What is Appalachia? We’re giving our entire Inside Appalachia episode over to this question this week, with stories from Mississippi to Pittsburgh.

Appalachia connects mountainous parts of the South, the Midwest, the Rust Belt, even the Northeast. Politically, it encompasses 423 counties across 13 states — and West Virginia’s the only state entirely inside Appalachia.

That leaves so much room for geographic and cultural variation. This week, we ask people from five Appalachian states if they feel like they’re in Appalachia.

This week — too often, people with mental health challenges or substance use disorder wind up in jail. But crisis response teams offer another way.

Also, changes to the Endangered Species Act could benefit big business. They could also kill animals like the eastern hellbender.

And, in troubled times, a West Virginia writer says to find peace in nature. We talk about her collection of essays.

You'll hear these stories and more this week, Inside Appalachia.

This week, a look back at 2025. We met some fascinating people, like Aaron Dowdy of country rock band Fust.

Alos, central Appalachia continued to recover from Hurricane Helene. From the beginning, the recovery brought people together.

And we made a trip to Hillbilly Hotdog to take on The Homewrecker.