A future-focused, materialist and collaborative approach to cultural work is what Emily Hillard, state folklorist of West Virginia, offers in Making our Future: Visionary Folklore and Everyday Culture in Appalachia. From diverse examples such as a teacher’s strike, a multiracial coal camp community, and the tradition of independent pro-wrestling, Hilliard paints a picture of folklore as a unifying concept that puts diverse cultural forms in conversation, one that creates a framework that helps us understand our past and shape our future. In conversation with Katy Clune, Director of the Virginia Humanities’ Folklife Program.