Episode Details

We chat with Rick Sturgill, a retired coal miner and electrician from Letcher County in South East Kentucky. Rick is a straight shooter, he calls things like he sees them. And, having spent most of his life around coal, he has a lot of sobering things to say about working in coal and about the far-reaching effects the coal industry has had on cities and towns in Appalachia, on politics and the environment, and especially on the lives of coal miners and their families.  

Additional links/info below...

• Trillbilly Workers Party Twitter page and Patreon 
• Tom Sexton, The Baffler, "Going in for the Shill"
• Tarence Ray, Popula, "A Way Out"
• Elizabeth Catte, The Guardian, "Passive, Poor, and White? What People Keep Getting Wrong about Appalacia" 
• Elizabeth Catte, The Guardian, "Why 'Trump Country' Isn't as Republican as You Think" 
• Lou Martin, The Conversation, "Invoking Noble Coal Miners Is a Mainstay of American Politics" 
• James Green, LitHub, "A Day in the Life of a West Virginia Coal Miner" 
• Livia Gershon, JSTOR, "The Rise and Fall of Coal Miners' Unions" 
• Elyssa East, The Guardian, "Black Lung Disease Is Still Killing Miners. The Coal Industry Won't Hear It"

Featured Music (all songs sourced from the Free Music Archive: freemusicarchive.org)

• Lobo Loco, "Malte Junior - Hall"
• Blue Dot Sessions, "Low Coal Camper"