Rural Remix

In this episode of Backroads Ballots, Daily Yonder reporter Olivia Weeks asks what the post-2016 years have taught us about progressive organizing in small-town America. With rural movement builders Annie Contractor and Anthony Flaccavento, they discuss the role of the labor movement in rural life, the “branding problem” facing Democrats, and the mismatch between short-term election cycles and long-term structural change.

Kamala Harris is most likely the new Democratic nominee for president. Does she have what it takes to win rural voters?

Daily Yonder reporter Claire Carlson's recent bat encounter on a camping trip prompted this episode all about the only mammal that flies.

Over the past decade, a fungal disease has killed millions of bats in North America. The struggle to contain the disease illustrates how little control we humans have over illness and death, much to our own chagrin.

Are rural communities prone to conspiracy? Not necessarily. Daily Yonder reporter Claire Carlson breaks down this misconception by looking at the notorious Bundy family and the election denial movement.

Lois Keller is an avid baker and a spokesperson for the Kansas Wheat Commission. In this episode, she speaks about how her son’s diagnosis of Celiac disease has been a part of her baking history and all about many unique German bread recipes. 

Check out recipes, show notes, and more on our website.

On this episode we are learning all about the art of making biscuits!

Appalachian leader Margo Miller speaks about how a middle school competition led to a lifelong passion for biscuits and how she is returning to her roots through crafting and baking.

Check out the recipe, show notes, and more on our website.

With the recent conviction of former President Donald Trump, juries have been in the news. And on the mind of Daily Yonder reporter Claire Carlson who just reported for jury duty. In this episode, she discusses her experience and questions if certainty beyond all doubt is possible in courtrooms.

Tina Mozelle Braziel is a poet and author living in rural Alabama. In this episode she shares her secrets to cornbread, what life is like in the glass cabin she built with her husband, and some of her poetry.

Check out the recipe, show notes, and more on our website.

On this episode, we are speaking with Cheryl Whitesitt about her grandmother's recipe for white bread.

Cheryl is the Executive Director of the Minnesota Future Problem Solving Program where students are taught how to think, not what to think. Cheryl lives in Brownsville, Minnesota on a farm that has been in her husband’s family for many years, where she shares her love for breadmaking with her children and grandchildren.

Check out the recipe, show notes, and more on our website.

Our obsession with speed and efficiency might fill our stomachs, but it doesn’t do much else. Daily Yonder reporter Claire Carlson discusses how we can slow down in a fast food culture.