Chapter 4: All Metal Mode

0:00In complex industries, general financial advice isn't enough. Whether you're navigating global payments, cross-border funding, or operational complexities, HSBC, corporate and institutional banking can help you connect capital with opportunity. Set your business up for success. Search grp.hspc-forwardslash-uscib. If you're bookshelf and you're for you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro Society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet and pop culture, with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Yeah, I'm obsessed, I'm obsessed. Listen to Pro Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I survived nine months in captivity, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the survivor files.

1:05Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. Bloomberg Audio Studios, podcasts, radio, news. Previously on our town. Golly, one of the tracks of land that's been bought, that land belonged to his great granddaddy. Yeah, that's right, that's a tough one. Were we gonna end up in that Moscow situation? No. Our tagline is all of Christ for all of life. Murray Street's very important. It needs to be protected, that's true. I want to get back to the town that's being built, which I assume is a fascist Christian Theocracy. That's what the TV news is. Sorry, I got that one. Isger was so excited. It's like a puppy that found a new bone.

2:07Yeah, that tells you that they've got big plans for your little piece of the world. It was mid-September 2025. Charlie Kirk had just been assassinated. And Nancy Pruitt, the retired art teacher in Gainesboro, got a call. Someone called and told me I needed to look at this podcast and be aware of what was going on. And so I did. All right, hello everyone. Today, we are discussing all the fallout from Charlie Kirk's assassination. Everything that has happened in the last week and a half since he was killed. Andrew Isger, the Christian nationalist podcaster and his co-host, CJ Angle, had just released a new episode of their podcast, Contra Mundum. I just listened to the podcast. Obviously he was upset, you know, anybody would be upset,

3:12but it was not a rational podcast, what he was saying. And so the things that I believe, which are basic, standard conservative Christian things, is called hate. It's not just all we have a disagreement of opinion. No, you, you preach hate. The podcast referred to his neighborhood and the signs that were in it. Nancy signs. The ones she'd made nearly a year before, when news first broke in Gainesboro about the Ridge Runner project. Hate has no home in Gainesboro. When you get used to someone preaching hate, they're saying, I hope somebody puts a bullet in your neck. Right, that's what that means. Phil Williams, the reporter who had broken the story about Isger and Angles' arrival in Gainesboro, heard about this too. In the post in Jackson County, Facebook group Isger compares himself to Kirk, telling his neighbors that those signs quote mean you support violence against people you hate. They would like for my children to grow up fatherless, that they would like that. They'd like

4:14my children to be harmed. He led people to believe that his neighbor, which was me, that put the signs up in our neighborhood, wanted harm to come to him, which was, I said, what am I going to do, hit him with a biscuit? Isger was doing what a lot of people on the right had been doing, taking this terrible awful thing and using it to recast any opposition as threatening, even life threatening. Now he was saying that Nancy's signs, the ones opposing hate, were actually endorsing violence, and he called on his neighbors to take them down. You didn't think about taking them down? No, I put more up the next day. And I never entered my mind that I would take a sign down after he said that because it was just ridiculous. It was like he was stirring the pot. How many more signs did you put up? I painted some. I did some hand painted signs.

5:16One said dangerous educated woman lives here and one said all are welcome. Others in town also saw Isger's post. Charlie Kirk at least went out and talked to people on the opposite side. Cassie, the restaurant owner, was unimpressed. Like they are chicken shit to come out of their echo chamber online. Their little building down there. They are only will go into the places that they know that they feel safe. Contra-mundum, of course, was a safe place. And there, in the days after Kirk's killing, Isger went full throttle, demanding an immediate and forceful response. Unless a massive amount of force is wielded against the left in this country. To such an extent that even I might get uncomfortable. Right? If I start to get uncomfortable, then it's like, okay, we're in the right track. It was over a year into the experiment. Ridge Runner was continuing to build its so-called

