“After the 2016 presidential election, Belt yet again found itself on the defensive, confronted with the imperative to elucidate the region’s cultures, histories, and communities at a time when the mainstream media was consistently reducing the diverse flyover states to the sole terrain of an angry, white working class who believed Trump’s voice was loud enough to be theirs, too. In the past ten months, the question “What happened?” has been asked of the Rust Belt more than ever before. But it’s the same question Belt has been answering for the past four years. Has anyone had been listening?”

I had a great time talking with Amanda Arnold a month or so ago, about all the goings-on at Belt Central. Many thanks to her for this thorough and thoughtful piece — which includes a lot of Belt  history, some real talk about the importance of the ACA to entrepreneurs, and a lot more —  up September 27 at LitHub!