About a year ago, a Tangle staff member introduced me to a writer named A.M. Hickman. He had just published a fascinating piece on his Substack, Hickman’s Hinterlands, arguing that America wasn’t unreasonably expensive — Americans themselves were simply demanding more out of their lives: living in urban hotspots, seeking out fancy apartments or big houses, refusing to take bets on up-and-coming areas. Hickman told this story through his personal lens; he resides in upstate New York (but, as you’ll see in a moment, is also a bit of a nomad) in a rural, dilapidated town that also happens to be incredibly cheap and quite beautiful.

I loved the story; it felt like a fresh narrative, delivered in a wholly unique voice. I began devouring Hickman’s writing — on class, on the birth of his daughter, on the death of his mother, on what it’s like to travel via bus through rural America, and even on his longing (and our shared affection) for the desert. 

So, a few months ago, I got Hickman on the phone and pitched him on the idea of writing for Tangle. What stories was he turning over in his head? What piece did he want some help with from a sharp and unique editorial team? What was he working on next? 

He was brimming with ideas, but one in particular caught my attention: a story about how he missed being homeless. Hickman had spent years as a kind of nomadic “bum” (his words) hitchhiking across America, and in a flourish, he described all the ways in which he felt more alive and more intellectually stimulated during that time in his life than any other. I was intrigued, and I pushed him for a draft.

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Our Executive Editor and Founder is Isaac Saul. Our Executive Producer is Jon Lall.

This podcast was written by: A.M. Hickman and edited and engineered by Dewey Thomas. Music for the podcast was produced by Jon Lall.

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