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<!doctype html><html lang="en"><head><title data-rh="true">The Podcast Equivalent To On All Fours Is Here | by Samantha Hodder | Middle-Pause | Medium</title><meta data-rh="true" charset="utf-8"/><meta data-rh="true" name="viewport" content="width=device-width,minimum-scale=1,initial-scale=1,maximum-scale=1"/><meta data-rh="true" name="theme-color" content="#000000"/><meta data-rh="true" name="twitter:app:name:iphone" content="Medium"/><meta data-rh="true" name="twitter:app:id:iphone" content="828256236"/><meta data-rh="true" property="al:ios:app_name" content="Medium"/><meta data-rh="true" property="al:ios:app_store_id" content="828256236"/><meta data-rh="true" property="al:android:package" content="com.medium.reader"/><meta data-rh="true" property="fb:app_id" content="542599432471018"/><meta data-rh="true" property="og:site_name" content="Medium"/><meta data-rh="true" property="og:type" content="article"/><meta data-rh="true" property="article:published_time" content="2024-11-20T01:15:23.748Z"/><meta data-rh="true" name="title" content="The Podcast Equivalent To On All Fours Is Here | by Samantha Hodder | Middle-Pause | Medium"/><meta data-rh="true" property="og:title" content="The Podcast Equivalent To On All Fours Is Here"/><meta data-rh="true" property="al:android:url" content="medium://p/e6838938834c"/><meta data-rh="true" property="al:ios:url" content="medium://p/e6838938834c"/><meta data-rh="true" property="al:android:app_name" content="Medium"/><meta data-rh="true" name="description" content="If you loved the midlife tome One All Fours, the podcast Cement City will be your next midlife lover. 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class="l"><span class="l"></span><section><div><div class="fs gi gj gk gl gm"></div><div class="gn go gp gq gr"><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><div><h1 id="99a9" class="pw-post-title gs gt gu bf gv gw gx gy gz ha hb hc hd he hf hg hh hi hj hk hl hm hn ho hp hq bk" data-testid="storyTitle">The Podcast Equivalent To On All Fours Is Here</h1></div><div><h2 id="b55a" class="pw-subtitle-paragraph hr gt gu bf b hs ht hu hv hw hx hy hz ia ib ic id ie if ig cq du">Cement City, co-written and hosted by best-selling author Jeanne Marie Laskas, is a new podcast worth the trip</h2><div><div class="speechify-ignore ab cp"><div class="speechify-ignore bh l"><div class="ih ii ij ik il ab"><div><div class="ab im"><div><div class="bm" aria-hidden="false"><a rel="noopener follow" href="/@samanthahodder?source=post_page---byline--e6838938834c---------------------------------------"><div class="l in io by ip iq"><div class="l fj"><img alt="Samantha Hodder" class="l fd by dd de cx" 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srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/format:webp/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/format:webp/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/format:webp/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/format:webp/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/format:webp/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/format:webp/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1080/format:webp/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 1080w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 540px" type="image/webp"/><source data-testid="og" srcSet="https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:640/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 640w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:720/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 720w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:750/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 750w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:786/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 786w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:828/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 828w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1100/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 1100w, https://miro.medium.com/v2/resize:fit:1080/1*jqRC5OeDOO-A2bZeQDxoTQ.jpeg 1080w" sizes="(min-resolution: 4dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 4) and (max-width: 700px) 50vw, (min-resolution: 3dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 67vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 3) and (max-width: 700px) 65vw, (min-resolution: 2.5dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2.5) and (max-width: 700px) 80vw, (min-resolution: 2dppx) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, (-webkit-min-device-pixel-ratio: 2) and (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 540px"/><img alt="This is the podcast cover art for the series Cement City. The image shows the second floor of a house with a big plume of cloud behind it, on a dark greeen background." class="bh mn np c" width="540" height="540" loading="eager"/></picture></div><figcaption class="nq ff nr ng nh ns nt bf b bg z du">covert art from <a class="af nu" href="https://www.cementcity.org/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Cement City Productions</a></figcaption></figure><p id="0286" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">Have you already spent an entire afternoon engrossed in Miranda July’s midlife literary sensation <a class="af nu" href="https://www.vulture.com/article/miranda-july-all-fours-book-review.html" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">On All Fours</a>?