If you, like us at WakeUP, are always looking for fresh conversations around sustainability, housing, transportation, and other important issues and policies, here is a curated list of some of our favorite podcasts that are both informative and fun.
1. Upzoned
“Sometimes, a hot new story will cross our desks that we need to talk about right away. That’s where Upzoned comes in. Join Gould Evans’s Abby Newsham, Strong Towns President Chuck Marohn, and occasional surprise guests to talk in depth about just one big story from the week in the Strong Towns conversation, right when you want it: now.”
For a local episode, we recommend Is Affordable Housing Possible Under Current Zoning Laws? from Aug 16, 2023, which features Southern Urbanism founder Aaron Luceck to talk about Durham’s recently adopted SCAD text amendments. Check out Strong Towns’ other shows here.
2. The Weeds
“Politics is how people achieve power. Policy is what they do with it. Every week on The Weeds, host Jonquilyn Hill and guests break down the policies that shape our lives, from abortion to financial regulations to affirmative action to housing. We hear from leading experts, reporters, and the people impacted by these decisions, because we know that policy is personal. The show dives deep and gets wonky, but we have fun along the way. New episodes drop every Wednesday.”
While The Weeds covers a variety of policy topics, they frequently have great episodes about the intersection between land use regulations, affordable housing, public transit, and climate change. We recommend starting with How to be a (realistic) climate optimist from Jan 24, 2024.
“Sustainability is too ambiguous. Our podcast fixes that. Each episode of our podcast focuses on a single topic that pushes sustainability forward. We explain each topic with the help of an experienced pro, place it within our organizational tree, and help our listeners define what exactly sustainability is, episode by episode.”
If you’ve been following along with the Bus Rapid Transit and associated rezoning news in Raleigh, we recommend Ep 62. Transit Oriented Development with Rick Cole from Oct 1, 2021 which talks about the benefits of creating more walkable cities with the Executive Director from the Congress for the New Urbanism.
4. Urban Planning is Not Boring
“Passionate about climate change mitigation, finding equitable solutions to the housing crisis, and more, Sam Ellman and Natalie Ikhrata dive into various topics related to the field of urban planning that are anything but boring!”
If you want a casual and smart podcast that contains a ton of great urban planning talk, this podcast is for you. We recommend their latest episode VMT 101: Understanding the Basics of Vehicle Miles Traveled from Feb 12, 2024.
Can’t get enough? Here are more recommendations:
- Modern Mobility Podcast
- Talking Headways (Streetsblog)
- Evidence in Action Podcast (Urban Institute)
- The Urbanist Podcast
- Follow the Data (Bloomberg Philanthropies)
- Do Politics Better Podcast