WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:02.500 Welcome back to the Deep Dive. Today, our mission 00:00:02.500 --> 00:00:05.299 is to get past all the simple stereotypes, you 00:00:05.299 --> 00:00:08.460 know, the mid -juleps, the fast horses, and really 00:00:08.460 --> 00:00:10.919 understand a state that is, I think, one of the 00:00:10.919 --> 00:00:13.220 most complex and conflicted corners of America. 00:00:13.519 --> 00:00:16.579 We are diving deep into the Commonwealth of Kentucky. 00:00:16.780 --> 00:00:19.199 It really is a place that defies easy labels. 00:00:19.719 --> 00:00:21.539 Officially, the Commonwealth of Kentucky, the 00:00:21.539 --> 00:00:24.359 15th state, coming into the Union on June 1st, 00:00:24.359 --> 00:00:28.079 1792. But it holds all these simultaneous identities 00:00:28.079 --> 00:00:31.140 that... Well, on the surface, they seem to completely 00:00:31.140 --> 00:00:33.460 contradict each other. That's the real challenge, 00:00:33.500 --> 00:00:35.460 isn't it? You hear the nickname the bluegrass 00:00:35.460 --> 00:00:37.820 state and you immediately think of horse racing. 00:00:37.920 --> 00:00:40.140 Right. And that name itself comes from a specific 00:00:40.140 --> 00:00:43.439 European grass species that just thrives on the 00:00:43.439 --> 00:00:45.820 local limestone geology. It's perfect for raising 00:00:45.820 --> 00:00:48.340 strong thoroughbreds. Exactly. So you think of 00:00:48.340 --> 00:00:50.039 that, you think of the Kentucky Derby, maybe 00:00:50.039 --> 00:00:52.259 you think about bourbon and the fact that Kentucky 00:00:52.259 --> 00:00:55.399 produces a staggering 95 percent of the world's 00:00:55.399 --> 00:00:57.880 supply. Or its incredible natural features like 00:00:57.880 --> 00:01:00.200 Mammoth Cave, the longest cave system on the 00:01:00.200 --> 00:01:02.719 entire planet. But at the same time, this is 00:01:02.719 --> 00:01:06.359 a state whose history is defined by, I mean, 00:01:06.379 --> 00:01:08.700 just profound division. It's full of violent 00:01:08.700 --> 00:01:11.519 internal struggle and it's got this deeply complex 00:01:11.519 --> 00:01:15.340 identity as a border state. And that formal identity 00:01:15.340 --> 00:01:18.439 as a commonwealth is a huge clue. It was a deliberate 00:01:18.439 --> 00:01:21.340 choice, following Virginia's lead, to emphasize 00:01:21.340 --> 00:01:23.620 the general welfare of the people and to distinguish 00:01:23.620 --> 00:01:26.560 itself from the old royal colonies. It was a 00:01:26.560 --> 00:01:28.920 political statement from day one. And nothing 00:01:28.920 --> 00:01:31.439 screams duality like having two official mottos. 00:01:31.480 --> 00:01:33.840 You've got the one, everyone knows, united we 00:01:33.840 --> 00:01:36.060 stand, divided we fall. It's a call for unity, 00:01:36.200 --> 00:01:38.260 very direct. But then you also have the Latin, 00:01:38.400 --> 00:01:41.719 Deo gratiam habemus. Let us be grateful to God. 00:01:42.280 --> 00:01:44.920 The two seem to... to represent that constant 00:01:44.920 --> 00:01:47.840 tension in the state's character, the secular 00:01:47.840 --> 00:01:50.760 political struggle on one hand and a deep seated 00:01:50.760 --> 00:01:52.859 religious conservatism on the other. They really 00:01:52.859 --> 00:01:54.680 do. They capture that push and pull perfectly. 00:01:54.980 --> 00:01:57.340 So here is the core mission for you, our listener 00:01:57.340 --> 00:02:00.700 today. How can one state be the global capital 00:02:00.700 --> 00:02:03.459 of bourbon, a powerhouse of modern manufacturing? 00:02:03.640 --> 00:02:05.980 We're talking the fourth largest producer of 00:02:05.980 --> 00:02:08.400 autos in the U .S. A huge industrial player. 00:02:08.759 --> 00:02:11.840 And yet still be so defined by this complex, 00:02:12.159 --> 00:02:15.719 internally divided history, a history of resisting 00:02:15.719 --> 00:02:18.800 corporate power and federal control for centuries. 00:02:19.139 --> 00:02:21.300 To unpack that question, we have to start right 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:22.960 at the beginning. I mean, down to the name on 00:02:22.960 --> 00:02:24.819 the map, because the history of this land is 00:02:24.819 --> 00:02:28.580 it's far more complicated and frankly, more tragic 00:02:28.580 --> 00:02:31.000 than many people realize. So let's start with 00:02:31.000 --> 00:02:32.840 that Commonwealth distinction again. You mentioned 00:02:32.840 --> 00:02:35.699 it signals a focus on the public good. Was that 00:02:35.699 --> 00:02:38.520 just a philosophical choice or was it? A real 00:02:38.520 --> 00:02:40.639 political statement when they were breaking away 00:02:40.639 --> 00:02:42.139 from Virginia. Yeah, it had to be a statement, 00:02:42.199 --> 00:02:44.439 right? In that revolutionary era. Absolutely. 00:02:44.500 --> 00:02:47.240 It was a complete rejection of the old monarchical 00:02:47.240 --> 00:02:50.400 system. Kentucky, along with Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, 00:02:50.560 --> 00:02:54.080 and Virginia, specifically chose the title Commonwealth 00:02:54.080 --> 00:02:56.939 to signal that its government's authority came 00:02:56.939 --> 00:02:59.500 directly from the commonweal, the general welfare 00:02:59.500 --> 00:03:02.219 of its people. So it was a way of drawing a very 00:03:02.219 --> 00:03:04.219 clear line in the sand, separating themselves 00:03:04.219 --> 00:03:07.400 from prior colonial rule. Exactly. It was a profound... 00:03:07.439 --> 00:03:10.280 commitment to the ideals of republicanism at 00:03:10.280 --> 00:03:13.580 its very core. And even the name Kentucky is 00:03:13.580 --> 00:03:16.340 wrapped up in historical mystery and, you know, 00:03:16.340 --> 00:03:18.879 disagreement. That part is fascinating because 00:03:18.879 --> 00:03:22.039 the true etymology is uncertain. And both of 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:24.240 the leading theories point to massive indigenous 00:03:24.240 --> 00:03:26.919 language families, which tells you immediately 00:03:26.919 --> 00:03:29.340 that this land was historically contested territory, 00:03:29.520 --> 00:03:32.199 not some empty wilderness. OK, so what's the 00:03:32.199 --> 00:03:34.849 first theory? One popular theory suggests an 00:03:34.849 --> 00:03:37.469 Iroquoian origin. It would translate to something 00:03:37.469 --> 00:03:41.349 like on the meadow or on the prairie. If you 00:03:41.349 --> 00:03:43.830 look at the Mohawk language, for instance, the 00:03:43.830 --> 00:03:47.150 term kenta is very similar. This theory would 00:03:47.150 --> 00:03:50.550 relate to those large, open, fertile plains in 00:03:50.550 --> 00:03:52.889 the bluegrass region. But there's another possibility. 00:03:53.469 --> 00:03:55.729 An Algonquian connection. Yeah. And that one 00:03:55.729 --> 00:03:58.009 is often mistranslated. Correct. The second theory 00:03:58.009 --> 00:04:00.050 says it comes from an Algonquian language, possibly 00:04:00.050 --> 00:04:03.949 Shawnee, from the term Kenta Aki. Now, folk etymology 00:04:03.949 --> 00:04:06.330 often translates this as land of our fathers, 00:04:06.530 --> 00:04:08.590 but the source material is pretty clear that 00:04:08.590 --> 00:04:11.210 Aki just means land in most Algonquian languages. 00:04:11.530 --> 00:04:13.909 The first part, Kenta, relates more to the concept 00:04:13.909 --> 00:04:17.209 of belonging or ancestral ties. So a name born 00:04:17.209 --> 00:04:20.769 from a linguistic struggle, hinting at a deep 00:04:20.769 --> 00:04:23.620 human history rooted... Right there in the soil. 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:26.079 Precisely. And that deep histories is exactly 00:04:26.079 --> 00:04:28.819 what we need to challenge a very pervasive and 00:04:28.819 --> 00:04:32.120 frankly, a deeply flawed historical myth about 00:04:32.120 --> 00:04:35.079 Kentucky. OK, this is the crucial part. The myth 00:04:35.079 --> 00:04:38.480 that Kentucky was just. A hunting ground. That's 00:04:38.480 --> 00:04:40.939 the one. The story that was often used to justify 00:04:40.939 --> 00:04:43.720 early European land claims was that Native Americans 00:04:43.720 --> 00:04:46.240 never lived there permanently. The story goes 00:04:46.240 --> 00:04:48.660 that it was just this vast, vacant territory 00:04:48.660 --> 00:04:51.540 that various tribes fought over for hunting rights, 00:04:51.639 --> 00:04:53.339 but that it lagged any permanent settlements. 