'Poverty porn' in the digital age

It's Been a Minute

NPR

News Commentary, Society & Culture, News, Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality

4.6 • 8.8K Ratings

🗓️ 25 August 2025

⏱️ 19 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

Social media is full of images of unhoused people that's either meant to make you angry or laugh. For Leah Goodridge, this content is a new form of 'poverty porn.'

'Poverty porn' used to refer to charity commercials showing malnourished children to evoke empathy from sympathetic viewers. But according to New York City attorney and tenant advocate Leah Goodridge, that kind of imagery has shifted into something more: rage bait. With the center of that rage being homeless people.

Leah Goodridge joins Brittany to get into how social media, our legal system, and societal narratives around homelessness create a culture that punishes and mocks people in need.

For handpicked podcast recommendations every week, subscribe to NPR’s Pod Club newsletter at npr.org/podclub.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	Support for NPR comes from NPR member stations and Eric and Wendy Schmidt through the Schmidt Family Foundation, working toward a healthy, resilient, secure world for all.
0:11.5	On the web at theshmit.org.
0:17.0	Hello, hello. I'm Brittany Luce and you're listening to It's Been a Minute from NPR,
0:22.2	a show about what's going on in culture and why it doesn't happen by accident.
0:33.8	Most people are not aware that they truly are one misfortune away from being homeless.
0:42.0	When President Trump sent the National Guard into the streets of Washington, D.C. earlier this month,
0:47.3	he said his goal was to crack down on crime, bloodshed, bedlam, and squalor.
0:52.6	But citizens and homeless advocates alike have pointed out
0:56.4	that his efforts affect some of the most vulnerable people among us.
1:00.3	In a post on truth social over the weekend, he wrote in part, quote, the homeless have to
1:05.8	move out immediately. We will give you places to stay, but far from the capital.
1:10.3	When these efforts were first announced, White House Press Secretary Caroline Levitt said,
1:15.2	homeless individuals will be given the option to leave their encampment, to be taken to a homeless
1:20.7	shelter, to be offered addiction or mental health services, and if they refuse, they will
1:25.9	be susceptible to fines or to jail time.
1:28.6	An encampment, as defined by D.C.'s Department of Health and Human Services, is an abode such as a tent
1:34.8	or unmovable structure of one or more persons on public property or an accumulation of
1:40.4	unmovable personal belongings that are present even when the individual is not.
1:45.5	And while government officials suggest that clearing encampments supports public health and safety,
1:51.2	they don't often get to the root of the issue.
1:53.3	You know, we have these sweeps.
1:55.7	These are when law enforcement comes and tells unhoused people that they have to leave an area and go elsewhere.
	...

Transcript will be available on the free plan in 20 days. Upgrade to see the full transcript now.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from NPR, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of NPR and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.