Yoni Appelbaum’s Book “Stuck” Argues that Progressive Policies Have Frozen Social Mobility

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KQED

Politics, News, News Commentary

4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 18 February 2025

⏱️ 57 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Picking up stakes and moving somewhere new was once so common in America that cities had a designated “Moving Day” when thousands of tenants would move house on the same day. Often whole blocks of residents would change addresses, with moving boxes and bags littering the streets. But in the last 50 years, more Americans have stayed in place. Not by choice, but by a lack of social mobility, according to Atlantic writer Yoni Appelbaum. Regions with opportunities lack affordable housing. Cities with abundant cheap housing lack opportunities. In his new book, “Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity,” Appelbaum contends that it is progressive policies that have stood in the way of progress. We talk to Appelbaum. Guests: Yoni Appelbaum, deputy executive editor, The Atlantic; he is the author of "Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American" Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Support for Forum comes from Rancho La Puerta, a wellness resort in Baja, California, just an hour from San Diego,
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0:27.3	Support for Forum comes from Broadway S.F. presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a
0:33.2	true story. From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and
0:39.7	Lucille Frank, a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused
0:46.3	of an unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice,
0:53.4	and devotion.
1:02.6	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orphium Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
1:06.9	Tickets on sale now at Broadway, sF.com.
1:09.5	From KQED. From KQED. From KQED in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:24.6	Yoni Applebaum's new book Stuck is a fascinating entry in the genre of books about America
1:30.2	that seek to answer the question, why are we like this?
1:33.6	And why is it like this right now?
1:36.4	An academic historian turned Atlantic editor, Applebaum meticulously pulls a single concept
1:42.7	through our country's timeline. Mobility. The ability for people to choose where they want to live and to, in general, move towards opportunity.
1:51.0	It defined American life for decades and then over the last 50 years ground to a halt.
1:56.0	Why? We'll get into it. But Applebaum argues that this change in mobility has been crucial to the erosion of American civic life.
2:03.6	Coming up next, after this news.
2:05.6	Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
	...

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