Welcome back to the Ten Blocks podcast. This is your host, Brian Anderson, the editor of City Journal.

Coming up on the show today, we have City Journal's associate editor, Seth Barron, talking with

Bert Stratton. Bert is a musician. He plays in a Klesmer band and a blogger, but he makes his living

as a landlord in his hometown of Cleveland, Ohio. He's an original

landlord musician, as Bert likes to say. His quirky and informative first essay for us in the

winter 2012 issue, A Landlord's Tale, has become one of our favorite pieces that we've published

over the years. Since then, Bert has continued to write for us

about his experiences as a member of one of the world's most important but often maligned professions.

Seth's interview with Bert begins after this. We hope you enjoy. Welcome back to the 10 Blocks podcast.

This is your host, Seth Barron, associate editor of City Journal.

Joining me on the show today is Bert Stratton.

Bert is a longtime contributor to City Journal and a lifetime resident of Cleveland.

Bert writes about a variety of topics, among which is his experience as a landlord in a big

Rust Belt City.

His first piece for us from 2012 is called The Landlord's Tale and is a minor classic in

its own way.

Bert, thanks for joining us on Ten Blocks.

Thanks for having me.

So in New York City, we have a very tight and

expensive rental market and people tend to view the tenant landlord relationship as

adversarial or oppositional. Is it the same in Cleveland? It's the same, probably not to the

same degree.

...