The Real Climate Solution: Agency, Not Fear & Doom. Conversation with Alex Margulis
This episode is a little different. I switch roles and speak with Alex Margulis, a Princeton student and inspiring thinker who is researching and writing about climate, housing, and the power of agency.
We talk about why sustainability shouldn’t be driven by fear, how housing can be one of the most impactful climate solutions, and explore practical ways students can turn their advocacy into real impact.
--------
50:49
--------
50:49
Want to Fix Housing? Start with A Happy Hour - conversation with Ned Resnikoff
In this episode, I talk with Ned Resnikoff, former policy director at California YIMBY (a pro-housing nonprofit that stands for Yes in My Backyard). My favorite part of our conversation is Ned’s story of how a casual happy hour grew into a statewide movement that rewrote the rules on housing, zoning, and grassroots organizing.
Ned is now a housing policy fellow at the Roosevelt Institute and a fiscal resilience fellow at California Forward, while also working on a new book with Island Press.
--------
42:43
--------
42:43
A House for Mom, Flexibility for All! Conversation with Carrie Shores Diller
When architect and entrepreneur Carrie Shores Diller heard her clients tell their aging parents, “Oh, we’ll just put these temporary things up, and when you’re gone, we’ll take them back down,” she knew something had to change... That’s no way to face one’s mortality!
In this episode, Carrie shares how her company, Inspired ADUs, has brought hundreds of new homes to life, and how California’s bold housing laws made it possible for these small, beautifully designed Accessory Dwelling Units to deliver flexibility, affordability, and connection.
--------
55:40
--------
55:40
NIMBYism isn't a Phylosophy, YIMBYism IS! Conversation with Bryan Caplan
Economist Bryan Caplan reminds us that builders aren’t criminals, complainers are the minority, and there’s no way around it: we have to build more homes to meet demand.
If you’ve already read too many boring articles on the subject, Professor Caplan has the solution: a scientific comic book. Turns out, it’s actually fun being a YIMBY!
--------
29:12
--------
29:12
The $500,000 Gamble: Why We Need Legislative Change. Conversation with Kevin J. Moore
In this episode, land use attorney Kevin Moore walks us through the nearly impossible process of getting a use variance. It’s easy to tell the owner of a failing strip mall or an abandoned office building: “just get a variance, no need for legislative change". But as Kevin explains, that’s practically impossible and borderline illegal... at least in New Jersey.
Have you seen any starter homes for sale lately? Neither have we.
In this podcast, we speak with experts and try to figure out why this humble first home is going extinct. We’ll be exploring if it is the politicians, wielding zoning laws like a murder weapon who killed the starter home? Or maybe the scaredy-cat planners and designers? Or the developers, armed with cookie-cutter plans and corporate indifference? Is it our convoluted tax policy that subsidies homeownership, but puts every tax penalty in the way of creation of the starter homes.
Spoiler alert: it’s probably a little of everything.
We’ll be peeling back the layers of bureaucracy, bad faith, and bad planning, with stops along the way for affordable housing scandals, ADU success stories, and a passionate plea for building code updates. Join us for a conversation that’s part policy deep-dive, part therapy session for frustrated builders, and entirely a love letter to cities that deserve better.
Ireland