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POLITICS
How Cook County Jail Became the Country’s First Jail-Based Polling Place
Many incarcerated people have the right to vote, but steep barriers can make it nearly impossible. In Cook County, Illinois, that’s starting to change.
How Cook County Jail Became the Country’s First Jail-Based Polling Place
Many incarcerated people have the right to vote, but steep barriers can make it nearly impossible. In Cook County, Illinois, that’s starting to change.
Featured Stories
ENVIRONMENT
The Poisonous Legacy of Portsmouth’s Gaseous Diffusion Plant
The plant was erected in Pike County, Ohio during the cold war to enrich uranium. Then people started getting sick. Now, they're stuck cleaning up the mess.
HISTORY
“Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds”
Examining Minnesota's Indigenous history.
COMMENTARY
Armed, Angry Men
Trump, militias, and the long history of voter intimidation and violence in the Midwest.
PERSONAL HISTORY
On the Van Galder from Wisconsin to O’Hare
"In Wisconsin, the Van Galder is a rite of passage for budget travelers of all stripes—students, retirees, the frugal, the working poor."
On the Van Galder from Wisconsin to O’Hare
"In Wisconsin, the Van Galder is a rite of passage for budget travelers of all stripes—students, retirees, the frugal, the working poor."
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More Stories
Fighting Food Insecurity in Detroit During COVID-19
“If the pandemic does nothing else, it’s made the general community see how important food service programs in schools are, and how they sustain the city.”
Will Minneapolis’s Upper Harbor Terminal Project Be Good for Its Neighbors?
The city wants to develop public land in a majority-Black neighborhood. What would equitable development look like?
3666 Warren Avenue E. Detroit, MI 48207
"Somewhere the houses are rebuilding themselves./Sanding away the lead-coated paint from their siding."
Cleveland and the Biden-Trump Debate
The city illustrates, starkly, the challenges and opportunities of the country in 2020.
Ancient Places
"Every curve & angle of us was a sign to the end of times; / ... but we were too high and mighty to hear the trumpet"
The Brief but Spectacular Life of Youngstown’s Tomorrow Club
In the early Seventies, the venue embodied the “golden age of rock music”—and saw the early years of some of the industry’s most iconic acts.
Between the Lake and Emmett Till Road
An excerpt from "The Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook."
How Chef Chanell Hale is Feeding Her Community in a Pandemic
A look inside the Chicago operation where Hale and her team cook and deliver hundreds of meals per week.
When Asked to Describe Gary “In Your Own Words”
"I get to say that I’m from here."
A Street-Level Perspective on Kenosha Protests
What happened in Kenosha, Wisconsin the night Jacob Blake was shot, according to four people who were there.
Bob Ross Was Here
With “The Bob Ross Experience,” Muncie, Indiana lays claim to its most famous artist—and its status as an art town.
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From the Archives
Racism, Rebellion, and Police Violence in the Midwest
Stories on the long history of racism and police violence in the Midwest—and what to do about it.
Opportunities
Call for Submissions: A Sioux Falls Anthology
Belt Publishing will be compiling an anthology of essays about Sioux Falls in 2021/22 as part of its City Anthology series.
The Best of Belt Magazine 2019
Announcing a new anthology of regional writing, available exclusively to Belt members.
Call for Submissions: Pittsburgh Neighborhood Guidebook
Announcing the Pittsburgh Neighborhood Guidebook, to be published by Belt Publishing.
