Covid Pioneer Families
How has the pandemic motivated people to reconsider where they live, and why? Here is a story from South Dakota about how families are changing—and towns as well.
Civic Life
163 posts
The Justice Paradox in America
Developing a common definition of justice could go a long way towards healing our national rifts. But how do we arrive at a shared definition?
Bring in the Refugees
The most encouraging front-page headline I’ve seen in the New York Times in a long time was this, from Labor Day. It was on a story by Miriam Jordan and Jennifer Steinhauer, and…
Polycentric Power in Your Community
What power do communities have at the local level when it comes to the environment?
Bucksport Maine Finds Its Heart & Soul
How can person-to-person democracy be revived? A one-time mill town in coastal Maine is a laboratory for a new approach.
Living Through History: a Reading List
The 1880s, the 1930s, the 1950s—they dramatically reshaped America. The 2020s are likely to do so as well.
Greater than the Sum of its Parts
How Gender and Racial Biases Create Ironies that Defeat Good Organizations
‘A New Citizenry Around Truth’
How can the people who invented digital mapping technology avoid worrying about writing the next chapter in the history of disinformation?
Brimming with a Sense of Possibility and Positivity with the Wind Finally at Our Backs Again
“Our Towns” Reader Response Roundup features film screening feedback, a unique effort to support libraries nationwide, and national perceptions being addressed at the local level.
Organizational Irony in Small Town USA
What can a look at the paradoxes of power and failed leadership teach communities?
A Message to the Class of 2021
What's a Mike? And what makes a Mike Mighty?
Exposing What was Already Present
The pandemic provides an opportunity to focus on justice and equity in Erie, Pennsylvania.
Learning from a Prairie State
Small cities, potentially big lessons. What a state that is home to 800,000 people can demonstrate to the country as a whole.
Erie Celebrates World Refugee Day with New Film, Publishes Directory of Refugee-Owned Businesses
Erie Celebrates World Refugee Day with New Film, Publishes Directory of Refugee-Owned Businesses
“Our Towns:” From the Pages to the Screen
The filmmakers and writers discuss the story of "Our Towns" at JES Global Summit.
‘New Old Ideas’: A Modern CCC
American history doesn't repeat, but it rhymes. Crises keep cropping up—and so do ideas and solutions. Many innovations from the 1930s have new relevance for the post-pandemic 2020s. Here is an example, and the thinking behind it.