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Is “Midwest Nice” Real?

The term “Midwest nice” is a stereotype often used to describe the friendly nature of the people native to the region. It's the kind...

Data Centers Are Taking Over Ohio. Meta Wants to Train Workers Who Build Them.

In New Albany, Ohio, just outside Columbus, an ambitious data center project by Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, is taking shape....

The Great Outdoor Underwear Festival Might Be Piqua, Ohio’s Wildest Legacy

In Dav Pilkey’s beloved “Captain Underpants” series, the small city of Piqua is frequently rescued by the titular underwear-clad superhero. Unfortunately, the real-life Piqua, in...

City Flows

City Flows is an immersive physical and digital exhibition designed by Midstory with the University of Toledo’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering as part of their educational augmented reality project funded in part by the Ohio Environmental Education Fund of the Ohio EPA.
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Marvel’s Forgotten Heroes: The (Embarrassing) History of the Great Lakes Avengers

The opinions in this article do not necessarily reflect any organizational stance. Over the past fifteen years, the Avengers have become household names. Iron Man,...

Toledo’s Transit Agency Let Me Drive a Bus. Here’s What I Learned.

The bright May sun was shining over the expanse of the Toledo Area Regional Transit Authority’s training course. Large buses lay dormant around the...

The Onion’s Midwestern Homecoming

Tim Keck was short a few hundred dollars for his rent and tuition at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. So he got creative. It was 1988. Keck,...

On Toledo’s Riverfront Lies a Rich Cultural Heritage

In a gentle bend of the Maumee River, nestled between Front and Main streets in Toledo, Ohio, sits a plot of land that has gone by many names — most recently, International Park. Fast forward over 40 years later, and a new vision for the park is being realized.

Ep. 5 | Fish

Welcome to episode five of Greener Pastures, a Midstory podcast on the future of farming in the Midwest. In this episode, dive into Michigan’s fishery, an industry that put the state on the map, but has since begun to flounder. In response to rampant overfishing in the mid-20th century, the state’s Department of Natural Resources limited what commercial fishing operations could catch, and gave more freedom to recreational fishers to access and steward the resource. Today, only a handful of licensed fishing businesses remain in operation. What exactly are they up against, and is there a future for commercial catch in the Great Lakes State?

Glow On: The Mystery Behind Cincinnati’s Yellow Lamps

They’ve gone by many names: yellow lamps, for their warm glow; turtle lamps, after their distinctive shape; island lights for their tendency to show...

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