Episodes

  • The 4 a.m. Shift

    The 4 a.m. Shift
    Jul 3 2026
    The all-night diner. The 24-hour laundromat. The overnight gas station where someone always seemed to know your name. America is quietly losing its after-midnight infrastructure — and with it, something stranger and more essential than convenience: the only spaces that ever belonged equally to insomniacs, third-shift workers, the grieving, and the lost. This week, we ask what it means when a society decides, collectively, that some hours of the night just aren't worth staying open for. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    27 mins
  • The Last Hardware Store

    The Last Hardware Store
    Jul 2 2026
    Across America, the independently owned hardware store is disappearing — not with a bang, but with a quiet retirement, a lease that didn't get renewed, a son who moved to Austin. In this episode, we talk to the people who ran them, the neighbors who depended on them, and the urban planners trying to understand what exactly a town loses when the place that knew how to fix things is gone. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    29 mins
  • The Church That Became a Brewery

    The Church That Became a Brewery
    Jun 19 2026
    Across America, thousands of sacred spaces — churches, synagogues, temples — are being sold, converted, and reimagined as breweries, condos, climbing gyms, and event venues. But what happens to a community when the building that once marked its spiritual center gets a new purpose? We look at the quiet grief, surprising acceptance, and unexpected meaning that emerges when the places we were baptized, married, and mourned become something else entirely. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    24 mins
  • The Lawn That Nobody Mows

    The Lawn That Nobody Mows
    Jun 18 2026
    The American front lawn is quietly disappearing — replaced by xeriscaping, food gardens, wildflower patches, and 'no mow' movements — and the neighbors who hate it reveal something fascinating about how we police belonging and normalcy in suburbia. This episode explores how a patch of grass became a proxy war over conformity, class anxiety, and what we owe each other when we live side by side. What we choose to do with our land, it turns out, says everything about what we think community is for. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    29 mins
  • The Last Booth at the Back

    The Last Booth at the Back
    Jun 17 2026
    In an age of endless food delivery and algorithmic dining recommendations, the neighborhood diner is disappearing — but not quietly. This episode explores what we're actually losing when we lose the places where strangers used to sit close enough to overhear each other's lives, and why a handful of stubborn regulars and grease-stained owners are fighting to hold the counter together. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    27 mins
  • The Sunday Shoe Shine

    The Sunday Shoe Shine
    Jun 15 2026
    In an age of sneakers and casual Fridays, why do some men still gather every Sunday morning at Mario's shoe shine stand? We explore the quiet ritual of leather care as a form of masculine intimacy and what happens when old-world traditions find new purpose in a culture that's forgotten how to slow down. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    14 mins
  • The Corner Store Prophets

    The Corner Store Prophets
    Jun 14 2026
    In cities across America, immigrant corner store owners are becoming unlikely community anchors—offering credit during hard times, mediating neighborhood disputes, and creating informal social safety nets. But as gentrification reshapes their blocks and chain stores move in, these quiet pillars of community life are disappearing, taking with them a particular kind of urban intimacy that can't be replicated. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    19 mins
  • The Language of Belonging

    The Language of Belonging
    Jun 13 2026
    In suburban communities across America, Spanish is becoming the primary language of entire neighborhoods—not through immigration alone, but as second and third-generation families choose to reclaim what their parents once abandoned. We explore what happens when language becomes an act of cultural reconstruction, and how the sounds of home are reshaping the American suburb. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See https://pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
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    19 mins