00:04:53.779 --> 00:04:55.740 But the archaeological record, which goes back 00:04:55.740 --> 00:04:58.360 nearly 12 ,000 years, it just doesn't support 00:04:58.360 --> 00:05:00.600 that at all. Not even close. The evidence shows 00:05:00.600 --> 00:05:02.779 continuous human activity. We start with the 00:05:02.779 --> 00:05:04.879 Clovis culture. Hunter -gatherers who were there 00:05:04.879 --> 00:05:08.399 around 9 ,500... BCE, but the real shift happens 00:05:08.399 --> 00:05:11.639 around 1800 BCE. That's when you see a definite 00:05:11.639 --> 00:05:14.439 gradual move towards agriculture. And by 900 00:05:14.439 --> 00:05:17.480 CE, you have complex permanent settlement cultures 00:05:17.480 --> 00:05:20.300 in full bloom. And these weren't just, you know... 00:05:20.509 --> 00:05:22.790 temporary camps. These were towns. Oh, absolutely. 00:05:23.009 --> 00:05:26.290 We can identify two major permanent settlement 00:05:26.290 --> 00:05:28.970 cultures from that time. The Mississippian culture, 00:05:29.129 --> 00:05:30.970 which was dominant in the west and central parts 00:05:30.970 --> 00:05:33.529 of the state, and the Fort Ancient culture, which 00:05:33.529 --> 00:05:35.709 was prominent in the east. What were these settlements 00:05:35.709 --> 00:05:37.389 like? I mean, how did they sustain themselves 00:05:37.389 --> 00:05:40.709 for so long? They were substantial, stable towns. 00:05:40.889 --> 00:05:43.629 The Mississippian culture is known for its incredible 00:05:43.629 --> 00:05:46.910 architecture, specifically these huge ceremonial 00:05:46.910 --> 00:05:50.189 earthwork mounds. That indicates very complex 00:05:50.189 --> 00:05:52.829 social and religious structures. And the Fort 00:05:52.829 --> 00:05:54.639 Asian culture. The four ancient people didn't 00:05:54.639 --> 00:05:56.699 build mounds, but they had these highly sophisticated 00:05:56.699 --> 00:05:59.920 and sustainable agricultural systems. They relied 00:05:59.920 --> 00:06:03.500 on the three sisters, corn, beans, and squash 00:06:03.500 --> 00:06:06.040 grown together. And they weren't just passively 00:06:06.040 --> 00:06:08.779 harvesting, they were actively managing the landscape. 00:06:09.079 --> 00:06:10.500 What does that mean, managing the landscape? 00:06:10.759 --> 00:06:13.980 It means they practiced crop rotation. They would 00:06:13.980 --> 00:06:16.720 strategically burn sections of forest to clear 00:06:16.720 --> 00:06:18.860 underbrush and encourage the growth of plants 00:06:18.860 --> 00:06:22.129 that attracted wild game. And most impressively, 00:06:22.269 --> 00:06:24.310 they would strategically relocate their entire 00:06:24.310 --> 00:06:27.290 villages every 10 to 30 years. The whole village. 00:06:27.370 --> 00:06:29.589 Why would they do that? To allow the local land 00:06:29.589 --> 00:06:32.050 and resources, especially firewood, to completely 00:06:32.050 --> 00:06:35.350 recover. It was a brilliant long -term sustainability 00:06:35.350 --> 00:06:38.110 plan. That level of environmental management, 00:06:38.230 --> 00:06:40.730 I mean, that suggests deep multi -generational 00:06:40.730 --> 00:06:43.839 roots in the land. So it begs the question. If 00:06:43.839 --> 00:06:46.279 these settlements were so permanent, why did 00:06:46.279 --> 00:06:49.079 the European settlers who arrived in the 1750s 00:06:49.079 --> 00:06:51.540 and 60s find what they thought was a largely 00:06:51.540 --> 00:06:53.620 vacant wilderness? And this is where it gets 00:06:53.620 --> 00:06:55.839 really interesting. The key is the timeline. 00:06:56.120 --> 00:06:58.579 The source material reveals that the massive 00:06:58.579 --> 00:07:00.980 abandonment of these large permanent villages 00:07:00.980 --> 00:07:03.920 happened before the bulk of European settlement 00:07:03.920 --> 00:07:06.920 began. This created the illusion of an empty 00:07:06.920 --> 00:07:09.399 land that was only used for hunting. The land 00:07:09.399 --> 00:07:11.920 wasn't empty. It had been destabilized. So what 00:07:11.920 --> 00:07:13.439 could cause such a swift... and catastrophic 00:07:13.439 --> 00:07:16.500 abandonment. It was a brutal convergence of events 00:07:16.500 --> 00:07:19.120 in the 17th century long before Daniel Boone 00:07:19.120 --> 00:07:21.339 even got there. First, you have the geopolitical 00:07:21.339 --> 00:07:23.579 turmoil of the Beaver Wars. The Beaver Wars from 00:07:23.579 --> 00:07:27.480 1640 to 1680. What was that about? It was a massive, 00:07:27.560 --> 00:07:30.060 bloody conflict between the Iroquois and other 00:07:30.060 --> 00:07:32.939 tribes, including the Algonquin -speaking Kispoko 00:07:32.939 --> 00:07:35.540 and the Maumee. It was driven by the European 00:07:35.540 --> 00:07:37.819 fur trade, a competition for hunting grounds 00:07:37.819 --> 00:07:42.100 to get beaver pelts. These wars caused huge displacements, 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:44.899 pushing various groups into the region and escalating 00:07:44.899 --> 00:07:47.540 conflict everywhere. But there was a second factor, 00:07:47.600 --> 00:07:52.650 a more devastating and often invisible one. Yes. 00:07:52.650 --> 00:07:55.449 European diseases often traveled far ahead of 00:07:55.449 --> 00:07:57.589 the explorers themselves, moving along indigenous 00:07:57.589 --> 00:08:00.949 trade routes. We find European artifacts like 00:08:00.949 --> 00:08:03.550 glass trade beads in the archaeological record 00:08:03.550 --> 00:08:06.069 in places where no European had yet set foot. 00:08:06.519 --> 00:08:08.379 So the epidemics didn't wait for the surveyors? 00:08:08.439 --> 00:08:11.199 Not at all. Smallpox, measles pathogens, the 00:08:11.199 --> 00:08:13.459 native populations had no immunity to sweat through. 00:08:13.620 --> 00:08:16.560 The presence of mass graves suggests these diseases 00:08:16.560 --> 00:08:19.160 caused immense demographic and political collapse. 00:08:19.399 --> 00:08:22.000 It destabilized their social structures, forcing 00:08:22.000 --> 00:08:24.639 them to abandon their large, settled towns. So 00:08:24.639 --> 00:08:26.839 where did they go? They had to disperse. They 00:08:26.839 --> 00:08:29.660 either merged into smaller, multi -tribal communities 00:08:29.660 --> 00:08:32.320 further inland, or just moved away entirely, 00:08:32.779 --> 00:08:35.059 getting away from the major rivers, which had 00:08:35.059 --> 00:08:37.750 become highways. So by the time surveyors like 00:08:37.750 --> 00:08:39.870 Thomas Walker and Christopher Giss were charting 00:08:39.870 --> 00:08:42.909 the territory in 1750, they weren't finding a 00:08:42.909 --> 00:08:45.490 pristine wilderness. They were finding a region 00:08:45.490 --> 00:08:47.730 that had been recently abandoned, scarred by 00:08:47.730 --> 00:08:50.169 plague, and was now being contested for hunting 00:08:50.169 --> 00:08:52.149 by tribes moving in from the north and south. 00:08:52.350 --> 00:08:54.809 It completely reframes the narrative. You have 00:08:54.809 --> 00:08:57.509 to replace that myth of a vacant hunting ground 00:08:57.509 --> 00:09:00.990 with the tragic reality of a land recently evacuated 00:09:00.990 --> 00:09:03.169 due to catastrophe. And that catastrophe created 00:09:03.169 --> 00:09:06.610 a power vacuum that Europeans were, well, very 00:09:06.610 --> 00:09:09.809 quick to fill. James Herod founded Herodstown, 00:09:09.990 --> 00:09:13.009 the first permanent European settlement, in 1774. 00:09:13.580 --> 00:09:15.919 And Daniel Boone's famous expeditions through 00:09:15.919 --> 00:09:18.659 the Cumberland Gap started back in 1767. And 00:09:18.659 --> 00:09:21.480 that settlement was not peaceful. It was characterized 00:09:21.480 --> 00:09:25.460 by continuous brutal conflict. The figures are 00:09:25.460 --> 00:09:28.460 just shocking. A U .S. government report from 00:09:28.460 --> 00:09:32.899 1790 states that 1 ,500 Kentucky settlers had 00:09:32.899 --> 00:09:35.139 been killed by Native Americans just in the years 00:09:35.139 --> 00:09:37.440 since the end of the Revolutionary War. 1 ,500 00:09:37.440 --> 00:09:40.539 people. That just underscores the intense violence 00:09:40.539 --> 00:09:44.080 that defined Kentucky's founding years, all stemming 00:09:44.080 --> 00:09:46.779 from that contest over land that had been destabilized 00:09:46.779 --> 00:09:50.370 but was never ever truly vacant. And that legacy 00:09:50.370 --> 00:09:53.029 of conflict, it didn't just disappear with statehood, 00:09:53.090 --> 00:09:55.789 it became woven into Kentucky's political and 00:09:55.789 --> 00:09:58.690 economic fabric, and it ultimately defined its 00:09:58.690 --> 00:10:01.330 very precarious role in the Civil War. Before 00:10:01.330 --> 00:10:03.250 it was a state, Kentucky was administered as 00:10:03.250 --> 00:10:05.250 the District of Kentucky part of Virginia, and 00:10:05.250 --> 00:10:07.370 getting admitted to the Union was a long, difficult 00:10:07.370 --> 00:10:10.090 process. It was. It took 10 separate constitutional 00:10:10.090 --> 00:10:13.330 conventions in Danville between 1784 and 1792 00:10:13.330 --> 00:10:16.070 just to finalize the separation and write the 00:10:16.070 --> 00:10:18.210 governing documents. 