Welcome to this throwback edition of the award-winning Best of the Left podcast, where we remember the past and choose to repeat it.

As Trump's administration continues to set fires in both the domestic and international spheres that media and activists feel compelled to respond to in real time,

it's important to remember that there are many

ongoing concerns that impact people's everyday lives, not getting the attention they deserve.

Back in June 2022, we produced an episode about the housing affordability crisis, which certainly

hasn't gone away and is likely to only be exacerbated by things like Trump cutting the funding

to the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And of course, there's the threat of tariffs

that would rock the Canadian lumber industry and drastically impact the cost of home building

in the U.S. Meanwhile, those out of power are making proposals to actually help people.

Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and Senator Tina Smith wrote in the New York Times last fall

about the need for a new federal development authority that would fund and build affordable housing for all.

And progressives have been advocating for a long time for fully social housing that would break the stranglehold of housing as a commodity

that overly burdens nearly half of renters who struggle to pay the cost.

But the new idea for social housing won't exacerbate the racial or wealth divides as public low-income housing has in the past.

For an example, listen on to hear about Vienna's publicly owned apartments.

And now to look back, but with an eye on the future, sources today include the Daily

Show, the Tom Hortman program, the damage report, the Gravelle Institute, the takeaway,

the Majority Report,

a Channel 4 documentary on Vienna's social housing, and a report from Rocky Mountain PBS.

For decades, owning a home has been one of the core parts of the American dream, just below dating Pete Davidson.

But right now, actually buying a home is harder than Matt Gates watching the news saved by the bell.

With the housing market wed hot, prospective buyers are trying not to get burned as demand soars, but supply is limited.

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