The Wisconsin GOP’s Dangerous Attacks on Democracy
Some Republicans in the state want to go so far as to decertify its 2020 electoral votes.
J.D. Vance’s Long Con
The 'Hillbilly Elegy' author's Trumpian transformation is complete.
Pittsburgh’s Broken Bridge is a Warning Sign
The now-collapsed Fern Hollow Bridge is a marker of what’s at stake in the infrastructure fight—and how far we have to go.
The Best of Belt Magazine 2021
Our new anthology of regional writing, available exclusively to Belt members.
On Stony Island Avenue: Boulevard of Black Culture
Ayana Contreras on the creative legacy of the Chicago street.
The Best Rust Belt Books of 2021
A Belt critic's Rust Belt 'Lit List.'
Why Indigenous Place Names Matter
Our origin stories, histories, languages, and cultures are tied to our homelands.
“Somebody Call Cleveland?”
On Pittsburgh, United Flight 93, and twenty years of war.
Rust Belt Labor: A Reading List
Stories of Rust Belt workers--their lives, histories, memories, and resistance.
Climate Emergency and Environmental Justice in the Rust Belt
Stories on climate change, industrial legacies, and planning for a just future.
Black Freedom, Black Joy: A Juneteenth Reading List
Honoring Black joy and freedom struggles in the Rust Belt.
In Hudson, Ohio, Whose History Matters?
A recent event highlights the messiness of the town’s white-dominated abolitionist narrative.