Get to know your rural neighbors, one weekly story at a time.
Issue 01 · October 29, 2026 · 7-minute read
We’re told we’re hopelessly divided.
Walking the roads of eastern Michigan, I found how much we share.
The Story
In the national media, us vs. them stories drive clicks and views. So, we’re stuck living disparate, disconnected lives from our fellow Americans. With this project, I want to challenge these divisions.
America is a special place. It’s 3,532,316 square miles of vast and diverse country. It’s full of varied landscapes and unique people and communities. And I love exploring it. So far I’ve been to 45 states and 31 national parks, crisscrossed tens of thousands of miles in my little Jeep Wrangler, and met some remarkable people along the way.
One of my most important cross-country experiences happened in 2024 when I canvassed in eastern Michigan ahead of the presidential election. This was a particularly diverse area — there were farms whose driveways were half a mile long without a neighbor in sight, there were former auto workers living in row houses in a small, aging industrial city. There were families who had lived in the area for generations and recent immigrants. There were single moms with three kids running around behind the door and retirees who came for summer boating on Lake Huron. There were new arrivals from bigger metro areas bringing new coffee shops and wine bars. All living together in one corner of Michigan.
As I walked many, many miles across those roads and townships, what stood out wasn’t how different people were, it was all they had in common. Everyone I spoke to cared about their futures, their kids’ futures, their grandkids’ futures, the planet’s future. They wanted a sustainable life for themselves and their neighbors: decent jobs, affordable groceries, manageable living costs, and access to health care.
When I got back to Los Angeles, things looked a little different with palm trees and mountains replacing the wide open fields. But I realized that my friends and family here, in New York, and across other urban and suburban areas all wanted the same things as those folks in Michigan.
But don’t just take my word for it. In a recent study, 70% of respondents said that Americans have more in common than people think (source). So, why are we being told that we’re so hopelessly divided?
We’ve been sorted into target audiences by generation, gender, race, sexuality, religion, places of residence, party affiliations, tax brackets, and more, enabling algorithms to define our identities and exploit our differences to drive engagement and hijack our attention. With those companies profiting off our conflict and leaders rising to power by sowing division, much of the discourse focuses on inflaming these areas of difference. Repelled by the heat, we stick to our bubbles.
And, fewer journalists and outlets exist to challenge our thinking. Since 2005, the newspaper industry has lost more than 270,000 jobs, a drop of more than 75%. 212 American counties have no local news source at all, and nearly 80% of those without local news sources are rural counties (source). The local news that still exists has gone hyperlocal. The number of statehouse reporters went down 34% in the past decade (source). There are major state and regional stories out there, but there are fewer people positioned to tell them.
I believe that the fates of rural and urban Americans are linked. Rural communities hold roughly a fifth of the population and steward most of the land, water, and farmland that feed, power, and sustain the nation. In other words, the food on our table and the electricity in our walls start in rural communities. Meanwhile, our cities hold the media attention and much of the capital. That means that our path to a better, more sustainable American life will require collaboration and shared understanding. Neither of us can solve our problems alone, especially when many of our problems are so interconnected.
So, in the interest of popping bubbles, let’s start telling stories. Each week, My Fellow Americans will spotlight stories of rural people, communities and organizations that you don’t know, but should know about. The weekly story will rotate between original reporting, commentary on a rural story, interview with a reputable source, first-person storytelling, and expert features. These are stories playing out in your county, state, and region. These are stories and issues that have a big impact on your life – whether or not you know it. The major issues of today (poverty, rising costs, loss of healthcare, immigration, water access, climate-fueled disasters, energy production, data center development) are punishing urban, suburban and rural people alike.
If you shop at a farmers market, then the cost of diesel is directly impacting you. And costing American farmers roughly an additional $1,500 per day (source).
If your summer energy bill was way higher than expected, then you and your fellow rural Americans are in the same boat. We’re all being directly impacted by data center development, cancelled clean energy projects, delayed grid infrastructure upgrades, and climate change (source).
If your health care costs are higher in this year’s enrollment window, you’re feeling the same squeeze as millions of Americans. And the pressure is especially stressful in rural America, where they’ve lost nearly 7,000 hospital beds with 195 rural hospital closures across 37 states in the past 20 years (source).
I created My Fellow Americans to help urban and suburban readers get to know their rural neighbors, because when we understand what a neighbor is going through, we start to share a reality. And a shared reality makes it possible to act together. Stereotypes and a media economy fueled by conflict have kept us apart. This is a step toward closing that gap and building a more sustainable future.
Thank you for being here.
Nina
Know. Consume. Do.
KNOW
Nearly 80% of the 212 American counties without a local news source are rural (source).
CONSUME
Jerry Stephens, a retired law librarian living in Oklahoma, urges his fellow urbanites to recognize our “essential interdependence” with rural neighbors. His heart-stirring plea should echo in every state with his fellow Americans.
DO
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This Week in Rural America
Stories you don’t know but should, annotated.
In this issue, the full This Week in Rural America is available to all as a free preview. Starting with Issue 02, only the first link is free and paid subscribers get the rest.
Mississippi families push back on school mergers
Mississippi Today, October 27, 2026
In rural Mississippi, residents of Copiah and Tallahatchie counties fear a State House committee’s school consolidation review is driven by budgets rather than children’s best interests. They worry about long bus rides, crowded classrooms, and losing a voice in decisions about their schools. Lawmakers point to nearly 70,000 fewer students statewide since 2013, and locals want a seat at the table before any districts merge.
Rising diesel and fertilizer costs reach rural banks
Business Record, October 26, 2026
The Rural Mainstreet Index dropped below neutral growth again this month, driven by record-high diesel and fertilizer prices caused by the conflict with Iran. Rural bankers are one of the earliest indicators of the farm economy. And farm stress does not stay on the farm, as what squeezes a grower this fall tends to show up in our grocery bills in the near future.
Farm-country Republicans and immigration raids
Politico’s Weekly Agriculture, October 26, 2026
ICE raids in farm country are putting Republican incumbents in a tough spot ahead of the Midterms. In Dodge City, Kansas, one of the state’s big beef-producing areas, the city manager says October’s enforcement has been “pretty detrimental to the community,” with workers staying home from meat plants and children skipping school out of fear. Politico’s Weekly Agriculture newsletter also reports that ranchers and farmers say the raids have cost them millions.
Missouri pays for child care so rural health workers stay
The Beacon, October 26, 2026
Missouri’s Child Care Works program splits child care costs among employers, families, and the state. After a successful pilot, Missouri has awarded $1.46 million in federal rural health funds to expand it. But, a big challenge in rural Missouri remains – finding an open child care slot.
A Minnesota town tries co-owned, factory-built homes
Governing (Minnesota Star Tribune), October 27, 2026
St. Peter, Minnesota, a town of about 12,000, is working with a nonprofit to build New North, a community of roughly 60 factory-built homes that residents will co-own via a cooperative. The city is donating the site. City officials say the housing shortage has made it harder for factories to expand and for hospitals and schools to hire. Other communities are watching closely to see if this innovative model works to grow rural communities.
Rural nursing shortage: a local answer
The Daily Yonder, October 26, 2026
The Daily Yonder reports that some rural health systems are ‘growing’ their own nurses, helping employees earn nursing degrees while they keep their day job. Rural nursing students are more likely to work in their own communities, and in some rural hospitals about a quarter of nursing jobs sit empty. When we talk about keeping care close to home, this is what it looks like.