Hey, it's Anna. We co-reported this week's episode with my colleague at On the Media, Micah Loinger. Hey, Micah.

Hey, Anna. Micah is a star reporter here at WNYC, and through the last few years, I have followed his accolades in the company chat about as many scoops, many of which have focused on the digital platforms that right-wing extremist groups have used to communicate, including in the run-up and during January 6th.

He figured out ways to listen in and report on conversations that not many other journalists were paying attention to.

And then, at the WNYC holiday party last December, Micah told me about another conversation that he found interesting. Do you remember what you told me, Micah?

Yeah, I think I was telling you about a source of mine, Tasha Adams. She's the estranged wife of Stuart Rhodes, who's the leader and founder of the Oathkeepers, one of the groups that broke into the Capitol on January 6th.

And she had told me an intense story about what it took to leave their marriage.

And in fact, when she was planning her escape from Stuart Rhodes, the only person she told was Kelly Jones, who used to be married to Alex Jones.

That Alex Jones.

Yes, that Alex Jones. The two of them had messaged online, but they'd never spoken.

And I wondered, what would it be like to get them on the phone together for the first time?

And you said, do you think that would be interesting for death, sex, and money?

And I said, yes. And within a week or two, Micah and I had started making plans to travel to Montana and report out this story and get to know a lot more about Tasha Adams and how she wonders to this day about the responsibility that she bears for the January 6th insurrection. And also what her story can teach us about the private origins of some of the far-right

violence that feels more and more present in our country.

And this to me is the kind of journalism that I most want to be a part of.

That's exploring a big national story of critical

importance to democracy, and it also treats the personal dimension of these stories, the motivations

at play, the human costs, with equal importance. So if you'll indulge us, I want to remind

you that this kind of reporting takes resources, like for this one, travel,

and also time to make sure we're telling this story ethically and with the proper context.

Ambition to follow up on a holiday party conversation takes money. So if you'd like to support

more of this on death, sex, and money, we need your contributions. We do right now. You can become a

monthly sustaining member or make a one-time donation at deathsexmoney.org slash donate. There's also

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