Trailer: Presenting The Middle of Everywhere Transcript
Ariel Lavery: Hey! I’m Ariel Lavery.
Austin Carter: Hey and I’m Austin Carter.
Ariel Lavery: And where are we Austin?
Austin Carter: We’re in the Middle of Everywhere!
Ariel Lavery: And what is the Middle of Everywhere?
Austin Carter: Well, it’s all those places, all across America where so many people call their home.
Ariel Lavery: Like me! I call this place home now, here in Murray, KY, but growing up, I never imagined I’d be living and raising a family in rural America.
Austin Carter: Now you fall into that third of Americans living in rural and small town America. Before you got here, did you also fall into that even bigger chunk of Americans that wanted to live here?
Ariel Lavery: I think so. It just took me a while to get here.
(music starts)
Ben Winchester: Every day there are people moving to rural America. They’re moving because they’re seeing hope and opportunity in the middle of these regions. These are not just prairie towns, they’re not just recreational towns. These are all rural communities across the country that are experiencing this influx of people in their 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s. When we start to look at the choices people make about where to place their home and where they choose to buy their home, is in the middle of everywhere.
Ariel Lavery: So if there really is this influx of people, we figure, folks want to hear about what’s going on in these places, right?
Austin Carter: Right, and we know there are people out there missing the stories from small town America. And those are exactly the stories we want to tell.
Hoppy Henton: What’s that got to do with anything about our lives in rural America?
Ariel Lavery: We’ll learn what motivates people here. What are people passionate about and what are they working on in these communities?
Austin Carter: And we’re going to be focusing on Kentucky this first season with stories like, how does the state feel about a newcomer who wants IM GOD on his license plate?
Ben Hart: So when I moved to Kentucky I applied for the same plate over here.
Austin Carter: We’ll talk with some great characters!
Ariel Lavery: Oh my gosh, it’s been so fun getting to know these folks.
Hoppy Henton: You knew it was coming. You KNEW it was coming.
Karen Chadwell: Honestly, if I came up on his car and saw the IM GOD plate, I would pray for him. Because I know he isn’t God.
Ariel Lavery: We’re also going to explore some deep history of this state. History that touches generations of people.
Charlotte Whittaker: My dad had always talked about it, how it had come down through the years, and it must have been like magic. I just almost cried the first time I held it because how very special that is to all of us.
Austin Carter: We’re gonna bust some stereotypes.
Ariel Lavery: And eat some genuine Kentucky cuisine.
Sara Bradley: But the hot brown was created to feed drunk people, it’s two o’clock in the morning, these people are down partying in the bottom of the Brown hotel. What can the chef come up with? And it’s like; bread, shaved turkey, and cheese sauce all over it, and bacon and tomatoes. This wasn’t a fancy meal.
Ariel Lavery: Have you had fun?
Austin Carter: Yes, it’s definitely been fun!
Mike Kovac: He’s gonna get a lot of ribbing over that later. (laughter) Oh god.
CW: It tells how much people gave on Sunday morning.
Austin Carter: Really? Offering?
Charlotte Whittaker: Yeah, offering!
Austin Carter: Did anything come from these peace talks?
Ariel Lavery: I like the peace talks. (laughter)
Austin Carter Join us for our first episode.
Ariel Lavery: Here on Middle of Everywhere.
Austin Carter: Big stories from the small places we call home.
Ariel Lavery: From WKMS, PRX, and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, Middle of Everywhere drops October 26, wherever you get your podcasts.
(music swells and ends)