In this episode of Everybody Gets Pie, we are joined by Neera Tanden, President and CEO of the Center for American Progress and former Domestic Policy Advisor to President Joe Biden. Neera reflects candidly on her time in public service, the lessons of the Biden administration, and why Democrats must be ruthless about solving real problems, and especially on housing and affordability.

We cover:
•⁠ ⁠How housing location shapes life outcomes
•⁠ ⁠The tension between inclusionary zoning and housing supply
•⁠ ⁠Why renters didn’t feel relief fast enough
•⁠ ⁠Lessons from serving inside the Biden White House
•⁠ ⁠Why permitting reform stalled for housing and clean energy
•⁠ ⁠Supply vs. intervention—and why both matter
•⁠ ⁠Why “bad answers” often beat “no answers” in politics

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America is short 2 million homes. Zoning reform alone won’t fix it.

In this episode of Everybody Gets Pie, we break down a new national plan to build 2 million homes in just five years, why housing costs keep rising even where we build more, and what it will actually take to make homes affordable again.

We cover:
•⁠ ⁠Why the median first-time homebuyer is now 40 years old
•⁠ ⁠Why housing supply collapsed after 2008 and never recovered
•⁠ ⁠Why zoning reform is necessary but not sufficient
•⁠ ⁠How federal incentives, rent relief, and factory-built housing could speed construction
•⁠ ⁠Why demand-side fixes like 50-year mortgages miss the point
•⁠ ⁠What renters, homeowners, and policymakers are getting wrong about falling prices

Featuring an in-depth conversation with Michael Negrone (Center for American Progress) on the Build, Baby, Build housing plan and what real abundance would require.

Housing affordability is now a top concern across the political spectrum. Can we fix it in time, or is the American dream slipping away?

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Why do cities agree we need more housing and then fight every building that gets proposed?

In this episode of Everybody Gets Pie, we talk with Adam Jentleson, founder of the Searchlight Institute, about a housing idea that sounds radical and might actually work. What if residents got paid when their city built more homes?

Searchlight’s proposal would send direct checks to people living in cities that hit ambitious housing production targets. Not tax cuts. Not vague economic benefits. Real money in your pocket, explicitly tied to new housing getting built.

We dig into:

• Why people support affordable housing in theory but oppose it in their own neighborhood
• The fears driving NIMBY politics, including traffic, crime, and neighborhood change
• Why public education and messaging usually fail on housing
• How a “growth dividend” could reduce opposition without turning everyone into a housing activist
• Why policy design matters more than better slogans
• What Social Security and stimulus checks teach us about durable policy
• The real risks, including gaming the system and inflation

If you have ever wondered why housing fights feel impossible or what it would actually take to make building homes politically popular, this conversation is for you.

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Why does public transit in the U.S. cost so much and still deliver so little? From New York’s notoriously expensive subway projects to Boston’s aging system, American cities struggle to build fast, reliable transit while peers abroad move faster and cheaper.

In this episode, Jake Berman, author of The Lost Subways of North America, joins us to unpack how the U.S. fell behind cities like Madrid, Tokyo, and even Poland. We trace the history of American transit, the rise and collapse of private operators, key government missteps, and how land use and planning decisions shape whether transit succeeds or fails.

We also get concrete about solutions: building near density, learning from global best practices, improving bus networks, and cutting through bureaucratic and political roadblocks. From Houston vs. Dallas to subway expansion in New York and Los Angeles, this conversation breaks down what it would actually take to fix U.S. transit—and why it matters now more than ever.

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Congress has not passed a major housing supply bill in more than 50 years. Yet in one of the most polarized political moments in recent history, a bipartisan coalition is quietly pushing forward legislation that could help create more than a million new homes.

In this episode, we talk with Representative Josh Harder about the Road to Housing Act, why it passed the Senate unanimously, and how it ended up attached to the annual defense bill. We dig into the incentives that could modernize zoning codes, the outdated federal rules that hold back manufactured housing, and why local permitting still shapes so much of what actually gets built.

We also explore the surprisingly cross party politics behind pro housing reforms, whether this cooperation can last, and how housing, energy permitting, and infrastructure fit into the larger abundance agenda.

If you have ever wondered why it is so hard to build homes in America or why this might finally be starting to change, this episode is for you.

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What if America's housing crisis needs more than just rezoning existing cities? Congressman Jake Auchincloss (MA-04) joins us to make the case for building entirely new cities from scratch. We dive deep into the practical details: site selection, tax increment financing, transit connectivity, and the politics of making it happen.

Plus, Jake explains why he prefers talking about "cost disease" over "abundance," discusses autonomous vehicles and walkable communities, and warns about the dangers of digital dopamine merchants. Whether you're a skeptic or a believer in new cities, you'll learn something new about how America can build again.

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If you want better senators in 2032, start by electing better city councilors in 2026. Amanda Litman (Run for Something) joins Everybody Gets Pie to lay out a practical path to a deeper Democratic bench, why renters should run, and how local reforms can make elections more competitive.

What we cover:
• Why competitive districts have declined and incumbency has hardened
• How proportional representation and ranked choice voting can improve representation
• The $50M Battle Up plan to recruit Gen Z and millennial candidates
• Why renters in office change the housing debate
• States to watch: Texas, Florida, Utah, Georgia, North Carolina, Arizona, Ohio, Idaho, Louisiana, Mississippi, Nebraska, Iowa
• Term limits, public financing, and paying local officials
• Authentic messaging and winning where you live

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In this episode of Everybody Gets Pie, we sit down with Laura Friedman (D-CA-30), whose unique journey took her from producing Hollywood films to shaping housing, transit, and climate policy in Washington. We dive deep into her “abundance agenda,” exploring how streamlining federal approvals, cutting outdated red tape and rethinking land use can unlock affordable housing and smarter growth for communities.

Highlights include:

• How Laura’s background in storytelling and architecture led her into public service and housing reform.
• The bipartisan Cut Red Tape for Housing Act she introduced, which seeks to exempt infill affordable-housing projects from the burdensome National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process.
• Why parking minimums, transit access and housing supply are deeply connected — and how California’s reforms show the way.
• The federal role in housing: From leveraging transportation and community-development dollars to setting national definitions of infill development.
• How communities can break through “not in my backyard” resistance by showing how new housing improves local economies, mobility, and quality of life.
• Insights into how environmental policy, trade, and local development interlock with the ability to live affordably and in the right place.

Whether you’re working on zoning, housing access, infrastructure, sustainability — or just trying to figure out how we build the spaces where we live — this episode shows how change at the local level connects to decisions made in D.C., and why giving everyone a slice of the pie starts with making the pie itself bigger.

Tune in for a smart, actionable conversation about building more homes, smarter cities, and a more abundant future.

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