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Every book Matthew Desmond recommended on podcasts
Matthew Desmond appears on discussion-driven programs such as The Ezra Klein Show, where conversations center heavily around systemic poverty, housing crises, and economic structures in America. During his interview, Desmond shares a thoughtful list of recommended readings that examine poverty, human struggle, and social policy. He recommends Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir's book Scarcity, using its core concept of the bandwidth tax to explain the cognitive burdens of financial deprivation. Desmond also highlights Leo Tolstoy's What Then Must We Do? as part of his closing reading suggestions. Additionally, he expresses deep admiration for Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor's Race for Profit, which investigates urban housing policies, and points to Adrian Nicole LeBlanc's classic investigative journalism work Random Family as a powerful exploration of urban poverty. Bringing his own academic work into the conversation, Desmond reflects on the extensive research behind his previous book Evicted, connecting his firsthand observations of families navigating the housing crisis in Milwaukee with the broader literature on economic inequality.
Books recommended by Matthew Desmond
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Race for Profit
Race for Profit by Keeanga-Yamahtta Taylor and narrated by Janina Edwards is a prominent scholarly work examining the ways housing policies and urban development have perpetuated racial inequalities.
Recommended“I really loved race for profit by kianga Yamada Taylor”
Where to get it
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Random Family
Random Family by Adrian Nicole LeBlanc is a landmark work of investigative journalism that chronicles the lives of several individuals and families navigating poverty, the drug trade, and the criminal justice system in the Bronx over the course of a decade.
Recommended“and my third book is is random family the classic investigative journalism by Adrian Nicola Blanc”
Where to get it
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Scarcity
Scarcity by Sendhil Mullainathan and Eldar Shafir is a profound exploration of how having too little time and money profoundly shapes human cognition, decision-making, and behavior.
Recommended“the bandwidth tax is an idea that comes from a book called scarcity which is by cindel melanathon and Eldar shafir It's a Wonderful book highly recommend it”
Where to get it
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What then must we do?
What Then Must We Do? is a deeply moral and philosophical nonfiction work by Leo Tolstoy that examines poverty, economics, and human responsibility.
Recommended“I recommend what then must we do by Leo Tolstoy”
Where to get it
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Evicted
Evicted by Matthew Desmond is a Pulitzer Prize-winning immersive non-fiction book examining poverty and the housing crisis through the lens of families in Milwaukee.
Discussed“and then I kind of took that to Milwaukee for my last book and follow families getting evicted and saw a level of poverty that I've just never seen before or experienced”
Where to get it
Books Matthew Desmond wrote
Appearances
| Episode | Podcast | Date | Books |
|---|---|---|---|
| Matthew Desmond On America’s Addiction to Poverty | The Ezra Klein Show | 2023-04-21 | 5 |