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Mobility in America’s Past, Present, and Future

On this episode of American Prestige, Yoni Appelbaum on his new book.

Daniel Bessner and Derek Davison

April 1, 2025

Single-family homes in a residential neighborhood in Aldie, Virginia, on Wednesday, May 22, 2024.(Nathan Howard / Bloomberg via Getty Images)

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Mobility in America’s Past, Present, and Future w/ Yoni Appelbaum | American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

Yoni Appelbaum, a deputy executive editor at The Atlantic, joins the program to talk about his book Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. We discuss mobility in the US and how that might sacrifice community for opportunity, the “frontier” as a way of taking land and easing class antagonism, the birth of American zoning from anti-Chinese practices in 19th century California, the move toward the single-family home and it being a symbol of the American identity, how we can make homes accessible once more for working Americans, and more.

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On this episode of American Prestige, Yoni Appelbaum, a deputy executive editor at The Atlantic, joins the program to talk about his book Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity. We discuss mobility in the US and how that might sacrifice community for opportunity, the “frontier” as a way of taking land and easing class antagonism, the birth of American zoning from anti-Chinese practices in 19th-century California, the move toward the single-family home and its being a symbol of the American identity, how we can make homes accessible once more for working Americans, and more.

Subscribe to The Nation to support all of our podcasts: thenation.com/podcastsubscribe.

The Nation Podcasts

Here's where to find podcasts from The Nation. Political talk without the boring parts, featuring the writers, activists and artists who shape the news, from a progressive perspective.

Lula Wins Fourth Term, Serbian Students Defeat Ruling Party, US Prepares to Escalate Iran War / American Prestige
byThe Nation Magazine

Danny and Derek considered helping Flavio Bolsonaro mount a political comeback here in the States, but cut ties on the advice of Danny's psychic. In this week’s news: Israel's election leaves Netanyahu without a parliamentary majority (1:41); Lula wins Brazil's presidential runoff and Flávio Bolsonaro flees Brazil for the United States after his defeat (8:53); Serbia's student-led opposition topples the ruling party (14:33); the United States and Gulf states pursue a new peace initiative with Iran as the United States prepares for another military campaign after the midterms (18:35); a Sudanese military drone strike kills more than 100 people in Nyala (23:55); Turkey hosts talks between Libya's rival governments looking toward reunification (26:01); in the Russia-Ukraine war, Zelenskyy announces peace talks in Abu Dhabi for November (28:50), the two countries observe a local ceasefire near Oleshky to allow humanitarian aid (29:56), and the Trump administration considers major sanctions relief for Russia (32:21); Venezuelan opposition leader María Corina Machado returns to the country (34:50); and apparent cyberattacks disrupt refrigeration systems at U.S. military bases (37:41).

Listen to our full special on the election in Brazil with Andre Pagliarini.

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Daniel BessnerTwitterDaniel Bessner is a historian of US foreign relations and is the author of, among other books, Imperialist Realism.


Derek DavisonDerek Davison is a writer and analyst specializing in international affairs and US foreign policy. He is the publisher of the Foreign Exchanges newsletter, cohost of the American Prestige podcast, and former editor of LobeLog.


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