</p><p id="9371" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">It’s the one where the semi-famous artist turns a motel room into an erotic month-long adventure, a fortieth-birthday present to herself. One afternoon, I saw three different women, rapt, reading hardback copies on the subway, hardly able to look up.</p><p id="dd9a" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">If your life needs an engrossed, torrid plot that’s not your own, <em class="or">On All Fours</em> can accomplish this for you. But if you’re looking for something more escapist, more about falling in love with a Rust Belt town you never thought you would, this one is for you.</p><p id="6801" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">Instead of lavishly decorating a hotel room she planned to secretly live in for just a few weeks, as in <em class="or">On All Fours</em>, <a class="af nu" href="https://www.jeannemarielaskas.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong class="nx gv">Jeanne Marie Laskas</strong></a> bought a house. An actual house in Donora, PA, just about a half hour from where she lived, on Sweetwater Farm, somewhere she has <a class="af nu" href="https://www.jeannemarielaskas.com/books/sweetwater/#poodle" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">written</a> a lot about.</p><p id="0e41" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">For the podcast series <em class="or">Cement City</em>, Jeanne Marie Laskas and <a class="af nu" href="https://www.erinand.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong class="nx gv">Erin Anderson</strong></a> randomly chose a small town close by that they knew nothing about and had never been to. Laskas bought a house, and for three years, they embedded themselves there, recording every minute. All in, more than 850 hours of tape were recorded. From there, a series was born.</p><div class="os ot ou ov ow ox"><a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/cement-city/id1507276251?source=post_page-----e6838938834c---------------------------------------" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><div class="oy ab jj"><div class="oz ab co cb pa pb"><h2 class="bf gv ja z jp pc jr js pd ju jw gt bk">Cement City</h2><div class="pe l"><h3 class="bf b ja z jp pc jr js pd ju jw du">Listen to Audacy | Cement City Productions&#x27;s Cement City podcast with Jon Meacham and Jeanne Marie Laskas on Apple…</h3></div><div class="pf l"><p class="bf b dv z jp pc jr js pd ju jw du">podcasts.apple.com</p></div></div><div class="pg l"><div class="ph l pi pj pk pg pl mn ox"></div></div></div></a></div><p id="cfae" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">It was late October, and like an offering from the gods, <em class="or">Cement City</em> portrays a great political allegory. On one level it&#x27;s about a mayoral race in Donora, PA, a town that has no schools, no banks and no gas station. But on another level, it’s about how we find meaning in the places we live and what democracy looks like in a place like this, where the incumbent mayor has a fresh indictment and is still running for re-election.</p><p id="8186" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">What is the specific magic that holds its resident population of 4,650 in place? Why does Donora have a Smog Museum…and who are the people that keep this town alive?</p><h2 id="3f9f" class="pm pn gu bf po pp pq dy pr ps pt ea pu oe pv pw px oi py pz qa om qb qc qd qe bk">Episode 1 opens with Laskas, her husband, and their realtor touring a house she wants to buy.</h2><p id="d1f9" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs qf nz oa hv qg oc od oe qh og oh oi qi ok ol om qj oo op oq gn bk">Laskas asks, &quot;You know those dying towns you drive by on the highway? Have you ever wondered what might happen if instead of just driving by, you stopped and stayed a while?&quot;</p><p id="fb9f" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">But Laskas moves that needle further. She doesn’t just stop for a burger and gas; she buys the house. Not because she needed a house; she had one of those, fully stocked with a family, pets, and farm animals. This is a different kind of house. It’s the kind you buy because you can, like a hobby, or a curiosity shop, on Main Street of some unusual town.</p><p id="52aa" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">This admission makes it a tricky conceit to include in this series right off the top. Because if you’re curious about some town in the middle of the Rust Belt, which is largely an economically challenged area, and you can swing through that town and snap up an entire house, are you in a position to determine what makes this town click, why people don’t leave this town, what keeps places like this alive?</p><p id="a718" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">Before you conclude how or why this series is uppity or offensive, as though she could hear you ask the question, Laskas tears it down for you:</p><blockquote class="qk ql qm"><p id="7868" class="nv nw or nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk"><em class="gu">[LASKAS]: “When I was a little kid, my mom asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up.<br/>And I told her I wanted to be a stranger.<br/>I’m not sure I knew what I meant, but I know I meant something.</em></p><p id="ec4e" class="nv nw or nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk"><em class="gu">It wasn’t until years later that it would click.<br/>I was 23 years old, and I wanted to be a writer, but I didn’t know what to write about.”</em></p></blockquote><p id="16e7" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">Once you understand her ambition to become a stranger — a wonderful goal for adulthood — you will see that this comes to fruition with her arrival in Donora. She arrives as a stranger but leaves a neighbour; a townsperson who cares about the local mayoral race and who won the seat on the Sewage Board.