6:19aligned community. In Gainesboro found itself in an increasingly tense and unpredictable state of existence. Bitterness, division, suspicion, had seeped into Gainesboro, roiling this tiny tight-knit town. For years, Gainesboro had been mostly immune to such things, rarely concerning itself with matters of party politics, red versus blue. It put local over national. But now, with new neighbors came a new reality. So much of what had been haunting the nation was now gripping Gainesboro, transforming it into a microcosm of America's turbulence. Gainesboro, the small town at the center of the world. From Bloomberg News, I'm Marib and Night reporting along with Susan Burrfield,

7:20and you're listening to Our Town. This is chapter four, all metal mode. It was now mid-October, and Nancy Pruitt was out for an evening walk. And I say this huge figure. It was across the street in her neighbor's yard. And I walked by and I looked up and it moves and it talks. And I just had a really good laugh. It was a 12-foot tall grim reaper with a massive gray head, glowing eyes, blood dripping from its mouth. A new addition to the street's Halloween decor. This yard, they'd never had anything like that. Her neighbor had really done it this time, she thought. When I saw it, I knew exactly what that grim reaper was about.

8:23Here's the thing, Halloween and Gainesboro. Halloween is a big thing in this town. A beloved tradition for generations, for both kids and adults. On Halloween here when people come, they always tell me about the first house they went to was my grandmother's because she made popcorn balls, caramel popcorn balls. You did not come to town on Halloween unless you knew you were going to get a good love Halloween. Yeah. Barry Nath, the dog lover, has fond memories of his Halloween's growing up, especially the eggs. You know, you get them a week or two ahead of time and let them, let them rot. The town square was a battle zone of mischief. They'd be a hundred kids and just wait for somebody to come by. And Murray Street, which is Nancy Street, being so close to the square, goes hard on Halloween. All of the neighbors open up and we just have open house. It's the biggest gathering on Murray Street, a chance for the whole community to celebrate together. People come from all over Jackson County

9:27and beyond. By one count, there were 900 tricker treaters last year. They come from everywhere to our street for Halloween and all the neighbors pitch in money. It's expensive buying candy for hundreds of kids. All along the street, there are decorations, lights, smoke machines, coffins with people rising up, baby dolls hanging from trees and then snoopy will be in the middle of it. And now, this past year, a new 12 foot grim reaper you couldn't miss. When Nancy first saw the towering reaper a couple weeks before Halloween, it wasn't the holiday spirit that made her giggle. It was the delightful dig of it all. Okay, so it all started when C.J. Engle, the podcaster who lived on Nancy's block, had made a post on Facebook. The problem with evil Halloween decorations is that they are real. They summon real monsters. They bring forth real beings. It's not a game. Festivities matter. Almost immediately, up 1 to 12 foot reaper, just a few houses

10:34over from Engle. Oh yes, it was a direct response. The reaper also happened to be next door to his co-host and her isker's house. Nancy knew it was a bit childish, but she couldn't resist thinking. Every time they walk out in their yard, it's going to talk to them. So it's... Right. In fact, after the reaper, it seemed like the entire street got the memo. Our street really stepped it up a notch just so that Engle would have to say what we were all about, I guess. Murray Street showed out. Neighbors added even more decorations. Everything you can think of, and it was pretty gruesome, but the kids loved it because it was all ingest and all in fun. It was a chance to poke back, and locals just couldn't resist. Who knows exactly why Engle decided to take on Halloween? Later, he told us it was just a quote, random post. But to Murray Street, the post struck at the heart of Gainesboro's sense of community. It wasn't just a post. It felt

11:38like a rejection of Gainesboro itself, and it hurt. Like so much of what was happening in Gainesboro, Halloween decorations had become a statement, and a way to resist. Over the past year, it was these small, even amusing acts of protest that could keep Gainesboro residents afloat at times, keep people's spirits up when they got bogged down in the bigness of it all. When Halloween did arrive, Nancy, unsurprisingly, didn't see Engle with his family at on Murray Street. She didn't see a scour either, but they were around town. Barry Nath had spotted the podcasters and their crew meeting for breakfast at a new place, after the DQ sit in. They go in the phase and eat, come on Tuesday mornings. Phase Cafe, a greasy spoon diner right on the town square. Nobody talks to them, nobody stops and talks to them, you know, they got their own little group. So 10 months after Dairy Queen,

