Derek Operle
@doperle.bsky.social
Reporter. Film head. NBA + UK 🏀 fan.
News Director at @wkmsfm.bsky.social
Host of The Liquid Moment
Programmer, the Paducah Film Society
Formerly: The Paducah Sun
News Director at @wkmsfm.bsky.social
Host of The Liquid Moment
Programmer, the Paducah Film Society
Formerly: The Paducah Sun
Reposted by Derek Operle
This week on Transmissions: Steve Von Till of Neurosis joins us to discuss his art, teaching, philosophy & work with the indigenous suicide prevention campaign Firekeeper Alliance.
Listen wherever you get podcasts & direct at reader-supported @aquariumdrunkard.com. @talkhouse.bsky.social
Listen wherever you get podcasts & direct at reader-supported @aquariumdrunkard.com. @talkhouse.bsky.social
November 26, 2025 at 1:41 PM
This week on Transmissions: Steve Von Till of Neurosis joins us to discuss his art, teaching, philosophy & work with the indigenous suicide prevention campaign Firekeeper Alliance.
Listen wherever you get podcasts & direct at reader-supported @aquariumdrunkard.com. @talkhouse.bsky.social
Listen wherever you get podcasts & direct at reader-supported @aquariumdrunkard.com. @talkhouse.bsky.social
Massively underrated documentary. Funny and insightful.
November 25, 2025 at 2:42 PM
Massively underrated documentary. Funny and insightful.
Reposted by Derek Operle
Chris Thile was on @npr.org's All Things Considered to talk with @doperle.bsky.social from @wkmsfm.bsky.social in Murray, KY, about his new album, 'Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2,' which he recorded in multiple locations of personal significance including Murray: www.nonesuch.com/journal/list...
November 24, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Chris Thile was on @npr.org's All Things Considered to talk with @doperle.bsky.social from @wkmsfm.bsky.social in Murray, KY, about his new album, 'Bach: Sonatas and Partitas, Vol. 2,' which he recorded in multiple locations of personal significance including Murray: www.nonesuch.com/journal/list...
Stop Making Sense
Aliens
Back to the Future
Bull Durham
Aliens
Back to the Future
Bull Durham
Name your top 4 80s films.
November 21, 2025 at 2:56 PM
Stop Making Sense
Aliens
Back to the Future
Bull Durham
Aliens
Back to the Future
Bull Durham
Reposted by Derek Operle
Thousands of rare American recordings — some 100 years old — go online for all to enjoy
A collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the nonprofit Dust-to-Digital Foundation
laist.com/news/arts-an...
A collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the nonprofit Dust-to-Digital Foundation
laist.com/news/arts-an...
Thousands of rare American recordings — some 100 years old — go online for all to enjoy
The project, which will include some 50,000 songs from private record collections, is a collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the Dust-to-Digital Foundation.
laist.com
November 20, 2025 at 2:07 AM
Thousands of rare American recordings — some 100 years old — go online for all to enjoy
A collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the nonprofit Dust-to-Digital Foundation
laist.com/news/arts-an...
A collaboration between UC Santa Barbara and the nonprofit Dust-to-Digital Foundation
laist.com/news/arts-an...
Out there UK folkie John Martyn got obsessed with dub and befriended Lee Scratch Perry … who inspired him to record One World on guitar amps floating a 1/2 mile offshore in a lake. Lapping water and late night goose honks can be heard throughout but maybe to best effect on the magical “Small Hours.”
November 21, 2025 at 5:42 AM
Out there UK folkie John Martyn got obsessed with dub and befriended Lee Scratch Perry … who inspired him to record One World on guitar amps floating a 1/2 mile offshore in a lake. Lapping water and late night goose honks can be heard throughout but maybe to best effect on the magical “Small Hours.”
Reposted by Derek Operle
The Kentucky General Assembly's artificial intelligence task force made recommendations heading into the 2026 legislative session that begins in January. From @doperle.bsky.social at @wkmsfm.bsky.social #kyga26
Kentucky legislature’s AI task force makes recommendations heading into General Assembly
As what’s expected to be a jam-packed legislative session in the Bluegrass State approaches, lawmakers on Kentucky’s Artificial Intelligence Task Force met Thursday to finalize their recommendations f...
www.wkms.org
November 14, 2025 at 2:10 PM
The Kentucky General Assembly's artificial intelligence task force made recommendations heading into the 2026 legislative session that begins in January. From @doperle.bsky.social at @wkmsfm.bsky.social #kyga26
Reposted by Derek Operle
See photos from “No Kings” protestors around the state from @kentuckypublicradio.org reporters.
www.lpm.org/no-kings-pro...
www.lpm.org/no-kings-pro...
"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.
www.lpm.org
October 18, 2025 at 11:10 PM
See photos from “No Kings” protestors around the state from @kentuckypublicradio.org reporters.
www.lpm.org/no-kings-pro...
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
October 18, 2025 at 12:01 AM
@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
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.
October 17, 2025 at 9:09 PM
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.
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.
A new book from a Kentucky native details the last public hanging in the United States, which took place in Owensboro in 1936, examining it through the lens of lynching culture in America. From @doperle.bsky.social at @wkmsfm.bsky.social
20,000 people watched a Black man hang in Owensboro 90 years ago. A new book looks at why
A new book from a Kentucky native details the last public hanging in the United States, which took place in Owensboro 1936, and examines it through the lens of lynch culture in America.
www.wkms.org
October 15, 2025 at 7:03 PM
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
October 12, 2025 at 5:32 AM
spooky season in full effect
Reposted by Derek Operle
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.
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.
www.npr.org
October 7, 2025 at 3:38 PM
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.
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...
www.npr.org/2025/09/03/g...
Ryland Barton Named NPR Newscast Anchor
NPR announced today that Ryland Barton will be joining the Newscast team as a PM anchor.
www.npr.org
September 3, 2025 at 5:34 PM
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...
www.npr.org/2025/09/03/g...
Reposted by Derek Operle
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...
www.wkms.org/criminal-jus...
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…
www.wkms.org
August 23, 2025 at 4:00 PM
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...
www.wkms.org/criminal-jus...
Reposted by Derek Operle
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.
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…
www.wkms.org
August 21, 2025 at 9:46 PM
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.
Reposted by Derek Operle
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
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
August 8, 2025 at 1:06 PM
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
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.
August 3, 2025 at 5:41 PM
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.
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...
www.wkms.org/government-p...
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...
www.wkms.org
August 3, 2025 at 5:24 PM
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...
www.wkms.org/government-p...
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.
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...
www.wkms.org
July 25, 2025 at 10:00 PM
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.
July 25, 2025 at 2:36 PM
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.
Big News! Some generous friends have stepped up with matching money for tomorrow. We can make a big dent in the federal funds that were lost. Can you help share this today to get people ready?
Phone: 1-800-599-4737
Web: donate.nprstations.org/wkms/wkms-gi...
Let's do this! 💪
Phone: 1-800-599-4737
Web: donate.nprstations.org/wkms/wkms-gi...
Let's do this! 💪
July 23, 2025 at 7:14 PM
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.
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!
July 10, 2025 at 1:02 AM
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!
Reposted by Derek Operle
West Kentucky Film Commission aims to get region cast in starring role of movie, TV productions. From @doperle.bsky.social of @wkmsfm.bsky.social
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...
www.wkms.org
June 2, 2025 at 4:08 PM
West Kentucky Film Commission aims to get region cast in starring role of movie, TV productions. From @doperle.bsky.social of @wkmsfm.bsky.social