Gabrielle ThompsonAre you wanting to learn more about homelessness? Well you’ve come to the right place. This is a curated list of the best homelessness podcasts of 2021.
We have selected these podcasts for a variety of reasons, but they are all well worth a listen. We tried to select a variety of podcasts across the spectrum from hosts with a wide breadth of experience.
We are always keen to hear your feedback, if we have missed a podcast, Twitter us Pretty Progressive (Twitter) and we will check it out!
Best Homelessness Podcasts 2021
With thanks to ListenNotes, Crunchbase, SemRush and Ahrefs for providing the data to create and rank these podcasts.
Outsiders
- Publisher: KNKX and The Seattle Times
- Total Episodes: 14
Homelessness on the West Coast is rising to crisis levels at a time of historic economic growth and prosperity. Why? KNKX Public Radio and The Seattle Times’ Project Homeless spent one year in a city that’s grappling with homelessness. What’s it like to live outside for months on end? What’s it like when tents come to your neighborhood? What new solutions can city leaders find? This is Outsiders.
Love Thy Neighborhood
- Publisher: Love Thy Neighborhood
- Total Episodes: 61
The Love Thy Neighborhood podcast explores the intersection of social action and Christian faith as we follow everyday people doing extraordinary things. Each episode centers around a single theme – such as the sex industry, homelessness or race – and interweaves field reporting, studio interviews and first-person narratives based on that theme. It is hosted by Jesse Eubanks, Executive Director of Love Thy Neighborhood.
Bay Curious
- Publisher: KQED
- Total Episodes: 244
Bay Curious is a show about your questions – and the adventures you find when you go looking for the answers. Join host Olivia Allen-Price to explore all aspects of the San Francisco Bay Area – from the debate over “Frisco”, to the dinosaurs that once roamed California, to the causes of homelessness. Whether you lived here your whole life, or just arrived, Bay Curious will deepen your understanding of this place you call home.
City Journal’s 10 Blocks
- Publisher: Manhattan Institute
- Total Episodes: 217
City Journal’s 10 Blocks, a weekly podcast hosted by editor Brian C. Anderson, features discussions on urban policy and culture with City Journal editors, contributors, and special guests. Forthcoming episodes will be devoted to topics such as: predictive policing, the Bronx renaissance, reform of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, homelessness in Portland, Oregon, and more. City Journal is a quarterly print and regular online magazine published by the Manhattan Institute.
Gospel Con Carne
- Publisher: Mobile Loaves & Fishes
- Total Episodes: 53
The ‘Gospel Con Carne’ is a gritty journey of Tex-Mex theology that explores the woundedness of society through untold stories of homelessness. Our host, Alan Graham, is the founder and CEO of Austin, TX-based Mobile Loaves and Fishes – a social outreach ministry that has been empowering communities into a lifestyle of service with the homeless for more than two decades. Alan also is the lead visionary behind the innovative Community First! Village – the country’s only master-planned community designed specifically for men and women coming out of chronic homelessness.
Mental Health Download: Exploring Mental Illness, Suicide, Homelessness and Incarceration
- Publisher: MHAOK
- Total Episodes: 184
Mental Health Association Oklahoma created The Mental Health Download podcast to share stories each week about mental illness, homelessness, incarceration and suicide, and how each can impact our lives in a profound way. Mental health affects everyone, yet the social stigma attached to mental health issues keeps so many of our family members, friends, colleagues and neighbors silent. Why are we so afraid to talk about these issues? Each week, our host Matt Gleason invites guests to share how mental illness, suicide, homelessness and incarceration have affected their work or lives.
Stories From Skid Row
- Publisher: Union Rescue Mission
- Total Episodes: 461
“Stories From Skid Row” gives listeners an opportunity to hear first-hand testimonies from those who are experiencing homelessness, as well as staff and friends of Union Rescue Mission. These episodes provide a glimpse into the issues surrounding homelessness and the work being done to combat this serious problem in Los Angeles.
Changing the Conversation
- Publisher: C4 Innovations
- Total Episodes: 164
Critical and timely topics focused on equity, homelessness, substance use, mental health, and trauma. Jeff Olivet, Kristen Paquette, and Regina Cannon of C4 Innovations interview health and human service experts, researchers, and advocates. Conversations explore how we can adapt our systems to the rapidly changing landscape of social services. For more information visit c4innovates.com.
The Everyday Problems Podcast
- Publisher: everydayproblems
- Total Episodes: 15
A podcast about the everyday challenges we face as regular human beings. Through the series we aim to discuss stress, depression, grief, redundancy, anxiety, homelessness and more. We hope that by exploring these everyday problems we can shed some light on ways to cope with them and make the world a more comfortable place.
Integrity Radio
- Publisher: Sifu Z
- Total Episodes: 345
Original music and delightfully intriguing conversation with visiting guest cohosts engaging on fascinating topics – art, kung fu, social media, history, psychology, dogs, hiking, homelessness, entrepreneurship, skepticism, Daisy BB guns, and much more. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/integrity/support
Housing First Podcast
- Publisher: Kara Birrell
- Total Episodes: 7
Ex-homeless comedian, Kara Birrell, and guests cover topics surrounding the homelessness crisis in America – including the role systemic racism plays in homelessness, what organizations across the country are doing to eradicate this problem, and the Housing First solution to ending this crisis.
