WEBVTT - John Wray: Status Report

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<v Speaker 1>Pushkin. President's priorities have moved forward, including construction work on

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<v Speaker 1>new barriers that are border with Mexico in a world

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<v Speaker 1>gone haywire, and sometimes art is the only thing that

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<v Speaker 1>can make sense of it all. Construction has not slowed

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<v Speaker 1>during the coronavirus pandemic. This is the Chronicles of Now,

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<v Speaker 1>where we ask writers to dream up short stories inspired

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<v Speaker 1>by the news. I'm Ashley Ford. Since the end of February,

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<v Speaker 1>some fifty miles of barriers has been built when most

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<v Speaker 1>of the country is shut down for the pandemic. Work

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<v Speaker 1>when the border barrier actually accelerated. In June, Trump visited

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<v Speaker 1>a section of the wall in Yuma, Arizona. Is the

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<v Speaker 1>most powerful and comprehensive border wall structure anywhere in the world.

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<v Speaker 1>It's got technology that but he would even believe. Trump

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<v Speaker 1>has promised more than five hundred miles of border wall

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<v Speaker 1>by early next year, but the reality only about the

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<v Speaker 1>three miles of new barrier where none previously existed have

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<v Speaker 1>been built by the Trump administration so far. The things

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<v Speaker 1>that Trump was imagining about what the wall should look

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<v Speaker 1>like and what features it should have were just so bad,

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<v Speaker 1>shit crazy. That's John Ray, the author of five novels,

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<v Speaker 1>and he's talking about news reports of Trump's most outlandish

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<v Speaker 1>ideas for the wall. It was kind of like he

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<v Speaker 1>was already in the realm of science fiction before the

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<v Speaker 1>first dollar was spent on this project. Whatever we think

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<v Speaker 1>of Trump's wall, it's going to be around for years

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<v Speaker 1>to come. If Trump wins the election, it may even

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<v Speaker 1>get fully built. For this story, John Ray tries to

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<v Speaker 1>answer the question what will the wall be like in

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<v Speaker 1>thirty or forty years? The barrier doesn't think in terms

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<v Speaker 1>of years, not in any conventional sense, but sufficient weather

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<v Speaker 1>systems have traveled its length, doing their utmost to compromise

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<v Speaker 1>its integrity that the barrier is conscious on a structural

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<v Speaker 1>elemental level of having passed its prime. Evidence abounds the

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<v Speaker 1>barrier steel and zinc alloy ballards, once so gracefully crenelated

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<v Speaker 1>so subtly iridescent in the blazing midday sun, are pock

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<v Speaker 1>marked and rust streaked and crumpled. Its angled concrete fundament,

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<v Speaker 1>made due to budgetary and environmental concerns from locally quarried

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<v Speaker 1>trap rock, is fractured and eroded, and its six inch

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<v Speaker 1>electrified spikes have lost both their grace and their alternating current,

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<v Speaker 1>to say nothing of their effectiveness at puncturing human flesh. Migrants,

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<v Speaker 1>military personnel, traders, smugglers, small children, and beasts transgress the

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<v Speaker 1>barrier with impunity at certain key junctures. Margallis, Sonoyta, virtually

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<v Speaker 1>the entire state of Texas, there is no longer any

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<v Speaker 1>barrier to speak of. One year ago, a bespectacled young man,

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<v Speaker 1>apparently some kind of student, approached the barrier without the

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<v Speaker 1>least sign of fear or trepidation, just outside develop Paso

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<v Speaker 1>and edge the following verses into its rust encrusted pediment

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<v Speaker 1>with a Swiss army knife. My name is Ozamandius, King

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<v Speaker 1>of Kings. Look on my works, e mighty and despair.

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<v Speaker 1>That was a low point, no question about it, a

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<v Speaker 1>fresh humiliation to add to all the others. But in

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<v Speaker 1>spite of such cruelties, in spite of humanity's glaringly obvious

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<v Speaker 1>indifference to its plight, the barrier refuses to give in

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<v Speaker 1>to despair. When things are at their worst, when morale

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<v Speaker 1>is at its lowest, it has only to consider the trench.

