While we’re working on new episodes for Season 3, revisit one of our favorite conversations, originally released on June 18, 2025.

Ellen talks with Camden Blatchley, a data analyst with the Center on Rural Innovation (CORI). Camden discusses the complexities of defining rural and urban areas in the United States, and describes the differences between the two most commonly used definitions: one developed by the Census Bureau and the other by the Office of Management and Budget. Camden explains how these differing definitions can paint different images of rural America and reinforce narratives about rural and urban areas as a binary, when in reality they are a complex, diverse, interconnected continuum of geographies, people, and economic conditions. Camden also highlights his work on the Rural Aperture Project and the necessity for more accurate storytelling and policymaking that reflect the true state of interdependence of rural and urban areas.

Episode Highlights:

03:51 The Many Definitions of Rural

10:25 Racial and Ethnic Diversity in Rural America

15:42 Economic Realities and Misconceptions of Rural America

18:09 Rural-Urban Connections

More Information:

Center on Rural Innovation, https://ruralinnovation.us/

The Rural Aperture Project, https://ruralinnovation.us/resources/mapping-and-data-analytics/the-rural-aperture-project/

Defining Rural America, The Consequenes of How We Count, https://ruralinnovation.us/blog/defining-rural-america/

Who lives in rural America? How data shapes (and misshapes) conceptions of diversity in rural America, https://ruralinnovation.us/blog/who-lives-in-rural-america-part-i/

Who lives in rural America? The geography of rural race and ethnicity, https://ruralinnovation.us/blog/who-lives-in-rural-america-part-2/

The reclassification of rural counties and what it means for rural America, https://ruralinnovation.us/blog/the-reclassification-of-rural-counties-and-what-it-means-for-rural-america/

Questions, comments, want to get in touch? Email us at sidebyside@umn.edu. We share your feedback with funders and stakeholders about the value of this podcast and how you engage with the insights and information.

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In final episode of season two, Ellen talks with Civic Bridgers founder Libby Stegger and students Angelina Rueda and Sumaya Yassin about bridging across rural, urban, and suburban spaces in Minnesota. Angelina and Sumaya discuss their experience in the Rural-Urban Campus Bridging Initiative and Libby shares how the Civic Bridgers organization builds connections across the state.

Episode Highlights:

03:14 Civic Bridgers and the Campus Bridging Initiative

08:40 Experiences and Insights from Participants

15:23 Challenges and Rewards of Bridging

26:19 Aspirations and Recommendations for Bridging Work

More Information:
Civic Bridgers, www.civicbridgers.org
Libby Stegger Bio, https://www.civicbridgers.org/meet-the-team

Angelina Rueda is a recent graduate from Winona State University with a passion for sociology. Last spring, she participated in the Campus Bridging Initiative to promote the Urban-Rural exchange. Currently, Angelina is a Program Engagement Fellow for Engage Winona as part of a fellowship program with Civic Bridgers and Americorps Vista.

Sumaya Yassin is a third-year student at St. Catherine University, majoring in Public Health with a concentration in Health Sciences and a minor in Aging and Longevity. In the spring of 2025, Sumaya joined the two-weekend exchange program with the Campus Bridging Initiative. This program facilitates exchanges between students from the College of Saint Benedict and St. Catherine's University to engage in discussions about Urban and Rural immersion.

Questions, comments, want to get in touch? Email us at sidebyside@umn.edu. We share your feedback with funders and stakeholders about the value of this podcast and how you engage with the insights and information.

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“Bridging is a practice where members of different social groups are not only brought into contact, but build social connections and rapport.”-john powell

“It's not perfect. It's not hypothetical. It's not something you can do all the time. But I think in terms of the kind of world that we are trying to bring into existence, bridging, until we fully realize that we are connected, bridging is necessary.” –john powell

“Bridges are made to be walked on.” -bell hooks

In this episode, Ellen talks with Jen Ford Reedy, president of the Bush Foundation, about john powell's book, The Power of Bridging. They explore the concepts shared in the book and how they apply to working across rural, urban, and suburban communities.

The Bush Foundation is offering free copies of john's book to anyone in their grantmaking region—Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geography. Request your copy here.

Episode Highlights:
03:03 Bush Foundation's Book Club and Its Impact

14:44 Rural and Urban Dynamics

20:08 Bush Foundation's Approach to Bridging

30:29 Challenges and Skills in Bridging

37:46 Optimism and Cultural Change

43:02 The Necessity of Bridging for Change

More Information:

https://www.bushfoundation.org/people/jen-ford-reedy/
https://belonging.berkeley.edu/
https://obiu.org/course/bridging-bookclub
https://communityactionpartnership.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/john-powell.pdf

https://belonging.berkeley.edu/practice-bridging

https://standtogether.org/

Questions, comments, want to get in touch? Email us at sidebyside@umn.edu. We share your feedback with funders and stakeholders about the value of this podcast and how you engage with the insights and information.

Sign up for our newsletter here.

Ellen talks with john a. powell about his book, The Power of Bridging, and the concept of bridging and the importance of recognizing our interconnectedness. john explains the harmful practices of breaking and othering and explores the bridging necessary for rural, urban, and suburban communities. john also shares ways individuals and leaders can foster a bridging mindset.

Please Note:
The Bush Foundation is offering free copies of john's book,The Power of Bridging to anyone in their grantmaking region—Minnesota, North Dakota, South Dakota and the 23 Native nations that share the same geography. Request your copy here.

