Every town has a story
The long-form version of every roast: real history, real facts, and the jokes we couldn't fit on a card.
- Wichita, KansasOct 5
Wichita, Kansas: The Air Capital of the World (Where the Planes Fly and the Burgers Fall Apart)
Welcome to Wichita, Kansas, a city that has spent a century building things that go up (airplanes) and a few things that fall apart (sand...
- Saint Paul, MinnesotaOct 5
Saint Paul, Minnesota: The Capital City That Minneapolis Keeps Forgetting to Mention
Let's get one thing straight before we start: Saint Paul is not Minneapolis's boring little sibling. It's the capital. Minneapolis may ha...
- Bakersfield, CaliforniaOct 5
Bakersfield, California: Where Country Music Was Born and Your Air Filter Goes to Die
Welcome to the 9th-largest city in California, a place that has spent decades politely asking the rest of the state to please stop skippi...
- Charleston, South CarolinaOct 5
Charleston, South Carolina: Steeples, Shrimp, and a Horse Named Buttercup
Welcome to Charleston, South Carolina, the city that looks like a postcard, charges like a boutique hotel minibar, and has been on the re...
- Fort Dodge, IowaOct 5
Fort Dodge, Iowa: Home of the Fake Giant, Real Gypsum, and a Surprisingly Committed Garden Club
Welcome to Fort Dodge, Iowa, a town that sets expectations boldly and then makes you drive U.S. 20 to check on them.
- Red Bluff, CaliforniaOct 5
Red Bluff, California: Where the Steamboats Stopped and the Thermostat Didn't
If you've ever driven Interstate 5 and thought, "I should pull over somewhere between Sacramento and Redding," congratulations. You've ju...
- La Quinta, CaliforniaOct 5
La Quinta, California: The "Gem of the Desert" Is Having a Very Good Century (and Also a Very Windy One)
Welcome to La Quinta, California, the Coachella Valley city where the golf is plentiful, the snowbirds are punctual, and the patio furnit...
- Canoga Park, CaliforniaOct 5
Canoga Park, California: From Rocket Engines to "Wait, Where Is That?"
Welcome to Canoga Park, the San Fernando Valley neighborhood that has launched actual spacecraft components and still can't launch a dece...
- San Juan Capistrano, CaliforniaOct 5
Swallow Your Pride: San Juan Capistrano, California, the Town That Got Ghosted by Birds
Welcome to San Juan Capistrano, California, a southern Orange County city of 35,253 people (per the 2020 Census) that has built a brand, ...
- Lenoir City, TennesseeOct 5
Lenoir City, Tennessee: The Lake Capital of the South (Also Home to a Cursed Serpent, Allegedly)
Welcome to Lenoir City, Tennessee, the place you pass at 70 mph on I-75 while saying, "Is that a lake? Should we stop?" Then you don't. W...
- Austin, TexasOct 5
Keep Austin Weird, Keep Your Wallet Open: A Roast of Texas's Favorite Overachiever
Welcome to Austin, Texas, the Live Music Capital of the World, the home of the state capitol, and the only place where a stranger will te...
- Utica, IllinoisOct 5
Utica, Illinois: The Little Town That Stirs a Big Pot (and Sits Next to Starved Rock)
Let's get one thing out of the way: Utica, Illinois sits in LaSalle County on the Illinois & Michigan Canal. It calls itself the "Gateway...
- Atomic City, IdahoOct 5
Atomic City, Idaho: The Tiny Nuclear-Age Town That Is Still Hanging On
If you've ever wanted to visit a place that sounds like a Cold War superweapon but looks like a gravel parking lot with a drinking proble...
- Minong, WisconsinOct 5
Minong, Wisconsin: Where 548 People Live and One Jerky Empire Reigns
If you've ever stood in a gas station at 11 p.m. holding a bag of beef jerky and thinking, "I wonder where this came from," the answer is...
- Gold Beach, OregonOct 5
Gold Beach, Oregon: Where the Gold Left, the Mail Still Arrives by Jet Boat, and the Chowder Is a Matter of Opinion
Let's get one thing straight before you pull up directions to Gold Beach, Oregon: this is not the Gold Beach from the D-Day history books...
- Laurel, MississippiOct 5
Laurel, Mississippi: The "Mayberry" of the Pine Belt (Please Ignore the Parts Not on HGTV)
Welcome to Laurel, Mississippi, the town that proves a good shiplap budget can make America forget almost anything. If you've watched Hom...
- Cape Coral, FloridaOct 5
Cape Coral, Florida: 400 Miles of Canals, One Very Dedicated Owl Population
Welcome to Cape Coral, the Southwest Florida city that looked at a swamp and said, "What if this, but with a mortgage?" It sits on the Gu...
- New Iberia, LouisianaOct 5
Queen City of the Teche? 13 Reasons New Iberia, Louisiana Is Funnier (and Tastier) Than Its Crown Suggests
Let's get one thing straight before we wade into Bayou Teche: New Iberia, Louisiana is a legitimately great place to spend a long weekend...
- Midlothian, VirginiaOct 5
Midlothian, Virginia: Where the Coal Ran Out and the Chick-fil-A Lines Began
If you've ever wondered what happens when a town mines some of the earliest commercial coal in North America and then decides its next bi...
- Richmond, VirginiaOct 5
Richmond, Virginia: Confederate Capital, Flying Squirrels, and a Town That Really Wants You to Like It
So you're thinking about visiting Richmond, Virginia. Good news: it's a genuinely fun city with great food, a pretty river, and some of t...
- Warm Springs, OregonOct 5
Warm Springs, Oregon: Hot Springs, Huckleberries, and a Casino at the End of the Highway
Let's get one thing straight: Warm Springs, Oregon is a real place with real history. It is also a place where the GPS gets a little nerv...
- Chesterfield, EnglandOct 5
Crooked Spire, Straight Talk: A Cheeky Guide to Chesterfield, England
Welcome to Chesterfield, Derbyshire, the market town that gets 23 million people within a two-hour drive and still somehow gets overlooke...
- Pellston, MichiganOct 5
Pellston, Michigan: The "Icebox of the Nation" That Isn't Legally Allowed to Say So
If you've ever heard "Pellston" on a winter weather report and wondered whether it was a town or a cry for help, welcome. Pellston, Michi...
- Chesterfield, MissouriOct 5
Chesterfield, Missouri: The Suburb That Out-Earned Its Own Mall (and Is Building a "Downtown" to Prove It)
Welcome to Chesterfield, Missouri, the western St. Louis suburb where the lawns are immaculate and the median household income is well in...
- McEwen, TennesseeOct 5
McEwen, Tennessee: Home of the World's Largest Outdoor Barbecue (and Not Much Else to Distract You)
If you've ever driven U.S. Route 70 between Nashville and the Tennessee River and thought, "I wonder what's in that town I'm blowing past...