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<v Speaker 1>The trench, by any standard, is a thing of savage beauty.

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<v Speaker 1>The years have wrought changes upon it as well, perhaps

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<v Speaker 1>to a greater degree than on any of the barrier's

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<v Speaker 1>other feature. But these changes have themselves been things of wonder,

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<v Speaker 1>contrary to what the naysayers and the skeptics not to

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<v Speaker 1>mention the Army Corps of Engineers argued when the trench

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<v Speaker 1>was first proposed, It has not lost its water to evaporation,

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<v Speaker 1>nor has its channel become clogged with falling rock or

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<v Speaker 1>displaced earth. Not even the most passionate of the pro

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<v Speaker 1>barrier advocates have thus far managed to explain this, in

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<v Speaker 1>defiance of all reason of all since the trench indoors,

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<v Speaker 1>and that is by no means all of the seven

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<v Speaker 1>hundred sixty breeding pairs of American alligators imported at considerable

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<v Speaker 1>public expense from Lake Okeechobee in twenty twenty seven, hundred

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<v Speaker 1>fifty eight died of hunger within the first month. The

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<v Speaker 1>remaining two pairs, however, have gone on to populate an

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<v Speaker 1>astonishingly extensive expanse of the brackish, oily, oxygen starred canal

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<v Speaker 1>system with their scaly progeny. Though contact with the human population,

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<v Speaker 1>as admittedly dwindled over the years, dwindled in fact to

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<v Speaker 1>the point that the barrier sometimes questions its own raison dtre.

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<v Speaker 1>The alligators have more than made up for the absence

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<v Speaker 1>of people. The alligators have given the barrier an altogether

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<v Speaker 1>more beautiful, more reasonable, or justifiable purpose. In a word,

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<v Speaker 1>they give the barrier a reason to exist. If only

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<v Speaker 1>the same thing could be said about the snakes. That

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<v Speaker 1>was status report by John Ray. The narrator was Eduardo Ballerini. Hi. John, Actually,

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<v Speaker 1>I'm good. So when you read the news late last

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<v Speaker 1>year that Trump had privately talked about fortifying a border

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<v Speaker 1>with a water filled trench stocked with snakes or alligators,

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<v Speaker 1>which prompted AIDS to seek a cost estimate, where did

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<v Speaker 1>your mind go and know that that was what was

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<v Speaker 1>happening in your reality? You know, the frustrating thing a

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<v Speaker 1>lot of the times with fiction, as you think, oh

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<v Speaker 1>my god, this is such an amazing story, but you

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<v Speaker 1>have that reaction that a lot of fiction writers have,

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<v Speaker 1>which is like, I could never put that in a novel.

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<v Speaker 1>I could never put that in a story because everybody

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<v Speaker 1>would be like, come on, please, you know, But in

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<v Speaker 1>this case, it's like you can write fiction that actually

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<v Speaker 1>has that cool aspect of nonfiction, which is no stupid

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<v Speaker 1>and crazy as this seems. Check the article in the Times.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, so, all I had to do is basically

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<v Speaker 1>take the given facts of the story and just extended

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<v Speaker 1>by another thirty six years or however many years that

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<v Speaker 1>was the story. Who So, construction on the real border

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<v Speaker 1>barrier has continued even during the pandemic. Yeah, what do

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<v Speaker 1>you think the wall means to Trump? But also to America? Basically,

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<v Speaker 1>for Trump after he makes a very public declaration, the

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<v Speaker 1>vast majority of these declarations, he's never called out on

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<v Speaker 1>the wall though, was so central to his campaign and

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<v Speaker 1>was kind of like one of his first big symbols.

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<v Speaker 1>He can't just totally bail on it. And it's an

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<v Speaker 1>ongoing project that, of course, in theory, would take many,

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<v Speaker 1>many years to complete. So I think it's become a

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<v Speaker 1>kind of private nightmare for him. It was never financially feasible.

