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In this season of giving there is need among flood survivors in eastern Kentucky. And the response is not always what you might imagine. Anya Slepyan has the story of a gift of kindness and warmth from quilters around the country. | Joseph Anthony relocated to Hazard from New York City. He offers a reading of his essay about chopping down his first Kentucky Christmas tree | Kentucky Poet Laureate Crystal Wilkinson talks with Tom Eblen about her childhood Christmases in Casey County | Kentucky novelist Silas House talks with Tom Martin about “When She Came to Mercy”, his short story about kindness in a time of need | “Hearing Angel Voices,” an Eastern Standard radio play by A.K. Forbes, about that famous couple for whom there was “no room in the Inn.” | Georgia Green Stamper offers her own childhood recollection of the manger story.

Former Kentucky Poet Laureate, Richard Taylor, author of numerous collections of poetry, two novels, and several books relating to Kentucky history on becoming an inductee into the Kentucky Writers Hall of Fame. | Emily Cross Gibson on her podcast series about author, social activist and Distinguished Professor in Residence at Berea College, bell hooks. | Lexington author John Winn Miller transports us to the North Atlantic of WWII with his novel, “The Hunt for the Peggy C.” | A high school theater instructor’s account of returning from the virtual to the classroom teaching/learning experience | And what lured a musician with a resume as long as your arm from New York City to Lexington, Kentucky?

Special Edition of Eastern Standard, presenting "RISE."

RISE is an Eastern Standard documentary series about the July ‘22 flash flood and its lingering aftermath in Eastern Kentucky. Episode Two focuses on a pre-existing housing shortage made far worse by the flood; flood insurance issues; floodplain mapping; leadership exhaustion and stress; and the work of some of the key nonprofit organizations in the region. The episode is capped by a Chris Begley essay about the nature of mountain communities and how this event is forcing difficult change.

Episode three of RISE investigates an increasing frequency of extreme weather events such as the moisture-heavy storm system that stalled above 13 eastern Kentucky counties on the night of July 27, 2023 and intensified well into the morning of the 28th. The resulting flash flood claimed 44 lives and destroyed or severely damaged thousands of homes - homes located outside of officially mapped floodplains. The episode explores the question: are these storms the calling card of climate change?

Episode Four of RISE explores the psychology of crisis and the mental health impacts of the July flood on survivors who lost everything, children, and whole communities destroyed by floodwaters. It also explores the stress and strain on caseworkers and first responders. Although there’s a strong cultural resistance to seeking professional mental health care, there’s also a strong culture of neighbors helping neighbors get by, kindness undeterred by crisis.

Episode 5 of "RISE Eastern Kentucky".

Forty-five lives were lost. Thousands of homes and businesses were destroyed by the flash flood in July of 2022. While still adjusting to such heavy loss and amid much uncertainty, Eastern Kentuckians are giving careful consideration to the future. In addition to addressing the immediate need for housing on higher ground, that future includes preparing for the possibility of more frequent extreme weather. Is this a turning point? Or just another turn on the curvy road ahead? Residents demonstrate the most important key to a strong community is knowing how to show up for your neighbors.

Eastern Standard Episode for February 23rd, 2023.

Eastern Standard for March 2nd, 2023.On this week’s edition:Listening in as members of the Kentucky Student Voice Team have a discussion about the ways their races and ethnicities affect their learning experiences.Model on the EKU campus in Richmond is the state’s last remaining laboratory school where teachers learn how to teach real kids in real classrooms. Model Superintendent & Dean of K-12 Programs John Williamson is guest of Gill Hunter for our series on education in Kentucky.An update on the cost of replacing homes lost and repairing those severely damaged in the flash flood of July ’22.From the website of Tom Eblen’s guest in our series on Kentucky writers: “A bicultural child of a Malay mother and an Indian father, Amelia Zachry was different from the get-go, never quite fitting in. In this raw, inspiring memoir, she chronicles the long, winding journey that brought her from Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, to Kentucky, USA—the place she and her family now call home.”And Duane Lundy welcomes to “Depth of Field” songwriter and music journalist Jeff Slate who, since 2013, has been contributing articles about music and culture to Esquire and liner notes for the 50th anniversary reissue of The Beatles' Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, the STAX Records 60th anniversary reissue series and albums by Small Faces and Shawn Colvin.