Episode 18: Journalist and fellow podcast host Michael Hobbes sees just about every city in America making the same housing-supply mistakes the San Francisco has over the past two decades; counter-intuitively, he rates Seattle as doing better than many on the housing front. Michael and Ian split hairs over “free markets” vs. “capitalism” and whether either can save us at this point. Both agree on Michael’s hot take on hot takes.
About Michael Hobbes
A Seattle native who lived abroad for almost fifteen years before returning just in time for the 2016 election, Michael Hobbes is a former human rights worker and current journalist. According to his online bio, his parents are disappointed in him.
Michael’s essays and blog posts can be found at Rottin’ In Denmark, where he has tackled questions like why schools keep making the same mistakes and what’s causing an epidemic of gay loneliness. Recent articles for Highline, the high-brow Huffington Post project, include coverage on Amazon’s status in Seattle, an intellectually honest assessment of why “Gen Y” really does have it harder, and — of deep interest to this show — a catalog of small cities now experiencing the same housing crisis as Seattle and the Bay Area.
You can catch Michael You’re Wrong About, where every week he and his co-host Sarah Marshall circle back to a historical event or famous person the public has forgotten or misremembered. So far they’ve talked about Anita Hill, Monica Lewinsky, Matthew Shepard, murderous postal workers and satanic teenagers. According to the show, “we gather all the primary documents we can and try to talk to the people who were there (Monica didn’t get back to us).”
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