Reasons to be Cheerful

This story was originally published by The Understory.

When I was a student at Cornell University, I read the book “Fraternity Gang Rape” by Peggy Reeves Sanday fo...

In August, videos of bulldozers ripping up the mouth of the iconic Santa Elena Canyon in Texas’ Big Bend went viral, propelling one of the country’s most remote national parks into the national spotlight. Construction crews were hard at work in the early stages of cutting a brand-new “patrol road” for law enforcement just feet away from an existing road to the canyon, whose 1...

Just as President Joe Biden was showing signs of cognitive decline so conspicuous that he was compelled to drop out of the presidential race in 2024, my own father’s dementia was worsening. He lived with us, and yet he lived in another reality entirely. One where he no longer understood that the food on his plate was his, and the food on my daughter’s was hers. One where he g...

If you’re anything like us, you’re not exactly in a congenial mood right now.

With the U.S. midterm elections fewer than three weeks away, you might be feeling combat-ready. And who could blame you? Seemingly on the ballot: the very future of the republic, steered by leaders who will shape policy about the climate, A.I., immigration, affordability, wars and many other ...

This story was originally published in the Daily Yonder. For more rural reporting and small-town stories visit dailyyonder....