The Talking Appalachian Podcast
Talking Appalachian is a podcast about the Appalachian Mountain region's language or "voiceplaces," cultures, and communities. The podcast is hosted by Dr. Amy Clark, a Professor of Communication Studies and Director of the Center for Appalachian Studies at the University of Virginia's College at Wise. The podcast is based on her 2013 co-edited book Talking Appalachian: Voice, Identity, and Community. Her writing on Appalachia has appeared in the New York Times, Oxford American Magazine, Salon.com, on NPR, and Harvard University Press blog. She is also founder and director of the Appalachian Writing Project, which serves teachers, students, and the communities of the central Appalachian region.
The Talking Appalachian Podcast
Latest Episodes
Voice Actor Jake Phillips and the Art of Sounding Southern
Known as @theculturedbumpkin on social media and YouTube, voice actor Jake Phillips knows a thing or two about sounding Southern. The Mississippi native built his voice acting career aft...
Episode Revisit: Adriana Trigiani
In this episode, I'm sitting down at the Library of Virginia with bestselling author, director, playwright, podcaster, and friend, Adriana Trigiani, to talk about what it means to be Appalachian.She is the New York Times bestsel...
Defending Our Dialects: The Social Weight of Talking Appalachian (and Southern)
In this episode, we dig into seven key reasons Appalachian and Southern speakers push back when others critique the way we talk. Media bias, language discrimination, and a deep sense of ownership over our vowels, words, and ways of speaking all...
What did Americans Sound Like 250 Years Ago?
As America celebrates 250 years, we're reflecting on how Americans may have sounded from the colonists to Confederados. Drawing on a prior episode with Dr. Valerie Fridland and research by linguists like Michael Montgomery, I'll discuss how set...
Why We Talk Funny: a Conversation with Valerie Fridland on the Origins of Accents and Attitudes About Them
Author Valerie Fridland is the author of the new book Why We Talk Funny: the Real Story Behind Our Accents (Viking, 2026.) In this fascinating episode that launches Season 4, we'll talk about the Revolutionary-era origins of o...
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