Derek Operle

"No Kings" protest photos from around Kentucky On Oct. 18, 2025, Kentuckians took to the streets to protest the Trump administration's actions in a day of national "No Kings" protests. Reporters from Kentucky Public Radio took these photos.

See photos from “No Kings” protestors around the state from @kentuckypublicradio.org reporters.

www.lpm.org/no-kings-pro...

@davidlsims.bsky.social this could come up in the ep, but have you watched the blu-ray extra for True Grit (called Re-creating Fort Smith) where they spend like five minutes talking about the trains in the film and interviewing the train CONSULTANT and the conductors? feels like your kinda content

Life On The Mississippi [click CC for subtitles] An essay film about a river and the limits of knowing it. Using Mark Twain’s "Life On The Mississippi" as a road map, Brown travels along the Mississippi…

it is just chilling on brown’s vimeo page, along with most of his other docs (including the delightful roswell)
vimeo.com/288998129?fl...

bill brown’s life on the mississippi starts as an attempt to retrace mark twain’s journeys as a steam boat pilot and winds up grappling with how much a person can “know” a river and how its shores have changed with time because of all the things that people do. a real fun lil doc.

new phone who dis

🤠 hello long lost pal

The first time I saw this image, I knew I had to write about this piece of Kentucky history. Sonya Lea’s new book is a bracing, deep look into a troubling case and an invitation to think deeply about the justice system in our country.

spooky season in full effect

First privately funded uranium enrichment plant in U.S. to be built in Kentucky A California-based firm plans to build the first privately funded uranium enrichment plant in Kentucky amid efforts to bolster the country's domestic uranium enrichment.

ICYMI it on @npr.org's Morning Edition, WKMS news director @doperle.bsky.social's feature takes a look at California-based General Matter's privately developed uranium enrichment plant in western Kentucky and what it means in the grand scheme of things when it comes to nuclear energy in the U.S.

Ryland Barton Named NPR Newscast Anchor NPR announced today that Ryland Barton will be joining the Newscast team as a PM anchor.

So happy for @rylandky.bsky.social! NPR is so lucky to have in him not only a top-tier journalist, an editor who always makes people’s writing sing, and a Kentuckian with a calm voice in a storm, but also just a damn good person. Here’s to many years in our ears!
www.npr.org/2025/09/03/g...

Shooting at Graves-Mayfield high school football game leaves one adult injured The annual Battle of the Birds football game between Mayfield High School and Graves County High School ended in tragedy Friday, after a shooting in a parking lot near War Memorial Stadium left one…

The annual Battle of the Birds football game between Mayfield High School and Graves County High School ended in tragedy Friday, after a shooting in a parking lot near War Memorial Stadium left one adult injured.
www.wkms.org/criminal-jus...

SNAP costs shift are expected to run Kentucky at least an extra $100 million a year As lawmakers prepare Kentucky’s biennial budget for the 2026 legislative session, the state budget director says the Commonwealth will need to set aside over $115 million more than in previous years…

For Kentucky’s next biennial budget, the state budget director says it will need to set aside over $115 million more than in previous years to keep giving residents in need food stamps and – because of the federal reconciliation bill – potentially hundreds of millions of dollars on top of that.

Today in 1974, Richard Nixon resigned. Four years later, his first public appearance was in Leslie Co, KY.

See footage of his visit—plus local politics, family debates, and more—in our 1982 film "The Big Lever: Party Politics in Leslie County, KY" by Frances Morton.

https://loom.ly/YNSpum0

Sign my petition to re-edit I Still Know What You Did Last Summer so that when Jennifer Love Hewitt thinks she sees the killer at the club it’s then revealed to be actually a silhouette of the dude from Jamiroquai in his “Virtual Insanity” get-up.

Republicans spar over chance at McConnell’s seat at 145th annual Fancy Farm picnic With only one Democrat speaking at the western Kentucky political event, the jabs and jeers of Fancy Farm turned inwards as the GOP candidates jockeyed for the opportunity to replace U.S. Sen. Mitch M...

Pork and politics. A classic western Kentucky combo. Read @sylviaruthg.lpm.org + @hannahsaad.bsky.social’s report from the ground in Fancy Farm, where GOP candidates jockeyed yesterday at the St. Jerome Picnic for the opportunity to replace U.S. Sen. Mitch McConnell.
www.wkms.org/government-p...

