"Its the story of our own village" ~ A journey in Indian street theatre (PDF of article) share's author Joel Lee's experiences wandering around India with three street theatre troupes. Also called the "theater of social change" this grassroots artform has become a powerful means of communication across the barriers of language, literacy and culture in both rural and urban India. [more inside]
posted by infini on Jul 16, 2009 - 6 comments

Faded Dreams, Emptied in Emmons County and Memories in McIntosh County. Three flickr photo sets of (mostly) abandoned, crumbling farms, businesses and homes in rural North Dakota. [previously] [via]
posted by dersins on Apr 6, 2009 - 20 comments

"The Emptied Prairie," a National Geographic article on North Dakota's ghost towns and the decline of the Great Plains. Typically amazing National Geographic photos here. Reminds me of a similar series that ran in the New York Times several years ago, which included this fascinating article by Timothy Egan.
posted by dersins on Jan 17, 2008 - 42 comments

Fourteen Places to Eat - photos from rural America
posted by Bighappyfunhouse on Apr 11, 2007 - 17 comments

Would you drive a pick-up truck with "Man Love Rules OK" across Alabama? (YouTube video) The presenters behind UK motoring/male-entertainment show Top Gear did. See what happens when they pulled into a "gas" station. More information here. Do you think the footage was manipulated?
posted by badlydubbedboy on Feb 12, 2007 - 334 comments

Red America is shading purplish blue. A new poll shows rural voters in 41 highly competitive districts have swerved Democratic since September. Now 52/39 for the Dems.
posted by Julie on Oct 27, 2006 - 33 comments

Yet to draw national sympathy--and shock? Some hurricane survivors are being allowed to return to check their homes and authorities are working to deal with the dead. But how many people may remain in mortal peril? The NOLAView weblog reports some ongoing, hair-raising situations: "Kathy Frank is stranded and trapped at 1737 Valence Street. She is text messageing. . . . Right now it is Monday at 12 pm." "[A]rson fires have been set in the Bywater and criminals are still in control of the streets at night." And this is within New Orleans. What about rural areas--struggling and receiving little or no federal assistance? And the spread of infectious disease and other post-hurricane threats?
posted by flug on Sep 5, 2005 - 47 comments

Photos of Unique Mailboxes from Sam , Fred, Kimo, Dean, Flickr, and a few from Quaint Places.
posted by ?! on Aug 31, 2005 - 6 comments

"It's a moral argument. How morally right is it for our Democratic nominee for president to tell 60 million people, 'You don't matter to me'?" An interview with Dave "Mudcat" Saunders on how Democrats can get the Bubba vote. (via the revealer)
posted by pandaharma on Jun 16, 2005 - 144 comments

Every now and again, a story or scandal falls off the newswire that reminds you good guys and bad guys don't happen in real life. The fantastic original expose and ongoing coverage of the Dick Dasen case in Montana is one of them. The testimony of dozens or hundreds of women Dick Dasen, a wealthy Christian pillar-of-the-community businessman type, has paid for sex (or sometimes nothing at all) over several years are bringing the Flathead Valley meth scene to light, and thanks to what I personally think is some excellent local reporting by the New West, you can read along as it happens.
posted by saysthis on May 9, 2005 - 38 comments

In China's newly wealthy cities, a research boom is starting. In parts of the countryside, the rivers are black and too toxic to touch.
posted by Tlogmer on Sep 14, 2004 - 14 comments

Welcome to Rawson, N.D., Population. 6. Are towns like these worth saving? Should these "areas" be allowed to go back to their natural equilibrium between man and nature? Is there a "natural" equilibrium? What does this mean for the future of small towns v. urban sprawl? Nicholas Kristof of the New York Times and Drs. Frank and Deborah Popper of Rutgers have an idea.
posted by Bag Man on Oct 29, 2003 - 27 comments

The Museum of English Rural Life which includes the INTERnet Farm And Countryside Explorer (INTERFACE).
posted by i_cola on Oct 6, 2003 - 2 comments

Chinese culture. Calligraphy, and Chinese rural architecture.
posted by hama7 on Oct 31, 2002 - 13 comments

The demise of the honey bucket. Many of us take running water and sewage services for granted. The Alaska Dept of Environmental Conservation is slowly converting rural Eskimo villages from a "fill and haul a bucket" sewage/water system to modern services. A fascinating look into the logistics required to bring these services into remote Artic villages.
posted by patrickje on Sep 23, 2002 - 1 comment

Tired of the intrusiveness of the Federal Government? Hate the United Nations? Grant County welcomes you! About the size of Connecticut with a population of 7,500, this rural Oregon County recently passed ballot measures banning the UN and allowing people to cut trees on federal land, with or without the U.S. Forest Service approval. Government agencies are engaged in something called "Rural Cleansing" according to WSJ reporter Kimberley A. Strassel, and the people are having some success standing up to the government. Are these people kooks? Is Civil disobedience wrong? Are you in, out, or straddling the fence? Ready to move?
posted by Mack Twain on Jun 4, 2002 - 20 comments