Introducing: Our Town

Our Town from Bloomberg’s Big Take podcast follows residents of Gainesboro, Tennessee, after a group of far-right Christians moves in with plans for a radical social experiment. Listen to Episode 1 on the Big Take. https://omnycontent.com/d/playlist/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/8A94442E-5A74-4FA2-8B8D-AE27003A8D6B/982F5071-765C-403D-969D-AE27003A8D83/swap.fm/l/uFImCuAsS2OCcdH4qhc2 See omnystudio.com/listener https://omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

• 0:00Speaker 00

  If you drive 90 miles northeast of Nashville, into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, you'll land in Gainesboro, Tennessee. How would you describe this place?

• 0:09Speaker 01

  I think raw would be a good word to start.

• 0:12Speaker 00

  Just over 1,000 people live here. Many go back generations.

• 0:16Speaker 02

  I was related to pretty much everyone here.

• 0:19Speaker 00

  But in the fall of 2024, a group of outsiders started scooping up big tracts of land.

• 0:25Speaker 01

  That piqued my interest because most time he would sell it to Jim Bob over the holler.

• 0:30Speaker 00

  As the battle for the future of America plays out in one small town.

• 0:35Speaker 02

  We were all flat-footed. We didn't have a clue.

• 0:39Speaker 01

  Developers with right-wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area. The first thing you see when it pops up is pioneers in Appalachia.

• 0:49Speaker 00

  Pioneers in Appalachia. But the goal wasn't just to buy real estate.

• 0:54Speaker 03

  We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the healthy, natural, human way of life, the Christian way of life.

• 1:02Speaker 02

  Stop right there. Is that normal?

• 1:05Speaker 00

  From Bloomberg News and the Big Take Podcast, this is Our Town, a show about what happens when a small town becomes the site of a social experiment. God need men to rule.

• 1:16Speaker 03

  We're on the cusp of, I think, a land grab in Appalachia. Our hometown is not a test tube.

• 1:22Speaker 00

  And decides to fight back.

• 1:24Speaker 04

  Do not use my hard work to sell your bull.

• 1:29Speaker 05

  They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. They feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration.

• 1:37Speaker 06

  Guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumb hillbillies now, did you?

• 1:41Speaker 00

  Listen to Our Town on the iHeart Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.