poverty, and coal pollution
Crystal's awareness of limited time and energy[46:45]
• Crystal says she has only so much energy and time in a place with bad statistics, which shapes her decisions about where to fight and where to preserve herself

Commitment to place and reimagining life with nature in mind

Crystal contrasts coal barons with everyday life design[46:51]
• She says coal barons will always "coal baron," but everyday systems like schools and nursing homes might be designed differently if built with nature in mind
Her practical contribution: taking kids on the river[47:09]
• She is unsure how to redesign systems but says she can keep taking groups of kids down the New River year after year, suggesting nature experiences as her form of resistance and education

Yo-Yo Ma on nature, memory, and sustaining energy

Viewing the natural world as energy transfer

Yo-Yo describes nature as energy and life cycles[47:29]
• He says the natural world is all energy and its transfer, and life taking place is "the miracle"

Yo-Yo's personal mental refuge in a mountain stream

Memory of a rustling brook and wildlife[47:47]
• He recalls a place in the mountains with a stream whose rustling he calls one of the most beautiful sounds in the world, where he saw stars and birds like blue jays and cardinals
Carrying that memory to get through hard days[48:12]
• Yo-Yo says he carries that memory inside and uses it to help him get through what he needs to, thinking about the inseparable cycle of living and humanity's belonging to earth and stars

Rafting the New River with kids and music-making

Whitewater rafting trip with Step by Step kids

Kids' first-time rafting experiences[49:35]
• Ana rides with kids from a middle school program called Step by Step, asking names and whether they have rafted before; some say it's their first time
Goal: meet Yo-Yo waiting with his cello[49:42]
• Yo-Yo waits on the riverbank and plays Bach's Cello Suite No. 1 in G major as they arrive
Raft race and transformation of the kids[50:00]
• After playing, Yo-Yo hops on a raft, challenges the boats to a race, and although Ana's raft likely loses, she and Yo-Yo emphasize how participatory nature experiences break the ice and change the kids

Spontaneous songwriting by the kids

Student performance of an original song[50:33]
• At the trip's end some kids perform a song they wrote from scratch, with a memorable line "I been making that money, I been making it since I was two," which Yo-Yo and Ana still remember
Relaxation and safety unlock creativity[50:42]
• Yo-Yo comments that once kids are relaxed and feel safe, their goofy, fun, and memorable creativity emerges naturally

Final evening gathering with food, music, and dancing

Community dinner under string lights[51:10]
• They share a dinner of barbecue and mac and cheese under riverside pavilion lights, with river guides, kids, and familiar faces mingling
Dom Flemons and Yo-Yo perform together[51:35]
• Banjo player Dom Flemons plays a tune he wrote with Yo-Yo and later shifts to an old line-dance song, calling dances and recalling playing it with another musician who would shout square-dance calls
Music and dance as social glue and fear-breaker[51:57]
• Yo-Yo reflects that people need each other to function and survive, and that doing things together like dancing or rafting breaks down fear, mistrust, and territorial walls

Group singalong of "Take Me Home, Country Roads"

Acknowledging the song's inaccuracies while embracing its feeling[52:36]
• They call the song West Virginia's "national anthem" despite the wrong landmarks and invite everyone to sing along as a communal moment
Ana sees this as a good starting point for knowing the state[53:13]
• Ana says if she wanted to get to know West Virginia, singing "Country Roads" by a river with people who love the state-even knowing its inaccuracies-feels like a good start

Zora's death, Chris's grief, and continued mining work

Phone call with Chris following Zora's passing

Chris informs Ana that Zora has died[54:12]
• Weeks after recording, he texts that his mother died, and on the phone he recounts her telling the family she was ready to go and that "Jesus got my house ready"
Family's final moments and Zora's song choice[54:12]
• His sister sang "Jesus on the Main Line" as Zora patted her foot and smiled; Zora even asked Chris if he had to go to work, showing her concern for his duties

Chris's decision to keep working up to the funeral

Working nights despite bereavement leave[54:53]
• Chris says he will work up until Monday before the services, explaining that although he can get three days off, he chooses to work until then, surprising his boss
Identity as coal miners shapes grief response[55:48]
• He tells Ana his mother loved him and he loved her, and concludes "we just coal miners," suggesting endurance and continuation despite loss

