Office Space

In 1982, a twelve-year-old paperboy, Johnny Gosch, vanished from a quiet Iowa street and sparked an unlikely campaign: the faces of missing children printed on milk cartons by the billions. Roman Mars and Annie Brown trace how a regional dairy campaign exploded into a national sy ... Show More

A Louisiana man born into slavery designs an airship with hopes to take flight. Those plans are interrupted, but maybe not forever. Listen to Family Lore wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ to listen to new episodes of 99% Invisible ad-free and a whole ... Show More

In 1902, an American classic was born: the teddy bear. Named after President Theodore Roosevelt, the toy became a huge hit, and sparked an idea…maybe every president from then on should have their own viral stuffed animal. Jon Mooallem tells the story of the ill-fated billy possu ... Show More

Big cities like New York have two real estate problems. Housing is scarce and office buildings are empty (or at least under-utilized.) So there would seem to be an obvious solution: turn the offices into homes. And indeed there has been a lot of talk lately about "office-to-resi" ... Show More

Many of us started working from home in the coronavirus pandemic - and never went back. Now, office space in many cities around the world is standing empty. We visit Mumbai, New York and London, where an increase in home working means buildings in business districts standing empt ... Show More

On today’s show we are talking about the conversion of office space. The problem with most office buildings is that they are the wrong shape to build apartments. Many office buildings are square in shape and most apartment buildings are rectangular, or L shaped, or U shaped. Apar ... Show More

<p>On today’s show we are talking about commercial real estate and office in particular. </p> <p>The main stream media remain fixated on reporting the averages. They are focused on the bigger macro picture.</p> <p>For example last week the Wall Street Journal published a story al ... Show More

Pandemic restrictions are mostly over, but cities are still struggling to recover. Empty offices threaten to set off a downward spiral of falling tax revenue and declining services. Today, Explained’s Miles Bryan tries to stop the doom loop before it starts. This episode was repo ... Show More

Cities have been struggling since the pandemic. In some—including Los Angeles and San Francisco—office high-rises have become “zombie buildings,” with vacancy rates of 50% or more. But many people still want to live in cities and be part of a vibrant community. BCG’s Santiago Fer ... Show More

Offices across the country are still sitting empty. The nationwide office vacancy rate reached a high of about 20% in the first quarter of 2023, according to JLL, and while big tech companies are pressuring workers to return to the office, the hybrid work model has led to an incr ... Show More