Religion

Miigwechiwendam: To Be Thankful

What a thousand-year-old Indigenous prayer teaches us about reciprocity and healing from the destructive consumption of our society

How Christian Nationalists Use Transphobia to Get Votes

A rural Wisconsin pastor explains why God’s compassion has no room for hate

The Christian Right’s Playbook to Elect Donald Trump in November

And how voters can use the tools of democracy to counter their plans

Land of Liberty

Myth-making in the early American republic

In Short Measures Life May Perfect Be

In an age overrun by our relentless desire for more—whether more wealth or more productivity from limited soil—Wendell Berry’s writings offer a way to find wholeness in life’s finitude
David Barr, Sightings

On Caucus Day in Iowa, a Different Kind of Spin Cycle

Ordinary acts of care teach us to look beyond false claims to glory

A Wandering Spirit, A Driftless Heart

Remembering the life and novels of David Rhodes one year after his death
Keep an Independent Mind

Sign up to receive twice-weekly Barn Raiser updates on original, independent reporting from rural and small town America.

mail
Religion
October 29, 2023

The 19th Century Haunting that Made This Small Tennessee Town Famous

Historian sheds new light on the dark tale of the Bell Witch

History
August 16, 2023

The Great Spirit (Why I am a Pagan)

Zitkála-Šá, born on the Yankton Indian Reservation in 1876, embraces the religion of her ancestors

Culture
May 10, 2023

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.