Latest News — 100 Days in Appalachia

West Main Street in Jared Lathrop's home town in Franklin, Pendleton County, West Virginia. Photo: Famartin

When a Degree Doesn’t Equal a ‘Good Job.’ Appalachian Youth Rethinking College

By Lovey Cooper / November 27, 2017

Heightened generational and cultural divides are increasingly apparent throughout Appalachia […]

Conservative Kentuckians, Leverett counterparts reach across the political gap

By Richie Davis / November 27, 2017

This story was first published by The Recorder LEVERETT — A standing-room-only crowd of about 200 listened with rapt attention in the elementary school auditorium Saturday as Gwen Johnson gave a heartfelt explanation of why she voted as she did last November. “I had always said if there’s a woman who runs for president, I […]

Conclusion to Derek Akal’s Struggle to Stay, Part Four

By Benny Becker / November 22, 2017

This is the last part of our Struggle to Stay series, and the final chapter of Derek Akal’s Struggle to Stay. Derek, 22, is from a coal-camp town called Lynch, in Harlan County, Kentucky. If you haven’t caught his earlier stories, here’s a quick recap: Derek says he wants to leave eastern Kentucky to find […]

Industrial Strength: How the U.S. Government Hid Fracking’s Risks to Drinking Water

By Neela Banerjee / November 22, 2017

A pivotal EPA study provided the rationale for exemptions that helped unleash the fracking boom. The science was suppressed to protect industry interests. This story was co-published with WHYY and West Virigina Public Broadcasting. Audio story by Susan Phillips of WHYY. Most mornings, when his 7-year-old son Ryan gets up for school at 6:55, Bryan Latkanich is still […]