Filmmaker John Waters talks Christmas, career, criminals and more

“I’ve been doing this Christmas show for 12 years,” Waters says. “Even when I made all the movies, I use to always do a show called This Filthy World or An Evening with John Waters. It began when I use to tour with the movies to introduce them. I’ve always had a stage show of some kind or other — I never gave up on Vaudeville.”

Preserving tradition: Appalachia­n Food Storybank collects tales of mountain meals

Lester and Marietta Crayton of Asheville have been married for 70 years and grew up on farmland that is now the Oakley community in East Asheville. Marietta recalls going barefoot all summer and that when fall came, she gathered chestnuts to sell to the grocery man so she could buy shoes in Mars Hill for school. The Appalachian Food Storybank has been collecting stories like these since 2011. (photo by Tim Robison)