I always wonder how reporters get folks who have these tangential connections to powerful / terrible people to talk after they refuse. It's an impressive skill.

Not relevant at all, but I find that interesting and funny. As a rule of thumb I tend to accept unknown callers after 3 missed calls in rapid succession. Everybody I know closely knows this, and its come in useful. Though tbh I’d it’s a recognizable localish area code I usually pick up on the 2nd call in rapid succession.

They just keep trying. It's not uncommon for people to talk after 3 or so attempts. Humans want to talk.

I block numbers at that point. I don’t get how anyone would decide to open up after repeated attempts on their number.

I assume it's often parallel construction