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Recent posts

Articles & News

The Athenaeum hotel and restaurant at Chautauqua in August, 2015. (James Fallows)
View Post
  • Citizen Engagement

Civic Engagement Talk in America’s Original Engaged Communities

  • James Fallows
  • February 8, 2016
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 few of the places we have been to so far. (The Atlantic)
View Post
  • Civic Life

Can America Put Itself Back Together? Kicking Off Another Season

  • James Fallows
  • February 8, 2016
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.
The Yolo Branch Library in rural Yolo County, California.
View Post
  • Libraries

America’s Libraries: Old Institutions Becoming Very New Again

  • Deborah Fallows
  • February 8, 2016
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.
MMA logo
View Post
  • Community Colleges & Technical Training

Another Look at Maine Maritime: Who is Providing Value, to Whom, and How?

  • James Fallows
  • November 1, 2015
In response to our series of posts about Maine Maritime Academy, we heard from a reader who pushes back on the notion that the merchant-marine academies provide very high career-earnings value to their students, at a low cost.
Downtown Fresno
View Post
  • Economic Development

Wondering Why We Like Fresno?

  • James Fallows
  • October 31, 2015
Some people are smug about the coolness of New York or San Francisco. Those places are nice, but Jim Fallows much prefers "the kick-ass spirit" of Fresno.
Marketplace Logo
View Post
  • Media

Jim and Deb Fallows Talk “American Futures” with Kai Ryssdal

  • James Fallows
  • September 22, 2015
An interview on the collaboration between Marketplace and The Atlantic.
The main entrance of A.K. Smiley Public Library in Redlands, California (Wikimedia Commons)
View Post
  • Libraries

A Library Writes Its Own Story

  • Deborah Fallows
  • August 17, 2015
A California library becomes a living legend.
1920s Bathing Suit (Wikimedia Commons)
View Post
  • Local Institutions

Gone Swimmin’

  • Deborah Fallows
  • August 10, 2015
How public swimming pools show you the heart of a town
Ever wonder how the bison got its hump? Wonder no more. Explanation of this creature, shown at the American Prairie Reserve in Montana, coming up soon. (James Fallows / The Atlantic)
View Post
  • Economic Development

An Innovative Library in Oregon, and Other Reports From the Road

  • James Fallows
  • August 2, 2015
Kicking off reports from the inland Northwest, plus a happy birthday to James Baldwin
Outside of a library.
View Post
  • Libraries

A Library of Good Ideas

  • Deborah Fallows
  • August 2, 2015
Formula for success in Central Oregon: know the users, spot the opportunities, act with vigor.
View Post
  • Aviation

Why an F-16 Hit a Cessna, and Some More-Upbeat Updates

  • James Fallows
  • July 22, 2015
Sobering news from the NTSB, but encouraging news from Maine to California
The outside of The New York Public Library.
View Post
  • Libraries

The New New York Public Library

  • Deborah Fallows
  • June 30, 2015
Preserving tradition while expanding offerings for a bigger, broader audience.
The way a former motel parking lot looks now (Courtesy of Wall Street Suites)
View Post
  • Travel

The Good Ol’ Days of the Motor Hotel Are Back

  • Deborah Fallows
  • June 25, 2015
The metamorphosis of a Bend, Oregon, motel—from its classic origins, to crack house, to upscale rustic elegance
In its heyday San Bernardino was a city of well-tended, modest family homes. One of today's nice neighborhoods on the north side of town. (James Fallows)
View Post
  • Civic Life

The San Bernardino Story: Fire Fighters Weigh In

  • James Fallows
  • June 23, 2015
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.
Classroom at Redmond Proficiency Academy in Oregon, where students personalize their education (Deborah Fallows)
View Post
  • K-12

When High School Means a Build-It-Yourself Education

  • Deborah Fallows
  • June 23, 2015
A charter school in Oregon encourages students to shape their own learning
Bend then and now: left side, when the lumber mills were running full tilt. Right side, today's restored Old Mill district (Historic lumber mill / Wikimedia; Current Old Mill District / James Fallows.)
View Post
  • Community Colleges & Technical Training

A Community College at the Center of an Oregon Recovery Story

  • James Fallows
  • June 22, 2015
When the lumber industry left, the region bet its future on technology—even though it lacked a research university.

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