The View from Chicago’s Favorite Suburb
When I moved to Phoenix three years ago I expected to feel disconnected from my Midwestern roots. But it turned out a lot of Chicago had made its way here.
Shop Small Business Saturday … And every day
Independent retailers nationwide are celebrating "Small Business Saturday" this weekend and direct sales to you, our readers, are the lifeblood of [...]
In Cleveland (2016)
Filmmaker Ian Mantgani traveled from London to Cleveland in July to join Belt for the Republican National Convention. Here, just in time for Thanksgiving weekend, is the stunning result. Trump, Tamir, hope, despair, casual racism and potent rage: it's all here. Enjoy.
THE RUST BELT WILL REMAIN THE NATION’S POLITICAL BELLWETHER
By Edward McClelland As a camera panned down Saginaw Street in Lansing, Mich., past an empty-windowed storefront and a [...]
The View from Pittsburgh: The Media’s Role in the Election
We talked with Eric Boyd, editor of Belt's Pittsburgh Anthology, about the role the local and national media played in the [...]
How To Support Good Journalism
Anna Clark, editor of Belt's A Detroit Anthology, has some great suggestions for how to support local journalism: "I’m thinking [...]
Who Failed The Rust Belt?
As the media searches the postelection rubble for answers, Belt founder and publisher Anne Trubek breaks down some truths about both [...]
Celebrate Buffalo With Us December 10
We're so happy to announce that we'll be celebrating the release of Right Here, Right Now: The Buffalo Anthology, on [...]
Experiencing History With Dad
As a native Clevelander, my loathing of Chicago sports began somewhere in Chicagoland while visiting a traitorous childhood friend who adopted the Bulls after moving there in the early 1990s. By then, Michael Jordan had sunk "The Shot" to eliminate the Cleveland Cavaliers from the 1989 playoffs.
Some small good news
In the thickening gloom, a small ray of light -- or two, actually. Three thousand, six hundred and twenty-six pounds of books [...]
Game Seven: It’s more than just two words
Game Seven of the World Series is more myth than reality. I would estimate that my friends and I, in games of wiffleball or whatever in our parents’ backyards on Cleveland’s suburban west side, probably played in "Game Seven of the World Series" maybe fifty more times than the event has taken place in the history of Major League Baseball. (For the record, this year’s is just the thirty-seventh.)
Belt’s Got Baseball Fever
Our baseball coverage may not have a deep bench, but what we've got can go the distance. Digging around in the [...]