12:42Barry thought at time to gather folks again and have breakfast at phase, hoping for a DQ sit in the sequel. It was 6.30am on a Tuesday, Barry arrived at phase and bumped into some friends. Nancy was also there, ordering her usual. Nancy positioned herself in a booth facing the front door, wearing one of her dangerous, educated woman t-shirts. Everyone ate their breakfast, but the two podcasters never showed, so no encounter with this scour angle. It wasn't the only thing about that morning that disappointed Barry. 75 people showed up at Dairy Queen that morning, so, you know, we're not gonna get that turn out today, but... Phase is a tiny shoe box of a restaurant, like eight booths. So this was never

13:44gonna be a dairy queen situation. Even still, Barry wasn't able to pack the place. Only about a dozen people showed up. Barry hadn't given folks much time to plan, just about 12 hours. But he He thought there was something else going on. The energy to resist seemed to be waning among some. As long as he's not bothering me, you know, I don't care what they do. I assess the attitude that most people here I have. A year in, Barry saw more people settle somewhere in the middle. Some had always been there, and others had drifted there as time went on. He wasn't the only one who'd noticed. Now it's starting to calm down. People are starting to realize that it's not as bad as they thought it was going to be. Mickey Davis sat at the coffee shop on the square. She described herself as a libertarian-minded Republican. She's also a newly elected commissioner in Jackson County. I don't believe in those set belief systems that they have,

14:46but that doesn't mean they can't be my neighbor. I just think the whole thing is really a big nothing, Barry. Mickey runs a Jackson County Facebook group that's pretty active. 9,000 residents, including Isker and Engle and Josh Abitoy, the CEO of Ridge Runner. And she sees that live and let live attitude when Ridge Runner gets discussed. They can set up their own little community if they want, their own little shops and stores in the home school, the heck out of their kids. People should be around to live their life the way they want, and they can believe whatever they want. Live and let live. It just needs to go both ways. If they don't come and affect me personally, or try to change us, but until they even try, why are we making such a big fuss about it? Mickey and other folks were willing to wait it out and see. Not Barry. Later in the morning, he called Nancy to give her an update.

15:47This is Kate. Hello. He'd learn that the weekly Tuesday breakfast might soon take place on Wednesdays. So I'm going to bet you the selfie there tomorrow. Okay, I'll be back. Okay, if you pass the word, I know it didn't turn out like we hoped. But okay, well I've got somebody another person that was there calling. Let me see if she's telling me something. All right, bye. Hello. The local resistance was trying to do what they could with the resources they had. Meanwhile, things with Josh Abitoy have been getting more bitter. He was ratcheting up the tension in a new way. He said there were dark money networks working against him in Gainesboro. And he said it in the Federalist, an influential conservative publication. Abitoy claimed there was a quote, well-oiled operation to tar newcomers like himself. And two of his customers, the podcasters.

16:50This was Abitoy's first real public jab at locals. And it was in a national publication. Diana Nath, the deep diving sleuth, of course, read the article immediately. Disingenuine. And that's that was how I felt when I read that. It doesn't make any sense to me. A powerful, deep-pocketed network against him and other conservative Christians like him. We read tweets and we read books. We've read the words of you and your affiliates and your associates. Ironic Diana thought she'd spent the past year untangling Abitoy's connections and project. And now here he was flipping the script. In the article, Abitoy referred to a political dossier that he'd gotten his hands on. It was a research memo on the Ridge Runner project given to residents by a national organization that advises local communities on threats to democracy.

17:51Abitoy also linked the organization and the town's resistance to George Soros. I haven't seen George Soros around Jackson County. Then I was like, you know, I'm not even sure I know what he looks like. So then I had to Google his picture. That way if I do cross paths with him, you're all know. What was it like to see the opposition to Ridge Runner described as quote, an organized, resource, and aggressive, progressive faction attempting to make inroads in the community? Oh my gosh, it made us. It made everybody here sound so professional. I should probably send a thank you note. The article did rattle Diana and others though. The way it portrayed the opposition to Ridge Runner. You're saying a lot of things that are more early wrong. And there's no way to sit with that and the story. And it was another reminder of Abitoy's network and national audience and all they were up against.

