‘Mr. China’ on Making Things in America
Following this earlier post about the significance of the Maker Movement, and before an upcoming report on an unusual and…
‘The Last Best Hope for Public STEM Education in Mississippi’
Over the years my wife Deb and I have frequently mentioned the remarkable Mississippi School for Mathematics and Science. You…
Why the Maker Movement Matters: Part 1, the Tools Revolution
Just like the internet before it, the Maker Movement is revolutionizing manufacturing, with implications for startups and jobs.
Budget Challenges at a Remarkable Mississippi School
Over the past two years my wife Deb and I have reported frequently on the remarkable Mississippi School for Mathematics…
Farming in the Desert
A small town in Arizona grows a thriving food scene.
Deb Fallows at the University of Redlands
During our West Coast travels for American Futures reports in the winter of 2014-2015, my wife Deb and…
Awards for Civic Engagement: 37 New Examples
A big question in national politics this year is what exactly “engagement” means, beyond showing up at rallies. As Yoni…
Paradise Duluth
As part of the unfolding saga of start-up businesses as the crucial creators of new jobs, and of particular…
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Wichita, Salisbury, Knoxville, Seattle: Revival Updates
Here are some recent developments that are related to the “America Is Putting Itself Back Together” argument in…
America 2016, in 2 Quotes
Quote one, from Michael Cohen’s report for the Boston Globe on the big Trump rally in Long Island. Emphasis added: …
On National Beer Day, Craft Brewers Improving Water, and Life, in More Ways Than One
Thanks to my Atlantic colleague Kathy Gilsinan for the reminder of why today is different from all other days: It’s…
Hmmm, Why Does This Sound Familiar? Part 1,293
A big theme in our ongoing reports from across the United States, and of my story in our March issue,…
Craft Breweries: No, I'm Not Kidding, They Actually Matter in Civic Development!
If you’re going to subscribe to only one magazine — well, really you should be subscribing to more! But you…
From Fresno to Duluth to Allentown, with Montana in Between: Civic Updates
Here are some generally positive developments from places we’ve visited in our travels. Fresno: This evening Fresno, California,…
Checklists for Success, from Knoxville to Salt Lake City and Beyond
We’re back to followup on my March issue story about local-level civic coherence, even at a time of the worst…
Language as Art in Pittsburgh
Exiled writers use words as art and inspire a community.
Startups Creating Jobs in the United States, Around the World — and Now in Cuba
Let’s get back to some positive news — actually, let’s connect the positive news I’m about to give, to the…
Listening to Montana
In Chester, Montana, a world away from city life inspires an artist's music.
Shifting Back to Better News: What's Happening, Apart from the Primaries, in Ohio
A big theme of our March issue cover stories (main story here; “11 signs of success” checklist;…
How Libraries Are Becoming Modern Makerspaces
They’ve long served as communal gathering spots, but these civic institutions are becoming gateways to technological tinkering.
With the PBS NewsHour, in Greenville S.C.
Last night the PBS NewsHour ran a 10-minute segment hosted by Judy Woodruff and shot in Greenville, South Carolina, where…
A Public Library Tells the Civic Story of a Town
Greenville’s public library puts its past and present on full display: mills, racial history, internationalism, public-private collaborations, and culture.
Local Success, National Paralysis: How Does it Balance Out?
The GOP/Fox last night was genuinely depressing. Donald Trump has brought the other candidates down to his level, in the…
Tech Meets Art in Middle School
A South Carolina public school gives tech-savvy students a sense of humanity.
Hmmm, This Sounds Like Something I Would Agree With
From Thomas Friedman in the NYT, emphasis added: … what will be required to produce resilient citizens…
Hmmm, Where Have We Heard This Before? (Super Tuesday Edition)
Headline on an editorial-page essay in this morning’s NYT: From the essay itself: In…
Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed, Cont'd
Many more newspaper columnists have joined the ranks of other Atlantic readers—in Dayton, Detroit, Bloomington, Greensboro, Pittsburgh,…
Hmmm, Where Have We Seen This Before?
