SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America

KQED

The third season of Sold Out examines the intersection of the climate and housing crises. Hosted by Erin Baldassari, the series tells the stories of families and communities throughout California, as we all grapple with the ways that climate is challenging our very idea of home, and our ability to live there. We shine a light on the solutions that can help us all face the future, highlighting the people who are actively working to protect their communities. We question assumptions that dictate how and where people live, while examining the barriers – whether political, financial or social – that hold us back from embracing or realizing change. read less

Our Editor's Take

SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America is a podcast about the housing crisis. The hosts of the show are Erin Baldassari and Molly Solomon. Both work as journalists for KQED, San Francisco's NPR station. The current crisis in California is the result of a confluence of factors. Homeownership is out of reach for many regular people because of rising house prices. Families get pushed out of their neighborhoods. People who work in the city move farther and farther away to find affordable rent. It's one of the causes of the spike in homelessness. Climate change means an increase in extreme weather events that exacerbate the crisis. The pandemic highlighted the importance of access to housing.

In SOLD OUT, Baldassari and Solomon paint a stark picture. They describe families who lose their homes to wildfires and floods. People fall behind on rent and receive eviction notices. Landlords can't pay their mortgage because their renters can't pay rent. The cohosts analyze the causes behind the phenomenon. Landlords are no longer mom-and-pop operations. They're now corporations and hedge funds whose goal is to maximize profit. Wages aren't keeping up with rising costs.

The podcast cohosts also examine potential solutions to the crisis. They analyze the Section 8 housing program, which provides vouchers for rent. Baldassari and Solomon consider guaranteed basic income. They ask whether housing should be a human right.

SOLD OUT is a damning portrait of the state of housing in California. The cohosts point out that it's a social justice issue. People of color are more likely to lose their housing than white people. Homeownership is the main way families can build intergenerational wealth. This is no longer an achievable goal for most.

SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America lays out the housing crisis in stark terms. Listeners may appreciate hearing directly from people who have lost their homes due to natural disaster or eviction. The podcast is a great choice for people who want a thorough examination of the issue.

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ScienceScience

Play Trailer

Introducing SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America

Introducing SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America

Tents, evictions, long commutes and gentrification — our nation’s housing crisis has been long in the making as spiraling housing costs crush the American Dream for all but the wealthy. SOLD OUT reimagines what housing can be by examining California, the epicenter of the housing affordability crisis. Meet the dreamers and doers who are finding their own solutions to high housing costs because we can’t afford to wait. Hosted by KQED's Erin Baldassari and Molly Solomon. The first episode of SOLD OUT comes out on Monday, September 21st. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR One, or wherever you get your shows.

Season 3

Sold Out Is Back With Season 3

Sold Out Is Back With Season 3

Sold Out: Rethinking Housing In America is back with an all new season. Host Erin Baldassari leads a team of reporters as they grapple with the ways climate is affecting our very idea of home.

Searching For Home On Higher Ground

Searching For Home On Higher Ground

Climate change is intensifying wet periods across California - untaming waterways humans corralled with dirt and concrete. When the river comes for your town, what do you do, how do you adapt? Is abandoning life in the floodplain the only real option? We follow the Escutia family, starting on the night that a flood swallowed their hometown, and for months afterward, as they searched for an affordable home on higher ground.

Surviving Extreme Heat Without A Home

Surviving Extreme Heat Without A Home

Whether it’s severe heat, fires, or floods, people experiencing homelessness are on the bleeding edge of the climate emergency. We follow the story of one woman who is trying to keep herself and her adult son alive on the blistering streets of Fresno, California. We hear from advocates pushing lawmakers to find solutions, and creating their own. And ask, how is climate change forcing us to rethink our response to homelessness?

Electric Avenue

Electric Avenue

A quarter of California’s carbon emissions come from homes and buildings -- from the appliances we use to keep ourselves warm and our families fed. Replacing gas powered appliances with electric ones is one way to make a big impact, but the process is slow and expensive. We head to a neighborhood in Oakland that is taking a revolutionary approach to reducing their emissions: by electrifying together, all at once. We talk to the gung ho enthusiasts and the holdouts and explore the roadblocks to success.

