“It’s the paying attention that matters—a kind of attention immersed in the forms of the ordinary but noticing things too.”

–Kathleen Stewart, Ordinary Affects

Once upon a time, twelve midwestern women met at Truman State University, a small liberal arts college in northeast Missouri. Most of them lived in a house on Elson street, which became the scene of prank wars, Christmas parties, and porch hangs. They became the Elson Girls. Fourteen years later, they’re still taking trips and telling stories. The Elson Girls are now scattered across the U.S. and around the world, but the Midwest, where they’re from and where they met, still shapes who they are.

No one seems to agree on what, exactly, the Midwest is. By some measures, Illinois is the most Midwestern state. By others, it’s Iowa. The drive from Normal, Illinois to Peculiar, Missouri would take six hours through flat prairie farmland, over the Mississippi River, and into rolling hills dotted with small towns. The Midwestern heartland exists in the American imagination as a region of farming folks, but more than 75% of Midwesterners live in urban areas. Most myths reflect some cultural truths, but the everyday experience within this imagined community is, of course, more complex than easy stereotypes.

Through the reflections of the Elson Girls, Where the Heartland Is offers up a contemplation on Midwestern-ness, American-ness, and the stories we tell ourselves about ourselves (even when we don’t realize we’re telling them). It’s a podcast of ruminations, an experiment in listening to points and counterpoints, hearing what’s said and what’s not. Come have a listen—what will you notice?