In the distant past, everything was local. The news was local, entertainment was largely local, and even controversy was local. Sometimes it was a little too local, like when the guy across the street is the wrong denomination of your religion. Even then, these were the things that gave communities their identity. Globalization has stripped away the uniqueness of our neighborhoods, and whether you think we're better or worse off than the "good old days", you have to agree that they generated some pretty interesting stories we're not likely to see the likes of ever again.

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