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The Dark Money Defunding Rural Schools
A network of right-wing billionaires have bankrolled a war against public education. Now they’re stepping up attacks on rural legislators—but communities are fighting back.
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Country Queers Spread the Love in Rural America
Rae Garringer’s new book documents more than a decade of LGBTQ+ rural life
The Christian Right’s Playbook to Elect Donald Trump in November
And how voters can use the tools of democracy to counter their plans
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Project 2025 and Its Plans for the Nation’s Public Lands
Native leader says massive deregulation would lead to “total desecration”
Food & Agriculture
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How Harris’s Economic Strategy Could Help Farmers
Taking on monopolies and lowering consumer costs is both a winning political strategy and the right thing to do
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Lawsuit Against a Small Wisconsin Town Poses Critical Test for CAFO Regulations
The state’s biggest business lobby helps two residents challenge a Polk County town’s restrictions on livestock feeding operations
Bennet Goldstein, Wisconsin Watch
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Harvesting Destruction
Reflections of a lifelong Montana rancher on the corporate takeover of our food system and what it means for the future of our nation and planet
Politics & Policy
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In Chicago, Rural Democrats Feel the Joy. Will It Last?
At the DNC’s Rural Council, Democrats see a bright future in rural America—but past losses cast a long shadow
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As a Rural Ohioan, I See J.D. Vance for Who He Is
Vance’s extreme agenda runs counter to the rural culture of helping one’s neighbors
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Can Tim Walz Help the Democrats Win Back Rural America?
Rural Democrats rally behind the Harris-Walz ticket but recognize the challenges ahead
Special Reports
New
Charting a Path of Rural Progress
Interviews with the organizers who created a rural policy platform for 2024
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Rural Communities Respond to the Long-Term Care Crisis
Rural communities come together to respond to the crisis in long-term care
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Interviews with Rural Organizers
Meet the rural organizers and changemakers working for change and justice
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Rural Libraries
Rural libraries, under threat, are finding renewed purpose
More →Native Life
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The Indigenous Growers Reviving Hemp’s Deep Roots
“Cannabis and hemp offer solutions to many challenges in an industrial society”
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Federal Courts Sentence Native Americans to Longer Prison Terms
How federal authority over tribes fails to provide equal justice under the law
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The Bad River Chippewa Take on an Oil Giant: Review of ‘Bad River: A Story of Defiance’
A new film chronicles how the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa are united in their opposition to Enbridge pipelines
Barn Raisers
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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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Building Movements for Food and Racial Justice Through Organic Farming
For Iriel Edwards, a decision to take up farming in Louisiana was fueled by a desire to connect to the deep ecological knowledge of her ancestors
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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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Signs of a Ceasefire in Michigan’s Energy Wars
Rural comunities have been fighting for nearly two decades over large-scale solar and wind farms. A new law might turn down the temperature as the state seeks to reduce carbon emissions from generating electricity.
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What’s Fueling Michigan’s Green Energy Backlash?
A renewable energy push is bringing millions of dollars to Michigan’s rural communities. But not everyone is pleased.
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On the Chopping Block
BLM plans to raze 380,000 acres of pinyon-juniper forests vital to Nevada tribes
Religion
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Civil Religion as a Gateway to Christian Nationalism
The inclusion of “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance was a sectarian move whose exclusionary effects are increasingly evident in today’s religious landscape
Brian Kaylor & Beau Underwood, Sightings
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The Politics of Loving Your Neighbor in Rural America
Reflections of a Lutheran pastor in Dunn County, Wisconsin
Arts & Culture
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A Supper Club State of Mind
Wisconsin has more supper clubs than any other state. But how long will this iconic institution survive?
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The Colonial Theatre Sets the Stage for a Small Town’s Revival
New Hampshire’s largest historic preservation project revitalizes Laconia’s downtown
History
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The 19th Century Haunting that Made This Small Tennessee Town Famous
Historian sheds new light on the dark tale of the Bell Witch
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Jim Hightower Confronts the 1980s Farm Crisis
"It's the same old story—Reagan helps the rich, and Lord help the rest of us."