For any Anthony Bourdain or West Virginia fans,

[babylonsister]

cnn has renewed his contract, new show tonight, cnn, 9pm EST. Very good!

[elleng]

1. Watching.

[babylonsister]

2. dt needs to work in a mine for a week. Can you imagine?!

[elleng]

3. Not a chance!

Note one of the miners, when asked why WV votes as it does considering it's past Dem affinity, said 'HRC came here and said gonna put ### miners out of work.'

SERIOUS messaging problem.

[JI7]

4. They didn't vote for Obama either

[Wounded Bear]

21. Trump wouldn't fit in the mine...

[applegrove]

5. Oh man they can't stop till he has done all the countries in the world.

[babylonsister]

6. He's doing states, too. I do enjoy his shows. nt

[applegrove]

9. Yes. He's doing Newfoundland this season. I'm from Canada so i'm

pretty excited. Was another good show tonight.

[democrank]

7. Watching

Excellent show

[blueinredohio]

8. If he had any sympathy I would suggest watching someone with black lung waste away.

That's what my dad died of, worked in mines for twenty years. It's a horrible thing to watch.

[Bradshaw3]

10. I guess you've never watched one of his shows

The best thing about them is not the food, or the culture, which he always gives insights into, but the fact that he does have so much empathy for the many diverse people around the world he has spotlighted over the years. He wasn't trying to get people to understand and support coal mining. He was trying to get them to understand the people of coal country.

[blueinredohio]

14. I'm sorry I didn't explain myself I meant Trump not having sympathy not Bourdain

[Bradshaw3]

15. Now that makes sense. Good point

[OneGrassRoot]

11. Welch, WV seems to be rather unique in one way

I was surprised by the "seeming" lack of racism. I say seeming because I wonder about the deeper stories of this town which was highlighted.

I like Bourdain a lot. I get why he did the show and how he did it. But something about it didn't sit well with me.

You have these people on camera talking about how everyone has everyone else's back and what a close community they are, etc. And on some level that's obviously true. But why are drug/alcohol issues so prevalent if it's such a wonderful place to live?

I mean, those are problems present EVERYWHERE...I'm not saying Welch is any different...but I just think people aren't honest with themselves and thus can't be honest with anyone else. I also recognize the choice to see the glass as half full, which is a good trait, imo. Still...something about it feels fake to me, not only about this Welch coverage but similar shows that focus on one town.

Maybe the reasons people escape into drugs/alcohol are basically universal and we just accept that it's the human condition now and there's no need for the deep dive there, but I wish there was more focus on the WHY people are suffering. Surely there's a way to highlight the positives (sense of community) with the realities of suffering and struggle.

I grew up in an area similar to Welch and racism and bigotry were RAMPANT. Very segregated, so I'm intrigued by Welch in that regard.

Where I grew up is a pro-Trump, "bootstrap," God and guns kinda place. What I have always perceived as false bravado (just pull yourself up by your bootstraps!) always, always bothered me. How do we fix or heal anything when people won't even admit there's a problem? And there's a problem when so many lives, families and towns are being decimated by drugs/alcohol as one symptom of the underlying issues.


EDIT TO ADD: Others who watched may feel they did dive into the suffering and struggle. It could be a matter of perception and I just didn't perceive a good balance in that regard.

[JI7]

12. most of Bourdain's shows will focus more on the positive. it is after all mainly a foods show

there will be mentions of controversies but they aren't going to get into it too much . and they shouldn't with him since he is not an expert on that stuff so it wont do much good.

but it does show the failure of the larger US media to regularly report on the things you mention.

[OneGrassRoot]

13. You're right.

His themes when visiting hard-hit areas are more about resilience. You're absolutely right.

I guess I wish there was a show that had more balance. The news shows -- when they DO cover the underlying issues -- dive so much into the pain and suffering that many tune them out. Bourdain's show would have to be two hours long to cover the suffering AND resilience. I do think he has the chops to cover the hard issues though (like I really wish he would have rebutted some things more forcefully, like the gun issue), but totally get that it's not his responsibility to do so.

[Bradshaw3]

16. The show did get into one big reason for the opiod crisis there

It was the fact that a small state like WV saw a huge number - way over what one would expect - of pills being literally pushed there by companies large and small, and doctors who would prescribe them in amounts that would only lead to addiction. Sure there are underlying causes such as job loss but when poweful narcotics are being thrown at people with few options the outcome is predictable.

[OneGrassRoot]

17. Thank you...

I didn't watch with complete attention and must have missed some things. I'll go back and watch the whole thing.

[IronLionZion]

18. Appalachia isn't diverse enough to be very racist

they mostly don't know any better rather than being hostile.

Hostile racism is in many cities/suburbs where there is competition for jobs and housing and schools and some people would like to put other people in their place and keep them down.

[OneGrassRoot]

19. Interesting...

but I grew up in a similar area (SW PA), which also didn't have much diversity and were (and still are) very racist, some hostile, with competition for jobs and housing as you describe.

I have a feeling the kumbaya aspect of Welch isn't what it seems, at least as far as race relations, but I could obviously be wrong about that.

[IronLionZion]

20. I'm also from SW PA and had a different experience

it is racist as hell now, full of Trumpsters wanting to blame immigrants for the drug problem and lack of jobs.

But things were not hostile there when I grew up as one of very few POC in my town during the 80s-90s.

Being a perpetual foreigner has been a much bigger problem for me in DC with the struggle for US citizen-only jobs made easier if some folks rise up by stepping on my head.

[OneGrassRoot]

22. VERY interesting!

Thank you so much for sharing your experience.

I may send you a message with more specific questions, if that's okay. I've been an anti-racist activist for over 40 years now and am really curious how it manifests differently from city to city...and why.

Thanks again.

[lunatica]

23. When I came out of the hospital one time I couldn't eat

No matter how much I forced myself I just couldn’t swallow more than a bite. I had zero appetite and even the thought of eating made me gag.

So I watched an all day marathon of Bordain’s shows and a few hours into it I finally felt hungry and was able to start eating again.

So yeah, I really like his show!