Barn Raiser

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For 20 years, essayist and photographer Matt Witt has been hiking in and photographing the Cascade-Siskiyou National Monument in southern Oregon and northern California. It’s enough to make one marvel at the breathtaking diversity of nature’s beauty—and understand why so many people have organized for so long to protect it. barnraisingmedia.com/why-rural-amer…

After decades of struggle, indigenous leaders and organizers have shown how to win against billionaires and large corporations barnraisingmedia.com/when-we-win-st…

For Cherokee communities, plants are more than medicine or food. They’re language, history and identity — and one elder is working to keep that alive. barnraisingmedia.com/georgia-garden…

Connor Barnes' New England Mobile Slaughter is a relief for many small-time livestock farmers. It means they no longer have to load their livestock into a trailer, drop them off at the nearest processing plant and pick the meat up once the job is done. barnraisingmedia.com/a-mobile-abatt…

New: Why the VA Matters to Rural America barnraisingmedia.com/why-the-va-mat…

Looking for your next great read on rural America, democracy, food systems and community resilience? Check out Barn Raiser Reads on Bookshop.org, a curated collection of books that reflect the conversations shaping rural communities today. 📚 Every purchase also helps support independent bookstores and Barn Raiser’s journalism! bookshop.org/shop/barnraisi…

For her new book, Disciples of White Jesus: The Radicalization of American Boyhood, Angela Denker traversed the country to investigate the radicalization of white Christian American men and boys. barnraisingmedia.com/disciples-of-w…

Opinion: "I’ve watched the Democratic Party walk away from the folks it used to stand beside. I remember Jesse Jackson in a camo jacket marching with the United Mine Workers of America during the Pittston Coal strike in 1989, fighting for our jobs. Back then, Democrats didn’t just talk about working people—they showed up. That felt like our party. But somewhere between then and now, something broke." (From May 2025) barnraisingmedia.com/democratic-par…

The Joyce family, Christmas tree farmers in Virginia, have planted American chestnut seedlings they say came from an old grove that survived the 20th century blight. Will their efforts revive a species that once spanned the Appalachian landscape? (From Sept 2025) barnraisingmedia.com/can-a-family-h…

Long before the Lone Star State started shifting, in the 1990s, from blue to red—after a century of Democratic Party domination—some working-class Texans had a reputation for being a different kind of “red.” They were the radical farmers and laborers who formed the backbone of the People’s Party and later the Socialist Party in the southwest. barnraisingmedia.com/texas-forgotte…

Really happy to be in Barn Raiser talking about Texas leftwing and populist history and how we can reclaim it today!

Opinion: A Wisconsin Farmer Learns First-Hand the Costs of Trump’s Tariffs (From April 2025) barnraisingmedia.com/farmer-cost-of…

Wyoming, the first state where the caucus gained control, shows what happens when “limited government” advocates direct public policy barnraisingmedia.com/living-with-th…

New: Why Rural America Must Protect Its National Monuments barnraisingmedia.com/why-rural-amer…

In a crowded field of major names vying to replace Maine’s term-limited Gov. Janet Mills (D), Troy Jackson, a 5th generation logger from rural Maine who is running in the state’s Democratic primary, took an unusual step to win voters’ approval. On January 21, Jackson announced he had signed the People’s Pledge, vowing to reject independent expenditures (IE) that come from corporate and dark money. He challenged his gubernatorial primary opponents to join him in denouncing dark money and calling for campaign finance reform. barnraisingmedia.com/the-candidate-…

Going Off the Grid in the Midwest: What walking an arbitrary line through Minnesota, Wisconsin and Iowa reveals (From February 2025) barnraisingmedia.com/going-off-the-…

Slaughterhouse bottleneck continues to be a thorn in the meat industry’s side. They’re often booked months in advance, some livestock producers even pencil in slaughter dates before the livestock is even born. barnraisingmedia.com/a-mobile-abatt…

Texas cowboys and farmers once led a tradition of radical collective action focused on the common good. David Griscom’s new history uncovers how the state’s populist history is finding new life and helping shift the political landscape today. barnraisingmedia.com/texas-forgotte…

Independent journalism and independent bookstores make a pretty great pair. If you want to support both, check out Barn Raiser Reads — our curated collection featuring books on farming, labor, democracy, climate, rural culture and more. 📖 Browse here: bookshop.org/shop/barnraisi…

What Rural America Can Learn from Haitian Immigrants: Immigrant communities have developed sophisticated survival strategies. Those lessons can serve rural people facing their own crisis of abandonment. barnraisingmedia.com/what-rural-ame…

How Rural Immigrants Build Community: When formal systems fail, mutual aid sustains rural life barnraisingmedia.com/networks-of-ca…

This series from 2025 on rural immigrant experiences draws from Thurka Sangaramoorthy’s research for her book Landscapes of Care: Immigration and Health in Rural America, which examines health care in rural immigrant communities on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. barnraisingmedia.com/indigenous-art…