More Information:
john a. powell Bio, https://belonging.berkeley.edu/john-powell
Othering and Belonging Institute, https://belonging.berkeley.edu/
Belonging Without Othering: How We Save Ourselves and the World, https://belonging.berkeley.edu/belonging-without-othering
Belonging Without Othering Podcast with john a. powell and Stephen Menendian, https://belonging.berkeley.edu/podcast-belonging-without-othering

Episode Highlights:
04:20 The Reality of Interconnectedness

11:59 Defining Othering and Breaking

18:41 The Consequences of Othering

35:32 Bridging and Belonging: A Path Forward

44:40 Challenges and Misconceptions of Bridging
54:05 The Role of Leaders in Bridging

Questions, comments, want to get in touch? Email us at sidebyside@umn.edu. We share your feedback with funders and stakeholders about the value of this podcast and how you engage with the insights and information.

Sign up for our newsletter here.

While Ellen takes a break for Labor Day, revisit this episode originally released on September 4, 2024 during Season 1.

In this episode, Ellen interviews Nick Jacobs, co-author of The Rural Voter, about the nuances of rural America and how they are often overlooked when we consider the complex relationship between rural and urban spaces. They discuss the methodology behind Nick’s research and the challenges of surveying rural populations. They also delve into "rural resentment" and the persistent misconceptions about rural and urban communities, despite examples of shared commonalities.

Episode Highlights:

04:50 Challenges in Surveying Rural America

09:56 The Gap Effect

19:07 Rural Resentment vs. Rural Rage

29:00 Economic Integration in Rural Communities

33:42 Shared Sense of Fate

More Information:
Nick Jacobs bio, https://web.colby.edu/nfjacobs/

The Rural Voter, https://cup.columbia.edu/book/the-rural-voter/9780231211581

New Book on Rural America Started with a False Conclusion, Then Looked For Evidence-The Daily Yonder, https://dailyyonder.com/commentary-white-rural-rage-which-came-first-the-title-or-the-research/2024/03/06/

How ‘Rural Studies’ Is Thinking About the Heartland - The New York Times (nytimes.com), https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/29/business/rural-studies-american-politics.html

UMN Extension Rural-Urban Interdependence, https://extension.umn.edu/community-development/rural-urban-interdependence

Questions, comments, want to get in touch? Email us at sidebyside@umn.edu. We share your feedback with funders and stakeholders about the value of this podcast and how you engage with the insights and information.

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Drs. Jill Amsberry and Chris Fallert explain how the University of Minnesota Medical School and CentraCare's new St. Cloud campus is a rural-urban partnership that will transform rural health care and strengthen the region

Ellen talks with Drs. Jill Amsberry and Chris Fallert to discuss the launch of the new University of Minnesota Medical School Regional CentraCare St. Cloud campus in St. Cloud, Minnesota. The new St. Cloud campus, developed in partnership with the CentraCare health care system and the University of Minnesota, aims to address the shortage of rural physicians by recruiting and training students from rural areas.

CentraCare is the largest provider of rural health care in Minnesota, serving an 18-county region across central, western, and southwestern parts of the state. In addition to the Twin Cities campus, this will be the first regional campus for the University of Minnesota Medical School since the Duluth campus opened in 1972.

Jill and Chris also share how this unique rural-urban collaboration holds significant potential to positively impact communities across the region by highlighting how the partnership between CentraCare and the University of Minnesota is not only expanding healthcare access and improving quality of care but also strengthening the region’s social, human, political, and economic capital.

Episode Highlights:
02:03 Goals and Vision for the New Campus

07:10 Challenges in Rural Healthcare

13:11 Faculty and Student Recruitment

28:28 Community Impact and Development

More Information:
Dr. Chris Fallert Bio, https://med.umn.edu/bio/christopher-fallert
Dr. Jill Amsberry Bio, https://www.centracare.com/doctors/profile/jill-amsberry/
University of Minnesota Medical School, https://med.umn.edu/
CentraCare Health System, https://www.centracare.com/

In this episode, Ellen talks with Tane Danger and Tryg Throntveit to discuss their collaborative project, "Sketches of Minnesota" which launched last year. Tane and Dane (along with an incredibly talented improv comedy cast) visited communities across Minnesota to gather local stories and transform them into live improv comedy shows. Tane and Tryg share how "Sketches of Minnesota" celebrates the culture, history, and individuality of Minnesota’s urban, rural, and suburban communities, and the connections Minnesotans share.

Episode Highlights:

03:26 Danger Boat Productions: Using Improv for Civic Engagement

06:32 Creating Sketches of Minnesota: The Journey

10:29 The Impact of Humor in Community Building

21:38 Community Reflections and Feedback

23:08 Selecting and Visiting Communities

29:08 Themes and Stories from Minnesota

35:49 Unexpected Positive Outcomes

42:56 Rural and Urban Interdependence

More Information:
Trygve Throntveit is Research Professor in Higher Education at Ball State University and Co-Founder and Director of the Twin Cities-based Institute for Public Life and Work. Until recently, he served as Director of Civic Renewal at the Minnesota Humanities Center, where he co-developed and directed the Sketches of Minnesota project.

Tane Danger Bio, https://www.dangerboat.net/tane-danger
Sketches of Minnesota Season 2 Tour, https://www.mnhum.org/program/sketches-of-minnesota/