Honors and recognition for Zora as a miner

Funeral parlor discount and proposed cemetery monument[55:53]
• Chris shares that the funeral parlor gave a discount when they learned Zora was a coal miner and that there is talk of building a monument to her in the cemetery

Closing with archival coal song "We Are Almost Down to the Shore"

Introduction to the song and its origin

Dom Flemons explains the song's history[57:06]
• He says the song was recorded by John Lomax and written by Jimmy Struthers, a Black coal miner near Baltimore who was blinded in a mine accident and recorded it about a year after losing his sight

Ana's emotional interpretation of the song

Song's lyrics may not be literally true but carry transcendent feeling[57:53]
• Ana says like "Country Roads," the lyrics of "We Are Almost Down to the Shore" may not be literally accurate, but the feeling she gets every time she hears it transcends that
Imagery of hills, river, and people connected by coal and nature[58:02]
• She mentally returns to the hills and river, seeing Zora holding Diane's hand, Chris and Crystal, kids racing Yo-Yo down the river, and envisions a clean river under clear skies with country roads taking everyone home

Lessons Learned

Actionable insights and wisdom you can apply to your business, career, and personal life.

1

Complex systems like the coal industry can simultaneously provide identity, community, and economic survival while inflicting severe harm, so any honest understanding must hold both realities at once rather than flattening them into heroes or villains.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where in your life or work are you oversimplifying a system or industry as purely good or bad instead of examining its full spectrum of impacts?
  • • How might acknowledging both the benefits and harms of a system you depend on change the way you talk about it and make decisions within it?
  • • What concrete step could you take this week to learn more about the hidden costs and hidden benefits of a system you participate in every day?
2

Listening deeply to the stories of people at the margins-such as Black miners or rural residents-reveals blind spots in mainstream narratives and surfaces injustices that data alone can't convey.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Whose lived experience around you is most likely to be ignored or stereotyped, and what would it look like to ask for their story instead of assuming you already know it?
  • • How could you build regular practices (in your team, family, or community) that prioritize listening to people who are usually talked about rather than talked with?
  • • What is one decision you're making now that could be improved by seeking out and really sitting with the perspective of someone directly affected but rarely heard?
3

Art-songs, poems, and stories-can carry emotional truths that literal facts and statistics cannot, making them powerful tools for processing trauma, building solidarity, and keeping memory alive.

Reflection Questions:

  • • When have you been moved more by a piece of art than by any report or argument on the same topic, and what did that art help you understand or feel?
  • • How could you incorporate more creative expression (music, writing, visual art) into how you and your community reckon with difficult experiences or histories?
  • • What is one story or emotion you're carrying right now that might become clearer if you tried to express it as a song, poem, or short narrative rather than just thinking about it?
4

Deliberate connection to nature-like returning in memory to a stream or taking kids on a river-can be a renewable source of resilience, helping people endure grief, stress, and long-term struggle.

Reflection Questions:

  • • What specific place in nature, real or remembered, reliably helps you feel calmer or more grounded when life feels overwhelming?
  • • How might scheduling even brief, regular encounters with that place (or a similar environment) change your capacity to handle ongoing pressures over the next month?
  • • What is one small ritual you could adopt this week to tie your daily routine more intentionally to the natural world around you?
5

Shared physical experiences-working on a crew, rafting a river, dancing to live music-can break down fear and mistrust more effectively than debate, creating a foundation for empathy across political, racial, or cultural divides.

Reflection Questions:

  • • Where in your life are you trying to bridge a divide mostly through argument or information, and what shared activity might work better to build trust first?
  • • How could you design a gathering (at work, in your neighborhood, or among friends) that centers on doing something together rather than just talking?
  • • What is one relationship or group tension you're facing now where you might experiment with a collaborative, hands-on experience to reset the tone?
6

Choosing where to invest your limited time and energy-especially in hard places with bad statistics-requires clarity about what is within your influence and what forms of resistance or care are sustainable for you personally.

Reflection Questions:

  • • In what areas of your life are you spending significant energy pushing against systems you can't realistically change alone, and how does that affect your well-being?
  • • How might you reframe your role so that your efforts focus on tangible, sustaining actions (like mentoring, teaching, or creating) that fit your strengths and limits?
  • • What is one cause or struggle you care about where you could redefine your contribution in a way that feels both meaningful and sustainable over the next few years?

Episode Summary - Notes by Alex

Our Common Nature: West Virginia Coal
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