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Reimagine Rural: Daily Summaries Delivered
by The Brookings Institution
The dominant narrative of rural America is often one of decline and division. On Reimagine Rural podcast, host Tony Pipa, a scholar in the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution and a product of rural America himself, visits rural places across the United States to hear local people tell the story of how they are enacting positive change in their communities and learning how public investment in rural people and places can lead to increased and equitable prosperity.
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- 1 weeks ago41 min
America's Rural Future: On the Olympic Peninsula with Commission members Derek Kilmer and Benji Backer
In this special edition of Reimagine Rural, Tony Pipa interviews Derek Kilmer, senior vice president, U.S. Program & Policy at The Rockefeller Foundation and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (WA-6) and Benji Backer, CEO and founder of Nature is Nonpartisan. Kilmer and Backer are members of America's Rural Future: Brookings-AEI Commission on U.S. Rural Prosperity and they share insights and perspectives from the Commission's August 2026 visit to the Olympic Peninsula in Washington. Episode transcript and show notes. Reimagine Rural is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.
- Jun 5, 202619 min
America's Rural Future: In Eastern Kentucky with Commission member Phil English
In this special edition of Reimagine Rural, Tony Pipa interviews Phil English, co-chairman of the Government Relations Practice Group at ArentFox Schiff, LLP and former member of the U.S. House of Representatives (PA-3). English is a member of America's Rural Future: Brookings-AEI Commission on Rural Prosperity and shares his insights and perspective from the Commission's May 2026 visit to Eastern Kentucky. Episode transcript and show notes. Reimagine Rural is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.
- Apr 15, 202621 min
America's Rural Future: In the Mississippi Delta with Commission Members Bill Bynum and Charlie Cotherman
This special edition of Reimagine Rural features Tony Pipa interviewing Bill Bynum, CEO of Hope Enterprise Corporation and Hope Credit Union, and Charlie Cotherman, executive director of the Center for Rural Ministry at Grove City College and pastor at the Oil City Vineyard Church. Both guests are members of America's Rural Future: The Brookings-AEI Commission on Rural Prosperity. Bynum and Cotherman offer insights from the Commission's March 2026 visit to the Mississippi Delta and share lessons learned from visits to multiple rural Delta towns. Episode transcript and show notes. Reimagine Rural is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.
- Jan 6, 202651 min
S3E10: Progress reports: Revisiting people and places from Reimagine Rural
The season three finale of Reimagine Rural has Tony checking in with leaders in places he previously visited to see how the towns are faring. From stalled industrial developments in central Ohio and rural California to devastating floods in Globe, Arizona, this episode reveals how rural communities adapt and persevere amid unanticipated policy changes, leadership transitions, and natural disasters, keeping their vision alive even as their paths take unexpected turns. Episode transcript and show notes. Reimagine Rural is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.
- Dec 10, 202541 min
S3E9: Will a data center be good for Thomas and Davis in Tucker County, West Virginia?
When a permit application for a proposed power plant heralded the possibility of a large data center being located near the towns of Davis and Thomas in West Virginia, local leaders and residents were taken by surprise and are determined to protect the creative economy and natural beauty of their place. In this episode, host Tony Pipa revisits Tucker County to capture the story of a community at the intersection of national technology policy and local control. For more insight, see Tony's interview with Brookings Senior Fellow Nicol Turner Lee on the global race for AI, local impacts and trade-offs, and community oversight. Episode transcript and show notes. Reimagine Rural is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.
- Dec 2, 202521 min
S3E8: America's Rural Future, Interview with Tom Halverson, CEO, CoBank
This special edition of Reimagine Rural features Tony Pipa interviewing Tom Halverson, CEO of CoBank and a member of America's Rural Future: The Brookings-AEI Commission on Rural Prosperity. Halverson reflects on the commission's visits and public hearings in North Dakota and Minnesota, emphasizing the diversity of rural places and important trends regarding rural youth, agriculture, innovation, and the need for holistic, bipartisan rural policy reform. Episode transcript and show notes. Reimagine Rural is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.
- Nov 12, 202540 min
S3E7: Skowhegan, Maine, is making waves as it builds a vibrant future along the Kennebec River
A former mill town once defined by economic decline, Skowhegan, Maine, is thriving again through creativity and collaboration. From a growing regional food hub and a major riverfront revitalization effort to new housing and early education projects, residents are proving that rural communities can innovate, adapt, and build a vibrant future rooted in heritage and shared vision. Also see Tony Pipa's interview with Scott Andes, senior advisor for economic development and professor of the practice at Carnegie Mellon University, to discover how federal investments can help distressed rural areas achieve long-term prosperity. Episode transcript and show notes. Reimagine Rural is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.
- Oct 21, 202540 min
S3E6: How immigration is reshaping and revitalizing rural Beardstown, Illinois
Since the 1990s, Beardstown, Illinois — official population 5,800 — has experienced steady immigration due to the meatpacking industry, breathing new life into this once declining town. Now a multicultural community with residents from over 30 countries, newcomers have integrated throughout neighborhoods, revitalized storefronts, and enriched local schools. In this episode, Tony Pipa explores how this small Midwestern town has learned to embrace change and built a vibrant downtown, and how policy changes and the national narrative about immigration are affecting this rural place. See Tony's interview with Rachel Perić of Welcoming America to explore what rapid demographic change means for small-town life. Episode transcript and show notes. Reimagine Rural is part of the Brookings Podcast Network. Subscribe and listen wherever you listen to podcasts. Send feedback to podcasts@brookings.edu.
About Reimagine Rural
The dominant narrative of rural America is often one of decline and division. On Reimagine Rural podcast, host Tony Pipa, a scholar in the Center for Sustainable Development at the Brookings Institution and a product of rural America himself, visits rural places across the United States to hear local people tell the story of how they are enacting positive change in their communities and learning how public investment in rural people and places can lead to increased and equitable prosperity.
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