Midland (Reports from Flyover Country)

A collection of revelatory stories from leading journalists between the coasts, offering a perspective on immigration, drug addiction, climate change, and more that you won’t find in the national media.

After the 2016 election, the national media fretted over what they could have missed in the middle of the country. Journalists in the middle of the country shook their head at these narratives about Trump Country and the forgotten. Ted Genoways, one of the prominent contributors here, foresaw how close the election would be and in its aftermath put out a public call on Facebook, tagging writers from those midland states, to answer the national media’s puzzlement with their own stories of what had been lying in wait all along.

Representing a true cross-section of America, both geographically and ethnically, these writers prepare us for another election cycle by highlighting the true diversity of the American experience. Esther Honig describes the effects of the immigration crackdown in Colorado; C.J. Janovy writes about the challenges of being an LGBTQ+ activist in Kansas; Karen Coates and Valeria Fernández show us the children harvesting our food; and Sydney Boles chronicles a miner’s protest in Kentucky. For readers willing to look at the American experience that the pundits don’t know about or cover, Midland is an invaluable peek into the hearts and minds of largely unheard Americans.