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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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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
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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A Letter to Young Farmers from Willie Nelson and David Senter
The challenges family farmers face
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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
Food & Agriculture
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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”
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How to Keep Your Garden Free From Toxic Forever Chemicals
Is your big box store selling you soil contaminated with PFAS?
Rep. Bill Pluecker
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Why I Joined Maine’s Farmer Day of Action and Tractor Brigade
A Maine farmer reports from the front lines of the new American agriculture movement
Politics & Policy
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I Taught My Students Slavery Was Wrong. Then MAGA Came After Me
An Iowa teacher looks back on a lost job and at the current movement to defend rural schools
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Public Schools Build Connections in Rural Communities. Vouchers Tear Them Down.
Here is what you can do to stand up for rural public schools before it’s too late
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How Democrats Can Win By Organizing from the County Up
In her new role as a party leader, Jane Kleeb is organizing Democrats to go on the offensive
Special Reports
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New
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.
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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
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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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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From Frying Pans to ‘Teflon Flu’: How One Scientist’s Discovery Changed the World Forever
The origins of PFAS “forever chemicals”
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Bird Flu Spreads as Musk’s DOGE Cuts Public Health Funding
“It’s not enough for us to sit by on the sidelines,” says Dr. Michael Osterholm
Native Life
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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
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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
Religion
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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
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Donald Trump, MAGA and the Logic of the Gun
Trump’s image as a vigilante “peacemaker” reflects the religiously-tinged violence of the American frontier
Rachel Wagner, Religion Dispatches
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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
Arts & Culture
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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
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Going Off the Grid in the Midwest
What walking an arbitrary line through Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa reveals
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The Arts Organization Helping Transform Appalachia’s Craft Economy
Creative entrepreneurs are getting needed support to grow and sustain their businesses after Hurricane Helene
History
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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
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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."