Reimagining Our Cities For The Climate

Reimagining Our Cities For The Climate

What if there was a way that California could build the housing it needs and drastically cut carbon emissions at the same time? City planners and environmentalists say this unicorn does exist: transit-oriented housing. It sounds great in theory, but in practice, it’s more complicated. This episode explores how one California city, built around cars, is trying to create a different future. We’ll examine how the perfect solution for climate change forces us to rethink the American dream of the detached single family home and the SUV.

Surviving California's Insurance Crisis

Surviving California's Insurance Crisis

When a flood or fire swallows someone’s home, insurance can provide some stability, and prevent a plunge into poverty. But as insurance companies pull out of California that promise is melting away. In this episode we discover what happens to home insurance as wildfires get worse and what we can do to improve the outlook. And we meet two families living with the consequences of this uncertain future.

Sold Out Presents: Sea Change

Sold Out Presents: Sea Change

Sea Change is a podcast from WWNO and WRKF in Louisiana that dives deep into the environmental issues facing coastal communities on the Gulf Coast and beyond. When we talk about climate change, we hear one word all the time: resilient. We use it to talk about everything from our houses, to our power grid, to ourselves. In this episode of Sea Change, we asked our listeners what they think about this word, and we got some very strong reactions. And, we ask the question: how can we address both the physical forces of climate change and the broken social systems that make it an even greater threat? We hear stories about efforts from across the Gulf Coast – from storm-proofing homes to creating neighborhood disaster response groups – to help keep people from needing to be resilient in the first place.

Facing The Fire

Facing The Fire

Growing up in California's Sierra Nevada foothills, wildfire has always been part of Sold Out host Erin Baldassari’s consciousness. Her earliest memory is fleeing a fire as it bore down on her childhood home. At the time, it was the state’s third largest wildfire, but now it doesn’t even rank in the top 20. As she considers moving back, she explores what it means to live in an area with known and pronounced climate risk. The question for all of us on the frontlines of climate change is: how do we adapt when our memories of a place are constantly clashing with new realities?

Season 2

SOLD OUT LIVE: Evictions, Moratoriums and Rent Relief

SOLD OUT LIVE: Evictions, Moratoriums and Rent Relief

The pandemic brought millions of people to the edge of losing their housing. And it sparked a national conversation about the connection between housing and health, and the lasting impacts of evictions. In advance of a new season of SOLD OUT, which will focus on the system of evictions, the team held a live event at KQED’s San Francisco headquarters with Tim Thomas, of the Urban Displacement Project at UC Berkeley, Anne Tamiko Omura, from the Eviction Defense Center, and Krista Gulbransen of Berkeley Rental Housing Coalition. Listen to the live recording for a conversation about evictions, the pandemic, and some possible solutions. Got a story you want to share with the SOLD OUT team? Email us or send us a voice memo to housing@kqed.org. Or leave us a voicemail at 415-553-3308.

SOLD OUT is Back With a New Season

SOLD OUT is Back With a New Season

During the pandemic, a safe home has been more important than ever. At the same time, millions of people have found themselves on the edge of eviction. Thanks to eviction moratoriums and billions of dollars in rent relief, the feared waves of evictions never arrived. But those efforts were only temporary, a bandaid on our affordability crisis. And the low income people who have suffered the most during the pandemic could face eviction once again. In the second season of SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America, we’re taking a deep look into evictions — how they happen, who they impact, and possible solutions to a system deeply entwined in our country’s discriminatory housing policies. The first episode of the season comes out on Monday, February 14, 2022.

Evicted: A Suburban Story

Evicted: A Suburban Story

The place with the highest eviction rate in the Bay Area during the pandemic wasn't a big city like Oakland or San Francisco — instead it was a suburb that has been radically transformed by housing crisis after housing crisis. Antioch, a city on the outskirts of the Bay has been a destination for people looking for affordable housing. But now it’s at the center of a growing eviction crisis. In the first episode of our second season, we visit a neighborhood in Antioch where it seems everyone you meet has an eviction story. Read the transcript here.

The Color of Evictions

The Color of Evictions

Evictions do not affect everyone equally. Millions of renters in this country have struggled to make rent after losing income during the pandemic. And Black renters, particularly Black women, are more likely to be evicted than white renters. Jean Kendrick and her son were evicted during the early days of the pandemic. We follow their journey to find affordable housing, while examining what’s driving these disparities in evictions – including generations of racist housing policies and predatory home lending practices. Read the transcript here.

