City Makers: American Futures
The people, organizations, and ideas reshaping the country. A journey piloted by James Fallows with Deborah Fallows.
Entrepreneurs
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‘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…
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A Big Step for Little Eastport
Since our first visit in the fall of 2013, Deb and I have reported frequently on the grit, vision, resilience…
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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…
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Nick Warren / Erie Reader Erie and America
The challenges of Rust Belt America are real, and well-known. What’s less familiar is the response some mid-sized cities are making.
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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…
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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…
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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…
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FirstBuild 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.
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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…
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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…
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Currier and Ives / Wikimedia Commona How Libraries Are Becoming Modern Makerspaces
They’ve long served as communal gathering spots, but these civic institutions are becoming gateways to technological tinkering.
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Ian Schick/AP The Dilemmas of Maker Culture
Thinking through the consequences of the proliferation of powerful tools and technologies
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John Tierney How Makerspaces Help Local Economies
New technologies like 3-D printers and laser cutters have boosted entrepreneurial activity in American communities.
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DowntownFresno.Org Downtown Fresno Kicks Off Its Campaign
Why "unapologetic" may be the most important word in a city's recovery plan
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Creative Fresno California's Centers of Technology: Bay Area, L.A., San Diego, and ... Fresno?
How would you build a high-tech center in a vast farming zone? You might start by applying tech solutions to farming problems of water use and sustainability in all forms.
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James Fallows Welcome to American Futures 3.0
A new season of reports on a renewing America
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Photos Bob Coffield Another Look at Salt-Harvesting in West Virginia
Combine ancient ingredients with a modern sensibility, and a new business takes form.
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Photos by James Fallows Artisanal Salt From an Ancient Sea
A different kind of underground wealth is the source of a new business in West Virginia.
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John Tierney The Story of Moop: How an Unlikely Company Came to Be
A Pittsburgh woman managed to build a successful bag company from a failed effort to make a dress.
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Hannah Ryaven The iPhone Case That Can Call the Police
A startup in Pittsburgh has designed a smartphone case and app to deter assault and help catch the attackers.
