The Mississippi River Basin begins in a little lake in northern Minnesota. But its many branches and tributaries sprawl across nearly half of the continental U.S., stretching from the sandstone cliffs of Montana to the shale fields of Western Pennsylvania, sustaining the lives and livelihoods of millions in between. Yet even this doesn’t fully capture how large the Mississippi looms. According to the Mississippi River Basin Ag & Water Desk, the region it spans produces more than 90 percent of America’s agricultural exports and a majority of its livestock. It’s also one of the most important transportation corridors on the planet, supporting a $400 billion shipping industry that ferries countless goods across the continent, from fertilizer to car parts. So many people rely on the Mississippi River Basin for their water supply that an exact count doesn’t even exist.  All of this usage sits in uneasy parallel with a vast and vital natural world: The rivers and their floodplains are home to over half of the continent’s migratory bird routes and one out of every four of its fish species. The Mississippi River Basin nurtures all of this wildlife despite being beset by a steady stream of industrial pollution, sewage discharge and agricultural runoff.  The fact that one of America’s most iconic natural features is also one of its most threatened makes it an ideal case study. Age-old questions of commerce versus conservation are integral to the Mississippi’s identity. So is the diversity of people and places the river touches, from Rust Belt cities to soybean farms. Its grandeur and its disrepair make it an irresistible metaphor.  This 12-story project, a special subset of our ongoing Waterline series, will explore the many challenges and the collaborative, forward-thinking solutions transforming the Mississippi River Basin today. We’ll examine efforts to eradicate invasive species, convert grazing land into wildlife habitat, and make the region’s farms more welcoming to migratory birds. We’ll hear from the people whose cities, economies and identities are inseparable from the river basin. And we’ll immerse ourselves in the region through vibrant imagery, interactive storytelling and a Mississippi River music playlist curated by RTBC founder David Byrne. To follow along, subscribe to our newsletter. This series is sponsored by the Walton Family Foundation. To learn more about our funder-supported content, read our Editorial Independence Policy. The post 12 Stories About America’s Most Iconic River System appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

For the next six months, Reasons to be Cheerful is exploring the Mississippi River Basin, home to some of the most pressing challenges in the United States. A symbol of America, the Mississippi River Basin connects a vast region of farms, cities, dams and natural habitats that support a range of biodiversity across hundreds of thousands of square miles. It is one of America’s greatest resources, providing energy generation, agricultural sustenance and transportation. These aspects make the river and the region a fascinating lens through which to view the country’s ecological, economic and cultural challenges — and their solutions. I made this playlist for the series with songs about the Mississippi — not the state, though that too, but more the giant river and its watershed. The post My Mississippi River Playlist appeared first on Reasons to be Cheerful.

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This Friday, million so of patriotic families across the US will be celebrating Independence Day by reflecting on the many benefits they have because they live in this nation. Meanwhile, instead of flying the Stars and Stripes, too many Americans seem more interested in burning the American flag … or flying one representing another nation. There’s been a palpable dip in the level of national pride in recent years, and a new Gallup poll indicates that the Democratic Party has disproportionately fueled the shift. The Daily Caller broke down some of the survey’s most notable results: Fewer Democrats are “extremely” or “very” proud to be American than at any point in the last 25 years, a new poll shows. Just 36% of Democrats said they are beyond “moderately proud” of their country, down from 62% in 2024, according to a Gallup poll released Monday. The survey found that overall American pride is at a record low of 58%, but Democrats are “mostly” responsible for the decline. Democrats’ current level of national pride is at its lowest since 2020, when it was 42%, according to Gallup. It jumped to 62% once former President Joe Biden took office the following year, and it stayed above 50% throughout his term. The last time the percentage reached above 80% for Democrats was under former President Barack Obama. An array of social media posts brought light to the poll results: New Gallup poll shows just 36% of Democrats say they’re very proud to be American vs 92% of Republicans. Democrats hate America. pic.twitter.com/I0ShljRiw4 — Libs of TikTok (@libsoftiktok) June 30, 2025 Democrats hate America. pic.twitter.com/i6wk4tR6ou — Gunther Eagleman (@GuntherEagleman) July 1, 2025 The low level of pride in America among Democrats might be startling, but it also makes sense in the context of the seemingly anti-American rhetoric and behavior that has become so common in the party recently: “Democrats exposed themselves as the party of insanity and hate—THE PARTY THAT WANTS TO PUT AMERICA LAST.” –@PressSec pic.twitter.com/siUvXFBT3p — The White House (@WhiteHouse) March 6, 2025 54% of young Democrats are embarrassed to be an American and Bill Maher rightfully tears apart the bullshit on the left. “You couldn’t survive a week living in intifadaville” @RubinReport pic.twitter.com/iEp43GabQd — The Rubin Report (@RubinReportShow) May 12, 2025 Gallup also highlighted the differences between age groups when it comes to expressing pride in being American: There are clear generational differences in American pride, with each new generation significantly less likely than the previous one to say they are extremely or very proud to be an American. This finding is based on the average level of pride expressed by the various generational groups across five 5-year periods since 2001. The resulting sample sizes allow for robust comparisons at each time period between groups as well as evaluation of changes over time. The youngest two generations, millennials (born between 1980 and 1996) and Generation Z (born after 1996), are the most distinct. From 2021 to 2025, less than half (41%) of adults who belong to Generation Z have been extremely or very proud to be Americans, compared with 58% of millennials. The rate increases to 71% of Generation X, 75% of the baby boom generation and 83% of the Silent Generation. Despite their greater expression of pride, all generations from millennials through the Silent Generation have shown declines of 10 or more points in the percentages extremely or very proud since 2001-2005. Most of that change has occurred since 2016. This year’s poll was just the latest to confirm the downward trend in national pride, as evidence by this report from The Hill a few years ago:

Few local political races have received as much attention in recent memory as the New York City mayoral race. Since defeating former Gov. Andrew Cuomo in the recent primary race, far-left candidate Zohran Mamdani has courted controversy for a range of controversial statements — both on the campaign trail and in remarks he made years before entering politics. His admittedly socialist views have received backlash even from within his own party. During a recent Fox News appearance, former Rep. Harold Ford Jr. (D-TN) laid out the steps Mamdani’s eventual general-election opponent should use to expose his radical ideology, per the Daily Caller: “I didn’t understand his interview with Kristen Welker. He said that he didn’t want to add race or introduce race to this. But he is, and he doesn’t want to police speech. But I guess it’s OK for him to add any kind of speech he wants and just wrap it or defend it with the notion of free speech. I wonder what he thinks about the word slavery?” Ford asked. “Is that something you don’t want to talk about? Or what he thinks about the N-word? Does he have friends who use that word, and we may misunderstand it?” Ford asked. “To talk about wealth and race, I think, is the most racist thing to do. So I hope if he’s going to be — he is the nominee for the Democratic Party. I hope he understands that and hope he reassesses how he talks about these things because a lot of people are listening and a lot of people reacting.” During an interview ahead of New York City’s election day, Mamdani came under fire after appearing on “The Bulwark” and refusing to denounce the phrases “globalize the intifada” and “From the river to the sea” when host Tim Miller asked if they made him uncomfortable. Mamdani told Welker on Sunday that while it isn’t the “language” he uses, his beliefs are grounded in “universal human rights.” Ford went on to say: “So whomever is his leading opponent, whether it’s Andrew Cuomo or Eric Adams is certainly on the ballot, that they craft a message around these things to go after him and make him answer,” Ford said. “How are you assessing wealth through race? But you can’t condemn global intifada? You can’t condemn or acknowledge the state of Israel’s right to exist?  These are real questions I think he’s going to have.” Mamdani’s views have been widely analyzed and denounced on social media in the days since he’s become a household name: New York City is so screwed https://t.co/Yc6Ff8MYKR — Riley Gaines (@Riley_Gaines_) June 25, 2025 Zohran Mamdani’s plan to tax people based on skin color isn’t just wrong, it’s racism pure and simple. We’ve got a mayor who calls white people “crackers” and now a socialist pushing race based property taxes. I’ll fix the system the right way: fair, transparent and smart. No… pic.twitter.com/lQl9n4fwky — Curtis Sliwa (@CurtisSliwa) June 28, 2025 “Globalize the Intifada” is a call to violence. Full stop. Words matter—whether Mamdani cares to believe that or not. New Yorkers need to reject this lunatic. pic.twitter.com/xLk9kyR9vQ — Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) June 30, 2025 As the New York Post reported, the Democratic Party’s leader in the House of Representatives took a clear shot at Mamdani amid intraparty squabbles over his controversial rhetoric: “Globalizing the intifada, by way of example, is not an acceptable phrasing,” Jeffries (D-NY) told ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. The term “intifada” means uprising. “He’s going to have to clarify his position on that as he moves forward,” the Brooklyn Democrat continued. “With respect to the Jewish communities that I represent, I think our nominee is going to have to convince folks that he is prepared to aggressively address the rise in antisemitism in the city of New York, which has been an unacceptable development.” During his interview with the Bulwark on June 17, Mamdani refused to denounce the phrase when pressed about whether it made him uncomfortable. The Big Apple mayoral nominee then repeatedly refused to condemn it again in an interview on NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday — despite many people interpreting it as a call to murder or harm Jews. “That’s not language that I use. The language that I use and the language that I will continue to use to lead this city is that which speaks clearly to my intent, which is an intent grounded in a belief in universal human rights,” he told Kristen Welker on the program. Here’s some additional coverage of Jeffries’ efforts to move away from the pro-Mamdani wing of his party: