PRESS

Discussing the 'Our Towns' Journey on The News Project

Deb and Jim Fallows explore the ongoing story of Our Towns with Andrew McKeever on Greater Northshire Access Television's ‘The News Project: In Studio’.

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

Carbon offset pact will put solar on dozens of Habitat for Humanity homes

The District of Columbia-based American Institute of Architects is offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from a major renovation with a $500,000 donation that will cover the cost of solar panels on an estimated 72 homes.

ENVIRONMENT & SUSTAINABILITY

What's the Quickest Way to Make a Big Difference, Through a Little Step? It's Right There in the Backyard.

Change comes slowly, then all at once.

REPORTS FROM AMERICA

Another Look Into the ‘Heart’ of America

First, a geographic perspective. Then, the country's struggle to recognize ways in which it is changing—and might be improving.

EDUCATION

‘When Gown Embraces Town’: Two Stories from Indiana

What is happening in the 'Middletown' of Muncie, and why it matters.

FROM THE READERS

From your towns to our inbox, notes from South Dakota and North Carolina and more.

“Our Towns” Reader Response Roundup features film screening feedback, a unique effort to support libraries nationwide, and national perceptions being addressed at the local level.

FROM THE READERS

'Our Towns' Viewer Response Roundup

Viewers respond to 'Our Towns' HBO documentary.

Civic Life

Local Efforts in a Time of Extreme Global Stress

The theme in this “Our Towns” space has been, and remains, the sources of vitality, practicality, generosity, and renewal in local-level America, despite bitter polarization in national-level politics. The series began almost seven years ago, when smaller communities across the United States were still trying to rebuild their economies after the financial collapse of 2008 and beyond. […]

Leaders & Governance

Trump’s Indifference Amounts to Negligent Homicide

The president's behavior may not meet the term's legal definition, but it captures the horror a government is visiting upon its people.

Arts

The American Sense of Place

An update: Reactions from readers and significant local-renewal developments

Leaders & Governance

The Rituals of ‘Becoming America’

Can 'civic religion' help America become a better, freer, fairer, finer version of itself?

Reports From America

Father’s Day 2019

A tribute

Reports From America

Life in the Air

Getting from here to there by small plane

Economic & Business Development

How Libraries Are Becoming Modern Makerspaces

They've long served as communal gathering spots, but these civic institutions are becoming gateways to technological tinkering.

Parks, Rec & Fun

Today’s Mid-Air Collision Outside Washington

"This reminds us how vulnerable we all are." Lessons from a tragedy