85 / Talking housing policy (or anything) with Gen Z / with Tahra Hoops

Tahra Hoops — Policy wonk, and Director of Economic Analysis at the Chamber of Progress — joins the show this week to talk about the generation that's been simultaneously told it's going to "save the world," has "no work ethic," has "been through a lot," and yet is "soft."

Zoomers are a nuanced bunch, and that makes us a unique and challenging crew to communicate policy to/with. Add in a segment of the generation (more on this breakdown in the episode) growing up in a media environment that's primed for misinformation/disinformation and equipped with the power to skip-to-next without absorbing the full story (this applies to short-form video, presidential politics, and just about anything in between), and the results are what you might expect. It impacts how we co-mingle, vote, where we choose to live, and the level of hope we possess.

Tahra's work is all about synthesizing and breaking down both cultural and economic data and trends into more understanding information — largely pertaining to housing and cost of living.

We discuss:

00:00 Tahra Hoops is in good traffic.

02:32 Policy communication and rapid response.

05:24 Balancing data collection and real-time reactions.

10:13 The housing crisis and policy solutions.

22:34 Generational perspectives on politics.

33:42 Introduction to The Rebuild and cost of living issues.

34:28 Small policy changes with big impacts.

35:32 Examples of effective policy initiatives.

37:09 Governor Shapiro's abundance politics.

38:15 The importance of positive feedback in politics.

40:42 Challenges in housing policy comms.

47:29 Why we live where we live.

52:10 In praise of walkability.

01:00:05 Wrapping up.

For context:

⁠The Rebuild (Tahra's Substack).⁠

The Progress Chamber.

Some of Tahra's Gen Z commentary.

Tahra on X.