City Makers: American Futures

The people, organizations, and ideas reshaping the country. A journey piloted by James Fallows with Deborah Fallows.

What's (Less) the Matter With Kansas

This week’s election news out of Kansas was the defeat in the GOP primaries of some of the hardest-line Tea…
- James Fallows
- Aug 5, 2016
- Notes
Orlin Wagner / AP

Educating Migrant Children in Dodge City

“We’re a port of entry 1,000 miles from the border.”
- Deborah Fallows
- Aug 3, 2016

A Different Kind of 'Trump Nation' Report

Western Kansas, where Deb and I have spent time over the past month, is the heart of Trump Nation in…
- James Fallows
- Jul 23, 2016
- Notes
Red Demon Football on YouTube

Dodge City's New Frontier

A high school in the famed Kansas town is embracing its rapidly changing demographics.
- Deborah Fallows
- Jul 23, 2016
Deborah Fallows

New Pioneers in Southwest Kansas

Mexican immigrants on the Great Plains try to build new lives, with hope and help.
- Deborah Fallows
- Jul 13, 2016
Nicolas Pollock / The Atlantic

The Story of Ernestor

Dodge City, Kansas relies on undocumented immigrants—from meatpacking workers to the city’s assistant finance director.
- James Fallows
- Jul 8, 2016

From the Air Traffic Controller's Perspective

Two days ago I mentioned the unflappable, multi-tasking and multi-dimensional competence with which an air-traffic controller at Denver’s Centennial airport…
- James Fallows
- Jun 30, 2016
- Notes
View From the Right Seat

During our more than 50,000 miles of flight for our American Futures project, I’ve sat in the “right seat”…
- Deborah Fallows
- Jun 28, 2016
- Notes
The Air Traffic Ballet

During our travels Deb has often mentioned our interest in, and nearly-all-times admiration for, the Air Traffic Controllers with whom…
- James Fallows
- Jun 28, 2016
- Notes
Deborah Fallows

What Rural Economies Look Like From Above

In Kansas, the advent of an energy industry is inscribing itself on the physical landscape, adding wind farms to wheat farms.
- James Fallows
- Jun 26, 2016

A Note About Trumpism, From the 'Real America'

For the past week my wife Deb and I have been in western Kansas — Dodge City mainly, also Garden…
- James Fallows
- Jun 25, 2016
- Notes
The Multi-Dimensional Reality of the Nation, vs. the Flattened Reality of National Politics

My wife Deb and I have started out on the road again—northern Texas recently, now western Kansas, with a diversion…
- James Fallows
- Jun 22, 2016
- Notes
More on the Public Role in Fostering Private Innovation

A few days ago I argued that the Maker Movement finally depends on the ingenuity and effort of private entrepreneurs…
- James Fallows
- Jun 18, 2016
- Notes
America by Air: Whitewater

In one way or another, all Clinton-era “scandals” trace back to Whitewater. That was the late-1970s Arkansas real estate deal…
- James Fallows
- Jun 18, 2016
- Notes

The Maker Movement: If Hamilton Were Around, He Would Be a Fan

The previous two installments in this series, “The Tools Revolution” and “Agility,” of course concentrated on…
- James Fallows
- Jun 16, 2016
- Notes
A Good Start: Bobby's Story

One of my favorite features of our American Futures project is the occasional serendipity of crossing the path of some…
- Deborah Fallows
- Jun 16, 2016
- Notes
Deborah Fallows

Finding Health Care in the Desert

With the closest hospital 100 miles away, Ajo, Arizona’s Desert Senita Health Center acts as the region’s clinic.
- Deborah Fallows
- Jun 13, 2016
The Surprising Problem With U.S. Manufacturing: It's Creating Too Many Jobs

An ongoing theme of our reports from “career technical” schools—like this high school in Georgia and this community college in…
- James Fallows
- Jun 11, 2016
- Notes

The Maker Revolution: What It Has Changed, and What It Hasn't — Yet

After these two articles on why the Maker Movement matters — “Part 1, the Tools Revolution” and “Part…
- James Fallows
- Jun 10, 2016
- Notes
James Fallows / The Atlantic

Why the Maker Movement Matters: Part 2, Agility

Business are finding that “makerspaces” enable them to reduce what’s known as the mind-to-market gap: how long it takes for an idea to become a thing on a shelf.
- James Fallows
- Jun 9, 2016