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Senate Republicans Fast Track Budget Bill With Grave Consequences for Rural America
After a weekend of behind-the-scenes deal cutting, the GOP voted to open debate on their pro-rich/anti-working class reconciliation bill
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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
‘I Didn’t Know I Was Sitting in a Pool of Poison’
How do rural communities recover from PFAS contamination?
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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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Right to Repair Gains Traction as John Deere Faces Trial
The Federal Trade Commission’s anti-monopoly case could give farmers freedom to repair their own equipment
Food & Agriculture
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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
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Trump Deportations Have Dairy Farmers on Edge
“It’s just a job that the domestic workforce hasn’t sought out for decades”
Politics & Policy
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For Rural Students, Going to College is Not Easy
A professor of education examines the barriers to higher ed that rural students face
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Democrats, There’s a Way Out of The Political Mess We’re In
My offer to current and future Democratic candidates who want to do better in rural America
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Six Reasons Why the House Budget Bill Will Hurt Rural America
Republicans in Congress are jamming through a sweeping bill to fund handouts to the rich
Special Reports
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New
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
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Rural Perspectives on the 2024 Election
Candidates, strategists and organizers reflect on the lessons learned.
More →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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Welcome to Barn Raiser: Your independent source for rural and small town news
A letter from the editors
Letters to the editor
Readers Respond to Wendell Berry
Read →Science & Environment
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Can Clean Energy Jobs Bring Hope to This Struggling Factory Town?
Decatur has been losing factory jobs for decades. State and local investments in clean energy and workforce training promises renewal.
Kari Lydersen, Canary Media
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Will the Vampire of the Great Lakes Rise Again?
The Trump administration’s budget cuts could undermine bipartisan efforts to keep the Great Lakes great
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Why the Greenpeace Trial Is a Lesson for Us All
Criminalizing the protection of water, not its degradation, is a sign of things to come—but Water Protectors are here to stay
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
Arts & Culture
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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.
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Carín León Says There’s Nothing ‘Regional’ About His Music
A review of the latest album by the Grammy-winning Mexican artist and his challenge to the gringo music industry’s pigeonholing labels
Religion
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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
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Will Leo XIV Be the Labor Pope?
Will the U.S. Catholic church revive its legacy of support for migrant farmworkers and organized labor?
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Pete Hegseth’s War on Religious Freedom and the Constitution
What Pete Hegseth’s record says about where he would lead the Department of Defense
History
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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
