Rural Mythticism: Fake News about Rural America
Setup
Rural America has come to the nation’s attention. But much discussion in the media and coffee shops, at conferences and dinner tables, relies on incorrect or no data, largely idyllic or dystopic tropes and images, and opinion uninformed by rural experience. The full picture of rural America is quite different. It has gained population in the last two years. Agriculture employs less than 4 percent of the rural workforce. Rural leaders are generating productive economic and social innovations just as in urban America. Immigrants are helping revive rural economies and culture. Placemaking is rampant. Impact investing is on the rise. The voting map is red and blue and purple. Start the day with a frank and revealing exchange with rural doers, knowers, and advocates. Bring all those questions about rural America you have always wanted to ask. Help foster a truer narrative about America’s rural people, places, culture, and economy.
Speakers
-
Janet TopolskyExecutive Director of The Aspen Institute’s Community Strategies Grou...
-
Jennie StephensExecutive director of the Center for Heirs’ Property
-
Sarah SmarshJournalist and author
-
Heidi HeitkampDirector of the University of Chicago Institute of Politics
-
Art CullenEditor of The Storm Lake Times
-
Ines PoloniusCEO of Communities Unlimited
-
Kari MaillouxProgram officer at Hutchinson Community Foundation
-
Alece MontezDirector of programs at Orton Family Foundation
Explore More
Economy

Meet Patience Lee, a 2023 Aspen Ideas: Health Fellow who’s building cultural awareness into mental health support services for unaccompanied refugee children in the United Sta...

Meet Nathan Chomilo, a 2023 Aspen Ideas: Health Fellow who’s incorporating community collaboration and racial equity into Minnesota’s Medicaid policy development.













The pandemic put into stark relief deeply-ingrained gender roles in society, as the burden of unpaid care fell to millions of women who left the workforce. Yet the past years...

Of course, Black history shouldn’t just be a month-long nod on our yearly calendar — it is inextricable from American history and fundamental to the very soul of our nation an...

Politics are a frenzy right now, with bombshell headlines dropping so often that it’s hard to know what to focus on. Even when you can cut through the noise, what you hear is...





From the Supreme Court's ruling on abortion rights to public health's role in addressing gun violence to the devastating human toll of the war in Ukraine, this year's Aspen Id...






While the workforce is still adapting to the changing economic landscape, one thing is certain — the traditional blueprints for education and the workplace have been ripped up...



While the workforce is still adapting to the changing economic landscape, one thing is certain — the traditional blueprints for education and the workplace have been ripped up...
From blockchain to back to school and virus-hunting to bridging divides, speakers at the 2021 Aspen Ideas Festival addressed issues in a new kind of world—one touched, and cha...

The highest court often seems distanced from our day-to-day lives, but the rulings that come out of the Supreme Court are woven into the fabric of the nation. Though it aims t...