The Art of Labor
A tour of Milwaukee's conflicted Grohmann Museum. From "The Milwaukee Anthology."
Summers at White Birch Lodge
Reflections on three generations of family and community in Michigan.
Motor Nation
"Sometimes when I am driving down the freeway...I think of the reasons I love Detroit."
Akron’s Vietnam
How the war touched one Northeast Ohio neighborhood.
The Real Walleye Capital of the World
A writer goes in search of a community worthy of the title—and her own Midwestern identity.
Northwest Indiana’s Slow Burn
Water, oil, and industrial volcanoes in Indiana's Calumet region, along the shore of Lake Michigan.
Nuclear Power
A writer remembers her relationship with her father, an inspector of nuclear power plants.
The Polish Christmas Eve Feast that Helped Me Find Home
"I’ll never lose Wigilia because it’s not just a tradition; it’s a way of being."
Losing the Farm
"The twentieth century in America brought dramatic changes to the farm...one of which was the abstraction of my family and me from our roots on the land."
The Teahouse
Siddhartha and Billy Corgan walk into in a teahouse north of Chicago.
The Spirit of Sam Jones
"Among the giants on Saginaw Street in downtown Flint [Michigan] stands my Uncle Melton. Chances are you won’t see him. But I can assure you, he’s there."
The Ultimate Price
"With a teardrop punctuating the final line of the emotional missive, A.S.A. Barnes painted a vivid picture in dark, irate hues, depicting my disregard for human life."