10 conventions, why so many? 00:10:18.539 --> 00:10:21.360 Well, there was a brief pause in 1788 because 00:10:21.360 --> 00:10:24.159 the entire U .S. government was in flux. They 00:10:24.159 --> 00:10:25.940 were switching from the Articles of Confederation 00:10:25.940 --> 00:10:28.899 to the newly ratified Constitution. Congress 00:10:28.899 --> 00:10:30.960 basically told them to wait because they didn't 00:10:30.960 --> 00:10:33.120 want to admit Kentucky under the old rules. So 00:10:33.120 --> 00:10:34.440 they had to wait for the new federal government 00:10:34.440 --> 00:10:36.679 to be established. Exactly. Virginia finally 00:10:36.679 --> 00:10:39.840 gave its consent again in 1789. Congress approved 00:10:39.840 --> 00:10:43.200 statehood in 1791. And Kentucky was officially 00:10:43.200 --> 00:10:46.519 admitted as the 15th state on June 1st, 1792. 00:10:47.879 --> 00:10:50.220 Shelby became the first governor. And from those 00:10:50.220 --> 00:10:53.500 very first moments, the state's economy was inseparable 00:10:53.500 --> 00:10:57.639 from the institution of slavery, but in a way 00:10:57.639 --> 00:10:59.519 that was different from the Deep South. A very 00:10:59.519 --> 00:11:01.580 important distinction. The plantation system 00:11:01.580 --> 00:11:04.259 was concentrated in the extremely fertile central 00:11:04.259 --> 00:11:07.019 bluegrass region and the far western parts of 00:11:07.019 --> 00:11:09.980 the state. But Kentucky didn't have that massive 00:11:09.980 --> 00:11:12.559 cotton monoculture like Mississippi or Alabama. 00:11:12.899 --> 00:11:15.230 So what were the major crops? They relied on 00:11:15.230 --> 00:11:17.769 enslaved labor for large -scale cultivation of 00:11:17.769 --> 00:11:21.230 tobacco and, critically, hemp, plus livestock. 00:11:21.549 --> 00:11:24.210 Hemp was a huge commodity back then. It was essential. 00:11:24.350 --> 00:11:27.450 It was used for rope, for sailcloth, for bagging 00:11:27.450 --> 00:11:29.850 things that are vital for the global shipping 00:11:29.850 --> 00:11:32.529 and agricultural industries. And Kentucky was 00:11:32.529 --> 00:11:35.669 a massive producer. But there was another, much 00:11:35.669 --> 00:11:38.850 darker economic function. Yes, the internal slave 00:11:38.850 --> 00:11:42.009 trade. Louisville became a major slave market 00:11:42.009 --> 00:11:45.039 and a key departure port. Enslaved people were 00:11:45.039 --> 00:11:47.620 sold down the Ohio River and then transported 00:11:47.620 --> 00:11:49.740 to the burgeoning cotton plantations further 00:11:49.740 --> 00:11:52.240 south. So Kentucky's industry wasn't just producing 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:56.399 tobacco and hemp. It was producing human capital 00:11:56.399 --> 00:11:59.250 to be sold. to fuel the growth of the Deep South. 00:11:59.450 --> 00:12:02.210 That's a critical and tragic point. It gave Kentucky 00:12:02.210 --> 00:12:04.889 a unique place in the system. Just before the 00:12:04.889 --> 00:12:06.950 Civil War, about a quarter of Kentucky's population 00:12:06.950 --> 00:12:10.450 was enslaved, heavily concentrated in those agricultural 00:12:10.450 --> 00:12:12.669 and market areas. And this inherent division, 00:12:12.850 --> 00:12:15.049 it just perfectly set the stage for Kentucky's 00:12:15.049 --> 00:12:17.750 impossible position during the Civil War, a slave 00:12:17.750 --> 00:12:20.009 state that tried to remain officially neutral 00:12:20.009 --> 00:12:22.730 within the Union. How did that even work on the 00:12:22.730 --> 00:12:25.190 ground? The word neutrality was really just a 00:12:25.190 --> 00:12:27.779 political fiction. It was meant to prevent the 00:12:27.779 --> 00:12:30.139 state from immediately fracturing, but it was 00:12:30.139 --> 00:12:33.620 profoundly split. The official state government 00:12:33.620 --> 00:12:36.759 in Frankfurt sided with the union, but it wasn't 00:12:36.759 --> 00:12:40.139 that simple. Representatives from 68 out of 110 00:12:40.139 --> 00:12:42.259 counties, that's over half the Commonwealth, 00:12:42.600 --> 00:12:46.419 met in Russellville in November of 1861, and 00:12:46.419 --> 00:12:49.490 they passed an ordinance of secession. They weren't 00:12:49.490 --> 00:12:51.309 just making a statement, were they? They formed 00:12:51.309 --> 00:12:54.269 a real functioning shadow government. They did. 00:12:54.389 --> 00:12:56.350 They established a Confederate government. They 00:12:56.350 --> 00:12:58.470 designated Bowling Green as their official capital. 00:12:58.590 --> 00:13:01.129 And the Confederacy officially recognized Kentucky 00:13:01.129 --> 00:13:04.529 as its 13th member state. So you had two governments 00:13:04.529 --> 00:13:07.009 claiming to represent the same state at the same 00:13:07.009 --> 00:13:10.049 time. Exactly. Confederate forces even briefly 00:13:10.049 --> 00:13:12.950 occupied the official capital, Frankfurt, but 00:13:12.950 --> 00:13:15.769 they were quickly expelled by Union troops. This 00:13:15.769 --> 00:13:17.570 meant the Confederate government of Kentucky 00:13:17.570 --> 00:13:20.809 mostly operated in exile, relying on the areas 00:13:20.809 --> 00:13:23.330 under direct Confederate military control for 00:13:23.330 --> 00:13:26.090 its legitimacy. And the staggering personal irony 00:13:26.090 --> 00:13:28.899 of that war. often gets lost. I mean, it's just 00:13:28.899 --> 00:13:31.320 incredible. It's the ultimate statement on the 00:13:31.320 --> 00:13:34.399 state's division. Not only were both U .S. President 00:13:34.399 --> 00:13:36.600 Abraham Lincoln and Confederate President Jefferson 00:13:36.600 --> 00:13:39.179 Davis born in Kentucky. But they were born within 00:13:39.179 --> 00:13:41.340 100 miles of each other. Right. And you also 00:13:41.340 --> 00:13:43.820 have John C. Breckinridge, who was from Lexington. 00:13:44.100 --> 00:13:46.500 He had been the youngest ever U .S. vice president. 00:13:47.039 --> 00:13:49.419 During the war, he was expelled from the U .S. 00:13:49.440 --> 00:13:51.559 Senate for actively supporting the Confederacy 00:13:51.559 --> 00:13:54.000 and eventually became the Confederate Secretary 00:13:54.000 --> 00:13:58.720 of War. unbelievable. The war literally tore 00:13:58.720 --> 00:14:02.379 families and political alliances apart right 00:14:02.379 --> 00:14:04.779 up to the highest offices in both warring nations. 00:14:05.080 --> 00:14:07.539 Following the Civil War, the conflicts didn't 00:14:07.539 --> 00:14:10.460 stop. They just shifted focus, moving from military 00:14:10.460 --> 00:14:13.120 clashes to these fierce political and economic 00:14:13.120 --> 00:14:16.580 turf wars. The post -Reconstruction era saw two 00:14:16.580 --> 00:14:19.419 incredibly dramatic conflicts that just underscore 00:14:19.419 --> 00:14:22.100 Kentucky's internal volatility. The first was 00:14:22.100 --> 00:14:23.940 straight up political violence in the capital 00:14:23.940 --> 00:14:27.309 city. In 1900, Governor William Goebel was contesting 00:14:27.309 --> 00:14:30.169 the results of the highly disputed 1899 election. 00:14:30.470 --> 00:14:32.929 As he was walking to the state capitol in Frankfurt, 00:14:33.169 --> 00:14:36.149 he was shot by an assassin. And he holds the 00:14:36.149 --> 00:14:39.070 unique and tragic distinction of being the only 00:14:39.070 --> 00:14:42.190 U .S. state governor ever assassinated while 00:14:42.190 --> 00:14:44.570 in office. It's a horrifying moment in American 00:14:44.570 --> 00:14:47.649 history. Goebel actually died three days after 00:14:47.649 --> 00:14:49.429 he was sworn into office by the General Assembly. 00:14:50.330 --> 00:14:52.990 His running mate, JCW Beckham, and the alleged 00:14:52.990 --> 00:14:56.149 original winner, William S. Taylor, then fought 00:14:56.149 --> 00:14:58.490 this legal and political battle for the governorship 00:14:58.490 --> 00:15:01.870 that literally paralyzed the state. Paralyzed 00:15:01.870 --> 00:15:04.629 how? You had armed militias facing off in the 00:15:04.629 --> 00:15:06.909 streets of Frankfurt. It was a crisis that had 00:15:06.909 --> 00:15:08.990 to be settled by the U .S. Supreme Court, which 00:15:08.990 --> 00:15:11.529 finally ruled in Beckham's favor. That is a level 00:15:11.529 --> 00:15:14.730 of political tension that is just. It's hard 00:15:14.730 --> 00:15:17.529 to imagine. But even more dramatic in terms of 00:15:17.529 --> 00:15:20.789 economic resistance were the black patch tobacco 00:15:20.789 --> 00:15:23.330 wars. Unpack this for us. This wasn't just a 00:15:23.330 --> 00:15:25.610 peaceful protest. No, this was armed resistance 00:15:25.610 --> 00:15:28.250 against corporate control. It happened in western 00:15:28.250 --> 00:15:30.389 Kentucky and parts of Tennessee in the early 00:15:30.389 --> 00:15:33.389 20th century. Farmers were incensed because these 00:15:33.389 --> 00:15:35.750 massive tobacco monopolies, like the American 00:15:35.750 --> 00:15:38.309 Tobacco Company, were forcing them to sell their 00:15:38.309 --> 00:15:41.409 crops at ruinously low prices. So they formed 00:15:41.409 --> 00:15:44.220 an association to fight back. They did. the Dark 00:15:44.220 --> 00:15:46.419 Tobacco District Planters Protective Association. 