Most Podern Podcast
by Minkoo Kang, Libo Li, and Alex Yuen
Latest episode
Affordability Is Not a Dirty Word - Building Housing People Can…
Affordability Is Not a Dirty Word - Building Housing People Can…
About this podcast
The podcast about the Built Environment, with the minds shaping it, for the people living in it.
Why does the built environment feel broken — and what would it take to fix it?
Most Podern is about how the built world really works. We dig into the systems shaping architecture, urbanism, housing, and public spaces, and talk with the people actually building change: architects, planners, developers, and urban thinkers.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 85 episodes
- Affordability Is Not a Dirty Word - Building Housing People Can Actually Afford | Jesse Batus · 39 min · Season 6 Episode 40"Everybody says we want more affordable housing... at the same time, they don't want to see anything new." On this episode of Most Modern - a podcast about the built environment…
- 3 Building Code Rules That Block Missing Middle Housing · 37 min · Season 6 Episode 39Small multifamily housing is illegal and too expensive to build. Architect Sam Naylor breaks down the building code reforms that could unlock the "missing middle." We know zoning…
- Why Los Angeles Urban Development Is Built Backwards · 48 min · Season 6 Episode 38Los Angeles urban development faces severe housing scarcity and bureaucratic strain while pioneering polycentric node architecture across 88 cities.Los Angeles attracts creative…
- How FutureLot Is Decoding the American Zoning Maze · 23 min · Season 6 Episode 37Zoning codes run to 3,000 pages, contradict themselves, and change without warning — and right now, they're the single biggest reason most housing projects never leave a napkin…
- This Is Quietly Reshaping How We Build Homes - Dwayne Torrey · 21 min · Season 6 Episode 36The housing crisis is real. So why isn't modular construction fixing it? Dwayne Torrey is the Director of Construction and Infrastructure at CSA Group — the organization that…
- Architecture Off the Assembly Line - with Justin Brechtel · 42 min · Season 6 Episode 36What happens when an architect stops designing one-off buildings and starts designing a system? Justin Brechtel is a licensed architect in California, principal of Iterate…
- What's Your Density Appetite? · 35 min · Season 6 Episode 36Have you ever walked through a city and felt, almost physically, that it was too much or not enough? That feeling has a name. Alex Yuen, architect, urbanist, and host of Most…
- Why the Future Is Physical: Real Estate, Loneliness & The Playbook Behind AREA15’s Success · 47 min · Season 6 Episode 35If your city, office, or retail district feels emptier than it used to, it’s not just “remote work” or “online shopping.” It’s a deeper problem: digital convenience is quietly…
- Why 12 Million Tons of Glass Goes to Landfills Every Year (And How We're Stopping It) · 54 min · Season 6 Episode 34Every year, 12 million tons of architectural glass from skyscrapers and office buildings ends up in landfills. Even though you diligently put your glass bottles in the recycling…
- An Architectural Answer to how Cities can Turn Down the Heat · 32 min · Season 6 Episode 33What if a powerful climate solution in cities isn’t a new building, but the roof that’s already there? As heat waves intensify across Europe, architect and MIT-trained educator…
- A New Era for Sprawl · 42 min · Season 6 Episode 32The American suburban dream is unsustainable—but we're not giving up on it. David Kooris, Executive Director of the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority and lecturer at…
- Planning Coachella - Reiko Wei · 35 min · Season 6 Episode 31What hidden design choices make a 125,000-person festival feel effortless—and what happens when being off by just one foot throws everything into chaos? Why do some festivals…
- America can't Build. Can Modular Construction be the Answer? · 46 min · Season 6 Episode 30How do we build faster, smarter, and more affordably in a world running out of patience and running short on skilled labor? Tom Hardiman, Executive Director of the Modular…
- Why Affordable Housing Isn’t Affordable · 26 min · Season 6 Episode 28Why does building “affordable” housing cost so much in the built environment? From land prices to loan rates, construction inflation to endless permitting, Alex and Libo break…
- Design School for The Displaced - With Scott Key · 39 minWhat happens when you run an architecture studio inside a refugee settlement — and let refugees lead it? Scott Key (founder/CEO of Every Shelter) is back to break down how a…
- The Architect Who Healed NYC After 9/11 · 41 min · Season 6 Episode 27In this conversation, Kevin Kennon, reflects on his experiences surrounding the events of 9/11, particularly his involvement in the Ground Zero viewing platform and the…
- The Four Horsemen of Urban Decline · 31 min · Season 6 Episode 26Why do some cities thrive while others slide into decline? Alex Yuen and Libo Li break down the Four Horsemen of Urban Decline - which include the Disease of Me, Construction…
- How Building Codes Shape American Urbanism - Type V City Part II · 42 min · Season 6 Episode 25Why do American neighborhoods so often look the same, filled with “five-over-one” apartments or endless rows of wood-framed houses? In Part II of our conversation, architect…
- Why U.S. Homes Are All Built the Same Way - Type V City Part I · 30 min · Season 6 Episode 24Why are nearly all American homes built out of wood when most of the world uses brick, steel, or concrete? In Part I of our conversation Architect Jeana Ripple, author of The…
- Why Architects Should Code - With Alex and Libo · 30 min · Season 6 Episode 23In this conversation, Alex Yuen and Libo discuss the importance of architects learning to code, exploring how coding can enhance creativity, efficiency, and control in…
