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Speaker 1: If you drive ninety miles northeast of Nashville into the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, you'll land in Gainsboro, Tennessee. How would you describe this place?

00:00:09
Speaker 2: I think raw would be a good word to start.

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Speaker 1: Just over one thousand people live here, many go back generations.

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Speaker 3: I was related to pretty much everyone here.

00:00:19
Speaker 1: But in the fall of twenty twenty four, a group of outsiders started scooping up big tracts of land.

00:00:25
Speaker 2: That piques my interest because most time he would sell it to Jimbob over the holler.

00:00:30
Speaker 1: As the battle for the future of America plays out in one small.

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Speaker 3: Town, we were all flat footed. We didn't have a clue.

00:00:39
Speaker 1: Developers with right wing ties have purchased hundreds of acres of land in the area.

00:00:44
Speaker 2: The first thing you see when it pops up is pioneers.

00:00:48
Speaker 1: In Appalachian, Pioneers in Appalachia. But the goal wasn't just to buy real estate.

00:00:54
Speaker 4: We need cities on a shining hill that exemplify and embody the healthy, natural human way of life, the Christian way of life.

00:01:02
Speaker 3: Stop right there is that normal.

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Speaker 1: 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 Bend.

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Speaker 4: We're on the cusp of I think a land grab an Appleatchia.

00:01:19
Speaker 3: Our hometown is not a test too.

00:01:22
Speaker 1: And decides to fight back. Do not use my hard work to sell your book.

00:01:29
Speaker 5: They're not just opposing what's being planned for here. They feel like they're standing in opposition to an entire administration.

00:01:37
Speaker 1: I guess you didn't move in on a bunch of dumbhillbillies. Now. Did you listen to our town on the iHeartRadio app, Apple podcasts or wherever you get your podcasts