Sylvia Ryerson is a multimedia artist, organizer and PhD student in American Studies at Yale University. For over a decade her work, rooted at the intersection of scholarship, activism and art, has probed the overlapping crises of mass incarceration, rural poverty, and environmental destruction. From 2010-2015, Ryerson worked at the renowned documentary arts center Appalshop, where she served as a reporter, producer, WMMT-FM Director of Public Affairs, and co-hosted and directed the nationally recognized Hip Hop from the Hill Top / Calls from Home ​radio show. She also co-directed Making Connections News, a multimedia storytelling project documenting the movement for a Just Appalachian Transition, producing a series of short films and radio pieces to support regional organizing efforts. In 2015, Sylvia created and directed Restorative Radio: Audio Postcards from Home, a participatory audio documentary project co-created with families that have a loved one incarcerated. The pieces wove together immersive soundscapes of home that were broadcast over public airwaves to reach their loved ones inside.