Planet Money: Zombie 2nd Mortgages
17 September - 33 minsKaren MacDonough had paid her mortgage for years, raised her family, and lived a quiet life in her Quincy, Massachusetts home—until one day, a group of strangers appeared on her lawn, claiming her house was up for foreclosure. What followed was a surreal discovery of “zombie mortgages,” forgotten second loans from the housing bubble era that have come back to haunt homeowners like Karen. As real estate prices rise, debt collectors are reviving these dormant debts, threatening homes across the country.
This episode is from our friends at Planet Money, a podcast about economics...possibly the biggest thing that we all collectively try not to think about, only to have it greet us at the grocer...
Medellin, Revisited
Once considered the most dangerous city in the world due to drug cartel violence, by the early 2000s Medellin had reinvented itself. But gentrification is allowing criminal gangs to reap large profits from a shadow economy powered by the tourist boom.
33 mins
10 September Finished
Not Built For This #6: Maximum Temperature
In the final episode of Not Built for This, we reckon with the biological limits of climate adaptation.
41 mins
6 September Finished
Not Built For This #5: The Little Levee That Could
How the residents of Hamilton City, California finally got the levee they deserved.
48 mins
3 September Finished
Not Built For This #4: Unbuilding the Terrace
What’s it like for residents to fight like hell for help, but the help on offer means leaving the place they love?
48 mins
30 August Finished
Not Built For This #3: The Price is Wrong
As storms get more extreme and unpredictable, insurance companies are running the numbers on Florida and realizing that the math just isn’t working anymore.
49 mins
27 August Finished