18:58Fall turned to winter and Christmas decorations replaced the Halloween ones on Murray Street. Meanwhile, Nancy Pruitt busied herself with holiday preparations with her volunteer work. And of course, with Isker and Engels podcast. We need to be seeing guys and jackboots out there, you know, rating home depots. That's literally what I voted for. For Nancy, the barrage of awful national news was made worse by listening to the podcasters as they mocked and ridiculed. Did Renee good? I don't even like using her name. We should use her name. The whole, oh, this poor woman was just, you know, dropping her kids off at school and made, you know, and made the wrong turn in front of ice and they shot her. Like it's always somebody else's fault. You can never blame a woman for anything. What was his name? Pretty here or something. I've already forgotten. It doesn't matter. Isker and Engel kept at it, praising the arrests and deportations and killings in Minnesota

19:59from their little studio in Gainesboro. I don't fear them, but it is disturbing to hear what they, the propaganda that they talk about to those people that listen to them. It's very disheartening that it's coming from Gainesboro. Soon after, on a frigid January night, Nancy Pruitt woke to pounding at her door. So it's about 3.30 in the morning. It's about 18 degrees outside. I'm in my bedroom, sound asleep and I hear something banging on the door and I got up and I hear Miss Pruitt, Miss Pruitt, my house is burning, call 911. A fire was raging at her neighbor's house, a former student of hers who lived with his elderly parents. When the fire crew arrived, they evacuated the house next door. It was Andrew Isker's house. I looked over and Isker has a wife and six children.

21:03And so the baby was crying, a couple, one of the two of the other kids were crying and it was freezing. I just walked over and I said, look, it's too cold for y'all to be out here, just come down the street to my house. As Nancy led Isker's family across the street to her house, she realized something. I realized all of a sudden, if I take them through my front door, I have to walk his wife through all those signs. A bunch of them, signs she'd put up in her yard, including the sign, hate has no home. So I said, let's go in the back door. So we came up, we came in the back door and there's only one sign that says, all are welcome. I think his wife went in first and then the kids and then Isker. And I just leaned over and patted him on the back and said, I bet you never thought you'd be coming to this house. Nancy gave them blankets to warm up and started making hot chocolate from scratch. His wife was very friendly and wanted to talk. As Nancy took mugs off the shelf, she explained

22:07she collects them from each country she travels to. One of his daughters and she said, my mom collects mugs like that. And there's Starbucks mugs. And I said, yeah, and Isker, the first time he's really said anything, said, yes, but hers are from the United States. And I said, yes, and I'm trying to talk to the kids. I said, you know, if only been to two places where they didn't have Starbucks, one place is really cold. It has lots of ice. And one of the kids said, Greenland, and I said, well, that's true. It is colder, but I'm speaking of Iceland. And Isker says, well, they'll have a Starbucks in Greenland before long. The Isker family returned to their home that night. Kara, Isker's wife told us they thank Nancy profusely and the family looked for opportunities to be neighborly right back, but didn't see Nancy the rest of the winner. Meanwhile, for Diana Nath, who continued to sleuth, it felt like she and Gainesboro just couldn't

23:16escape the news cycle. It was mid-February and Diana got a news alert. It was about one of her research subjects from the past year. Doug Wilson, the Christian nationalist pastor from Moscow, Idaho, the man who wanted to turn America into a theocracy. He was standing at the Pentagon in front of 150 or so staff, leading a new ritual there, a monthly prayer service. And this month, Wilson was the guest preacher. To call it shocking is probably mild. To have someone who's taken those public positions. To be helpers to their husbands, men are privileged to lead and guide and protect. They have a stand as a theist in front of our entire country five years ago that would have been unthinkable.

