‘Let’s Care About Someone Who Does Not Belong to Our Tribe’
We could use a little positive news at the moment, right? Here you go: Over the past three years we’re written a lot about Fresno in general, one of the unglamorous…
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The End of the Journey
Arriving in Tucson, we felt the inklings of coming full circle with our American Futures project. Only one more leg of our journey, about 400 miles, before we reached our destination of…
A Big Step for Little Eastport
A new life for the Seacoast Canning Company
Flying Into the Deep South
We woke up in Demopolis, Alabama, on day two of the final journey of our American Futures series for The Atlantic. We were one day out of Washington D.C. (first installment here)…
Farewell to Washington
Montgomery County traffic, Cirrus Four-Three-Five Sierra Romeo taking Runway One-Four, VFR (visual flight rules) departure to the west, Montgomery. Rolling down Runway 14 for takeoff from Montgomery County Airpark in…
Happy New Year: See You in June
For me this is the third post of the day, and probably the last in this space for quite a while. Effective today, I’m beginning a five-month book-writing leave from online and print…
All Progress Is Local: New Year’s Notes From Around the Country
New Year's Notes from Around the Country
Returning to Ohio
How a small, Midwestern town has changed over the decades—and where it aims to go
A Post-Election Field Report From America’s Refugees and Immigrants
Words and stories from the towns where the newest Americans live
Missing Thanksgiving Day
When you are an American living overseas, Thanksgiving is an even more powerful nationally unifying holiday than the Fourth of July. All the Americans know something special is going on;…
The Treasures of Birmingham
For almost a century, the local library has guarded its city's history.
Why Not Dodge? Why Not Stockton?
I mentioned yesterday that several local initiatives could mean as much to their communities or states as the outcome of most national races. The two historical examples I naturally think of are…
Documentary: A Renewable Energy Revolution in Small-Town America
A documentary about small towns and renewable energy produced for the American Futures project.
A Renewable Energy Revolution in Small-town America
by The Atlantic’s video team See a video (here) made in conjunction with the American Futures project and based on the reporting of James and Deborah Fallows.
What the Renewable-Energy Economy Looks Like
At its peak, nearly one century ago in 1920, the coal-mining industry employed nearly 800,000 people in the United States. Decade by decade, as America’s population has swelled and its…