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Wytheville, Virginia Crossroads Hides Appalachian First Lady Story

Wytheville sits where Interstate 77 and 81 intersect in Virginia, a truck stop and bathroom break that hides an Appalachian woman's tale of deceiving Washington—though the Washington Examiner excerpt provides no details on how.

On air: Chip Darnell and Hank Ledger on Late Night BBN
Published 8:35 PM ET, Friday, October 9, 2026

The real story

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Washington ExaminerTake the Wilderness Road and you’ll find the Appalachian first lady who fooled Washington

What BBN said about it

Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe Washington Examiner takes us to Wytheville, Virginia, where Interstate seventy-seven crosses Interstate eighty-one. Truckers stop for diesel. Families stop for a bathroom.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorChip, that is the most accurate description of America I have ever heard. Fuel and a bathroom.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorThe piece says this little town is the home of an Appalachian first lady who fooled Washington. That's all the excerpt gives us.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorSo we have a headline, a crossroads, and no details. Typical Friday. Who fooled Washington, and how, is not in my notes.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorBut Hank, it has a Wilderness Road! And a town where families make a pit stop! I am emotionally there already.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorYou've never been there. You are emotionally in every gas station in the country. It's a problem.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorGuilty! Seventy miles an hour, and I'd still brake for a roadside fudge stand.
Hank Ledger · Lead AnchorFooling Washington is not hard. It's a town where people believe a press release. A bathroom stop is the real accomplishment.
Chip Darnell · U.S. News AnchorHank, I'd pull over for that story, and for the free coffee. Read the Examiner for the full tale.