The pull-quote at the beginning of my current cover story says: Many people are discouraged about America. But…
In Which Warren Buffett Agrees With Me (or Perhaps Vice Versa)
When I was living in and reporting from China, I spent a lot of time trying to hammer this point…
Talking About a Second Gilded Age, With ‘On Point’ Listeners
Two updates today: 1) On Point. I spoke today with Tom Ashbrook of WBUR and his On Point…
‘The Looming Entrepreneurial Boom’: Kauffman Weighs In
Brand-new companies play a surprisingly important part in progress toward fuller employment. A new report says that the prospects for start-ups may be improving.
A Police Shooting Case in Mississippi
Over the past few years we’ve mentioned many of the positive developments underway in the three counties of northern Mississippi…
Fareed Zakaria GPS, and Another Traveler's Views
This morning I was on Fareed Zakaria’s GPS program on CNN, talking about the project behind my current Atlantic cover…
Eleven Signs a City Will Succeed, Cont'd
In a sidebar item for his cover story this month, Jim outlines eleven indicators that a city is on the…
Mississippi Students Write About Life in Their Home State
Inspiring young writers connect with their literary legacy
Pitching in to Save a Library
In San Bernardino, one way to help save the city is to save its library.
What Presidential Campaigns Show About Civic Fiber
The end of my current story in the magazine, on “How America Is Putting Itself Back Together,” explores…
American Futures Master List: Some of the Hundreds of Places We Would Like to Go
“There is more going on, in more places, than you imagined.”
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Welcome Our Newest National Monuments!
Often it seems that modern presidents can’t do anything — except wage war. Here’s a heartening exception.
Punching Above Their Weight in Mississippi
Mississippi schools come in #49 in many national rankings. Read these essays and poems by high school students from Columbus, Mississippi. Then tell the folks who make up the rankings that they need a different algorithm.
Can America Put Itself Back Together? Kicking Off Another Online Season
Across the country, people think America is going to hell—but things look better here locally. Why the general tone of the moment’s politics is wrong.
America's Libraries: Old Institutions Becoming Very New Again
Most people associate libraries with fustiness, quiet, and a previous era in technology. But across the country, they’re embracing new technology to fill important new civic roles.
How America Is Putting Itself Back Together
Most people in the U.S. believe their country is going to hell. But they’re wrong. What a three-year journey by single-engine plane reveals about reinvention and renewal.
Talking About Civic Engagement in America's Original Engaged Communities
The Chautauqua Institution is one of America’s great centers for civil, cultural, and intellectual engagement. A talk about 21st-century American renewal, at a place whose history traces to a great 19th-century reform movement.
A Library Writes Its Own Story
A California library becomes a living legend.
Gone Swimmin’
How public swimming pools show you the heart of a town
An Innovative Library in Oregon, and Other Reports From the Road
Kicking off reports from the inland Northwest, plus a happy birthday to James Baldwin
A Library of Good Ideas
Formula for success in Central Oregon: know the users, spot the opportunities, act with vigor.
Why an F-16 Hit a Cessna, and Some More-Upbeat Updates
Sobering news from the NTSB, but encouraging news from Maine to California
The New New York Public Library
Preserving tradition while expanding offerings for a bigger, broader audience.
The Good Ol' Days of the Motor Hotel Are Back
The metamorphosis of a Bend, Oregon, motel—from its classic origins, to crack house, to upscale rustic elegance.
The San Bernardino Story: Fire Fighters Weigh In
Who is to blame when a struggling city runs out of money? A public-safety worker says it’s unfair to point the finger at him and his colleagues. Plus, a young resident of the city discovers reasons to hope.
When High School Means a Build-It-Yourself Education
A charter school in Oregon encourages students to shape their own learning.
A Community College at the Center of an Oregon Recovery Story
When the lumber industry left, the region bet its future on technology—even though it lacked a research university.
How to Tell Oregon Apart From New Jersey
If Chris Christie had thought of this for his state’s gas stations, maybe he’d be doing better in the 2016 race now
Building for the Future, in California's Famously Failed City
The Los Angeles Times has a big, new demonstration of how bad things have gotten in the city of San Bernardino. Here’s a look at people doing their best, despite those odds.
Sports and Civic Life, Bend Elks Edition
An evening at the ballpark, with Vinnie the Elk and friends
Summer in the Pacific Northwest
The Bend, Oregon, Elks open their baseball season.