00:15:47.000 --> 00:15:49.840 Their goal was to collectively withhold their 00:15:49.840 --> 00:15:53.039 tobacco to force the price up. But to enforce 00:15:53.039 --> 00:15:57.039 that boycott, a vigilante wing emerged, the infamous 00:15:57.039 --> 00:16:00.139 Knight Riders. And their objective was simple. 00:16:00.840 --> 00:16:03.799 Force all farmers to join the boycott. By any 00:16:03.799 --> 00:16:06.600 means necessary. And their methods were terrifying. 00:16:07.059 --> 00:16:10.460 This sounds like organized terror. It was. Under 00:16:10.460 --> 00:16:13.159 the cover of darkness, they would ride mask and 00:16:13.159 --> 00:16:15.159 heavily armed. They didn't just burn warehouses 00:16:15.159 --> 00:16:17.600 owned by the big tobacco companies. They physically 00:16:17.600 --> 00:16:20.139 assaulted and threatened farmers who broke the 00:16:20.139 --> 00:16:23.399 boycott. They destroyed seed beds, terrorized 00:16:23.399 --> 00:16:25.460 families, and essentially created a state of 00:16:25.460 --> 00:16:28.340 low -grade civil war across the Black Patch region. 00:16:28.580 --> 00:16:31.080 Wait, so the Knight Riders used terror to achieve 00:16:31.080 --> 00:16:33.419 economic stability. How are they remembered in 00:16:33.419 --> 00:16:35.980 the state? as heroes or as criminals. It's a 00:16:35.980 --> 00:16:37.919 very complicated legacy, and it reflects that 00:16:37.919 --> 00:16:40.279 deep -seated independence we talked about. At 00:16:40.279 --> 00:16:42.559 the time, many struggling farmers saw them as 00:16:42.559 --> 00:16:44.779 necessary agents of resistance against these 00:16:44.779 --> 00:16:47.480 exploitative monopolies, but their actions were, 00:16:47.559 --> 00:16:49.700 without question, criminal. It got so bad the 00:16:49.700 --> 00:16:51.940 government had to step in. The violence escalated 00:16:51.940 --> 00:16:54.720 so severely, including the burning of large parts 00:16:54.720 --> 00:16:56.740 of the cities of Hopkinsville and Russellville, 00:16:56.860 --> 00:16:58.879 that the governor had to declare martial law 00:16:58.879 --> 00:17:01.320 and deploy the Kentucky National Guard for over 00:17:01.320 --> 00:17:04.119 a year to finally crush the Knight Riders and 00:17:04.119 --> 00:17:06.569 end the conflict. It remains one of the most 00:17:06.569 --> 00:17:09.829 intense, violent examples of economic resistance 00:17:09.829 --> 00:17:12.849 in modern American history. With those three 00:17:12.849 --> 00:17:14.769 events, the displacement, the Civil War, the 00:17:14.769 --> 00:17:17.349 Black Patch Wars, what they really show is that 00:17:17.349 --> 00:17:20.130 Kentucky's identity is forged not just in its 00:17:20.130 --> 00:17:24.130 geography, but in these fierce, often armed internal 00:17:24.130 --> 00:17:26.569 struggles over political and economic control. 00:17:26.750 --> 00:17:29.170 And that history of conflict is just inextricably 00:17:29.170 --> 00:17:32.339 linked to the land itself. Shifting now to geography, 00:17:32.700 --> 00:17:35.240 Kentucky's natural environment defines its industry, 00:17:35.359 --> 00:17:37.720 its culture, but its actual boundaries are surprisingly 00:17:37.720 --> 00:17:40.279 peculiar. I find the borders themselves fascinating. 00:17:40.660 --> 00:17:43.579 Kentucky borders seven states. Illinois, Indiana, 00:17:43.900 --> 00:17:46.160 Ohio, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, and 00:17:46.160 --> 00:17:48.420 Missouri. Only Missouri and Tennessee border 00:17:48.420 --> 00:17:51.400 more, with eight. And those boundaries are dominated 00:17:51.400 --> 00:17:53.720 by rivers, which creates all sorts of interesting 00:17:53.720 --> 00:17:56.859 anomalies. You have a continuous border of rivers 00:17:56.859 --> 00:17:59.700 along three sides. the Mississippi to the west, 00:17:59.900 --> 00:18:03.160 the Ohio to the north, and the Big Sandy and 00:18:03.160 --> 00:18:06.480 Tug Fork to the east. But the Ohio River border, 00:18:06.619 --> 00:18:09.019 that's a classic deep dive fact that trips everyone 00:18:09.019 --> 00:18:11.099 up. It causes all sorts of jurisdictional headaches. 00:18:11.400 --> 00:18:13.579 It does, because the northern boundary of Kentucky 00:18:13.579 --> 00:18:15.779 is not the middle of the Ohio River like you'd 00:18:15.779 --> 00:18:18.140 expect. Instead, the border follows the north 00:18:18.140 --> 00:18:20.579 shore of the Ohio River as it existed back in 00:18:20.579 --> 00:18:23.200 1792. Based on the original Virginia charter. 00:18:23.380 --> 00:18:25.740 So if the river course changes over time, the 00:18:25.740 --> 00:18:28.990 border doesn't. Exactly. That historical quirk 00:18:28.990 --> 00:18:31.009 means that sometimes when you cross the Ohio 00:18:31.009 --> 00:18:33.730 River going north from Kentucky into what should 00:18:33.730 --> 00:18:36.690 be Indiana or Ohio, you're often technically 00:18:36.690 --> 00:18:39.549 still in Kentucky. It's led to centuries of legal 00:18:39.549 --> 00:18:42.450 battles over things like taxation, fishing rights, 00:18:42.650 --> 00:18:45.049 even criminal jurisdiction. And that explains 00:18:45.049 --> 00:18:47.670 the Ellis Park anomaly, right? Yeah. The racetrack. 00:18:47.809 --> 00:18:50.869 Precisely. Ellis Park is physically located in 00:18:50.869 --> 00:18:53.970 Henderson, Kentucky. but it sits in a small piece 00:18:53.970 --> 00:18:56.829 of Kentucky land that juts out into Indiana territory 00:18:56.829 --> 00:18:59.730 after you cross the river. It's a logistical 00:18:59.730 --> 00:19:03.029 oddity caused by a 230 -year -old boundary line. 00:19:03.250 --> 00:19:05.589 And then there's the truly bizarre part of the 00:19:05.589 --> 00:19:08.150 state, the non -contiguous section you can only 00:19:08.150 --> 00:19:11.349 get to by driving through two other states. That 00:19:11.349 --> 00:19:13.950 would be the Kentucky Bend in the far west corner. 00:19:14.069 --> 00:19:16.349 It's an exclave of Fulton County, completely 00:19:16.349 --> 00:19:19.359 surrounded by Missouri and Tennessee. It exists 00:19:19.359 --> 00:19:21.519 because of a massive meander in the Mississippi 00:19:21.519 --> 00:19:24.859 River, but its specific status as an exclave 00:19:24.859 --> 00:19:27.339 is the result of a surveying error from the early 00:19:27.339 --> 00:19:29.829 19th century. A lot of people assume that was 00:19:29.829 --> 00:19:31.650 caused by the massive New Madrid earthquakes 00:19:31.650 --> 00:19:34.869 in 1811 and 1812. That's a common misconception, 00:19:35.210 --> 00:19:37.089 and it's understandable. I mean, those quakes 00:19:37.089 --> 00:19:39.490 were so strong, they temporarily caused the Mississippi 00:19:39.490 --> 00:19:41.849 River to flow backward in some places. Unbelievable. 00:19:41.849 --> 00:19:44.349 But the source material is clear that the Kentucky 00:19:44.349 --> 00:19:46.890 Bend's existence is tied to that earlier surveying 00:19:46.890 --> 00:19:49.589 error, though the quakes absolutely reshaped 00:19:49.589 --> 00:19:52.089 the topography and society of that entire region. 00:19:52.329 --> 00:19:55.109 So let's break down the land itself. We know 00:19:55.109 --> 00:19:57.009 the geology supports the bourbon and horses. 00:19:57.640 --> 00:20:00.359 But the state is divided into five very distinct 00:20:00.359 --> 00:20:03.160 regions. We can start in the east with the Cumberland 00:20:03.160 --> 00:20:05.140 Plateau, which is mostly known as the eastern 00:20:05.140 --> 00:20:07.759 coal field. It's part of the larger Appalachian 00:20:07.759 --> 00:20:10.759 Mountain system. Then moving west, we hit the 00:20:10.759 --> 00:20:13.460 north -central bluegrass region, the heartland 00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:15.660 with the major cities and the capital. Okay, 00:20:15.720 --> 00:20:18.460 that's two. South and central, you have the Pennyroyal 00:20:18.460 --> 00:20:21.359 Plateau, or Penny Ryle. Further west is the western 00:20:21.359 --> 00:20:24.660 coal field. And finally, the far western Jackson 00:20:24.660 --> 00:20:27.440 Purchase. When you talk about the Jackson Purchase, 00:20:27.440 --> 00:20:29.119 you have to mention the Mississippian Embayment. 