Urban policy and housing expert Diana Lind joins Karen Christensen to discuss her Washington Post opinion piece “America is becoming a nation of homebodies.” They discuss the connection between the housing crisis and the loneliness epidemic, both topics we’ve been hearing about a lot. They also talked about the reasons people stick with big properties even when life might be better, simpler, and more social in a smaller home. And Diana explains how there are business opportunities and policy levers such as permitting reform and improved transit that can be used to make it more likely that more of us will leave home.

Show Notes

Brave New Home: Our Future in Smarter, Simpler, Happier Housing

The New Urban Order at Substack

“America is becoming a nation of homebodies,” Washington Post, August 2025.

“Sober Up, Harvard,” Harvard Crimson. (Mentioned in the show.)

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