The tale of John Henry is a classic, mountain folk tale. In this episode, we include different tellings of the true story of a man whom literally worked himself to death. John Henry was definitely a strong, hard-working man, more than anything, he was a man who disregarded the impossible. It’s a tale of man against machine but it’s also a tale of humans against impossible tasks. This episode also includes stories of characters up against such impossible tasks. These can also be classified as “Cinderella stories.” Storytellers include Charlotte Blake-Alston, David Holt, Josh Goforth, John McCutcheon, Big Joe Pagliuca, Joel Ben Izzy, and Susan Strauss.