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In 'Happy Land,' author Dolen Perkins-Valdez explores Western NC during Reconstruction

During Reconstruction, a community of free Black residents formed a kingdom in Western North Carolina. They called it The Kingdom of the Happy Land. Novelist Dolen Perkins Valdezs new book, , gives a fictionalized account of this little-known Appalachian history. Leoneda Inge talks to her about the process of researching this community and the story shes crafted to celebrate it.

Guest

Dolen Perkins-Valdez, assistant professor of literature at American University and New York Times best-selling author

Leoneda Inge is the co-host of 耳科利利嫋's "Due South." Leoneda has been a radio journalist for more than 30 years, spending most of her career at 耳科利利嫋 as the Race and Southern Culture reporter. Leonedas work includes stories of race, slavery, memory and monuments. She has won "Gracie" awards, an Alfred I. duPont Award and several awards from the Radio, Television, Digital News Association (RTDNA). In 2017, Leoneda was named "Journalist of Distinction" by the National Association of Black Journalists.
Stacia L. Brown is a writer and audio storyteller who has worked in public media since 2016, when she partnered with the Association of Independents in Radio and Baltimore's WEAA 88.9 to create The Rise of Charm City, a narrative podcast that centered community oral histories. She has worked for WAMUs daily news radio program, 1A, as well as 耳科利利嫋s The State of Things. Stacia was a producer for 耳科利利嫋's award-winning series, Great Grief with Nnenna Freelon and a co-creator of the station's first children's literacy podcast, The Story Stables. She served as a senior producer for two Ten Percent Happier podcasts, Childproof and More Than a Feeling. In early 2023, she was interim executive producer for WNYCs The Takeaway.