The Best of High Country News
10+ most popular High Country News articles, as voted by our community.
An independent magazine dedicated to shining a light on all the complexities of the Western U.S. Know the West. #nonprofit
High Country News on Books
What can conservation learn from science fiction?
New works by Western authors explore the brighter futures of our swiftly tilting planet.
High Country News on Climate Crisis
Alaska’s Arctic waterways are turning orange, threatening drinking water
Scientists think climate change may be the culprit.
High Country News on Equity
‘What’s the point if we’re not protecting each other?’
How scientists of color are disrupting the rules of historically colonial institutions in STEM and academia.
High Country News on Literature
Native Lit is more than a marketing term
Its use is just another fence, and we’re busting them down.
High Country News on Nonprofits
The nonprofits cleaning up the oil and gas industry’s ‘dirty little secret’
These organizations are tackling the vast problem of orphaned wells.
High Country News on Renewable Energy
Building equity into the renewable energy transition
Community and labor organizers shape New Mexico’s changing economy.
Popular
These are some all-time favorites with Refind users.
How place names impact the way we see landscape
Western landscapes and their names are stratified with personal memories, ancestral teachings, mythic events and colonial disturbances.
When the heat is unbearable but there’s nowhere to go
How last year’s record-breaking heat wave caused misery and chaos for Washington’s incarcerated population — and why it’s set to happen all over again.
(Not) one nation, under God
To truly become a more equal society, look to our youth, the ‘nones.’
The complexities of teaching Indigenous history
In Ogden, Utah, familiar questions of shared responsibility and shared histories surfaced —all at a three-day symposium on the railroad and Indian Country.
Land-grab universities
Expropriated Indigenous land is the foundation of the land-grant university system.
What is Refind?
Every day Refind picks 5 links from around the web that make you smarter, tailored to your interests. is one of more than 10k sources we monitor.
How does Refind curate?
It’s a mix of human and algorithmic curation, following a number of steps:
- We monitor 10k+ sources and 1k+ thought leaders on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
- In addition, our users save links from around the web using our Save buttons and our extensions.
- Our algorithm processes 100k+ new links every day and uses external signals to find the most relevant ones, focusing on timeless pieces.
- Our community of active users gets 5 links every day, tailored to their interests. They provide feedback via implicit and explicit signals: open, read, listen, share, add to reading list, save to «Made me smarter», «More/less like this», etc.
- Our algorithm uses these internal signals to refine the selection.
- In addition, we have expert curators who manually curate niche topics.
The result: lists of the best and most useful articles on hundreds of topics.
How does Refind detect «timeless» pieces?
We focus on pieces with long shelf-lives—not news. We determine «timelessness» via a number of metrics, for example, the consumption pattern of links over time.
How many sources does Refind monitor?
We monitor 10k+ content sources on hundreds of topics—publications, blogs, news sites, newsletters, Substack, Medium, Twitter, etc.
Can I submit a link?
Indirectly, by using Refind and saving links from outside (e.g., via our extensions).
How can I report a problem?
When you’re logged-in, you can flag any link via the «More» (...) menu. You can also report problems via email to hello@refind.com
Who uses Refind?
100k+ smart people start their day with Refind. To learn something new. To get inspired. To move forward. Our apps have a 4.9/5 rating.
Is Refind free?
Yes, it’s free!
How can I sign up?
Head over to our homepage and sign up by email or with your Twitter or Google account.