April 1, 2011

Our designer, Carlos Knight, believes that Volume Two, Issue Four of This Land, aka April 2011, may be his finest hour yet. We have to agree that it is indeed a paper-based garden of visual delight, but we’re also quite certain that the amazing stories collected manage to pack an equal punch in the mind’s eye.

OF SPICE AND MEN: The story of Ike’s Chili has been simmering for nearly a century. Mark Brown serves you an amazingly-crafted article about Tulsa’s chili legacy.

GET A HEAD OF STEAM FOR YOUR SELF-ESTEEM: An original story by our generation’s successor to Vonnegut and Heller: Sam Lipsyte, who offers you an unforgettable affirmation that you can carry with you.

UNION BUSTING: Beau Adams has a story for you about an Oklahoma State Representative seeking to disband Union Public Schools, and we agree he’s got a point.

SOUTH BY MIDWEST: This American Life and Slate contributor Russell Cobb returns to This Land to answer your most nagging dinnertime conversation question: Where is Oklahoma?

SOME SERIOUS SHIT: Arlo Murphy reports on the question you don’t want to ask: What happens when you flush a toilet in Tulsa? Plus: All the good things you’ve come to know and love, like Together in Tulsa, goodbye stories, letters from Oklahoman Expats, poetry by great poets, and a walk down Cedar Street.