How are Kentuckians facing the future of work?

The Way We Work

In place of coal miners stand robotic machines. Instead of farmhands, Bluetooth tracking-chips count cattle. Older folks are on their toes, redefining, revamping and reconsidering their work, while younger people are charging boldly and soberly toward their specialized and technical careers. As the workforce transforms at breakneck speed, it seems that if Kentuckians don’t take advantage of the myriad modern technological opportunities, they’ll be left in the coal dust. The Way We Work follows farmer, Mark Chapman, former coal-mine worker William Stevens and high school senior Kendall Pearson as they navigate the tricky job market and determine what may career path may be best for them.

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Eleven years later and still waiting for answers

 

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019, 8.29 A.M. LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – The sun has a hard time getting through the curtains in Karr's apartment in The Highlands, a neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky. Her eyes are sensitive to light, so there is a purpose for the darkness. She walks around the kitchen, feeding her service dog, Blaze, and gets dressed in a flat cap, shirt and pants, leaving her joggers in the bedroom. She needs to move on after a rough night, she explains. The sheets were messy when she woke up. Blaze was laying on her chest; he does this to stop her night terrors. The anxiety returned when she placed her head on the pillow last night. She found no peace.

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 24, 2019, 8.29 A.M. LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY – The sun has a hard time getting through the curtains in Karr’s apartment in The Highlands, a neighborhood in Louisville, Kentucky. Her eyes are sensitive to light, so there is a purpose for the darkness. She walks around the kitchen, feeding her service dog, Blaze, and gets dressed in a flat cap, shirt and pants, leaving her joggers in the bedroom. She needs to move on after a rough night, she explains. The sheets were messy when she woke up. Blaze was laying on her chest; he does this to stop her night terrors. The anxiety returned when she placed her head on the pillow last night. She found no peace.

 

A Wounded Soldier

WKU Journalism and Photojournalism students, Sara Krog and Sofie Mortensen tell the story of Veteran Megan Karr who suffers PTSD caused by her experience of sexual assault by two colleagues, while serving in the military.

“After the incident I changed, not necessarily for the better, but for the worse. I struggle a lot, and that struggle has been tough, especially for the people who knew me before. I guess this is what affected my family situation.”

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