00:20:29.220 --> 00:20:32.240 What exactly is that? It's really important for 00:20:32.240 --> 00:20:35.380 context. The Jackson Purchase is the northernmost 00:20:35.380 --> 00:20:38.140 part of a geological feature called the Mississippian 00:20:38.140 --> 00:20:40.359 Embayment. The simplest way to think of it is 00:20:40.359 --> 00:20:43.609 as a massive flat alluvial plain. It's essentially 00:20:43.609 --> 00:20:46.490 the ancient seabed of a Gulf of Mexico inlet 00:20:46.490 --> 00:20:49.329 that stretched far inland millions of years ago. 00:20:49.490 --> 00:20:51.829 So it's defined by that rich soil left by the 00:20:51.829 --> 00:20:54.410 river. Exactly. Deep soil deposits, which makes 00:20:54.410 --> 00:20:56.369 it very different from the limestone bedrock 00:20:56.369 --> 00:20:59.140 that defines the bluegrass region. And the bluegrass 00:20:59.140 --> 00:21:01.640 region itself isn't just one big uniform area, 00:21:01.839 --> 00:21:04.099 which seems a little counterintuitive. No, it's 00:21:04.099 --> 00:21:06.140 split into the inner bluegrass, which is that 00:21:06.140 --> 00:21:08.599 incredibly fertile area right around Lexington, 00:21:08.700 --> 00:21:11.059 and the outer bluegrass. A big part of the outer 00:21:11.059 --> 00:21:12.980 bluegrass is in a sub -region called the Eden 00:21:12.980 --> 00:21:16.119 Shale Hills, which has these short, steep, narrow 00:21:16.119 --> 00:21:18.619 hills that are much harder to farm. Water is 00:21:18.619 --> 00:21:20.700 another defining characteristic. We mentioned 00:21:20.700 --> 00:21:23.819 the caves, but the sheer volume of water is incredible. 00:21:24.279 --> 00:21:27.059 The landscape is porous. It's defined by what's 00:21:27.059 --> 00:21:30.140 called karst topography. That's the soluble limestone 00:21:30.140 --> 00:21:32.759 that creates sinkholes and, of course, Mammoth 00:21:32.759 --> 00:21:35.519 Cave. Kentucky has the second most navigable 00:21:35.519 --> 00:21:37.960 miles of water in the contiguous U .S., over 00:21:37.960 --> 00:21:41.680 90 ,000 miles of streams and rivers. It's a waterlogged, 00:21:41.680 --> 00:21:43.980 carved out landscape. And the manmade lakes are 00:21:43.980 --> 00:21:45.859 equally impressive. They dominate the eastern 00:21:45.859 --> 00:21:48.799 U .S. They absolutely do. Kentucky is home to 00:21:48.799 --> 00:21:51.220 the two largest artificial lakes east of the 00:21:51.220 --> 00:21:54.210 Mississippi. Kentucky Lake, created by damming 00:21:54.210 --> 00:21:56.109 the Tennessee River, is the largest by surface 00:21:56.109 --> 00:22:00.369 area. It has an astonishing 2 ,064 miles of shoreline. 00:22:00.569 --> 00:22:02.730 And Lake Cumberland on the Cumberland River is 00:22:02.730 --> 00:22:05.950 the largest by volume. It provides massive flood 00:22:05.950 --> 00:22:08.750 control and recreation space for the entire region. 00:22:09.009 --> 00:22:11.390 Beyond just the sheer scale of the water, the 00:22:11.390 --> 00:22:13.529 natural attractions are globally significant. 00:22:13.930 --> 00:22:16.150 Of course, you have Mammoth Cave National Park 00:22:16.150 --> 00:22:18.809 with the world's longest cave system. But then 00:22:18.809 --> 00:22:21.390 you have these two dramatic surface features. 00:22:21.579 --> 00:22:24.000 Break Center State Park, which is often called 00:22:24.000 --> 00:22:26.759 the Grand Canyon of the South. It's a deep gorge 00:22:26.759 --> 00:22:29.240 between Kentucky and Virginia. And Cumberland 00:22:29.240 --> 00:22:32.019 Falls. Cumberland Falls, yes. Home of the moon 00:22:32.019 --> 00:22:34.680 bow. The moon bow. It's the only place in the 00:22:34.680 --> 00:22:37.400 entire Western Hemisphere where a moon bow, a 00:22:37.400 --> 00:22:39.940 nocturnal rainbow, can be regularly seen under 00:22:39.940 --> 00:22:42.740 a full moon created by the constant spray from 00:22:42.740 --> 00:22:45.720 the falls. It's a completely unique natural phenomenon. 00:22:46.039 --> 00:22:48.380 Let's connect this landscape back to human action. 00:22:48.759 --> 00:22:51.319 You mentioned a remarkable story. of conservation 00:22:51.319 --> 00:22:53.559 success that really shows Kentucky's dedication 00:22:53.559 --> 00:22:56.279 to stewardship, despite its industrial past. 00:22:56.559 --> 00:22:59.279 It's a fantastic story. Kentucky is the site 00:22:59.279 --> 00:23:01.759 of two of the most successful large -scale wildlife 00:23:01.759 --> 00:23:04.400 reintroduction projects in U .S. history. First, 00:23:04.539 --> 00:23:06.579 the elk herd. Which had been gone for a long 00:23:06.579 --> 00:23:09.740 time. Extirpated from the area for over 150 years 00:23:09.740 --> 00:23:12.579 due to overhunting and habitat loss, they started 00:23:12.579 --> 00:23:15.460 restocking them in 1997, mostly in the eastern 00:23:15.460 --> 00:23:19.000 Coalfield region. By 2009, the herd had exploded 00:23:19.000 --> 00:23:22.220 to 10 ,000 animals, making it the largest wild 00:23:22.220 --> 00:23:25.730 elk herd east of the Mississippi. 10 ,000 elk 00:23:25.730 --> 00:23:28.769 thriving in a region known for coal mining. That's 00:23:28.769 --> 00:23:30.869 an incredible turnaround. And the story of the 00:23:30.869 --> 00:23:33.309 wild turkeys is just as impressive. They were 00:23:33.309 --> 00:23:36.690 nearly extinct in the 1950s, fewer than 900 birds 00:23:36.690 --> 00:23:39.029 left in the entire state. Through stocking and 00:23:39.029 --> 00:23:41.130 management efforts, the population rebounded 00:23:41.130 --> 00:23:44.349 completely. A record take of over 29 ,000 birds 00:23:44.349 --> 00:23:47.269 was reported in 2009. It really shows a modern 00:23:47.269 --> 00:23:49.309 commitment to environmental stewardship, especially 00:23:49.309 --> 00:23:51.269 when you consider all the historic pressures 00:23:51.269 --> 00:23:53.269 from industries like coal. We can transition 00:23:53.269 --> 00:23:54.930 now to... the pillars that support the modern 00:23:54.930 --> 00:23:57.430 economy. If the land is defined by geology and 00:23:57.430 --> 00:23:59.890 water, the economy is defined by manufacturing, 00:24:00.269 --> 00:24:02.769 distribution, and a very, very famous spirit. 00:24:03.009 --> 00:24:05.329 Right. Kentucky has really diversified beyond 00:24:05.329 --> 00:24:07.990 just its traditional agrarian and coal extraction 00:24:07.990 --> 00:24:10.769 routes. It's become a critical player in modern 00:24:10.769 --> 00:24:13.529 global manufacturing and logistics. Auto alley 00:24:13.529 --> 00:24:15.849 is a term that immediately comes to mind. Yes, 00:24:15.869 --> 00:24:18.630 it's deeply embedded in the U .S. auto industry. 00:24:19.069 --> 00:24:21.950 Kentucky ranks fourth among all U .S. states 00:24:21.950 --> 00:24:25.619 in the of automobiles and trucks. This is heavy 00:24:25.619 --> 00:24:28.019 duty manufacturing. We're talking about specific, 00:24:28.119 --> 00:24:31.859 very popular vehicles. The Toyota Camry, one 00:24:31.859 --> 00:24:34.579 of the best selling cars in America, is manufactured 00:24:34.579 --> 00:24:37.799 in Georgetown. And the 4F series, which has been 00:24:37.799 --> 00:24:39.859 the best selling truck in the U .S. for decades, 00:24:40.220 --> 00:24:43.440 is made in Louisville. That level of manufacturing 00:24:43.440 --> 00:24:47.559 means Kentucky's economic stability is just intrinsically 00:24:47.559 --> 00:24:50.500 linked to the global auto supply chain. Which 00:24:50.500 --> 00:24:52.920 is a modern contradiction to that historical 00:24:52.920 --> 00:24:54.680 sense of independence we were talking about earlier. 00:24:54.880 --> 00:24:58.059 It is. But the other major pillar, the one everyone 00:24:58.059 --> 00:25:01.079 knows, is bourbon. And the facts here are truly 00:25:01.079 --> 00:25:03.400 staggering. The bourbon boom. It's undeniable, 00:25:03.420 --> 00:25:05.740 and it's deeply rooted in that geology. Kentucky 00:25:05.740 --> 00:25:08.380 produces 95 % of the world's supply of bourbon 00:25:08.380 --> 00:25:11.160 whiskey. The specific karst topography, that 00:25:11.160 --> 00:25:13.460 limestone that filters impurities like iron out 00:25:13.460 --> 00:25:15.440 of the water, that's what gives it its distinct 00:25:15.440 --> 00:25:17.799 flavor. It's why the industry is so entrenched 00:25:17.799 --> 00:25:19.980 there. And the barrel to person ratio is the 00:25:19.980 --> 00:25:23.480 ultimate hook. It's unbelievable. The most astonishing 00:25:23.480 --> 00:25:26.039 statistic is that the number of aging bourbon 00:25:26.039 --> 00:25:29.539 barrels in Kentucky, currently over 5 .7 million, 00:25:29.779 --> 00:25:32.599 actually exceeds the state's total population 00:25:32.599 --> 00:25:35.519 of about 4 .6 million people. That's staggering. 00:25:35.680 --> 00:25:39.900 It means... Statistically, there is more stored 00:25:39.900 --> 00:25:41.859 wealth in aging whiskey than there are people 00:25:41.859 --> 00:25:44.160 living there. That must drive the state's financial 00:25:44.160 --> 00:25:46.599 stability in a really unique way. It creates 00:25:46.599 --> 00:25:49.140 enormous leverage. And that dominance is actually 00:25:49.140 --> 00:25:51.849 locked into the state by a unique... tax structure. 00:25:52.089 --> 00:25:54.650 Kentucky is one of the only places that still 00:25:54.650 --> 00:25:58.829 applies an inventory tax on those aging barrels. 