From Bringing Home the Bacon... to Misplacing the Grocery List Older residents say there was once a different kind of Congressman roaming these hills. A fella by the name of Rick Boucher.
When Family Farms Were Middle Class We’re finally looking at a stretch of warmer weather here in Southwest Virginia, and it brings back a feeling folks around Russell County and Washington County used to know by heart. But this story isn’t just about two counties in the mountains and foothills of Southwest Virginia. It’
Most 911 Calls Aren’t for Police... They’re for FIRE / EMS And Rural America Already Knows It Chances are, if you live in rural America, you know somebody in Fire / EMS. If you don’t, you have probably met them the hard way. In your driveway. In your living room. Standing beside a family member on a day you will never forget. That is just the way
The Mayberry Effect: Nostalgia, Memory, and Rural America In 2016, some of the most effective political campaign messaging across rural America was not built on economic policy or specific issues. It was built on nostalgia. A feeling that life was once more stable, more local, and more connected to community. That emotional appeal resonated deeply in small towns
Why Liberals, People of Color, and LGBTQ Need the Second Amendment More Than Ever! For decades, the image of a gun owner in America looked a certain way. White. Rural. Conservative. Republican. That picture no longer holds, and what is replacing it says a lot about who truly relies on the right to keep and bear arms. Across the country, liberals, people of color,
Wrong About Rural: Why White Rural Rage Misses the Mark Here is a question for you. Which crowd has a higher percentage of people being college educated? One picture shows the mob of January 6th storming the Capitol. The other shows a college football stadium packed to the rafters on a Saturday in Knoxville or we could use a picture
The Great Rural Grift & Why So Many Rural Virginia Democratic Candidates Are Angry Out here in the hills and countryside, we know a grift when we see one. It is when somebody swears they came to help you fix the tractor, but the tractor never moves and somehow they leave with your gas money. Country definition, but it holds up in court. And