24:20But this is where we're at. The invite had come from the most high profile Kirker of all. Very grateful to the Secretary of War Pete Hegsett. Pete Hegsett, President Trump's Secretary of Defense. He stood right behind Wilson with his hand on his back and addressed his spiritual advisor. The man who believes worship is warfare. Thank you for your leadership, for your mentorship, for the things you've started, the truth you've told your willingness to be bold. It's the type of thing that we're trying to exercise here. Did you watch it? No. I realized that sounds very probably cowardly, but there are some things that just turn your stomach. It turns out that Wilson's church had already started preaching in DC. Seven months earlier, it began holding services. To give Washington's Kirker is a place to worship, he said.

25:23Hegsett had been attending somewhat regularly. Wilson told us during our visit to Moscow that he doesn't speak directly to Hegsett about policy, but that Hegsett might read what he writes. So I could say get the women off the joint chiefs of staff. I don't know if there are any, but let's, you know, I could write a piece about that. And if Hegsett read it and appreciated it, great. As Secretary of Defense, Hegsett has blocked promotions for high-ranking women, declared that troops had to meet the, quote, highest male standard and reduced the number of religions the military recognizes. And here we get a chance to worship Jesus Christ openly and in public. So I just want to, I just passed my order. Thank you for everything you've contributed. 11 days after the service, the US went to war with Iran. Hegsett promised no quarter, no mercy for our enemies. More after the break. Growth requires more than capital. It requires the right connections.

26:29When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived, and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart, and these are the survivor files. You just remember this low-taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't play anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who lived through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up, without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. I started feeling that there was someone at the end of my bed, and I just started screaming. They are abducted, stocked, controlled, and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them.

27:34Their story is about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with the Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app Apple Podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts. If you are a bookshelf and you are for you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Pro's Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives, and anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo, and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. From best-selling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters and that is of Trojan horse, whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too

28:36much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro's Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. See you between the pages. In late June, 2026, almost a year to the day from Ridgerunners first open house, Gainesborough's Town Square was hopping, that annual July 4 celebration. Kids on bikes perated through the town square. On a stage nearby, Mark Dudney, the historian, recited the names of local veterans. Rise Woody, Graham Woolwyn, Cassie Kessler, the restaurant owner, had spent months planning this event, not only to celebrate America's birthday, but also to raise donations for the local school district. She was bopping around, doing a thousand things as usual, running on

29:37the island. Bratine and Caffee. Cassie had been busy the past year. She and her husband had opened another restaurant on the town square, a stayhouse called the boardroom. My future is keep my head down and keep working every day and don't listen to the outside noise and don't let anybody rain on my parade, you shall say. I'm happy with where we are and the hard work that we're doing in this community. Cassie was focused on the square, making sure her work building it up continued. Any way that I can be involved with developing the square more, helping with tourism, tax dollars and all that good stuff I'm a part of for sure. Gainesborough had been humming along in other ways, in spite of all the drama. A new hotel was opening, Diana Nath was raising money to open an animal rescue, and Nancy Pruitt, the retired art teacher, was helping to run the new modern art museum on the square. Gainesborough modern. Mark Dudney had been organizing a series of

30:42lectures around the region for America 250, including on the topic of democracy. I would never in a million years have expected that my hometown would be a place where this conflict is happening. It is a microcosm of what's happening in the country. The year before, Mark had put his thoughts about all this into a video posted to Facebook. Our hometown is not a test tube for some extremist social experiment. And at one kind of viral, even reached Moscow, Idaho. What Mark realized from the response was that a lot more people, conservative people shared his concerns but didn't want to take a public stand like him. Maybe though, eventually, they would. And I'm clinging to that, you know, to me and some ways this story is not about them, it's about the rest of us. It's like we've got to remember what this country means, what it's about ideas and the values.

31:44In Gainesborough, some of what that looked like was a new community center, a sculpture park, an outdoor music venue, places where people could come together. Where we're moving right along. We're getting where we want to go and moving in the right direction with the type of people that we want to be caring to all and open to all and that's the way we'll continue. Over the last year, Ridge Runner had been busy too. Abitoid declined to speak with us, but in June told a Politico reporter that Ridge Runner had acquired or had contracts to acquire some 4,000 acres. He said 100 families had bought in. 40 had already moved to the area. Construction on some homes would begin soon. CJ Angle, the podcaster, had also bought some land in the area and announced he was turning it into a gas station and diner, specifically an all-American one.

