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Ethanol Promised a Low Carbon Future. Its Climate Footprint Shows Otherwise
“King Corn” dominates U.S. farmland and fuels the ethanol industry. But the fertilizer it relies on drives emissions and fouls drinking water.
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Welcoming the Wolf at the Door
By protecting endangered wolves, conservationists support a healthy environment
The Myth of the Constitutional Sheriff
A once-fringe idea has gone mainstream—its flawed roots are as visible as ever
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Barbara Kingsolver on the Women of the Great Arizona Mine Strike
“If we could just get rid of these broads, we’d have it made,” said an Arizona Department of Public Safety officer
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‘Disciples of White Jesus,’ Disciples of Trump
Pastor and author Angela Denker discusses what’s happening to white men and boys in Trump’s America
Native Life
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When We Win: Stories From the Frontlines of Ecological Resistance
After decades of struggle, indigenous leaders and organizers have shown how to win against billionaires and large corporations
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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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Politics & Policy
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Republicans’ Latest Gambit to Deny Rural Veterans Health Care
A new bill would incrementally defund and dismantle rural VA services
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Forty Organizations Offer a Plan to Revitalize Rural America
New Rural Policy Action Report highlights 26 legislative solutions that would benefit rural communities
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As SNAP Benefits Lapse, Rural Americans Step Up to Meet Their Neighbors’ Needs
“ Lots of people are having to make really tough choices”
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 →Religion
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Megachurches: Streaming to a Barn Near You
How Pete Hegseth’s former Minnesota church is leading the new Christian “crusade”
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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
Food & Agriculture
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Thanksgiving Is Built on Farmers. Our Food System Should Be Too.
Antitrust enforcement isn’t about punishing success. It’s about ensuring that farmers and eaters can thrive.
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At Gilliard Farms, Food, Healing and Heritage Grow Together
For 150 years, a family of Gullah Geechee descent has preserved their story through family land
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
Science & Environment
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Can a Family Resurrect the American Chestnut Tree in Appalachia?
Virginia tree farmers reintroduce an iconic tree that was decimated by blight
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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
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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
Arts & Culture
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Coal Country Thanksgiving
The meaning of an old mountain tradition before it became “heritage cooking”
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Farm Aid, at 40, Offers a Lifeline for Farmers Facing Their Worst Crisis in Decades
Willie Nelson, Neil Young and Bob Dylan headline a milestone 12-hour benefit concert
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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
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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