WXPR Public Radio

Tune in tomorrow, June 7th, at 9am to listen to Embodied: Building a Q***r Life in the Country.

Rae Garringer grew up on a sheep farm in rural West Virginia, and once they left for college and came out as q***r, they weren't sure they could ever move back. They believed the story they’d been told: to thrive as an out, LGBTQ+ person, you have to live in a city. But when Rae did move back to rural West Virginia in 2011, they realized that story was a lie.

Rae talks to host Anita Rao about making q***r life work in the country – from navigating dating challenges to getting along with neighbors you disagree with. They also talk about stories from Rae’s oral history project, podcast and book “Country Q***rs,” which documents q***r, rural life in 21 states around the country.

Rae is a writer, oral historian and audio producer. They’re the founder and director of the Country Q***rs project and the author of “Country Q***rs: A Love Letter.”

It’s Protect My Public Media Day! WXPR has been proud to be your neighbor for over 40 years, and we want to be yours for years to come. Learn more about Protect My Public Media Day at: https://protectmypublicmedia.org/

🎉WE HAVE A WINNER🎉

Congratulations Carrie Frye! You were randomly selected as the Blue Ox Music Festival ticket giveaway winner for Facebook.

Please DM us for details on how to redeem your prize - we can't wait to send you to the festival! 😎🎶

(winners have 24 hours to redeem their prize, if not redeemed within 24 hours another winner will be drawn)

A popular destination to view waterfalls in the western Upper Peninsula will be seeing some improvements.

The Ottawa National Forest began a major effort to repair and replace waterfall viewing platforms, stairways and trail structures along the Black River corridor this month.

Visitors should be aware there will be temporary closures at key waterfall access points at various times throughout the summer.

Read more: https://www.wxpr.org/outdoors-leisure-and-sports/2026-05-21/trail-improvement-work-will-impact-access-to-popular-waterfalls-in-the-western-upper-peninsula

We'd like to take a moment to congratulate our news team for earning three Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards.

The Radio Television Digital News Association has been honoring outstanding achievements in electronic journalism with the Edward R. Murrow Awards since 1971. The RTDNA Edward R. Murrow Awards are considered among the most prestigious honors in broadcast and digital journalism and are presented to news organizations, not individuals.

You can read more by clicking the link below.

The WXPR News Team has earned three Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards The WXPR News Team has earned three Regional Edward R. Murrow Awards