32:46In the face of this disappearing localism, this globalized rotting out of old American culture, Rockwell's gas and mercantile seeks renewal. Rockwell's would bring glory back to the gas station and to the country. That was its pitch to investors in this video to raise 1.2 million for the project. To decline is a choice. Rockwell's will choose America. Off the town square, Andrew Isker and CJ Angle were having their own gathering. We'd send emails asking to interview them, but they'd gone unanswered. Now, as we stood on the sidewalk in front of Isker's home and waved for them to come over, it looked like they might be willing to talk. Hello, Duzen Burfield from Bloomberg and Mar of a Night My Colleague. Hi,

33:48nice to meet you. About 10 other men were standing around a grill. A number of women and a gaggle of children were playing in the yard. As we chatted with Angle, Isker came over to join us. I guess how do you think about the reception that you've received here in Gamesboro? I don't know. I mean, I think initially there were a lot of people that were really scared. Like, oh man, these very scary people are living here. But as we've been here and lived in this place and people realize we're actually just like more and more people. Yeah. But we've talked to a lot of people who live here and many of them have said they wanted to do some research on their own that they didn't take at face value, that they wanted to understand for themselves, some of what you believe in, some of what you said. So they listened to your podcast and contrabandum and I don't think that that comforted them in a lot of ways.

34:50So you've talked to them and I haven't. So what in particular would you say that they are the worry about? I think there's a lot of women, especially a lot of the female business owners on the town square who have heard some of the comments that you've made about women's rights, about voting, about the role of women that they don't agree with. Well, I mean, yeah, number one, I believe the Bible all of it. So the Bible says that why should submit to husbands? So they don't like that. Like, okay, too bad. I don't care. The Bible says what it does, and I believe it. And if you don't believe it, that's between you and God. But like, secondly, what I believe has no effect on them. I think that's what they're worried about. That's absurd worry because what am I going to do? You're a part of a project. Right? I mean, there's Ridge Runner and then there's the big project that I think people could understand as a political project with a project. What project is that? I mean, I think it's a project to

35:58become involved in politics, to change laws, to repeal the 19th Amendment, to do the things that have you guys have talked about. What did you talk about the 19th Amendment before? I mean, probably, but obviously that I'm not relevant to local politics. Yeah, I'm happy my wife votes. She votes the right way. So that's why I'm happy that she votes. What we do here, which is not really ideological, but the fear is about land being bought, about driving up the prices, not being able to have people that grew up here that have real roots here by that land. We've heard Josh Abbottoy talk about bringing people from Google so they can milk their cows on their lunch break. Other people that are, I mean, he said it. So, drive a wedge between me and Josh. But what do you have to say to the folks that are really worried about folks who will come in here, who will buy the land up as part of this project, drive up the property prices? Right. I think that's completely legitimate. You know,

36:59I think it's like one of the sad characteristics of our age that happened to me in my small town that I grew up in. So I totally, you know, I feel bad for them, but I would say that that's happening anyways. And so it's just a matter of who's going to be here, what kinds of families are going to be doing that and what exactly they do with the land and what kind of cultural culture that they foster. But I would just say that I hope that we leave the area better off than we found it. It's either us or someone else. They told us they probably watched the fireworks that evening. Then Isker and Angle returned to their friends and family. The land that CJ Angle had purchased for his gas station project was close to Diane and Barry, like much of Ridgerunner's holdings. They're still all around us and buying more every day and we can't stop it. So at some point we are going to be landlocked by Christian Nationalists. While Barry was on the town square helping with the event, Diana was at home taking care of their dogs and other animals. In the past few weeks, as more land had been bought up by

38:05Ridgerunner, Diana had been trying to process their ever-changing reality. What kind of life is that going to be if the roads are clogged with traffic with people who don't like us and we don't own and I just don't know. Diana wasn't happy about it, but it was Barry who was really struggling. It's become increasingly difficult for him to talk about all this. His roots run so deep here. I think of the people who are born and raised here as being almost like no different from the trees. They're part of the place, a place that he knows. Every crack in the sidewalk, he knows the slope of every hill. You could show him a picture of anywhere in Jackson County of a couple of trees and a piece of road needs to say, oh, I know where that is. That's Bullard Hollow. He recognizes it. That must be so hard to counsel someone through and to watch them go through that.

