Why is homelessness rising even when unemployment is low and the economy is growing? In this episode of Interconnected, we uncover the hidden systems driving America’s housing crisis.

Through real data, historical context, and the stories of composite characters like Sarah, Marcus, and Elena—fictional voices based on real-world experiences—we explore the "shadow realm" of homelessness: the millions of working people living in cars, motels, or overcrowded apartments, invisible to the public eye.

We reveal how policies like the "29-hour cliff," housing scarcity, wage suppression, and systemic racial inequities create a perfect storm for instability—turning full-time work into a path to homelessness instead of security.

This episode doesn’t just identify problems; it challenges the myths we tell ourselves about addiction, mental illness, and personal responsibility. It asks the deeper question: "What changes once we see the unseen?"

Listen now to discover the systemic patterns shaping housing and labor—and why the crisis isn’t a glitch, but a feature of the system.

ACA subsidies are set to expire, leaving millions of Americans worried about skyrocketing health insurance premiums. But what if the real problem isn’t the subsidies disappearing—it’s the broken system behind rising costs?

In this episode, we uncover how healthcare pricing works (or doesn’t), why premiums keep climbing, and how subsidies are just a band-aid for a much larger issue. Featuring real stories and expert insights, we explore the hidden trap of the U.S. healthcare system—and what it means for the future of affordability.

Why does life feel unaffordable, even when the economy is "strong"?

In this episode of Interconnected, we dig into the growing affordability crisis that’s leaving millions struggling to keep up. Headlines claim inflation is cooling, wages are rising, and consumer spending is strong—but for many, the reality couldn’t be more different. Housing, food, medical care, and utilities are consuming more of our income than ever before, while the official numbers tell a story that doesn’t match our lives.

Through gripping stories and expert insights, we expose how the system measures affordability—and why it’s broken. From the myth of the "average consumer" to the devastating impact of compounding inflation, we reveal the hidden mechanisms that make survival costs impossible for so many.

If you’ve ever felt like you’re drowning while everyone else seems fine, this episode will show you the truth: it’s not just you, and it’s not your fault.

🎧 Press play to uncover the affordability crisis—and see what the system doesn’t want you to see.

The Friendship Recession: Why Making Friends Feels Impossible

The percentage of American adults with no close friends quadrupled to 12% since 1990. Half of adults now report measurable loneliness—a health impact equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes daily. Despite more connection tools than ever, we're more isolated than previous generations.

This episode explores the systemic causes behind the friendship recession: labor mobility preventing the 200+ hours needed to form close friendships, disappearing third places, car-centric urban design, social media algorithms optimized for engagement over connection, and dual-income time poverty. The pandemic accelerated these trends, but the infrastructure of friendship has been eroding for decades.

Friendship isn't a personal skill problem—it's an infrastructure crisis. We've dismantled the conditions that let connection happen naturally, then blamed individuals for being lonely.

What would have to change for building friendships to be possible again?

Topics: friendship recession, loneliness epidemic, close friendships, mental health, social isolation, third places, urban design, social media effects, community building, work-life balance

#FriendshipRecession #LonelinessEpidemic #MentalHealth #SocialIsolation #CloseFriendships #Community #SystemsThinking

A 22-year-old sits at her laptop at 11 PM, staring at a form acknowledging $127,000 in student loans—enough to buy a house in most of America. "This is just... what you have to do, right?" she whispers.

But when did we collectively decide this was normal?

This episode follows a simple question that unravels into something far more deliberate: Why has college tuition risen 500% since the 1980s—five times faster than everything else in the economy—while student debt became the one financial obligation you literally cannot escape, even in bankruptcy?

What we discover isn't a system that failed. It's a system working exactly as designed. Through conversations with university administrators, policy architects, and financial analysts, we trace the moment education stopped being a public good and became something else entirely—and what that transformation costs beyond money.

The answer reveals a pattern that extends far beyond education. And once you see it, you can't unsee it.

Topics: student loan crisis, student debt, why college is so expensive, education costs, student loan forgiveness, higher education policy, economic inequality, financial systems

What happens to your health data when it leaves your doctor’s office? In this episode of Interconnected, we uncover the hidden world of data brokers and algorithms shaping your health insurance premiums, often without your knowledge. Through the story of Maya—a composite character built from real experiences—we explore how apps, pharmacies, and loyalty programs collect your personal health information and feed it into an unregulated marketplace. Learn how data flows from your fitness tracker to brokers, insurers, and even employers, creating risk profiles that can affect everything from costs to opportunities. We ask the big questions: Who profits from your data? Why is it so hard to opt out? And what changes when we truly see how this system works?

Keywords: health data privacy, data brokers, health insurance, HIPAA, algorithmic bias, health data exploitation, insurance premiums, health surveillance, financial systems, personal data

A master's degree for entry-level jobs. Five years of experience for roles that didn't exist five years ago. Certifications, skills, portfolios—and it's still not enough. This isn't about you not being qualified. It's credential inflation: a broken system where degree requirements exploded while entry-level salaries stagnated.

We trace how this happened: why employers demand degrees they don't need, how résumé screening algorithms locked these requirements in place, and how student loan securitization created a $1.7 trillion debt market that profits from credential inflation. We follow universities expanding graduate programs that cost six figures but lead to jobs paying $41,000 a year. Then we find something unexpected: some companies hire without degree requirements—and they're faster, cheaper, and find better people.

So why isn't everyone doing it?

An investigation into the hidden economics of hiring, student debt, and why the job market broke—and what it would take to fix it.

Childcare costs more than rent. A toddler teacher earns $11 an hour—and can't afford to enroll her own daughter. A manufacturer loses skilled workers every time a preschool closes. This isn't a childcare problem. It's a trap. We trace how the childcare crisis became a closed system: Low wages drive 300% annual turnover among early childhood educators. High turnover destroys quality. Declining quality pressures parents to pay more, but tuition hikes force centers to cut hours or close entirely. When centers close, women exit the workforce—costing employers $12.7 billion annually in lost productivity.

Then the external pressures hit: Federal Reserve interest rate hikes stall childcare construction. Immigration backlogs remove one in five workers from the sector. Zoning laws push centers to industrial zones where parents won't drive. State tuition caps intended to help families instead tripled rural center closures in nine months.

But some cities and employers found the leverage points. Multnomah County raised educator wages to $18/hour—turnover dropped 27%. Denver's "Right-to-Care" ordinance created 400 new slots in nine months by opening underused spaces. One CFO called childcare "uptime insurance" and cut absenteeism 24% by subsidizing it directly.

An investigation into the hidden economics of childcare, workforce participation, and why working parents can't win—and the three pressure points that could break the trap open.