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

For Rural Students, Going to College is Not Easy

A professor of education examines the barriers to higher ed that rural students face

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
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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
Essay

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

Arts & Culture

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”

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.

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
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Science & Environment

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

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

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
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Barn Raisers

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
Photo of Wendell Berry

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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Letters to the editor

Readers Respond to Wendell Berry

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Politics & Policy

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

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

Beyond the Ivy League, International Students at Rural Colleges Are Being Detained by ICE

Students, teachers and staff work “day and night” to protect the rights of international students, often the lifeblood of rural college towns
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Native Life

Tapping Into the Sweetness of Spring

“Waziya (Old Man Winter) is finally heading north”

In a North Dakota Courtroom, the Battle for Standing Rock Continues

Greenpeace and the owner of the Dakota Access Pipeline square off in court

Indigenous Artists Give Minnesota a Map Makeover

A roundtable conversation with three women who are reviving land-based wisdom and history from a Dakota perspective
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Religion

Will Leo XIV Be the Labor Pope?

Will the U.S. Catholic church revive its legacy of support for migrant farmworkers and organized labor?

The Problem With J.D. Vance’s Augustine

Vance’s misguided interpretation of Christian love is an attempt to justify the jingoistic policies of “America First”
Zachary Taylor, Sightings

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
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Food & Agriculture

Trump Deportations Have Dairy Farmers on Edge

“It’s just a job that the domestic workforce hasn’t sought out for decades”

How to Keep Your Garden Free From Toxic Forever Chemicals

Is your big box store selling you soil contaminated with PFAS?
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History

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

How Rural Post Offices Sustain Community

Reflections on the post offices of Benzie County, Michigan, as a living map
Mary Welcome, essay & photography

Land of Liberty

Myth-making in the early American republic
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