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<v Speaker 1>It was certainly never going to actually do what it

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<v Speaker 1>was supposed to do. You've lived most of your life

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<v Speaker 1>in the US, but now you're chatting from Mexico City.

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<v Speaker 1>That's right where you've been living on and off for

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<v Speaker 1>the past couple of years. How has living on the

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<v Speaker 1>other side of the border changed your view of the wall.

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<v Speaker 1>No one talks about the wall in Mexico. No one

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<v Speaker 1>takes it seriously. It's just not one of the topics

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<v Speaker 1>that people debate very fiercely, even when they're debating US

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<v Speaker 1>Mexican relations. What is very much on the radar, though,

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<v Speaker 1>is the relationship between the Mexican president, the current Mexican government,

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<v Speaker 1>and Trump. And the enormous resources that Trump is insisting

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<v Speaker 1>on the Mexican government diverting towards the border to keep

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<v Speaker 1>migrants from crossing. The wall is kind of completely redundant.

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<v Speaker 1>It's just completely beside the point. But in many other ways,

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<v Speaker 1>Trump really is successfully bullying the Mexican government into doing

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<v Speaker 1>his bidding as far as immigration is concerned. It's a bummer.

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<v Speaker 1>Do the people who you speak to their think he'll

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<v Speaker 1>be reelected. I think the people that I've spoken to

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<v Speaker 1>here sadly have less optimism about the coming election than

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<v Speaker 1>most Americans I've spoken to, and I would say less

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<v Speaker 1>optimism than I do. They've been through so many disappointments

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<v Speaker 1>that they really just don't expect very much of us. Ashley.

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<v Speaker 1>You know, the occasional glimmer of rational thought and maybe

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<v Speaker 1>voting in our best interests. I mean, that's enough to

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<v Speaker 1>surprise them. They would be delighted if Trump got voted out.

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<v Speaker 1>But what's interesting also is that they don't necessarily see

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<v Speaker 1>Trumps as the sum total of the problem. I mean,

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<v Speaker 1>there's been bias against Mexico and misinformation about immigration since

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<v Speaker 1>well before Trump got a lot. Absolutely, the sad truth

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<v Speaker 1>is that Obama is pretty harsh with his deportations as well,

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<v Speaker 1>and phil Obama never mind about you know, the Bush administration.

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<v Speaker 1>So they would be delighted to see Trump go, but

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<v Speaker 1>they wouldn't expect everything to just be be lovely and

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<v Speaker 1>equitable overnight, and neither should we know, John Ray, thank

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<v Speaker 1>you so much for coming on Chronicles of Now, Ashley.

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<v Speaker 1>It was a delight thanks for having me. You can

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<v Speaker 1>read my full interview with John Ray on our website

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<v Speaker 1>Chronicles dot Fm, where you can also read the story

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<v Speaker 1>you just heard and other short fiction torn from today's headlines.

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<v Speaker 1>Our sound designer and composer is Bart Warshaw, our producer

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<v Speaker 1>is Curtis Fox, and our associate producer is Emily Rostick.

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<v Speaker 1>Tyler Cabot is the executive producer and founder of Chronicles

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<v Speaker 1>of Now. For Pushkin Industries. Our executive producer is Letal Malad.

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<v Speaker 1>Special thanks to Jacob Weisberg, Carly Migliori, Heather Fame, and

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<v Speaker 1>Eric Sandler for the Chronicles of Now podcast. I'm Ashley Ford.

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<v Speaker 1>Thanks for listening. So we need to get this out

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<v Speaker 1>of the way. Several years ago, I spent a few

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<v Speaker 1>weeks living in your basement as I was covering from

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<v Speaker 1>a torn acl wait wait wait, wait, wait, stop, turn

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<v Speaker 1>off the mic. I remember that I don't think I

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<v Speaker 1>was home. I wasn't. I wasn't at my house at

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<v Speaker 1>the time, but I remember, I remember this, this scenario