Blankenship On Trial

Blankenship On Trial

Language: English Episodes: 100
Blankenship On Trial is a news and politics podcast that investigates the deadly explosion at the Upper Big Branch Mine in Montcoal, West Virginia, where 29 miners lost their lives on April 5, 2010. Through detailed storytelling and careful reporting, this series examines how a history of unsafe practices may have paved the way for disaster, and how federal regulators and prosecutors worked to trace responsibility up the corporate ladder to former Massey Energy CEO Don Blankenship. Listeners can expect a gripping, methodical look at corporate power, regulatory failure, and the human cost of profit-driven decisions. Each week, Blankenship On Trial guides you through courtroom developments, key witness testimony, and the broader political and social context that shaped the case. Listen episodes to gain a deeper understanding of how one mine disaster became a national reckoning over workplace safety and corporate accountability.
Episodes
Team Building With Appalachian Cryptids, This West Virginia Morning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Monsters in the workplace? Maybe. Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh is developing a team building game using Appalachian cryptids like Bigfoot and the Flatwoods Monster. Inside Appalachia’s Mason Adams spoke with…
Us & Them Encore: Our Foster Care Crisis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Across the nation, more than 390,000 children rely on foster care, while a shortage of licensed foster homes is creating a growing crisis. As May marks National Foster Care Month, this encore episode of Us & Them explore…
How A Tornado Affected Threatened Orchids, This West Virginia Morning [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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Researchers have spent almost two decades restoring a threatened species of orchid in southern Kentucky. But those efforts were disrupted when an EF-4 tornado swept through the area in May 2025, carving visible lines in…
Recovery After Hurricane Helene, Inside Appalachia [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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This week, Hurricane Helene devastated central Appalachia and disrupted the lives of people in recovery. Also, in West Virginia, fur trapping continues, even in the 21st century. And, baseball is America’s past-time. One…