Religion: ‘Our Town’ And A Christian Nationalist Takeover In Tennessee

Imagine a small town in rural Tennessee — a town square, a yellow brick courthouse, a family-owned restaurant, a café, and beautiful sunrises and sunsets across the Appalachian foothills.

Now, imagine a group of far-right real estate developers — backed by Silicon Valley venture capital and with powerful ties to Washington (rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/ridg…) — move into town. They have a vision to build a new kind of community and turn it into a haven for like-minded white Christians. (bbc.com/news/articles/c997j105941o)

That’s what’s happening in Gainesboro, Tennessee. And it’s part of a growing movement by some far-right Christian nationalists to relocate to red states and turn small towns into white enclaves.

Locals in Gainesboro are alarmed. They call it a “takeover.” And they are pushing back. That’s the story of “Our Town,” a new Bloomberg investigative podcast series. (bloomberg.com/features/2026-our-town-podcast) We sit down with its hosts to talk about this takeover in Tennessee.

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