If you’re not earning at least $22.10 an hour, you can’t afford to live in Asheville. That’s according to Just Economics of WNC , which last month updated its living wage rate for Buncombe County. It climbed $2 an hour in less than a year. My guests today are Vicki Meath, Director of Just Economics, and Jen Hampton, the organization’s Housing and Wages Organizer. Just Economics has a living wage certification program that only a fraction of local employers participate in. We talk about the strug...
Feb 12, 2024•39 min•Ep. 130
What Can We Do to Restore Better Healthcare in WNC? The nonprofit investigative news outlet the Asheville Watchdog posed that question in a Jan. 23 public forum at A-B Tech. In this episode, Watchdog editor Peter Lewis moderates a panel with Drs. R. Bruce Kelly and Clay Ballantine, Brevard Mayor Maureen Copelof, nurse and patient advocate Karen Sanders and Democratic State Senator Julie Mayfield of Asheville. The opening comments at the forum from the same panelists are featured in a separate ep...
Jan 30, 2024•29 min•Ep. 129
The exodus of doctors and nurses, the mountains of complaints from patients, the lawsuit from North Carolina’s Attorney General. Those are just the broad areas of fallout in the five years since HCA Healthcare purchased Asheville’s formerly not-for-profit Mission Hospital. The Asheville Watchdog is a nonprofit investigative news outlet that has been out front on the local reporting on this. A few hundred people came out Jan. 23 for a Watchdog forum at A-B Tech designed to answer a single questio...
Jan 30, 2024•54 min•Ep. 128
Carly Kotula is an Asheville singer-songwriter who has gone through two name changes in the time I’ve known her. First to her married name—she first made her way in music as Carly Taich—and now to her new artistic persona, Moon Bride . We talk with Carly here about her new album, “Insomnie,” and preview some songs from it. We delve into the motivations and symbolism behind her name change, the eclectic and personal nature of her music and how she’s expressing her music visually. We also talk abo...
Jan 27, 2024•27 min•Ep. 127
There’s a childcare crisis in the United States. First, the cost is enormous. Second, parents of infants are meeting waitlists of many months, even up to a year, just to land openings. In Buncombe County, where incomes are pretty modest, parents often weigh whether they can afford to go back to work. My guest today is Jenny Vial, Director of Child Care Resources at Buncombe Partnership for Children . We go through the growing demand and dwindling supply for quality childcare providers. We talk a...
Jan 24, 2024•34 min•Ep. 126
There are far more young people in need of foster homes than there are homes to take them in. This is true all over the country, but it’s particularly acute in Buncombe County. More than 100 local youth are now in homes outside the county because there’s such a shortage of spaces here. The challenge is greater when two or more kids from the same family need homes. These siblings are often separated for months at a time or even longer. My guests today are Amy Hunstman of Buncombe County Health an...
Jan 22, 2024•41 min•Ep. 125
Jared Wheatley will tell anyone who asks, he is Cherokee. But it took him decades to begin the deep exploration of what it means to be Cherokee—the history of his people, his family, and how to live his layered lineage and heritage in the world today. Wheatley’s quest led him to create the Indigenous Walls Project . He and other Native artists he has invited have painted more than 15,000 square feet of outdoor walls in Asheville with Native syllabary and other cultural symbols and imagery. In th...
Jan 19, 2024•47 min•Ep. 124
Before there was a South Slope or River Arts District, those neighborhoods were wrapped into a swath of Asheville called Southside. Southside still exists, but its formal boundaries are tighter, separated from more prosperous neighborhoods. People fighting for Southside’s identity and relevance are asking city leaders for something some might find audacious—to roll the French Broad Association, South Slope and River Arts District back into the branding of the Southside. Shuvonda Harper and Sekou...
Jan 17, 2024•38 min•Ep. 123
The Asheville Police Department hasn’t had a homegrown chief in 20 years. Local native Mike Lamb hopes that soon changes. Lamb grew up in Asheville and has been on the force since 1997. In December, city officials named him the interim chief with the sudden retirement of Chief David Zack. This is the second half of my conversation with Interim Chief Lamb. Part One posted January 10. Today, we bore into the often-stated statistic that Asheville Police is down 40 percent of its budgeted officers. ...
Jan 15, 2024•28 min•Ep. 122
Joe Carroll is a one-of-a-kind comic talent in Asheville: Part Charlie Chaplin, part Robin Williams, part Don Knotts. He's on the eve of his first solo theatrical production, called “Quality Service.” It runs Jan. 19-21 at the Masonic Temple. We’ll talk with Joe about his upbringing on a rural North Carolina farm, the personal exploration he’s making in the new show and why he has chosen to build his stage career in Asheville. Help "The Overlook with Matt Peiken" podcast reach its very reachable...