Dwellings
- Publisher: City of San José Housing Department
- Total Episodes: 9
Dwellings is a podcast from the City of San José Housing Department, where we discuss ending homelessness, building affordable housing, and housing policy at the City and State level with local experts in the field. Theme music: “Speed City,” composed and performed by Etienne Charles, courtesy of San Jose Jazz.
World Changing Ideas
- Publisher: Fast Company
- Total Episodes: 53
Rising temperatures, homelessness, food scarcity, and a lack of access to healthcare, how we address these colossal issues is critical. World Changing Ideas is a show that investigates how innovation can solve these problems and help kick-start a new future. We’re highlighting the solutions that could end pollution and change food production. From rethinking public spaces to developing a circular economy to taking on climate change, we’ll show how leaders and creators are building a new way of life.
The Holistic Housing Podcast
- Publisher: NACCED
- Total Episodes: 42
The Holistic Housing PodcastConnecting community. Sharing ideas. Finding solutions. The Holistic Housing Podcast brings together thought leaders, policy makers and program implementers across the affordable housing, community development and economic development field. Guests discuss their experiences and solutions on topics like gentrification, workforce development, homelessness, urban revitalization, sustainability, placemaking, the American Dream and so much more. Through these conversations, we illustrate how housing affects quality of life and in turn, every individual’s ability to lead a successful life.
Our Town Reno
- Publisher: Reynolds Media Lab
- Total Episodes: 124
With audio postcards from the streets, and inspiring interviews with community activists, we address issues of homelessness, the disappearance of public space, gentrification and the value of helping each other out from our base in Reno, Nevada. We do live reporting, micro storytelling and spoken word. As we face an affordable housing crisis, what happens to our most vulnerable?
The Brain Architects
- Publisher: Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
- Total Episodes: 11
Healthy development in the early years provides the building blocks for educational achievement, economic productivity, responsible citizenship, strong communities, and successful parenting of the next generation. By improving children’s environments, relationships, and experiences early in life, society can address many costly problems, including incarceration, homelessness, and the failure to complete high school. But if you’re a parent, caregiver, teacher, or someone who works with children every day, you may be wondering, “Where do I start?!” From brain architecture to toxic stress to serve and return, The Brain Architects, a new podcast from the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University will explore what we can do during this incredibly important period to ensure that all children have a strong foundation for future development.
Mental Insights
- Publisher: Brendan Cutuli
- Total Episodes: 148
Mental Insights is a conversation aimed in understanding all sides of mental health, addiction recovery and homelessness. Each interview will include a personal story or expert within one of these fields. The goal is to promote awareness, guidance and support for anyone who is affected by these challenges.Find out more at https://www.brendancutuli.com
First Thought Podcast
- Publisher: Jacqueline Wilson
- Total Episodes: 118
The First Lady of Wayne State University, Jacqueline Wilson, is a former energy consultant for Schneider Electric, a global leader in energy management. She also spent more than two decades in corporate sales for AT&T and WorldCom. Today she manages Wayne State’s HIGH program to combat homelessness, owns her own clothing line, and still has time to be an outstanding mom to her pampered pooch, Quincey. Listen in on her thoughts on a number of topics as she imparts her own wisdom, to empower others as they navigate their own journeys as budding professionals.
This is Your Life in Silicon Valley
- Publisher: The Bold Italic
- Total Episodes: 58
Do you love HBO’s Silicon Valley? Do you like reading about the latest technology trends? Then you’ll love this show. Think of us as the real world/explain-it-how-it-is podcast for anyone with a Silicon Valley fetish. The Bay Area, San Francisco, and California in general are undergoing massive political and social change. We tackle issues like homelessness, the housing crisis, dating in the age of technology, startups, and other things you care about. How will it affect your life? It doesn’t matter whether you live in New York, Texas, Arkansas, Bulgaria or Latvia – you will find something applicable to your day-to-day life from this show. And love it, or hate it the Silicon Valley/The Bay Area/California are the center of the technology universe right now. Insiders, and Valley apologists liken the Silicon Valley to Rome during the Renaissance. Others are more skeptical of the people in the Valley and their intentions. We examine life in the Valley by interviewing some of its most prominent insiders – both apologists and skeptics. We discuss the cultural quirks of living here, what to legitimately fear, what to feel excited about, and what is just plain weird. (Image credit: Irina Blok, Producer: Max Savage (noisysavage.com).
Cityscape
- Publisher: WFUV News
- Total Episodes: 768
WFUV’s award-winning, weekly public affairs program. Host George Bodarky covers New York City issues from the humorous to the sobering; whether it’s an examination of local hipsters, homelessness or historic architecture. “Cityscape gives me 30 minutes to focus on a particular issue, to really delve into it,” says Bodarky. “I love to walk,” he says. “I will just walk around Manhattan and discover new neighborhoods, new communities, and to me that’s the best thing… Much of what I bring to the show is a new experience to me that I hope resonates with the listeners as well.”
