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The Trees at the Center of Our History
From the Pequot War to the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps, trees tell a living story
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Band-Aid Care: When Keeping Rural People Healthy Requires Creative Solutions
Improvised networks of health care remain a lifeline for communities that formal systems have failed
A Winning Food and Farm Policy for Rural America
Rep. J.D. Scholten
Here’s my plan to help farmers and rural communities gain independence from corporate domination
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Opinion
What Happens When Moms for Liberty Takes Over Your School Board
In Laramie County, Wyoming, concerned citizens are pushing back
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Hunted to Near Extinction, Bobcats Are Edging Their Way Back
The bobcat’s return to rural Ohio, and nationwide, means a healthier ecosystem for all
Religion
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Did Religion Motivate Assassination of Minnesota Lawmaker?
The media has overlooked Vance Boelter’s connection to the New Apostolic Reformation in his alleged targeting of public officials
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A Fighting Faith
How a decades-long battle to protect religious freedom in the military is taking on Christian Nationalism
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What Counts as American Religion?
A new history reconsiders who belongs in American religious history and what should count as religion
History
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Iowa Republicans Are Erasing the State’s History
Sixty percent of the historical society archives are being trashed with no transparency
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How the U.S. Enlisted Farmers to ‘Feed the World’ in the 20th Century
As Trump eliminates U.S. international aid programs, a new history details the instrumental role Midwestern farmers played in establishing them
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How Rural Post Offices Sustain Community
Reflections on the post offices of Benzie County, Michigan, as a living map
Mary Welcome, essay & photography
Special Reports
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New
Rethinking Immigration and Health in Rural America
How rural immigrants sustain networks of care and resistance in Maryland
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Protecting Rural Public Schools
The Movement to Defund Rural Public Schools
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The Fight to Prevent PFAS Pollution
Why PFAS—forever chemicals—contaminate wells in many rural areas
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Reimagining Rural Cartographies
Written and photo essays that examine nontraditional maps of the Midwest
More →Politics & Policy
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The Long-Time Organizer Leading a New Wave of Rural Organizing
“When people work together across differences it’s good for the community”
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A GOP Rural Hospital ‘Slush Fund’ Raises Questions
Republicans passed their tax bill in part by funding $50 billion for rural health. But health experts say the “devil’s in the details.”
Sarah Jane Tribble, KFF Health News
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Will Cuts in Rural Programs Leave the Same Lasting Wounds as the 2008 Financial Crisis?
Rural families like mine are still grappling with the long-term mental health consequences of housing loss
Science & Environment
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Great Lakes Microplastics Research Could Inform National and Global Policy
Microplastics are increasingly present in samples pulled from the Great Lakes. Researchers are working to understand them—and to remove them.
Sarah Mattalian, Inside Climate News
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For This Rural Town, a Fluoride Debate Is About More Than the Water
Citizens of Woodlawn, Tennessee, grapple with how public health decisions are made
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How Safe Is Fluoridated Water? A Look at New Research
Recent studies consider evidence that fluoride impairs the cognitive development of fetuses and infants
Arts & Culture
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Spearfishing Makes a Splash in Michigan
How one man’s passion brought new life to the sport in the Great Lakes
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When Fantasy Meets Reality: The Folly of Kings
“The 21st century seems replete with examples as to why autocracies are, to put it mildly, very stupid”
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With Rural Libraries Under Attack, a Washington Town Rallies to Defend Its Own
A state senator pulled funding from the Republic Library. Citizens responded by organizing to protect its inclusive community.
Food & Agriculture
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A Mobile Abattoir Meets a Critical Need of Small Livestock Farmers
Connor Barnes and his custom-made truck offer an alternative to the dangers of giant slaughterhouses
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Keeping Farmland in Farmers’ Hands
Farm transfers are complex. Anna Sekine helps farmers pass their land to the next generation.
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Barbara Damrosch’s Life in the Garden
The acclaimed garden writer’s latest book is part memoir, part garden guide and part call to action
Holli Cederholm; photos by Kelsey Kobik
Native Life
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In Times of Trouble, My Mother’s History Tells Me We Shall Overcome
Our lives are marked by our creative journeys, both inward and outward
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In a North Dakota Courtroom, the Battle for Standing Rock Continues
Greenpeace and the owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline square off in court
Barn Raisers
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Barn Raiser’s 2024 Year in Review
Wendell Berry takes on “White Rural Rage,” farmers and environmentalists team up, and rural organizers contend with the opportunities, and aftermath, of an election year
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Wendell Berry: What New York Times Columnist Paul Krugman Gets Wrong About Rural America
‘Those of us who speak for the country (“rural America”) must never give up’
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