39:06Yeah, like someone you love. It really is because I've moved a lot in my life. I've had to let go of places that I've loved. I've had to be part of dismantling businesses that I loved. Barry's never had to watch something he loved be dismantled. The ground was shifting under Barry's feet as he watched his home threaten to become a different version of what he knew. Gradually, yet suddenly, a place that was once so reliable, so familiar, was now disorienting. But not everyone was feeling Barry's level of dysphoria. Nancy was in her kitchen waiting for the fireworks to begin. She had found that amidst all the turmoil, part of the community had come together, knit tight in a way they never expected. So we all keep in touch and we try to help each other out. We've become very close.

40:10There's a lot of us, men and women, young and old. I say a lot of the time, you know, when you get to be over 70, you're looking for that next generation that's going to take over for you that you feel like has your principles and can continue on with the fight. And we have that. Soon, Nancy heard the pops of the fireworks from her kitchen and ran out to watch from the street with a friend. She stood there watching them explode at a risker's house. Bursts of reds, whites, blues.

41:13More from Gainesboro after the break. When I was 14 years old, I was kidnapped and health captive for nine months. I survived and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. I just remember this low taunting voice next to my ear saying, shut up, don't say anything. Every week, I'm with survivors who lived through the unthinkable. I knew if he woke up without a doubt, he was going to hurt me. They are abducted, stalked, controlled and nearly silenced. But these aren't stories about what's taken from them. Their story is about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeartRadio app Apple podcasts or wherever

42:15you get your podcasts. If you're a bookshelf and you're a for you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. This is Pro's Society, the weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for thought daughters, pop culture obsessives and anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. I'm Eli Rallo and every week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet and the conversations everyone can't stop having. I'm going to have to look up this story. I'm obsessed. From best-selling authors and your favorite book talk creators to the latest pop culture moments, nothing is off the table. It's like if you can hide some real messages inside compelling characters and that is the Trojan horse. Whether you're looking for literary deep dives, smart pop culture conversations, or a community of readers who love to think a little too much, you're in the right place. Listen to Pro's Society on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts.

43:15See you between the pages. Didn't catch the latest Roland Martin unfiltered podcast? Here's what you missed. And the argument is do you want to win? If you don't win, you have no power. It's real. Those are the very people who I always say vote against their own economic interests and they complained about the very thing to receive. It's raw. I knew that the issue of transgender athletes was not going well with a lot of black men. Roland Martin unfiltered. I went off. I said this is exactly what I'm talking about. Y'all go scream at Chanel, but you don't want to see a black luxury company in the same bag. Catch Roland Martin's daily commentary on the black information network. 12 seats. Those are moving south. So if you Democrats, you don't wait to 23. You better be hitting the ground going hard in the south now. And download Roland Martin unfiltered on the iHot Radio app, Apple Podcast or wherever you get your podcasts.

44:22As August 2026 came to a closing gainsboro, Ridge Runner gave residents one more surprise of the season. Ryan Allen who first stumbled upon Ridge Runner and knew founding two years earlier while looking for good spots to metal detect got a tip. It was from Nancy Pruitt. She just got in her hands on a document. It said Ridge Runner wanted to purchase an all cash, a city owned building, right in downtown Gainesboro. Ridge Runner planned to rent the building to a company called Highland War Industries. Of course the first thing is Mabla Pressure Shot straight up. What was Highland War Industries? That's what Nancy hoped Bryant could find out. I mean my initial reaction is like what in the fuck are they doing like why? From the little info Bryant could find Highland War Industries was some kind of defense manufacturer. Off the get go it doesn't sound good but in from what I can tell it's a relatively new company.

