Rural Reporter’s Notebook: April 9, 2025

Over the weekend, demonstrators organized in more than 1,200 cities and small towns across all fifty states to protest actions taken by President Donald Trump and his billionaire advisor, Elon Musk. For Daily Yonder reporters Claire Carlson and Julia Tilton, the demonstrations are the latest response to a question that’s been floating around their newsroom for several weeks: What does dissent look like in rural communities right now?In this episode, Claire and Julia share dispatches from the rallies and town halls they’ve attended over the past month—events which were organized and attended by rural voters across the country. They share what they learned on the road as a way to contextualize the demonstrations this weekend, and look ahead to what organized rural dissent means for substantive action.

Image: Tony Guerrero/Hays Post