In the summer of 2014, Rae Garringer took a road trip.

Toting a tent, atlas, camera, and recorder, Garringer maneuvered their tiny Subaru on a winding route across the rural United States, from Mississippi to New Mexico to Colorado. They spent some nights in campgrounds, some in hotels. But more often than not, Garringer slept on the couches and floors of near-strangers, eating food from their grills, walking their land, riding their tractors—and recording their stories.

The trip did a number on Garringer’s wheezing car, but each mile served a purpose: As a queer person in Appalachia, they needed to know they weren’t alone.

Garringer ended up with 45 hours of tape that proved they weren’t—the seeds