The Landlord’s Game

The Landlord’s Game

The decision to evict someone can affect them and their ability to find stable housing for years. It’s a decision that gives landlords a lot of power. We explore when and why landlords decide to evict. And look at the shift in property owners in recent years, from small “mom and pop” owners, towards more investors and corporations, and what that means for tenants and our housing system. Read the episode transcript here.

Landlord v Tenant

Landlord v Tenant

Step into an eviction court and you’ll likely see it: most landlords have attorneys while tenants do not. Eviction cases move quickly, and representation can be the thing that balances the scale — making it easier for people to understand their rights and to navigate the complex system. From New York to California’s Central Valley, tenants are fed up and demanding the right to counsel. It’s a movement that has gained more attention in the wake of the pandemic, and in the face of rising rents. Today, we go to court. Read the episode transcript here.

The Rent Eats First

The Rent Eats First

The number one reason people are evicted is falling behind on rent. So how do you keep that from happening in the first place? In the final chapter in our series on evictions, we look at Section 8; the promise, the problems, and the history. And the push for guaranteed income – because if the rent is out of reach, maybe the solution is to help pay it. Read the episode transcript here.

Your Stories and Solutions for the Housing Crisis

Your Stories and Solutions for the Housing Crisis

What are your biggest ideas on how to solve the housing crisis? How has housing impacted/shaped your life? Throughout this season, we wanted to hear from you – the SOLD OUT audience. We asked you to get in touch, and you came through! Through voice memos, email and social media, dozens of listeners reached out and shared stories of housing insecurity and loss, advocacy work, and visions for an equitable housing future. In this bonus episode, we hear from seven people for whom housing is at the center of everything. Still want to contact the show? Email us at housing@kqed.org

Season 1

Introducing SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America

Introducing SOLD OUT: Rethinking Housing in America

Tents, evictions, long commutes and gentrification — our nation’s housing crisis has been long in the making as spiraling housing costs crush the American Dream for all but the wealthy. SOLD OUT reimagines what housing can be by examining California, the epicenter of the housing affordability crisis. Meet the dreamers and doers who are finding their own solutions to high housing costs because we can’t afford to wait. Hosted by KQED's Erin Baldassari and Molly Solomon. The first episode of SOLD OUT comes out on Monday, September 21st. Subscribe to the podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, NPR One, or wherever you get your shows.

When the coronavirus began spreading across the United States, health officials advised people to stay home and shelter-in-place, to protect themselves and slow the spread of the virus. But what about the people who have no home, no place to shelter? This question became particularly urgent in California where, on any given night, more than 150,000 people live on the streets, in RVs and in crowded shelters. In this episode, hear how after years of debate and studying solutions, the state of California was forced to plunge millions of dollars into hotels to move people like Sonja from the street to a hotel room. We’ll also learn about the roots of California’s homeless crisis. And as the state looks to purchase hotels to house more people, we’ll hear from a hotel owner who in 2016 managed to transform his hotel into permanently supportive housing. Read the transcript: https://bit.ly/3iRVEIG

California has a huge housing shortage. The state says it needs to build nearly 2 million homes in the next five years. But we’re not building anywhere near enough to reach that goal. One big reason: it’s so expensive to build here. The cost of labor, land and materials all keep going up. And because of that, most of what does get built is way too expensive for most people. In this episode of SOLD OUT, we hear from entrepreneurs who think that building modular housing – apartments that are literally built in a factory – is one key to hacking the system and bringing down costs. We also hear about the long history of modular, why it hasn't always been the solution that some hoped for, and why that could be different today. Read the transcript: https://bit.ly/3mXkuZW

The single-family home is synonymous with the American dream. But that Norman Rockwell-esque image of a single home surrounded by a white picket fence comes with a loaded history. When cities first created neighborhoods where only single-family houses were allowed, it was about more than separating homes from apartments; it was about separating white families from everyone else. In this episode, we learn the back story behind single-family zoning and how it has led to the racial segregation we still see in our neighborhoods today. We also hear about the contentious debates to loosen single-family zoning, to make room for more affordable housing in our suburbs Read the transcript: https://bit.ly/3jDBL8o