Molly Born is a journalist and producer based in Appalachia. She is the recipient of the Galloway Fellowship for Reporting in Appalachia for a forthcoming project about the foster care system in West Virginia. She spent the first part of 2020 working as an audio producer for a Virginia Public Media podcast about coronavirus mutual aid. In 2018, Molly was a Report for America fellow at West Virginia Public Broadcasting where she covered the southern coalfields. She was named a finalist for the Livingston Award for Young Journalists for her work. Previously, Molly spent six years as a reporter at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
A lyrical essay from a lost paradise - woven with a series of contemporary documentary vignettes - explores how coal is imbued in the identity and human experience of Appalachians. KING COAL serves as a visual reminder of why change is slow and painful.