00:25:59.069 --> 00:26:00.750 So they have to pay tax on the inventory while 00:26:00.750 --> 00:26:03.369 it ages. Yes, which gives the distillers a massive 00:26:03.369 --> 00:26:05.650 financial incentive to keep it aging and eventually 00:26:05.650 --> 00:26:08.549 bottle it within Kentucky, essentially guaranteeing 00:26:08.549 --> 00:26:10.650 the state remains the bourbon capital forever. 00:26:10.930 --> 00:26:13.069 And the production growth is phenomenal. It soared 00:26:13.069 --> 00:26:16.849 by 170 percent just between 1999 and 2015. Today, 00:26:17.089 --> 00:26:18.890 the burn trail and all the related businesses 00:26:18.890 --> 00:26:21.650 support over 20 ,000 and jobs in the state. Now, 00:26:21.710 --> 00:26:23.690 moving to the opposite end of the spectrum, you 00:26:23.690 --> 00:26:27.150 have energy and federal institutions. They still 00:26:27.150 --> 00:26:30.109 hold huge sway, even with the decline of coal. 00:26:30.250 --> 00:26:32.930 Right. Historically, coal was vital, but that 00:26:32.930 --> 00:26:34.829 industry has been in sharp decline since the 00:26:34.829 --> 00:26:37.869 1980s. However, federal institutions provide 00:26:37.869 --> 00:26:40.710 a massive economic anchor. We're talking about 00:26:40.710 --> 00:26:43.730 Fort Knox, which is, of course, famous for housing 00:26:43.730 --> 00:26:46.470 a large portion of the U .S. gold reserves. But 00:26:46.470 --> 00:26:49.049 Fort Knox is more than just a vault. Much more. 00:26:49.190 --> 00:26:51.589 It's also home to the state's largest office 00:26:51.589 --> 00:26:54.549 building, the Army Human Resource Center of Excellence, 00:26:54.829 --> 00:26:58.230 which employs nearly 4 ,300 soldiers and civilians. 00:26:58.690 --> 00:27:01.569 Its federal payroll is a massive, consistent 00:27:01.569 --> 00:27:04.269 economic engine for that region. And the state 00:27:04.269 --> 00:27:06.730 had a huge, highly specialized role in the nuclear 00:27:06.730 --> 00:27:09.769 supply chain, too. Yes. Up until 2010, the Paducah 00:27:09.769 --> 00:27:11.950 gaseous diffusion plant was the only domestic 00:27:11.950 --> 00:27:15.170 site for low -grade uranium enrichment, a massive 00:27:15.170 --> 00:27:17.410 and highly specialized federal operation that 00:27:17.410 --> 00:27:19.829 anchored the economy in the Far West for decades. 00:27:20.069 --> 00:27:22.569 If we overlay all of this, the manufacturing, 00:27:22.890 --> 00:27:25.150 the bourbon, the federal presence, we start to 00:27:25.150 --> 00:27:27.849 see the state's true economic geography, which 00:27:27.849 --> 00:27:30.210 leads us directly to the Golden Triangle. This 00:27:30.210 --> 00:27:32.750 is key to understanding modern Kentucky. The 00:27:32.750 --> 00:27:34.990 Golden Triangle is the area formed by the metro 00:27:34.990 --> 00:27:37.690 areas of Louisville, Lexington, and the northern 00:27:37.690 --> 00:27:40.549 Kentucky region right next to Cincinnati. It's 00:27:40.549 --> 00:27:43.109 basically the area bounded by interstates I -71, 00:27:43.470 --> 00:27:47.210 I -75, and I -64. And the concentration of wealth 00:27:47.210 --> 00:27:50.509 and people in this one small area is just striking. 00:27:50.809 --> 00:27:53.799 It's extreme regionalism. The area covers only 00:27:53.799 --> 00:27:56.779 about 19 % of the state's land, but it contains 00:27:56.779 --> 00:27:59.700 54 % of its total population and accounts for 00:27:59.700 --> 00:28:02.720 the vast majority of its economic growth. Louisville's 00:28:02.720 --> 00:28:06.220 metro area is 1 .3 million. Lexington's is nearly 00:28:06.220 --> 00:28:10.220 750 ,000. Even the third largest city, Bowling 00:28:10.220 --> 00:28:12.599 Green, is growing fast and is a key part of that 00:28:12.599 --> 00:28:14.920 manufacturing corridor. And speaking of cities, 00:28:15.019 --> 00:28:17.259 the capital, Frankfurt, is a really interesting 00:28:17.259 --> 00:28:19.599 example of this urban concentration. It really 00:28:19.599 --> 00:28:22.220 highlights how much the economic power lies elsewhere. 00:28:22.869 --> 00:28:25.069 Frankfurt's population is relatively small, just 00:28:25.069 --> 00:28:27.730 over 28 ,000. That makes it one of only three 00:28:27.730 --> 00:28:29.690 U .S. state capitals with a smaller population. 00:28:30.049 --> 00:28:32.890 The others are Augusta, Maine, Pierre, South 00:28:32.890 --> 00:28:35.269 Dakota, and Montpelier, Vermont. The political 00:28:35.269 --> 00:28:37.250 action is in Frankfurt, but the commercial power 00:28:37.250 --> 00:28:39.569 is definitely in Louisville and Lexington. And 00:28:39.569 --> 00:28:41.730 looking at demographics, we can see those deep 00:28:41.730 --> 00:28:44.029 historical roots we discussed earlier. While 00:28:44.029 --> 00:28:46.230 today the largest reported ancestry is simply 00:28:46.230 --> 00:28:49.289 American, if you go back to 1980, the three largest 00:28:49.289 --> 00:28:52.670 claimed ancestries were English, Irish, and German. 00:28:52.890 --> 00:28:55.670 And the distribution is very telling. German 00:28:55.670 --> 00:28:58.289 ancestry is concentrated in the urban Ohio River 00:28:58.289 --> 00:29:00.829 counties like Louisville, reflecting 19th century 00:29:00.829 --> 00:29:04.029 migration. But English and Scotch -Irish ancestry 00:29:04.029 --> 00:29:07.230 dominates the rural Appalachian eastern Kentucky 00:29:07.230 --> 00:29:11.089 counties. Now shifting to infrastructure. Transportation 00:29:11.089 --> 00:29:13.750 has to be exceptionally strong to support all 00:29:13.750 --> 00:29:15.730 that auto manufacturing and cargo distribution. 00:29:16.069 --> 00:29:18.869 It is truly a global logistics hub. Kentucky 00:29:18.869 --> 00:29:21.849 has six major interstates. And a big move was 00:29:21.849 --> 00:29:24.630 made in 2006 when Governor Ernie Fletcher ended 00:29:24.630 --> 00:29:26.950 the tolls on the state parkways, which was a 00:29:26.950 --> 00:29:29.049 huge boost for regional fight transportation. 00:29:29.490 --> 00:29:32.049 But air and water are perhaps even more crucial 00:29:32.049 --> 00:29:34.289 for the global supply chains than the roads are. 00:29:34.759 --> 00:29:37.000 Air cargo is massive. Louisville International 00:29:37.000 --> 00:29:40.259 Airport is home to UPS Worldport, their international 00:29:40.259 --> 00:29:42.960 air sorting hub. It's essentially the nervous 00:29:42.960 --> 00:29:45.339 system of global package delivery. But it's not 00:29:45.339 --> 00:29:47.700 even the largest airport in the state. No, that 00:29:47.700 --> 00:29:49.759 would be the Cincinnati Northern Kentucky International 00:29:49.759 --> 00:29:53.140 Airport, or CDG. Even though it's named for Cincinnati, 00:29:53.440 --> 00:29:56.339 it's located across the river in Kentucky. It's 00:29:56.339 --> 00:29:59.559 a super hub for DHL aviation and is ranked as 00:29:59.559 --> 00:30:02.799 the seventh busiest airport in the entire U .S. 00:30:02.819 --> 00:30:05.579 by passenger and cargo operations. You can't 00:30:05.579 --> 00:30:07.619 talk manufacturing without supply chain, and 00:30:07.619 --> 00:30:10.039 Kentucky's just built to handle it, often leveraging 00:30:10.039 --> 00:30:12.319 those natural river boundaries. On the water, 00:30:12.500 --> 00:30:14.660 Kentucky ranks 10th overall in port tonnage. 00:30:14.880 --> 00:30:17.559 Major U .S. ports like Huntington Tri -State 00:30:17.559 --> 00:30:19.900 and Cincinnati Northern Kentucky are right there, 00:30:20.000 --> 00:30:22.559 so the waterways remain absolutely vital for 00:30:22.559 --> 00:30:24.799 shipping heavy materials. And before we move 00:30:24.799 --> 00:30:27.369 on... we have to mention the tax structure, especially 00:30:27.369 --> 00:30:29.609 the details that appeal to modern high -tech 00:30:29.609 --> 00:30:33.150 businesses. Right. The state has a flat 4 % individual 00:30:33.150 --> 00:30:36.890 income tax rate and a 6 % sales tax. But maybe 00:30:36.890 --> 00:30:39.069 the most impactful change for modern economic 00:30:39.069 --> 00:30:41.470 development was when they repealed the intangible 00:30:41.470 --> 00:30:44.470 personal property tax in 2006. Okay, so for our 00:30:44.470 --> 00:30:46.769 listener, why was repealing the intangible property 00:30:46.769 --> 00:30:49.450 tax such a huge deal for attracting new business? 00:30:49.769 --> 00:30:52.250 Because intangible property includes things like 00:30:52.250 --> 00:30:56.190 patents, copyrights, computer software, and brand 00:30:56.190 --> 00:30:59.390 names. Taxing those assets made Kentucky extremely 00:30:59.390 --> 00:31:01.930 unattractive for any company dealing in high 00:31:01.930 --> 00:31:04.549 -tech intellectual property. By repealing it, 00:31:04.609 --> 00:31:06.609 the state basically signaled it wanted to compete 00:31:06.609 --> 00:31:08.950 in the knowledge economy, not just the physical 00:31:08.950 --> 00:31:11.369 goods economy. And finally, the state is finding 00:31:11.369 --> 00:31:14.769 new revenue streams in the modern era. Yes. They 00:31:14.769 --> 00:31:17.769 just launched regulated sports betting in 2023. 