Most Podern Podcast

3 Building Code Rules That Block Missing Middle Housing

Small 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 kn

Why Los Angeles Urban Development Is Built Backwards

Los Angeles urban development faces severe housing scarcity and bureaucratic strain while pioneering polycentric node architecture across 88 cities.Los Angeles attracts c

How FutureLot Is Decoding the American Zoning Maze

Zoning 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

This Is Quietly Reshaping How We Build Homes - Dwayne Torrey

The 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

Architecture Off the Assembly Line - with Justin Brechtel

What happens when an architect stops designing one-off buildings and starts designing a system? Justin Brechtel is a licensed architect in California, principal of Itera

What's Your Density Appetite?

Have 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

Why the Future Is Physical: Real Estate, Loneliness & The Playbook Behind AREA15’s Success

If 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 qu

Why 12 Million Tons of Glass Goes to Landfills Every Year (And How We're Stopping It)

Every 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 re

An Architectural Answer to how Cities can Turn Down the Heat

What 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 ed

A New Era for Sprawl

The American suburban dream is unsustainable—but we're not giving up on it. David Kooris, Executive Director of the Connecticut Municipal Development Authority and lectu

Planning Coachella - Reiko Wei

What 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 festi

America can't Build. Can Modular Construction be the Answer?

How 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 Modula

Why Affordable Housing Isn’t Affordable

Why 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

Design School for The Displaced - With Scott Key

What 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 h

The Architect Who Healed NYC After 9/11

In 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 s

The Four Horsemen of Urban Decline

Why 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, Construc

How Building Codes Shape American Urbanism - Type V City Part II

Why 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, archit

Why U.S. Homes Are All Built the Same Way - Type V City Part I

Why 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

Why Architects Should Code - With Alex and Libo

In this conversation, Alex Yuen and Libo discuss the importance of architects learning to code, exploring how coding can enhance creativity, efficiency, and control in ar

Designing With Intimacy - Dong-Ping Wong

What if a pool could clean a river—and a building could rewrite culture? Would you swim in the East River? What does “local” look like when it doesn’t mimic the block aro