A Midwest Story: ‘The weekend promised winter hikes and cabin sex. But I was excited for Wisconsin’s primary export: DAIRY.’
By Melanie LaForce “Can I turn the heat down?” Dave asked. I looked at him. There was an irritating innocence [...]
It’s the Creativity, Stupid: How underdog Rust Belt candidates are connecting with voters through highly creative, and occasionally funny campaign ads
By Adam K. Raymond Two days ahead of last month’s primary elections in Illinois, Democratic State Senator Daniel Biss, a [...]
In Southwest Ohio, the opioid crisis has driven a record number of children into state custody
By Timmy Broderick Data visualizations by Kevin Huber “March 22, 2017. Right then, everything changed.” Shelley’s raspy voice falters, her [...]
‘The New Midwest’ Hailed by Critics as the Book we Need in the Trump Era
Mark Athitakis’s book, The New Midwest: A Guide to Contemporary Fiction of the Great Lakes, Great Plains, and Rust Belt, is [...]
Be the First to Get Belt’s ‘Detroit Neighborhood Guidebook’!
The Detroit Neighborhood Guidebook is ready for pre-order! If you loved A Detroit Anthology and How to Live in Detroit Without Being a [...]
‘Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology’ Now Available for Pre-order!
Rust Belt Chicago: An Anthology, the latest in Belt Publishing’s series of Rust Belt city anthologies is now available for [...]
The Glassblock, A New Pittsburgh Magazine
In 2014, Adam Shuck started a Pittsburgh-based newsletter, Eat That, Read This. It caught on, filling a gap in the city's [...]
Right Here, Right Now: The Buffalo Anthology
My wife says I spend five days a year in dear Buffalo, and 360 nights there in my dreams. [...]
On The Cusp: Cleveland’s Larchmere Neighborhood
by Harriet Logan excerpted from the Cleveland Neighborhood Guidebook The Larchmere neighborhood has been on the cusp for [...]
Here on the Ground: An Introduction
There’d better be a blimp in here. Seriously: if there is not a blimp in this book, I’m going to return it to the library I stole it from. Right now, I’m like you, Dear Reader. I haven’t read this book yet. I don’t know what’s in it. We’re both here at the beginning. I know what I want. You know what you want.
A Little More on Pokemon Go and Tamir Rice
Two weeks ago an article started making the social media rounds in Cleveland and beyond -- a Belt article, about the curious online text that marked the west-side gazebo where 12-year-old Tamir Rice was shot and killed in 2014.
How To Make Your Own Billboard: A Clevelander’s Homegrown Anti-Trump Sign
“If you walk down any protest line, there’s no discourse. It’s just yelling,” says Eric Helms, plausibly the only Clevelander to put up his own billboard in anticipation of the arrival of the Republican National Convention. “No one is listening to each other. Discourse is dead.”