Jan 12, 2024•24 min•Ep. 121
Mike Lamb grew up in Asheville and joined the city’s police department in 1998. Over the years, he worked under six different chiefs until last month, when he was named the interim chief with the sudden and surprise retirement of David Zack. Today, I begin a two-part conversation with Interim Chief Mike Lamb. He tells us about his path to law enforcement and what he believes he brings to leadership atop the Asheville Police Department. We also talk about how a carousel of leadership has affected...
Jan 10, 2024•26 min•Ep. 120
From one perspective, Caleb Rudow is relatively new to public office. Only two years ago was he first appointed to his current seat and, later in the year, won his first state house election, representing NC’s 116th District. But from another perspective, Rudow has spent much of his life in public service. So the North Asheville Democrat says he sees it as a natural step to challenge first-term Republican Chuck Edwards for his seat in the U.S. Congress. Today, we talk with Rudow through his path...
Jan 08, 2024•38 min•Ep. 119
Since launching The Overlook with Matt Peiken this past February, I produced 118 episodes enlightening you about the news, arts, issues and trends of Asheville, NC. I’d like to think I give to my community with every episode. If you’d like to show your appreciation in return, please consider supporting the show through my Patreon crowdfunding page . I’ll be back with fresh episodes Monday, January 8. Help "The Overlook with Matt Peiken" podcast reach its very reachable goal: Just $1,000 in month...
Dec 18, 2023•2 min
This is the second half of my conversation with four leaders in Asheville's Jewish community: Rabbis Batsheva Meiri of Congregation Beth HaTephila and Mitchell Levine of Congregation Beth Israel , along with Frank Goldsmith, who is on the steering committee of Carolina Jews for Justice ; and Sharon Fahrer, who has documented much of Asheville’s Jewish history. In the vapors of Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack in Israel and the ensuing war, we delve deeper into the impact on local Jews, the documented rise o...
Dec 15, 2023•34 min•Ep. 118
In the days after Oct. 7, when Hamas attacked Israel, some of the fiercest criticisms in this country were directed at Israel, from self-identified liberals and progressives. At the same time, I heard nary a whisper of outrage directed toward Hamas for the attack, its treatment of hostages taken that day and their use of civilians in Gaza as shields. This is the first episode in a two-part conversation with local Jewish leaders: Rabbis Batsheva Meiri of Congregation Beth HaTephila and Mitchell L...
Dec 13, 2023•35 min•Ep. 117
Since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, Islamophobia and antisemitism are on the rise across the United States. That inspired me to reach out to leaders of the Islamic Center of Asheville and two of Asheville’s synagogues. I’m devoting this week’s episodes to those conversations. Today, I speak with Nasser Ostah, who moved from Jordan a little over a year ago, to become the imam of the Islamic Center of Asheville. Joining us is longtime center member and community leader Khalid Bashir. From both ...
Dec 11, 2023•39 min•Ep. 116
Asheville singer-songwriter Hannah Kaminer has established a pattern of processing and naming the heaviness in life through her music. On the heels of her previous album, “Heavy Magnolias,” comes “Heavy on the Vine,” a new collection of lush music underscoring lyrics born from personal turmoil and evolution. Today, Hannah guides us through her departure from organized religion and her societal observations born through song. We’ll also talk about tacklung her anxiety by studying and performing t...
Dec 08, 2023•31 min•Ep. 115
Tourism officials want people to think of Asheville as Beer City, USA. Never mind that breweries now dot the downtowns of even the smallest of cities. Still, there are only a handful of schools in the country like Craft Beverage Institute of the Southeast , on the campus of A-B Tech. Today, we talk with Jeff “Puff” Irvin, the institute’s director. Every semester, people from throughout the South and far beyond study at the Craft Beverage Institute, many pursuing a career change. While the school...
Dec 06, 2023•32 min•Ep. 114
One of Asheville’s iconic concert venues will vanish in the coming years—not because of poor business, but because of eminent domain. Salvage Station on Riverside Drive is on the map of businesses that will be forced to sell and give way to the I-26 Connector. A number of homes are also on the map for clearance. Nathan Moneyham, a division construction engineer based in Asheville for the NC Department of Transportation, talks about eminent domain and how today’s DOT works with affected communiti...
Dec 04, 2023•32 min•Ep. 113
Nabil El Jaouhari grew up in a village outside of Beirut, Lebanon. Even amid post-war cycles of sectarian violence, Nabil followed a path of artistic expression. His fine art studies eventually led him to the United States. Since moving to Asheville, about eight years ago, he has regularly shown at Mark Bettis Gallery in the River Arts District. In today's conversation, we learn about his life in Lebanon, how moving to the U.S. affected his art and his explorations of memory through visual colla...
