Journalist Leo Mirani has spent his life in big cities. He worked for the Guardian in Mumbai, India – a city with a metropolitan population of over 22 million people. And, he now lives in London with a population of about 9.8 million people. His whole life has been spent in large cities and metropolitan areas. He, however, has been curious about what small towns might be like and small cities in the United States. So, he came to America on a paid sabbatical to spend 70 days traveling the heartland of our country…examining what small town life is really like. He is coming to the end of his journey and, soon, he will return to his position as News Editor of the Economist magazine in London. There he will write stories about his American experience and try to capture for his readers, the heart of small town American life. Needless to say, the journey was a culture shock for a young man who has spent his life in large cities where anything is available at any time of the day or night. While visiting the college town of Athens, Ohio, Mirini spoke with Tom Hodson of the Spectrum Podcast to share some of his observations about his travels and about the status of global journalism. Mirini covered culture, movies, and the social scene for the Guardian in Mumbai, India. He then was a technology reporter for Quartz business news site until he joined the Economist in 2015. Mirani talked with classes of journalism students at the E. W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University in Athens, Ohio.