00:31:18.799 --> 00:31:21.279 They're taxing online bets at a higher rate than 00:31:21.279 --> 00:31:24.140 in -person bets. And the industry already collected 00:31:24.140 --> 00:31:27.299 millions in its first two months. It shows its 00:31:27.299 --> 00:31:30.039 potential as a rapidly adopted high revenue stream 00:31:30.039 --> 00:31:32.420 for the state. So now we delve into the culture. 00:31:32.839 --> 00:31:34.839 which is where all the complexities of its history, 00:31:34.960 --> 00:31:37.500 the South, Appalachia, the border state status, 00:31:37.619 --> 00:31:39.980 it all comes together. Kentucky's culture is 00:31:39.980 --> 00:31:42.420 firmly Southern, but with a very heavy Appalachian 00:31:42.420 --> 00:31:44.359 influence, especially in the eastern parts of 00:31:44.359 --> 00:31:46.660 the state. And that divided history also manifests 00:31:46.660 --> 00:31:49.880 in its struggle with race and civil rights, showcasing 00:31:49.880 --> 00:31:52.789 a really remarkable internal contradiction. Absolutely. 00:31:53.009 --> 00:31:55.970 It experienced the Jim Crow era. Louisville tried 00:31:55.970 --> 00:31:58.690 to implement residential racial segregation in 00:31:58.690 --> 00:32:01.750 1914, but that ordinance was quickly struck down 00:32:01.750 --> 00:32:04.549 by the Supreme Court. However, the state's day 00:32:04.549 --> 00:32:06.750 law, which prohibited integration in schools, 00:32:06.990 --> 00:32:09.470 stood for much longer. And the Supreme Court 00:32:09.470 --> 00:32:11.309 actually upheld that law, didn't it? They did. 00:32:11.509 --> 00:32:15.269 In 1908, they upheld it in a case against Berea 00:32:15.269 --> 00:32:17.589 College, which was one of the first integrated 00:32:17.589 --> 00:32:21.380 colleges in the South. That painful reality of 00:32:21.380 --> 00:32:24.180 segregation persisted until 1950 when the state 00:32:24.180 --> 00:32:26.740 finally began the slow process of integration. 00:32:27.160 --> 00:32:29.799 But Kentucky made a huge stride in the mid -60s 00:32:29.799 --> 00:32:31.700 that is often critically overlooked when people 00:32:31.700 --> 00:32:34.339 discuss the civil rights movement. It did. In 00:32:34.339 --> 00:32:37.319 1966, amidst the national civil rights struggle, 00:32:37.559 --> 00:32:40.079 Kentucky adopted the first state civil rights 00:32:40.079 --> 00:32:42.700 act in the South. It was a critical and progressive 00:32:42.700 --> 00:32:45.579 moment that showed a measurable shift well ahead 00:32:45.579 --> 00:32:47.759 of many of its southern neighbors. Let's discuss 00:32:47.759 --> 00:32:50.140 its unique architectural heritage before we move 00:32:50.140 --> 00:32:52.809 to food. Old Louisville is a national treasure. 00:32:53.049 --> 00:32:55.710 It is the largest Victorian historic neighborhood 00:32:55.710 --> 00:32:58.609 and the third largest historic preservation district 00:32:58.609 --> 00:33:01.789 overall in the United States. It's a key cultural 00:33:01.789 --> 00:33:04.950 hub, home to the St. James Court Art Show, which 00:33:04.950 --> 00:33:06.910 is one of the country's largest and most famous 00:33:06.910 --> 00:33:09.990 outdoor art shows. Moving to cuisine, Kentucky 00:33:09.990 --> 00:33:12.049 has given the world a lot more than just what 00:33:12.049 --> 00:33:15.190 the colonel was serving. Ha, yes. While Harlan 00:33:15.190 --> 00:33:17.769 Sanders, who became an honorary Kentucky colonel, 00:33:17.769 --> 00:33:19.789 did originate Kentucky fried chicken in North 00:33:19.789 --> 00:33:22.990 Corbin, the state has some true culinary innovations. 00:33:23.710 --> 00:33:26.829 The hot brown is an original Kentucky dish invented 00:33:26.829 --> 00:33:29.069 at the Brown Hotel in Louisville. Why did they 00:33:29.069 --> 00:33:31.210 invent it? Was there a specific reason? It was 00:33:31.210 --> 00:33:34.430 invented around 1926 by Chef Fred Schmidt as 00:33:34.430 --> 00:33:36.450 a late night snack for people who had been dancing 00:33:36.450 --> 00:33:39.190 all night. It was a rich alternative to bacon 00:33:39.190 --> 00:33:42.269 and eggs. Toasted bread with turkey, bacon, tomatoes, 00:33:42.369 --> 00:33:45.130 and smothered in a cheesy Mornay sauce. It's 00:33:45.130 --> 00:33:47.069 a signature dish. And the old -fashioned cocktail, 00:33:47.309 --> 00:33:49.150 the signature of the bourbon world, was born 00:33:49.150 --> 00:33:52.180 there, too. Yes, the creation of the quintessential 00:33:52.180 --> 00:33:54.559 old -fashioned is credited to the Pendennis Club 00:33:54.559 --> 00:33:57.440 in Louisville. It cements the state's role not 00:33:57.440 --> 00:33:59.819 just in producing the whiskey, but in shaping 00:33:59.819 --> 00:34:02.740 the culture around it. And we can't forget beer 00:34:02.740 --> 00:34:04.839 cheese. Beer cheese. I remember trying to make 00:34:04.839 --> 00:34:06.759 that once. The texture is much harder to get 00:34:06.759 --> 00:34:08.960 right than you'd think. It's a local delicacy, 00:34:09.039 --> 00:34:11.559 developed in Clark County in the 1940s, and it's 00:34:11.559 --> 00:34:13.940 now celebrated every year at the Winchester Beer 00:34:13.940 --> 00:34:16.719 Cheese Festival. Beyond food, Kentucky is the 00:34:16.719 --> 00:34:19.599 undisputed cradle of bluegrass music. drawing 00:34:19.599 --> 00:34:22.599 deeply from that Appalachian culture in his eastern 00:34:22.599 --> 00:34:25.619 regions. It is the true home of the genre. You 00:34:25.619 --> 00:34:28.260 have giants like Bill Monroe, the father of bluegrass, 00:34:28.519 --> 00:34:31.099 and more modern musicians like Ricky Skaggs. 00:34:31.639 --> 00:34:33.860 Owensboro is now home to the Bluegrass Music 00:34:33.860 --> 00:34:36.980 Hall of Fame and Museum, solidifying its place 00:34:36.980 --> 00:34:39.719 as the genre's institutional home. And it hosts 00:34:39.719 --> 00:34:41.960 one of the oldest continually broadcast radio 00:34:41.960 --> 00:34:44.739 programs in America, showing the enduring power 00:34:44.739 --> 00:34:47.400 of its cultural traditions. That would be the 00:34:47.400 --> 00:34:50.039 Renfro Valley Gap. which started back in 1939. 00:34:50.500 --> 00:34:52.960 It's broadcast from Renfro Valley, which is designated 00:34:52.960 --> 00:34:56.559 Kentucky's country music capital. It's the second 00:34:56.559 --> 00:34:59.920 oldest continually broadcast radio program of 00:34:59.920 --> 00:35:02.440 any kind in America. Finally, we need to touch 00:35:02.440 --> 00:35:04.699 on the literary giants who have chronicled the 00:35:04.699 --> 00:35:07.239 state's struggles and triumphs, particularly 00:35:07.239 --> 00:35:09.659 the ones who influence national policy. Kentucky 00:35:09.659 --> 00:35:11.960 has produced exceptionally powerful American 00:35:11.960 --> 00:35:15.079 literature. Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's 00:35:15.079 --> 00:35:17.619 Cabin was set partly in Kentucky and is often 00:35:17.619 --> 00:35:20.300 cited as an impetus for the Civil War. But you 00:35:20.300 --> 00:35:23.019 also have native born talents like Robert Penn 00:35:23.019 --> 00:35:25.159 Warren, who wrote All the King's Men, one of 00:35:25.159 --> 00:35:27.559 the great American novels. But the most impactful 00:35:27.559 --> 00:35:30.460 book in terms of driving federal policy has to 00:35:30.460 --> 00:35:32.869 be here. Caudill's work on Appalachia. Absolutely 00:35:32.869 --> 00:35:35.670 critical. Caudill's 1962 book, Night Comes to 00:35:35.670 --> 00:35:38.630 the Cumberlands, was such a powerful, unflinching 00:35:38.630 --> 00:35:41.190 expose of poverty and environmental destruction 00:35:41.190 --> 00:35:43.969 in eastern Kentucky that it's credited with directly 00:35:43.969 --> 00:35:46.110 contributing to the U .S. government's war on 00:35:46.110 --> 00:35:49.150 poverty in the 1960s. That's a direct line from 00:35:49.150 --> 00:35:51.909 literature to legislative action. And we can't 00:35:51.909 --> 00:35:53.710 finish the cultural section without mentioning 00:35:53.710 --> 00:35:56.730 one of the state's most famous titles, the Kentucky 00:35:56.730 --> 00:35:59.090 Colonel. The Kentucky Colonel is the highest 00:35:59.090 --> 00:36:00.849 title of honor bestowed by the Commonwealth, 00:36:01.210 --> 00:36:03.510 granted by the governor for outstanding service 00:36:03.510 --> 00:36:07.170 to the community, state, or nation. The recipients 00:36:07.170 --> 00:36:09.289 are commissioned for life and act as goodwill 00:36:09.289 --> 00:36:12.329 ambassadors. It's a ceremonial honor, but one 00:36:12.329 --> 00:36:15.010 that carries significant cultural weight. So 00:36:15.010 --> 00:36:17.690 what does this all mean for how