Episode 9 brings Thomas to Lakota, North Dakota, a small town under a wide sky where distance changes how truth travels.
After the cold road north of I-94, Thomas reaches a place where food, fuel, war news, and rumor have begun to knot together. Lakota’s wound is quiet: a closed civic channel, a pantry under strain, neighbors receiving national stories faster than local facts.
Joe from Spirit Lake remains nearby, keeping the road honest in the limited way one working man can. Thomas’s help is smaller than rescue: listen, sort, test what people have heard, and leave behind one steadier way for truth to move.
This is a story about a town pulled toward an information cliff, and about the fragile work of stepping back before hunger becomes suspicion and loyalty becomes a weapon.
Credits & Copyright
Written and Directed by Stephen Brewer
Series Bible, worldbuilding, and episode structure by Stephen Brewer
Music created with Suno
Voices created with Elevenlabs.io
Artwork by Cicero
Produced by Stephen Brewer for the Columbia podcast on Substack
Statement on the Ethical Use of AI
This is a work of fiction rooted in themes of conscience, mercy, and civic responsibility. It does not depict real institutions or endorse political action. The moral and spiritual themes in Columbia are presented for storytelling only. They do not speak for any real religious body, denomination, or church.
This episode includes depictions of economic precarity. No violence is depicted, and the tone emphasizes peace, restraint, and civic dignity.
© 2026 Stephen Brewer. All rights reserved. No part of this work may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form without prior written permission from the author.
