and BBC Radio 2, launching the Radio Scotland world music series "Celtic Connections" in 1993. She has produced and presented many live concert performances and broadcasts, including a musical event for Prince Charles in 2001 at Holyrood Palace in Edinburgh, and has acted in an advisory capacity for arts organisations in the US and UK, including serving on the Scottish advisory committee for the British Council. In 2006, Ritchie launched Thistlepod, a free podcast from NPR, which ran until her radio programs became available to stream via NPR Music and Ritchie's ThistleRadio website. Her partnership with NPR Music gave rise to ThistleRadio in 2012, a 24/7 web-based music channel devoted to new and classic music from Celtic roots, now hosted by SomaFM internet radio. Ritchie has also produced several CD compilations and authored a 2005 volume on Celtic music for the NPR Curious Listener's Guide book series. In 2014, Wayfaring Strangers: The Musical Voyage from Scotland and Ulster to Appalachia, her major book, with CD, which was named after The Wayfaring Stranger folk song, was published by UNC Press. The book was co-authored by Doug Orr with a Foreword by Dolly Parton. Wayfaring Strangers appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list in two different categories. Awards and honours Ritchie's awards include six World Medals from the New York Festivals International Competition for Radio Programming, and a Flora Macdonald Award from St. Andrews University (North Carolina), which also conferred upon her the degree of honorary doctorate. Hundreds of Thistle & Shamrock tapes and vinyl albums, along with concert recordings, playlists, newsletters, and related materials are now part of a working archive in the Scottish Heritage Center at St. Andrews University (North Carolina). The archive is open to anyone interested in studying the rich heritage of Celtic music. Ritchie also serves on the Advisory Board of the Swannanoa Gathering folk arts workshops at Warren Wilson College in North Carolina. In 2003 the Smithsonian Center for Folklife and Cultural Heritage honoured her for "creating an on-air community, serving as a musical ambassador, and connecting listeners with the best of traditional and contemporary artistry.” Ritchie was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2014 Birthday Honours for services to broadcasting and traditional Scottish music. In 2016 she received the Hamish Henderson Award for Services to Traditional Music, named for the influential folklorist, poet, songwriter and scholar who