Support independent writing by and for the Rust Belt. Become a member today. »
POSTCARD
Cleveland After Serial
The podcast highlighted issues in the city's criminal justice system. Where do residents go from here?
Cleveland After Serial
The podcast highlighted issues in the city's criminal justice system. Where do residents go from here?
Featured Stories
PERSONAL HISTORY
Alternate Ending
"In this version no one has to wear a wig to senior prom/because of chemo. No one’s car is set on fire."
POLITICS
Akron’s Vietnam
How the war touched one Northeast Ohio neighborhood.
DISPATCH
Rebel Girl of West Ridge
From the Chicago Neighborhood Guidebook.
RETROSPECTIVE
Path Dependency (Or, Appalachia is Not Post-Industrial)
How the region's industrial history continues to shape contemporary life.
Path Dependency (Or, Appalachia is Not Post-Industrial)
How the region's industrial history continues to shape contemporary life.
Independent, context-driven regional writing. Support Belt Magazine today. »
More Stories
The Tomato Man
How growing heirloom tomatoes helped me find community—even in a pandemic.
How to End Political Gerrymandering in Michigan (And Elsewhere)
In Michigan, the Independent Citizens Redistricting Commission is getting ready to fix the state’s gerrymandered political map.
Suzi Quatro and the Sound of Detroit Rock
If the Detroit music scene revolutionized rock, Suzi Quatro brought it to a wider audience with polished production and an ear for catchy hooks.
The Keystone State is Ringing
Pennsylvania has always defied easy categorization. That's what makes it so great.
Election Week Through the Lenses of Black Women
Snapshots of the 2020 election from five photographers across the Rust Belt.
Following the Yellowlined Road
Yellowlining—the lesser cousin of federal-government redlining—was a discriminatory force that historians and economists have only begun to explore.
Why It’s Taking So Long to Count Votes in Pennsylvania
The delay was not inevitable, but instead the product of a contentious disagreement between state politicians.
West Virginians Were Promised an Economic Revival. It Hasn’t Happened.
The coal industry continues to decline. Natural gas isn’t bringing the prosperity it promised. And now the pandemic has wrecked the state’s economy.
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.
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.”
“Where the Waters Reflect the Clouds”
Examining Minnesota's Indigenous history.

Get the latest stories from around the region sent straight to your inbox.
From the Archives
Belt News

Get the latest stories from around the region sent straight to your inbox.
Support independent, context-driven regional writing.