Safety driver Jeff Runions with one of Starsky Robotics' autonomous testing trucks. Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi/NPR hide caption
Brave New Workers
Ajmal Faqiri, third from left, interpreting for former Secretary of Defense Robert Gates. Courtesy of No One Left Behind hide caption
An Afghan Military Interpreter Finds Footing In The U.S. Gig Economy
Sunita Williams conducts routine maintenance during a stint aboard the International Space Station. Nowadays, the astronaut helps Boeing and SpaceX develop private spacecraft. NASA hide caption
Celina Raddatz and her mother, Guadalupe Pena Villegas, at home in California. Xavier Vasquez/NPR hide caption
Former schoolteacher Liz Stepansky at her new job as a speech pathologist at a hospital in Washington, D.C. Mette Lutzhoft/Mette Lutzhoft hide caption
Tony Zimlich, a former military pilot, helps to train and manage a new generation of drone pilots. Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi/NPR hide caption
Adult film performer Alana Evans and vice president of the Adult Performers Actors Guild. Courtesy Alana Evans/Courtesy Alana Evans hide caption
After David Wiley was laid off from the grueling day to day of the coal mining industry, he found a new livelihood working for STAT EMS in Pineville, W.V. Alexi Horowitz-Ghazi/NPR hide caption
From Risking His Life To Saving Lives, Ex-Coal Miner Is Happy To Take The Paycut
Cat groomer Alex Perry clips the nails of a cat. Rachel Valadez/Artis Photography hide caption
'Brave New Workers': Ex-Construction Worker Builds A New Life Grooming Cats
Malcolm Mirage and sister Nina Parks operate the cannabis business Mirage Medicinal in San Francisco. Marissa Ortega-Welch/NPR hide caption