</p><p id="efad" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">At first, you wonder if she has a chip on her shoulder or if she stays to feel better about herself. By the end, you realize she has fallen for this place and its eclectic population of folks. This becomes the first delight of the series: watching someone fall in love.</p><h2 id="eb05" class="pm pn gu bf po pp pq dy pr ps pt ea pu oe pv pw px oi py pz qa om qb qc qd qe bk">What is it about this place that makes them stay to play out this audacious experiment?</h2><p id="6630" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs qf nz oa hv qg oc od oe qh og oh oi qi ok ol om qj oo op oq gn bk">What gives this series an edge and takes the rest of the ten episodes to sand that down to the grain is that what seems implausible at the outset feels entirely reasonable, or normal, by the end. Of course, you need to live in a place to actually understand it. Of course, there is corruption and collusion in municipal elections. Certainly, the holiday events will be fully attended. Definitely, the kids are up to no good.</p><p id="cab8" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">By the end, you also feel like you’ve spent time in Donora, PA. Because you have. The series weighs in at close to nine hours, longer than a unionized work day. It’s worth the stay.</p><p id="3879" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">Laskas manages to pull off a hat trick in this series, where she is an omniscient narrator, interviewer, and character in her own story. But not in a way that makes her resort to talking about herself in the third person; this is all achieved with unusually good pacing that brings characters to life in a whole new way.</p><p id="2220" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">I asked myself: <strong class="nx gv">Am I guilty for enjoying it this much?</strong> Truly, I didn’t know I was this curious about what makes a dying small town stay alive.</p><p id="2df8" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">Was it voyeurism that glued me to this series?</p><p id="885e" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">I remembered 1980s adventure travel magazines that showed glossy photos of Indigenous tribal members in various far-flung corners of the world. I couldn’t get enough of them. I would sit and dream that I, too, would one day meet these people, inside a thatched hut, somewhere in Sub-Saharan Africa or the Amazon basin. I never went, but just looking at these glossy, intrusive, National Geographic-style photos satiated my wanderlust.</p><h2 id="d021" class="pm pn gu bf po pp pq dy pr ps pt ea pu oe pv pw px oi py pz qa om qb qc qd qe bk">Was this the same thing, except now it’s about meeting normal folks in a down-on-its-luck small town in Middle America?</h2><p id="1fb2" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs qf nz oa hv qg oc od oe qh og oh oi qi ok ol om qj oo op oq gn bk">And here I was, sucked in. I imagined myself sitting next to them at the Cro Club, downing beers, going for another round of duckpin bowling, and which mayoral candidate I might vote for. I’ve never wanted to linger in the towns off the Turn Pike, so why did I suddenly wish I lived in a place like Donora, some small town that spent weeks getting ready for Twinkle Bright Night?</p><h1 id="52a0" class="qn pn gu bf po qo qp hu pr qq qr hx pu qs qt qu qv qw qx qy qz ra rb rc rd re bk">I know the answer to my question.</h1><p id="7d8d" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs qf nz oa hv qg oc od oe qh og oh oi qi ok ol om qj oo op oq gn bk">The craft of this series is impeccable. It offers you high-minded thoughts to ponder, stumbles over odd coincidences, and, with dark comedic tones, exposes the pink belly of the underdog.</p><p id="1776" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">If you listen carefully, you can hear the timing and the candor of the narration perfectly timed to the beat of the scene tape, with small references and character moments that peak out of the corners of the moment.</p><p id="199d" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">It’s almost like you can see the conductor on the podium cueing the violins with a downscoop of the left arm. I suppose that with more than 850 hours of tape (!!), there was a wide range of options to choose from. But matching the tape to the narration and timing it to sound like a symphony? That’s the work.</p><p id="050d" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">The timing, and especially the pacing, of the narrated portions are ducked and woven with perfection. It’s intuitive and catchy. The writing is flawless — I guffawed and snorted at times, so funny. Other times, I smiled with that look of ‘knowing.’</p><p id="fa4c" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">The sound design allows for a sense of atmosphere, and the packing of the story offers the slate of characters to be developed from bit parts to new mayoral candidates (even if you can’t really remember their names or keep their campaign platforms straight).</p><p id="bccf" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">Sometimes a scene closed and it was allowed enough time to dissolve that I would pick up my phone to see if the file had cut out by accident. Not an accident; this was to allow space for digestion and thought. Episode 4 had film-level emotional manipulation. By then, I was all in.