#61 The History of Coal w/ Chuck Keeney
The Road to Now
Benjamin Sawyer
4.8 • 628 Ratings
🗓️ 10 July 2017
⏱️ 38 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In our first episode of the second season of The Road to Now, Bob and Ben speak with Dr. Chuck Keeney about the history of coal in the United States. Chuck explains the ways that the coal industry has shaped not only the physical landscape of mining towns, but also, through lobbying efforts and information campaigns, the way we understand our nation's history. Chuck is uniquely qualified to tell the story of coal; not only does he hold a PhD in history from West Virginia University, he is the great-grandson of coal miner and labor organizer Frank Keeney, who was part of The Battle of Blair Mountain.
(The Battle of Blair Mountain was a 1921 shootout between coal miners and the coal companies that was the largest domestic insurrection since the Civil War. If you want to know more, it's all in this episode.)
Chuck Keeney was featured in the 2017 NatGeo Documentary From the Ashes, which was directed by Michael Bonfiglio. We highly recommend you take the time to watch this outstanding documentary!
For more on The Road to Now, please visit our website: www.theroadtonow.com.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Our friend Dolphus Ramser was born and raised in Concord, North Carolina, a town so rich |
| 0:06.0 | with history that it provided the inspiration for its independent record label and management |
| 0:11.0 | company. |
| 0:12.0 | So great was the city's influence on Ramzer that he continues to live and work in Concord today, |
| 0:17.0 | with full-time staff located in both North Carolina and California. |
| 0:21.7 | He and his team always put their clients music first, work as hard as they can, and have fun |
| 0:26.7 | along the way. Visit ramsar.com to learn more. |
| 0:42.8 | Welcome to the Road to Now, where we look to the past and everything in between to understand the present. |
| 0:44.5 | I'm Bob Crawford. |
| 0:45.5 | And I'm Ben Sawyer, and it's great to be back. |
| 0:48.1 | We're very excited about season two. |
| 0:51.0 | Ben, how are we beginning season two? |
| 0:53.7 | Well, Bob, we're beginning season two with a series looking at the energy industry, which has been fascinating. |
| 0:59.7 | In this first episode features Chuck Keeney, Professor of History at West Virginia University. |
| 1:04.4 | He was featured in the recent Nat Geo documentary from the Ashes about coal in America. |
| 1:12.2 | Which is outstanding. At our house, we watched it when it premiered on Nat Geo documentary from the ashes about Cole in America. Which is outstanding. |
| 1:16.3 | At our house, we watched it when it premiered on that geo and blew my mind. |
| 1:23.5 | Mike Monfiglio did such an incredible job directing that and the interviews, you've got to watch that documentary. You will walk away smarter. |
| 1:25.2 | Yeah, and it really, our interview with Chuck focuses on coal's impact in West Virginia. |
| 1:31.6 | Right. |
| 1:31.9 | And it's amazing because history is a tool of power. |
| 1:35.5 | You kind of know that, I think. |
... |
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