Although it is officially 2012, we couldn’t let this listener response to our 2011 Auld Lang Syne go unheard. Another rockin’ SOTRU listener of Oakland, California, gives us her Fan’s Fab Five. Thanks, and take it away, Courtney Supple …

As a resident of Oakland, CA, I have to put my town’s episode at the top of the list. You helped listeners envision an Oakland that isn’t normally portrayed in the mainstream media. We are a town of entrepreneurs, of artists, of farmers, of loving people from all walks of life who take care of each other, in spite of and because of the struggles we face. I remember listening to the episode as I’m riding my bike from East Oakland (where Sobrante Park is located), past Lake Merritt, to Downtown Oakland, and as I’m listening to our stories, I am filled with joy and pride and I begin to feel an even deeper level of closeness to the neighbors I’m passing by and the neighborhoods I’m passing through. I didn’t know I could love this town more than I already did, but I do. Thank you

“As for my other top four (it’s so hard to pick; y’all create such a great show every time!):

1. Cleveland, OH - I love the entrepreneurial spirit and it’s so inspiring to hear the stories of people who put their ideas into action and are succeeding!

2. The Bronx, NY – I hear a lot of Oakland in The Bronx story, particularly the first story about the woman taking care of her block. Reminds me of the episode you did on Detroit, where there was a mural that said, ‘you don’t have to move out of your neighborhood to live in a better one.’ It’s always a matter of regular folks taking it upon ourselves to create the lives and world we wanna live in

3. Birmingham, AL - I love it when y’all share voices that don’t fit nicely into a comfortable little narrative that makes us all feel warm and fuzzy and satisfied. The stories heard in the beginning of this episode challenged me and my ideas, and I think we all need more of that in our lives and in our larger cultural dialogue.

4. Wyoming - Nobody talks about Wyoming. Nobody goes to Wyoming. There are more people in several major American cities than there are in the entire state of Wyoming. But there are stories there that everyone can relate to, in some way or another. Whether it’s hearing that little girl sing with her mama, or that police officer talk so openly about being homophobic and how he’s changed, or from communities divided by economic opportunity/environmental devastation, we can all relate to something somewhere in these stories. To realize that connection is incredibly powerful and, I assume, part of the reason you produce this show.

Thank you SOOOOOO much for SOTRU! Thank you for connecting me to others around the country that are creating beautiful communities in the most simple, yet innovative ways. You make me cry and laugh and hope and that’s what good storytelling is allllll about. Well done and keep it up!!!

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Thanks, again, Courtney. Like Courtney, some of our incredible SOTRU listeners have been moved by the issues being brought to life, mobilizing them to take action and help these communities. It is moments like these that make all of the toiling, hard work and frustrations transform into pride and reaffirm why SOTRU does exists: it is because of the resounding awesomeness and community produced by people in the good ol’ U.S. of A.

Happy 2012 to all of our awesome friends, supporters and communities. It’s going to be an interesting year full of great and surprising episodes that introduce more fantastic  people and places in the great country of ours. Stay tuned … it’s going to be a phenomenal SOTRU year!

We are so pleased to bring you State of the Re:Union’s 2011 Fall Season with the following episodes:

The Bronx, NY: Still Rising from the Ashes
The Bronx has long been seen as a symbol of America’s failings.  For many people here, ‘making it’ means escaping the crime and poverty of their borough.  But some have refused to flee. This episode shines a light on the hold-outs and the dreamers, people who’ve committed their lives to keeping chaos at bay in the Bronx.

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Mississippi Gulf Coast: Defending the Gulf
After Hurricane Katrina ravaged the area, Mississippi Gulf Coast residents were forced to come together to deal with the aftermath. Then, just as they were starting to get back on their feet, the BP Deepwater Horizon disaster dumped millions of barrels of oil into the water just off their shores. Cumulatively, these events have made environmentalists out of a whole lot of Gulf Coast residents who may not have considered themselves as such. We tell an hour of stories about the fight for the natural world bringing Gulf Coast residents together … both with one another and with unlikely partners. And how, in some instances, that fight is turning out to be exactly what a community needed to survive.

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Wyoming: The New Old West
People are few and far between in Wyoming.  Those that do live here prize tradition, self-reliance, and their connection to the land.  So when change comes to the high plains—an oil boom, a minister with new ideas—communities here are tested.   And neighbors have to strike a balance between preserving their independent way of life and learning to rely on one another. We trek to the small towns and remote ranches of Wyoming, meeting people as they adapt to the New Old West.

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Cleveland, OH: Entrepreneurs at Work
Cleveland, Ohio, is a city that was made by entrepreneurs. But for decades, it’s been known as a city that’s a shell of its former manufacturing-era glorious self. However, Cleveland is being embraced by a new generation of entrepreneurs as a place to put their dreams in motion. This is a now a city of entrepreneurship in a range of incarnations … in their kids’ education, in the environment, even in beer. This is an hour of entrepreneurial stories, taking a look at that go-get-em-seize-your-dreams energy in a variety of forms.

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Sacramento, CA: All Hands on Deck
There’s been a lot of bad news coming out of Sacramento lately: homelessness, the foreclosure rate, unemployment, and political gridlock in a state crippled by the recession.  Add to that a stubborn case of political fatigue, and you’ve got a lot of reasons to write this cityoff.  But we trekked to California’s beleaguered state capital to take a peek behind the national headlines and find out who keeps this city running—day in, day out—despite all that’s going wrong.  And we left with the realization that people in Sacramento are remaking the American city, in surprising and deeply moving ways.

We are perpetually moved by the incredible stories, people and communities we encounter in making each SOTRU episode. This season is no exception and we are sure that you will be as surprised as we were to learn the things happening in our communities.  You can visit the above pages to listen and download full episodes. There will also be some additional goodies (pictures, articles, and in some cases, a video documentary) you can peruse, adding even more insight into each episode.

Please listen for State of the Re:Union on your local public radio station. In the event your local station isn’t carrying us, you could always give them a call and request it! We’re sure they would love to hear from their listeners anyway. Thanks again for supporting SOTRU. We hope you enjoy the new episodes, documentaries and other bonus features from our travels.

*Listeners in Northeast Florida, you can celebrate the launch of the fall season with us at our annual fundraising event.  Together, Jacksonville’s Museum of Modern Art (MOCA) with SOTRU’s very own, Al Letson, will be hosting and entertaining with a live performance. ‘State of the Re:Union Live’ on Saturday, Oct 22, 2011, will have two shows: the first begins at 7:00 p.m. and the second is at 8:30 p.m. The seats are VERY  limited, so to make sure you don’t miss out, you can purchase tickets in advance for $15 here, or $20 at the door (provided there are seats still available).  See you there!

Utica is not a city that makes many outsize claims these days. There’s a pervasive sense that a lot of the city’s glory days are in the past, that the time when people boasted about Utica with words like “best” and “biggest” are long gone. Except… when it comes to food. Economic hard times or not, this is a city that takes its eating seriously. Maybe that’s because it was home to so many Italians… (more…)