This Southern Appalachian town uses co-ops to build new communities around old industries

In the foothills of western North Carolina, the small town of Morganton is home to a growing co-op movement that’s reinvigorating the region’s once-struggling textile and furniture manufacturing industries, and refashioning them around egalitarianism and localism.

How Corey Hagelberg is using art, culture and collaboration to help heal his community

Numbers and notable accolades aside, Hagelberg says his biggest motivator in continuing his work is to change the status quo by shining a light on the uncomfortable, systemic truths that have shaped his community — and many like it.