Billionaire Peter Thiel backing first privately developed US uranium enrichment facility in Paducah A California-based company with ties to billionaire investor and Trump Ally Peter Thiel announced plans Friday to build America’s first U.S.-owned, privately developed facility to enrich uranium in fa...

For @wkmsfm.bsky.social: A company with ties to billionaire investor Peter Thiel is backing the first privately developed, US-owned uranium enrichment facility — and it’s happening in Paducah, Kentucky. More details are expected to come at an Aug. 5 event hosted by the company.

What a stellar summer of Kentucky albums. Just today, Tyler Childers put out Snipe Hunter and Ryan Davis & the Roadhouse Band put out New Threats From The Soul. Plus, S.G. Goodman’s Planting By The Signs, Kelsey Waldon’s Every Ghost, and Grace Rogers’s Mad Dogs. The Bluegrass State is eating good.

WKMS has $215K (annually!) in funding to make up in the wake of the cuts to public media nationwide. Help us preserve our programming and our (already quite small) staff the way they are now by calling in or giving online tomorrow. We need every penny you can give. It all makes a difference.

[Audio] WKMS Documentary "I Am John Scopes" What makes a person voluntarily step into the middle of one of the most controversial and contentious issues of modern times? And what makes them…

Earlier on, you can also tune into @wkmsfm.bsky.social for Sounds Good to hear Todd Hatton’s audio documentary on the educator, who was born and buried in Paducah, called “I Am John Scopes.” It’s also streamable here:
www.wkms.org/society/2015...

In the evening, I’ll be hosting the Paducah Film Society screening of “Inherit the Wind,” a 1960 film that fictionalizes the events of the trial, at Maiden Alley Cinema. That starts at 7 and retired Kentucky Supreme Court Judge Bill Cunningham will speak about the case’s history beforehand.

Anyone who wants to learn a bit about John Scopes, the Paducah native and central figure of the “Monkey Trial” over teaching evolution in schools, has multiple opportunities in west KY tomorrow on the 100th anniversary of the start of the trial!

West Kentucky Film Commission aims to get region cast in starring role of movie, TV productions Officials, business leaders and filmmakers traveled to Madisonville Wednesday to tout a new initiative to get the Bluegrass State on the world’s silver and small screens: the West Kentucky Film Commis...

West Kentucky Film Commission aims to get region cast in starring role of movie, TV productions. From @doperle.bsky.social of @wkmsfm.bsky.social

Fave film discoveries/first watches for May 2025:
The Incredible Shrinking Man (1957)
Brewster’s Millions (1985)
Sherman’s March (1985)
A Brighter Summer Day (1991)
Ghost In The Shell (1995)

"To understand who is in control, observe who you are not allowed to criticize." -Voltaire

recency bias has me wanting to plug in fail safe, the incredible shrinking man, and in cold blood big time.

five fave black and white films
cat people
the hustler
the night of the hunter
park row
sweet smell of success

Coleman joins other GOP attorneys general at U.S.-Mexico border to support increased security efforts Kentucky’s Republican Attorney General Russell Coleman joined other GOP attorneys general in Arizona on Wednesday at the U.S. border with Mexico in a show of support for Trump administration efforts t...

Kentucky Attorney General Russell Coleman joined other GOP attorneys general in Arizona on Wednesday at the U.S. border with Mexico in a show of support for Trump administration efforts to increase border security. From @doperle.bsky.social

Paducah protestors speak out as Congress eyes major cuts to Medicaid, SNAP Around two dozen western Kentucky protestors spoke out against proposed cuts to federal Medicaid support on Tuesday, rallying outside of Republican Congressman James Comer’s office in downtown Paducah...

Paducah protestors speak out as Congress eyes major cuts to Medicaid, SNAP. From @doperle.bsky.social at @wkmsfm.bsky.social

Do Calvert City's chemical plants impact surrounding communities' health? A new study aims to see. Researchers from the University of Louisville and Murray State University are looking into the potential impact emissions from chemical plants in Calvert City could have on the health of people and…

Researchers from the University of Louisville and Murray State University are looking into the potential impact emissions from chemical plants in Calvert City could have on the health of people and wildlife in area communities.

The emcee for the 145th St. Jerome Picnic in Fancy Farm will be Kentucky Chamber of Commerce president and CEO Ashli Watts, the picnic planners announced today.