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Booked on Planning is a podcast that goes deep into the planning books that have helped shape the world of community and regional planning. We dive into the books and interview the authors to glean the most out of the literature important for preparing for AICP certification and just expanding your knowledge base. We are all busy with our day to day lives which is why we condense the most important material into short 30 minute episodes for your commute, workout, or while you are cleaning up around the house. Join us while we get Booked on Planning.

In the latest episode of the Booked On Planning podcast, hosts Stephanie Rouse and Jennifer Hiatt sat down with author and developer Jamie Madden to discuss his new book, Bittersweet Lane: Creating Home(s) in the American Affordable Housing Crisis. Part memoir and part educational guide, the book offers a rare look at the housing crisis from someone who grew up in affordable housing and now spends his career building it.Madden’s unique background allows him to bridge the gap between resident needs and developer realities. He emphasizes that successful housing requires understanding the “chain of consequences” behind every decision—from laundry room placement to the complex certification processes residents must navigate. A central theme of the interview is the ideological struggle over the purpose of affordable housing. Madden points out that while the goal should be simple—"everyone should have a place to live"—U.S. policy has historically wavered between viewing housing as a reward (like parks) or a punitive measure (like prisons). Show Notes:Further Reading: Gaffs: Why No One Can Get a House, and What We Can Do About It by Rory HearnePoor: Grit, courage, and the life-changing value of self-belief by Katriona O’SullivanTopographia Hibernica: Acclaimed stories from the bestselling Irish author, podcaster, satirist and musician by Blindboy BoatclubA past episode referenced by Jamie is Homeless is a Housing Issue, a book he references in Bittersweet Lane.Check out the APA National Planning Conference page and register to attend today at https://planning.org/conference/?utm_campaign=NPC26&utm_source=external&utm_medium=podcast&utm_content=bookedonplanning To help support the show, pick up a copy of the book through our Bookshop page at https://bookshop.org/shop/bookedonplanning or get a copy through your local bookstore!To view the show transcripts, click on the episode at https://bookedonplanning.buzzsprout.com/ Follow us on social media for more content related to each episode:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/booked-on-planning/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BookedPlanningFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookedonplanningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookedonplanning/

Progressivism struggles with a never ending pendulum swing between Jeffersonian and Hamiltonian impulses, bringing us to our current problem of inaction. Author Mark Dunkelman in his book, "Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress—and How to Bring It Back", explains the origins of American progressivism as a response to the upheaval created by railroads and national-scale economic power, outlining these two competing impulses within the movement: the Jeffersonian push to break up big institutions and return power to smaller, local actors, and a Hamiltonian push to build strong public institutions capable of regulating large private entities. The discussion traces how the U.S. shifted toward large-scale governance in the New Deal and mid-20th century, then swung back in the 1960s–1970s as public trust eroded due to environmental damage, highways cutting through communities, urban renewal, Vietnam, and Watergate, leading to layered legal and procedural checks that can fragment decision-making and make it difficult for governments to act quickly. Dunkelman describes how the judiciary’s role changed over time and argues that today’s system resembles a “tragedy of the commons in reverse,” where widespread veto points prevent collective action. Show Notes:Further Reading: Making a New Deal: Industrial Workers in Chicago, 1919-1939 by Lizabeth CohenSaving America's Cities: Ed Logue and the Struggle to Renew Urban America by Lizabeth CohenCadillac Desert: The American West and Its Disappearing Water by Marc ReisnerFind each on our Policy book list at https://bookshop.org/lists/theory-policy-historyTo help support the show, pick up a copy of the book through our Bookshop page at https://bookshop.org/shop/bookedonplanning or get a copy through your local bookstore!To view the show transcripts, click on the episode at https://bookedonplanning.buzzsprout.com/ Follow us on social media for more content related to each episode:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/booked-on-planning/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BookedPlanningFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookedonplanningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookedonplanning/

The ideal city, a utopia of sorts, has been the goal of America since its founding. First we immigrated to find freedom to thrive in the new world, then we moved west to find it on the open frontier, we left cities for the suburban utopia, and finally, we redeveloped our blighted urban cores to create it from within. With each period in our history, we have attempted to create the ideal mix of town and country, but author Alex Krieger ends his book City on a Hill which covers all this and more with a hope that this pursuit “should continue to lose luster.” Listen to the end to hear Alex’s response to why he wrapped up a book on our endless pursuit of this goal in this manner.Links:In the Boston Globe, read Krieger (with Matthew Kiefer) on the city’s new “gilded age”At the New York Daily News, read Krieger’s unpacking of the idea of the “American Dream”—on the occasion of a “destination” shopping mall of the same name’s grand opening in the New Jersey Meadowlands Buy a copy of City on a Hill at the Harvard University PressFollow us on social media for more content related to each episode:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/booked-on-planning/Twitter: https://twitter.com/BookedPlanningFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bookedonplanningInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/bookedonplanning/