Dec 01, 2023•31 min•Ep. 112
It took the formation of Thrive AVL , a relatively new nonprofit here, to formally connect tourism and affordable housing—and the policies and practices around them—as affecting one another. Casey Gilbert and Kate Pett of Thrive AVL go into detail about what’s called sustainable tourism—that is, encouraging tourism that enhances all avenues of life. They also dissect a recent Thrive AVL study that, among other surprises, found that much of the affordable housing initiatives in Asheville leave ou...
Nov 29, 2023•35 min•Ep. 111
The Hospital Corporation of America purchased the nonprofit Mission Hospital four years ago in a deal shrouded in secrecy. Since then, hundreds of doctors, nurses and support staff have resigned. North Carolina’s attorney general has joined them in protesting what they see as an unflinching profits-over-people business model. The Asheville Watchdog has written many stories detailing much of the decimation of Asheville’s once-vaunted hospital. Recently, the Watchdog’s executive editor, Peter Lewi...
Nov 27, 2023•38 min•Ep. 110
Asheville guitarist-songwriter David Wilcox has been at the vanguard of American folk music since the late 1980s. His observational storytelling and lyrical turns of phrase have earned him a loyal following throughout this country and beyond. Sixteen studio albums into his career, he’s still finding new things to say. Today, we go deep with Wilcox about his songcraft, his vein of inspiration through the pandemic and the range of emotion he mined for his newest record, “My Good Friends.” We also ...
Nov 17, 2023•37 min•Ep. 109
Asheville city leaders have had a “Complete Streets” policy in place for more than a decade—that is, a commitment to make streets as friendly to cyclists and pedestrians as they are to cars and trucks. We’ve seen that policy take shape in the form of so-called road diets along Charlotte Street and North Merrimon Avenue and the Riverside Drive Greenway. It’s also the reason College Street and Patton Avenue are about to each lose a lane of automotive traffic to make room for bike lanes. And predic...
Nov 15, 2023•34 min•Ep. 108
We often hear about the lack of affordable housing in and around Asheville. But there’s a flipside to the coin that is often overlooked—overdevelopment is having a devastating effect on agriculture. Today's guest is Gina Smith, the features editor with Edible Asheville . She has reported and written a two-part series of stories titled " Losing Ground ." where she examines the loss of farmland in Western North Carolina, its broad impacts and efforts to address the trend. Only the first story was ...
Nov 13, 2023•30 min•Ep. 107
Sue Polston’s story is a screenwriter’s dream. Raised in a dysfunctional home, she became a mother while still in high school, and fell into a crack addiction. Today, Polston is the executive director of Sunrise Community for Recovery and Wellness . We talk about how Sunrise operates as a peer support network helping those with mental health and substance use disorders, experiencing homelessness and incarceration. We also explore the stigmas that challenge people in her circle and learn about Po...
Nov 10, 2023•32 min•Ep. 106
There are high hopes in Asheville for two former hotels converted into permanent housing for the chronically unhoused. The first of them up and running is Compass Point Village, developed and managed by the Asheville nonprofit Homeward Bound . The second, due to open in mid-2024, is a private, for-profit development that will convert a former Days Inn into a 115-unit complex called Step Up. Today's guests are David Nash, the interim executive director; and Jenny Moffat, permanent supportive hous...
Nov 08, 2023•32 min•Ep. 105
Asheville's homeless strategy division has invited the public into a three-part educational course that dives deep into the actual causes of homelessness, the array of solutions at play and how we, as individuals, can play a critical role. Today's guests are Emily Ball and Debbie Alford, two-thirds of the city’s homeless strategy division . We talk about the prevailing myths around homelessness and the contradictory evidence. We also talk about two permanent housing developments—remodeled hotels...
Nov 06, 2023•40 min•Ep. 104
Hannah Cole is an Asheville artist who translates her everyday observations into her studio craft. These observations started out as external. Now, partially inspired by the incursion of artificial intelligence, Hannah's newest body of work sees her turn her gaze inward. Here, I talk with Hannah about what representation by human hands means in the era of AI. We also talk about Hannah’s turn to accounting and personal finance and building a career helping other creatives manage their money. Hann...
Nov 03, 2023•30 min•Ep. 103
It doesn’t seem all that long ago that people bottled up their mental health struggles or got real about them only with a therapist, if at all. Today, much of the stigma is lifted but, for many, access to quality mental health care remains elusive. My guests today are Meredith Switzer, the executive director; and Brendan Hughes, the development director, for the nonprofit All Souls Counseling Center . We talk about how the demand for counseling has climbed with and since the pandemic, how the ci...
Nov 01, 2023•35 min•Ep. 102
