National Public Radio’s Sunday Morning Edition had a good piece this week about contemporary blacksmithing featuring Penland instructor Mark Aspery (shown here working in the Penland iron studio). Mark tells a story about King Arthur figuring out why the blacksmith was the most important craftsman in his kingdom, and then he goes on to talk about his career as a teacher of the craft. You can listen to the story here (there’s a summary on the page, but listening to it is much better).