Put a Smokestack On It: Lansing’s 517 Shirts
Ty Forquer got the idea for 517 Shirts in the men’s room of a Lansing, Mich., bar. Forquer had just moved to Lansing from Portland, Ore., to pursue a doctorate in music at Michigan State University.
Michigan’s Great Leap Backward
The word “vagina” first brought national attention to Michigan’s conservative state legislature. It was uttered by Democratic state Rep. Lisa Brown during a debate on a bill to regulate abortion clinics by requiring doctors to screen women ...
Fritz Pollard: Football’s Unsung Trailblazer
Fritz Pollard stepped off a train in Akron, Ohio, on a Sunday morning in October 1919, and caught a taxicab downtown to the United Cigar Store.
Remediating the Past and Writing the Future in Flint
Most auto jobs in Flint are gone, but the city is still saddled with unhappy souvenirs of an industrial past. What comes next for the Vehicle City?
Belt’s Instant Rust Belt Film Festival
Imagine we reopened the great movie palaces of the Rust Belt for a day. What movies would we show?
Remaking Buffalo’s Waterfront: Lessons for the Rest of the Rust Belt
The city of Buffalo has made vigorous improvements to their waterfront, and there's more on the way.
A Rust Belt Playlist
The story of the industrial Midwest can be told through the music it inspired. From John Lee Hooker to MC5 to Eminem, here's our playlist of 20 Rust Belt tunes.
The Rust Belt Bookshelf
Reads born of fire, steel, and clock-punching.
The Roots of Rust Belt Chic
I first heard the term “Rust Belt Chic” in Youngstown, Ohio, from a young software developer named John Slanina. Slanina was driving me around the Yo, as he called it, in a Ford Taurus with a bacon-scented air freshener ...