45:28And so Bryant found himself in a familiar place. Went into research mode again. Bryant found a website for the company. It was like Deja Vu, another cryptic site with just two words coming soon. In a video of a drone carrying military supplies as it flies over the rolling hills of Jackson County. There's gunfire, explosions, metal being forged. And I just started digging and cross referencing. He found the company's very recent registration and the name of the founder who he discovered had military intelligence experience. Then he saw Ridge Runner post on the local Facebook group about it announcing that the company plans to make components for drones for quote, American war fighters and bring 40 jobs with it. Ridge Runner said it would help revitalize the region and what's more turns out new founding would invest in the company.

46:35None of this sat well with Bryant. The context of the situation matters a lot here. We definitely need jobs. We need factories. Bryant knew that well from his two older brothers. They worked at a factory in town since high school and then it shut down. It was devastating. So it would be amazing, but we don't want to sell our souls either. I think we need to buckle down and show these outsiders that we don't need them. We need to take fate in our hands there. We control our own destiny. Over the past year or so, Bryant had been trying to do just that. Take control of his own life. Become a bolder version of himself. As long as I had it to me, I am painfully shot like to the point that it's inhibited me. He'd gone through a bad divorce a few years back and in the process lost his home too. So he moved back to Gainesboro, only to stumble

47:37upon Ridge Runner and new founding. And I'm like, oh fuck no, you're not going to take my home again. You know, like, you're not conquering me. Finding others in Gainesboro have felt the same way. Well, it's helped tremendously and I feel like I've got more, I'm just more open. He'd really connected with people. He'd always been too shy to engage with. I have a solid crew, we'll call them. Nancy is the leader, I would say. Before all this, Bryant had never even spoken to Nancy or anyone in the resistance. And now, you know, we're talking and sharing information and finding new stuff. Bryant was engaged in ways he hadn't been before. Lots of neighbors were. I go back to another medal detecting analogy. So you got a discrimination that you can turn on to filter out medals. Like if you turn your discriminator to only pick up gold, you're going to miss

48:37silver. You know, you're going to miss the other good stuff. The good stuff that Gainesboro already had in its soil. It's on all metal mode. The sensitivities turn way up. So I enjoy chaos, I guess. Our town is written and reported by me, Marib and Night and Susan Burr Field. David Fox and Rebecca Lacks are senior producer, produce this episode. This episode was edited by Rebecca Lacks and Ken Armstrong, original score and sound design by Alex Sugira, fact checking by Onika Robbins and Rachel Lewis-Krisky, additional production and editorial support from Julia Weaver and Laura Newcombe. Special thanks to Bloomberg's Alana Susnow, Bob Blau, Kristen Powers, Anthony Mancini, Cheryl Brumley,

49:44the big take podcast team and Will Pearson at iHeart Podcasts. Additional thanks to Leslie Eiler, John Boskel, Rado Nishi, Victor Yvelas, Aaron Edwards, and Alex Kotlowitz. Our executive producer is Nicole Beamsterbor. If you're a bookshelf and you're a for you page are equally important to your personality, welcome home. Pro society is a weekly podcast that's part book club, part group chat for anyone who thinks pride and prejudice and love island deserve the same level of discourse. Each week we're connecting the dots between books, the internet, and pop culture with your favorite writers, book talk creators, and plenty of overthought opinions. Listen to pro society on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.

50:47I survived nine months in captivity and I've spent my life exploring how other people survive what should have destroyed them. I'm Elizabeth Smart and these are the survivor files. Every week I'm with survivors who live through the unthinkable, abducted, stalked, controlled, and nearly silenced. These are stories about what it takes to make it out alive. Listen to the survivor files with Elizabeth Smart on the iHeart Radio app, Apple podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Josh Manikoots and I hope you'll join us for season five of Dateline Missing in America. In each episode of Datelines award-winning series, we will focus on one missing person's case and here from the families, the friends, and the investigators all desperate to find them. Maybe you could help solve a mystery. Search Dateline Missing in America to listen completely free or subscribe to Dateline Premium to unlock new episodes early.