How to Make Nice with the Call Center
When we arrived in Sioux Falls, I was very excited about hearing the Dakota accent. Think Frances McDormand in the movie Fargo. Or try listening to the language in this mash-up video (not embeddable) between McDormand and Sarah Palin. Those “O’s” ; the friendly “you betcha’s”! Having spent 7 formative childhood linguistic years in nearby Minnesota, I find the Dakota way of speaking familiar and comforting. (Read it here.)
Category Archives: Cities/Towns We’ve Reported On
Welcome to Sioux Falls
Welcome to Sioux Falls
by James Fallows
A successful, energetic, rough-edged, and therefore typically American town (Read it here.)
American Futures: Grand Finale Holland-Palooza
American Futures: Grand Finale Holland-Palooza
by James Fallows
A small arena in which many dramas are being played out. (Read it here.)
The Next Lesson From Holland: Why Local Money Matters
The Next Lesson From Holland: Why Local Money Matters
by James Fallows
In an age of globalized companies and relentless focus on “shareholder value,” a reminder of what local ownership can mean. (Read it here.)
The Surprising News From One Small Town About Immigration Reform
The Surprising News From One Small Town About Immigration Reform
by James Fallows
In a place as unlike Miami, New York, or L.A. as you can imagine, America’s unsettled immigration policy has a profound effect. (Read it here.)
Rapid City Report: What Does ‘Green’ Mean?
Rapid City Report: What Does ‘Green’ Mean?
by Deborah Fallows
At the Adoba Hotel, the carpet is composed of individual tiles, which show up as tan and dark brown in the photo above; the tiles are made from recycled natural grass, stone, and fibers from other carpets. The carpet backing is made from sugar, salt, sand, and rubber. If carpet tiles get soiled or stained, they can be replaced one by one. When the carpet wears out, the Meralis can sell the tiles to a recycler, who will remake them into new carpet tiles and maybe even sell them back to the Meralis. (Read it here.)
The ‘Rapid’ Story: Trains, Planes, and the Making of a City
The ‘Rapid’ Story: Trains, Planes, and the Making of a City
One of the things that makes it worthwhile to visit small American cities away from the busy urban centers of the coasts is that in many cases the history of the place still stirs the imagination: questions about settlement have not been rendered all-but-invisible by development. So one wonders, How was this place settled? Who came here? Why? How? (Read it here.)
On the ‘Orientalism’ of the Prairie
On the ‘Orientalism’ of the Prairie
by James Fallows
What happens when the “ordinary objects of our culture” are treated as curiosities? (Read it here.)
Life on the Road: Beef Jerky, Swimming, and a Search for Spiritual Relief
Life on the Road: Beef Jerky, Swimming, and a Search for Spiritual Relief
by Deborah Fallows
Today, we are on an unplanned layover in Rapid, which until a few days ago we called Rapid City, probably like you still do. Just now, in our independently-owned eco hotel, a Chinese student from Shandong province, in the rough and raw northeast of mainland China, came to our room delivering a small bag of colorful candies as a welcome to Mount Rushmore country. She was as surprised at my Chinese babble as I was at seeing her face here in southwest South Dakota. (Read it here.)
Holland: Where Things Go After the Recycling Bin
Holland: Where Things Go After the Recycling Bin
by James Fallows
Holland makes, the world takes — and Holland recycles too. (Read it here.)
American Futures 