Hollow Victory > Comments

Comments for Hollow Victory

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This piece belongs to the series "A Sense of Place"

Produced by Helen Borten

Other pieces by Helen Borten

Summary: A David and Goliath battle against a mining technique that blows off mountaintops, buries streams and destroys communities in the hollows of West Virginia.
 

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Laura Herberg

Posted on December 01, 2008 at 12:00 AM | Permalink

Nice intro to a topic that needs to be shared.

This is a nice introduction/overview to a huge problem that I feel few Americans, outside of Appalachia, have actually heard of, which is absolutely astounding! I was first introduced to the issue of Mountain Top Removal in the Summer of 2008, while browsing free on-demand documentaries in my home town of Seattle, WA. After watching a documentary about it, I was shocked that the issue had been going on so long but I had never heard about it. I recently moved to West Virginia as an AmeriCorps VISTA Volunteer and I will tell you that this is a huge issue, one that partitions the state the way that the mountains were meant to, but may not for much longer. I think your listeners, wherever they may be, and whichever side they'll end up standing on, will thank you for exposing them to this issue.
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Chelsea Merz

Posted on March 25, 2004 at 09:13 AM | Permalink

Review of Hollow Victory

Missing toes, internal hemorrhaging, black lung, eating flour and sugar for dinner: the life of West Virginian miners. This sounds straight out of Steinbeck, and like Steinbeck Helen Borten explores the economic problems of rural labor , the political power of the bullying coal industry. Unlike Steinbeck , Borten's piece is not nearly as aggressive in its social criticism. Rather, her investigative reporting is so thorough and her interviewees so compelling, that the listener is sufficiently equipped to draw his /her own conclusions.

When would you broadcast a piece that explores the darker side of American industry, the realities of the working poor? Well, that's the beauty of an election year because just about anything that's political is relevant. This would also work nicely if you paired it with another piece from Borten's series to make a one-hour show. Another option for broadcast is Labor Day but why wait it's six months when this resonates today?