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When Moms for Liberty Cancelled a School Librarian’s Mother’s Day Lesson, Concerned Parents Fought Back
Here is what they said at the Hamilton County, Tennessee, school board meeting
Joel Bleifuss
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How Two Iowa Librarians Are Standing Up for Readers
Joel Bleifuss
What Liberal Elites Don’t Know About Rural Americans Can Hurt Us
Wendell Berry
The New York Review of Books strikes out, again
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For My Immigrant Family, the Library Opened New Doors
Andrea Duarte-Alonso
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“We’ve Had Death Threats, Bomb Threats”
Rural libraries, often a lifeline, now face efforts to ban books and restrict funding
s.e. smith
Science & Environment
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Canadian ‘Super Pigs’ Threaten Minnesota. How Will the State Respond?
Experts say once a feral swine population is established, it’s nearly impossible to remove.
Madison McVan, Investigate Midwest
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Don’t Let Your Food Waste Become Sewage Sludge
The solid waste industry is greenwashing food waste-to-sewer programs
Laura Orlando
Politics & Policy
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Native Communities Fight Oil Pipeline in Wisconsin and Michigan
The 70-year-old Line 5 pipeline threatens lives, livelihoods and Great Lakes ecosystems
Perceval Calderwood
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Changing Rural America One County at a Time
Joel Bleifuss
Native Life
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The Black Snake Threatens Turtle Island
When I moved to the Great Lakes, I did not know a pipeline threatened my ancestral homeland
Monica Cady
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Five Native Groups Have Established Rights of Nature
"For Ho-Chunk, rights of nature has always been around.”
Craig M. Kauffman & Pamela L. Martin
Culture
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Eating Disorders in Farm Country
We speak openly about the dangers of not wearing a seatbelt or abusing drugs or alcohol, but we don’t routinely talk to our young people about the dangers of eating disorders.
Rev. Dr. Judy Kincaid
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Hunting the Dinosaurs of Lake Winnebago
Conservation, community, and a hole in the ice
S. Nicole Lane
Barn Raisers
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Finding Common Ground at a Montana Barn Raising
The former Montana House speaker and Missoula mayor reflects on working together across differences
Daniel Kemmis
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Rural America Isn’t What You Think
From “Flyover Country” to “The Heartland,” public perceptions of rural America are based on political rhetoric rather than data
Bryce Oates
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Welcome to Barn Raiser: Your independent source for rural and small town news
Joel Bleifuss & Justin Perkins
Religion
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The Politics of Loving Your Neighbor in Rural America
Rev. Dr. Judy Kincaid
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Let Everyone Take a Chance on Romance
Rev. Dr. Judy Kincaid
Food & Agriculture
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Back to the Land in the Ozarks
Alex Sandy Primm
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Helping Midwest Farmers Go Organic
The region is becoming a “hotbed” for organic agriculture
Sheila Julson
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The Labor Department’s Program To Protect Farmworkers Is in Disarray
Sky Chadde, Investigate Midwest & Johnathan Hettinger, Investigate Midwest
History
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This Small Nebraska Town Hosted Negro League Clubs and Possibly an Official Major League Baseball Game
Kevin Warneke & John Shorey
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“The Religious Life of the American Indian”: A View from 1911
Ohiyesa aka Charles Eastman