</p><p id="9335" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">At the end of each episode, a new music track would walk you out. At first, it would play over the credits, but then it was left to run. And each time, I would feel like I was in a movie theatre, watching the credits roll on the screen, giving everyone a moment to collect themselves in the theatre. It was a series that wasn’t in a rush and gave space where you needed it.</p><p id="c630" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">On the one hand, <em class="or">Cement City</em> is strikingly original….with its pacing, quirky observations, and incredible pacing of the voices in the story. It should be said that it also owes a great deal to an older<em class="or"> </em><a class="af nu" href="https://www.thisamericanlife.org/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><em class="or">This American Life</em></a>, the iconic and longest-running podcast series that has defined an entire genre of storytelling.</p><p id="4c73" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">The style here gleaned from <em class="or">This American Life</em> refers to a narrator going to a place and discovering something about it, or about themself. This allows the narration to be an additional layer, the icing on this delicious cake, and that person discovers something novel, which will likely make you feel good, and you will probably smile.</p><p id="4854" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">Maybe you can’t see a small town — like Donora, PA — in such a big way if you’re from there. Perhaps the outside eye enables the magic to be unearthed and celebrated.</p><h2 id="0e17" class="pm pn gu bf po pp pq dy pr ps pt ea pu oe pv pw px oi py pz qa om qb qc qd qe bk">I put Concrete City in my listening queue for the travel day, knowing it would catch me at my optimal listening time.</h2><p id="6b10" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs qf nz oa hv qg oc od oe qh og oh oi qi ok ol om qj oo op oq gn bk">Me finally resting, sitting with my eyes closed, the frantic rush of departure behind me. Me ready to be transported, ready for a series to make everything around me melt away. Me, ears primed and looking for a new thing, a new take, a new series to be engrossed by.</p><p id="9ed1" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">It sounds quite needy when I write it like this: me, me, me. But this is a snapshot of what podcast listening is all about: Inside those noise-cancelling earphones, nothing else need exist.</p><p id="0c12" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk">It’s Me-Time, if and when you can make space for <a class="af nu" href="https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/cement-city/id1507276251" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank">Cement City.</a> It’s an escape you can afford and might want to take.</p></div></div></div><div class="ab cb rf rg rh ri" role="separator"><span class="rj by bm rk rl rm"></span><span class="rj by bm rk rl rm"></span><span class="rj by bm rk rl"></span></div><div class="gn go gp gq gr"><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><p id="f7c2" class="pw-post-body-paragraph nv nw gu nx b hs ny nz oa hv ob oc od oe of og oh oi oj ok ol om on oo op oq gn bk"><strong class="nx gv">Samantha Hodder is an audio producer and writer. If you love narrative podcasts, subscribe to my Substack </strong><a class="af nu" href="https://bingeworthy.substack.com/" rel="noopener ugc nofollow" target="_blank"><strong class="nx gv">Bingeworthy</strong></a><strong class="nx gv">.</strong></p></div></div></div></div></section></div></div></article></div><div class="ab cb"><div class="ci bh fz ga gb gc"><div class="rn ro ab jm"><div class="pe ab"><a class="rp ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" href="/tag/women?source=post_page-----e6838938834c---------------------------------------"><div class="rq fj cx rr ge rs rt bf b bg z bk ru">Women</div></a></div><div class="pe ab"><a class="rp ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" href="/tag/life?source=post_page-----e6838938834c---------------------------------------"><div class="rq fj cx rr ge rs rt bf b bg z bk ru">Life</div></a></div><div class="pe ab"><a class="rp ay am ao" rel="noopener follow" 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On one level it's about a mayoral race in Donora, PA, a town that has no schools, no banks and no gas station. But on another level, it’s about how we find meaning in the places we live and what democracy looks like in a place like this, where the incumbent mayor has a fresh indictment and is still running for re-election.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[{"__typename":"Markup","type":"EM","start":57,"end":68,"href":null,"anchorType":null,"userId":null,"linkMetadata":null}],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:ed72a54e1a15_10":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"ed72a54e1a15_10","name":"8186","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"What is the specific magic that holds its resident population of 4,650 in place? 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It’s the kind you buy because you can, like a hobby, or a curiosity shop, on Main Street of some unusual town.","hasDropCap":null,"dropCapImage":null,"markups":[],"codeBlockMetadata":null,"iframe":null,"mixtapeMetadata":null},"Paragraph:ed72a54e1a15_14":{"__typename":"Paragraph","id":"ed72a54e1a15_14","name":"52aa","type":"P","href":null,"layout":null,"metadata":null,"text":"This admission makes it a tricky conceit to include in this series right off the top. 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