Kentucky is governed 00:36:17.690 --> 00:36:20.039 today? Let's look at its political landscape, 00:36:20.219 --> 00:36:22.719 which, much like its history, is a bundle of 00:36:22.719 --> 00:36:25.320 contradictions. Kentucky is one of only five 00:36:25.320 --> 00:36:27.639 states that elects its state officials, like 00:36:27.639 --> 00:36:30.139 the governor, in odd -numbered years. And that 00:36:30.139 --> 00:36:32.920 odd year election cycle is often seen as an attempt 00:36:32.920 --> 00:36:35.340 to isolate state races from the national political 00:36:35.340 --> 00:36:37.960 fervor of a presidential year. to keep the focus 00:36:37.960 --> 00:36:40.820 on local issues. However, the political reality 00:36:40.820 --> 00:36:43.280 at the legislative level has shifted dramatically 00:36:43.280 --> 00:36:45.219 in the last decade. You mean with the General 00:36:45.219 --> 00:36:48.420 Assembly? Yes. In 2016, Republicans won control 00:36:48.420 --> 00:36:50.840 of the House for the first time since 1922. Almost 00:36:50.840 --> 00:36:54.119 a century later. That's a historic shift. It 00:36:54.119 --> 00:36:56.599 is. They now hold super majorities in both the 00:36:56.599 --> 00:36:59.519 Senate and the House. And this reflects a massive 00:36:59.519 --> 00:37:02.460 political transformation that began subtly but 00:37:02.460 --> 00:37:05.219 ended very dramatically. Kentucky used to be 00:37:05.219 --> 00:37:07.739 called a bellwether state, but that status is 00:37:07.739 --> 00:37:10.519 now ancient history. It reliably voted for the 00:37:10.519 --> 00:37:13.599 eventual presidential winner from 1964 all the 00:37:13.599 --> 00:37:16.980 way through 2004. That streak ended in 2008 when 00:37:16.980 --> 00:37:19.559 Kentucky voted overwhelmingly for John McCain, 00:37:19.840 --> 00:37:23.199 who lost nationally. Since 2000, it has become 00:37:23.199 --> 00:37:25.599 a reliable Republican stronghold in presidential 00:37:25.599 --> 00:37:27.900 races. But the most fascinating micro detail 00:37:27.900 --> 00:37:30.280 of this whole political transformation involves 00:37:30.280 --> 00:37:33.260 a single county, Elliott County. This story just 00:37:33.260 --> 00:37:35.679 perfectly encapsulates the national shift within 00:37:35.679 --> 00:37:38.139 Kentucky's borders. Elliott County is legendary 00:37:38.139 --> 00:37:40.460 in American political history. It was founded 00:37:40.460 --> 00:37:43.360 in 1869 right after the Civil War and its political 00:37:43.360 --> 00:37:46.199 alignment was set. It voted Democratic in every 00:37:46.199 --> 00:37:48.099 single presidential election from its founding 00:37:48.099 --> 00:37:51.760 all the way until 2016. Nearly 150 years of loyalty. 00:37:51.960 --> 00:37:53.960 Why such dedication to the Democratic Party? 00:37:54.099 --> 00:37:56.519 After the Civil War, loyalty often hinged on 00:37:56.519 --> 00:37:58.619 which party residents saw as having saved the 00:37:58.619 --> 00:38:01.099 union or which party helped reconstruct the state. 00:38:01.500 --> 00:38:05.099 In this agrarian isolated county, that loyalty 00:38:05.099 --> 00:38:08.280 was cemented early and just endured through generations 00:38:08.280 --> 00:38:11.440 of machine politics and local tradition. So what 00:38:11.440 --> 00:38:14.550 happened in 2016? In 2016, Donald Trump became 00:38:14.550 --> 00:38:16.989 the first Republican ever to carry Elliott County, 00:38:17.190 --> 00:38:19.489 and the magnitude of the swing is what matters. 00:38:19.670 --> 00:38:23.090 In 2012, Mitt Romney got only 35 % of the vote 00:38:23.090 --> 00:38:27.130 there. In 2016, Trump won by a 44 -point landslide. 00:38:27.429 --> 00:38:30.070 It's a single data point that perfectly illustrates 00:38:30.070 --> 00:38:32.289 the sweeping political realignment happening 00:38:32.289 --> 00:38:35.070 among rural, ancestrally Democratic, socially 00:38:35.070 --> 00:38:37.489 conservative voters. And that profound transformation 00:38:37.489 --> 00:38:39.630 is now reflected in voter registration data, 00:38:39.710 --> 00:38:42.050 too. Yes. The Democratic Party held the registration... 00:38:42.059 --> 00:38:46.300 in Kentucky until July of 2022. That's when Republicans 00:38:46.300 --> 00:38:48.159 officially took the lead for the first time in 00:38:48.159 --> 00:38:51.360 state history. A few final unique legal and political 00:38:51.360 --> 00:38:54.219 distinctions. The state remains strongly conservative 00:38:54.219 --> 00:38:56.420 on social issues. It's considered one of the 00:38:56.420 --> 00:38:58.900 most anti -abortion states in the country. A 00:38:58.900 --> 00:39:02.480 2014 poll showed 57 % of Kentuckians believed 00:39:02.480 --> 00:39:04.860 abortion should be illegal in all or most cases. 00:39:05.719 --> 00:39:08.199 On the death penalty, the state uses lethal injection, 00:39:08.460 --> 00:39:11.320 but those convicted before March of 1998 still 00:39:11.320 --> 00:39:13.320 have the option of choosing the electric chair. 00:39:13.460 --> 00:39:15.679 And finally, regarding the process of democracy, 00:39:16.059 --> 00:39:18.800 the source material notes that in a 2020 study, 00:39:19.019 --> 00:39:21.440 Kentucky was ranked as the eighth hardest state 00:39:21.440 --> 00:39:23.920 for citizens to vote in, which raises questions 00:39:23.920 --> 00:39:26.480 about accessibility and mechanics of their state 00:39:26.480 --> 00:39:29.550 -level elections. Hashtag tag outro. We've covered 00:39:29.550 --> 00:39:31.829 a lot of ground today, moving from the tragic, 00:39:31.889 --> 00:39:33.929 deep history of Native American displacement 00:39:33.929 --> 00:39:36.889 to the sharp edges of modern economic reality. 00:39:37.429 --> 00:39:40.170 The synthesis of Kentucky is truly a portrait 00:39:40.170 --> 00:39:42.969 and paradox, constantly pulling in two directions 00:39:42.969 --> 00:39:45.530 at once. It is. We saw the duality in its very 00:39:45.530 --> 00:39:48.050 name, a commonwealth emphasizing public welfare, 00:39:48.250 --> 00:39:51.250 yet a deep history of violent internal conflict 00:39:51.250 --> 00:39:53.130 from the dueling governments of the Civil War 00:39:53.130 --> 00:39:56.250 to the explosive anti -monopoly Black Patch Wars. 00:39:56.429 --> 00:39:59.369 We found a state that cherishes its rural, southern, 00:39:59.469 --> 00:40:02.369 and Appalachian roots, the bourbon capital of 00:40:02.369 --> 00:40:04.909 the world, the home of bluegrass music, while 00:40:04.909 --> 00:40:07.150 at the same time functioning as a cutting -edge 00:40:07.150 --> 00:40:10.070 global manufacturing and logistics hub. I mean, 00:40:10.090 --> 00:40:12.989 fourth in auto assembly, host to the largest 00:40:12.989 --> 00:40:16.469 UPS and DHL air sorting facilities. And it's 00:40:16.469 --> 00:40:18.769 a state whose painful history of racial segregation, 00:40:19.090 --> 00:40:21.469 with the Supreme Court upholding the day law, 00:40:21.710 --> 00:40:24.690 was countered by the progressive move of passing 00:40:24.690 --> 00:40:27.449 the South's very first state civil rights act. 00:40:27.630 --> 00:40:31.650 1966. Its politics shifted from a national bellwether 00:40:31.650 --> 00:40:34.969 to a definitive Republican stronghold, summarized 00:40:34.969 --> 00:40:37.210 by that dramatic historic flip in Elliott County 00:40:37.210 --> 00:40:40.090 after nearly 150 years. Our mission today was 00:40:40.090 --> 00:40:42.250 to provide you, the listener, with a more nuanced 00:40:42.250 --> 00:40:45.170 view, to move past those easy stereotypes of 00:40:45.170 --> 00:40:47.530 horses and bourbon, to truly understand this 00:40:47.530 --> 00:40:49.969 complex border state that is so crucial to American 00:40:49.969 --> 00:40:52.010 history and industry. And we hope we delivered 00:40:52.010 --> 00:40:54.239 that comprehensive understanding. Now for our 00:40:54.239 --> 00:40:56.099 final provocative thought for you to mull over. 00:40:56.519 --> 00:40:59.099 Considering Kentucky's deeply rooted historical 00:40:59.099 --> 00:41:02.920 resistance to external control, from Native Americans 00:41:02.920 --> 00:41:05.260 fighting European encroachment to the Knight 00:41:05.260 --> 00:41:07.980 Riders taking up arms against corporate monopolies, 00:41:08.079 --> 00:41:11.139 how does this history of fierce, often violent 00:41:11.139 --> 00:41:13.820 independence manifest today in a state that now 00:41:13.820 --> 00:41:16.480 relies so heavily on massive, global, integrated 00:41:16.480 --> 00:41:19.219 institutions like global auto supply chains, 00:41:19.460 --> 00:41:22.639 the UPS World Port Hub, and major federal entities 00:41:22.639 --> 00:41:24.579 like like Fort Knox. Think about that tension 00:41:24.579 --> 00:41:26.480 between independence and economic integration. 00:41:26.780 --> 00:41:28.420 Thank you for joining us for The Deep Dive. We'll 00:41:28.420 --> 00:41:28.880 see you next time.