logo
episode-header-image
Nov 2023
1h 27m

Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes, "Wh...

NEW BOOKS NETWORK
About this episode

Think about the last time that you saw or interacted with an unhoused person. What did you do? What did you say? Did you offer money or a smile, or did you avert your gaze?

Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes's book When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America (North Atlantic Books, 2023) takes an urgent look at homelessness in America, showing us what we lose--in ourselves and as a society--when we choose to walk past and ignore our neighbors in shelters, insecure housing, or on the streets. And it brilliantly shows what we stand to gain when we embrace our humanity and move toward evidence-based people-first, community-driven solutions, offering social analysis, economic and political histories, and the real stories of unhoused people.

Authors Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes, with Amanda Banh and Andrijana Bilbija, recast chronic homelessness in the U.S. as a byproduct of twin crises: our social services systems are failing, and so is our humanity. Readers will learn:

  • Why our brains have been trained to overlook our unhoused neighbors
  • The social, economic, and political forces that shape myths like "all homeless people are addicts" and "they'd have a house if they got a job"
  • What conservative economics gets wrong about housing insecurity
  • What relational poverty is, and how to shift away from "us versus them" thinking
  • That for many Americans, housing insecurity is just one missed paycheck away
  • Who "the homeless" really are--and why that might surprise you
  • What you can do to help, starting today


A necessary, deeply humanizing read that goes beyond theory and policy analysis to offer engaged solutions with compassion and heart, When We Walk By is a must-read for anyone who cares about homelessness, housing solutions, and their own humanity.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Support our show by becoming a premium member! https://newbooksnetwork.supportingcast.fm/public-policy

Up next
Yesterday
Susan C. Boyd, "Heroin: An Illustrated History" (Fernwood, 2022)
Dr. Susan Boyd is a scholar/activist and Distinguished Professor emerita at the University of Victoria. Her research examines a variety of topics related to the history of drug prohibition and resistance to it, drug law and policy, including maternal drug use, maternal/state conf ... Show More
45m 23s
Aug 22
Daniel Lomas, "The Secret History of UK Security Vetting from 1909 to the Present" (Bloomsbury, 2025)
Using newly available government records, private papers, and documents obtained through Freedom of Information, The Secret History of UK Vetting from 1909 to the Present (Bloomsbury, 2025) by Dr. Daniel Lomas tells the secret story of UK security vetting from 1909 to the present ... Show More
1h 3m
Aug 22
Tim Lenton, "Positive Tipping Points: How to Fix the Climate Crisis" (Oxford UP, 2025)
As global change escalates, we are already starting to experience damaging tipping points in the social, ecological and climate systems that we depend upon - and much worse is to come. These shocks tell us we have left it too late for incremental change to save us: we need to cha ... Show More
56m 53s
Recommended Episodes
May 2024
Amy Schiller, "The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong—And How to Fix It" (Melville House, 2023)
Amy Schiller's The Price of Humanity: How Philanthropy Went Wrong—And How to Fix It (Melville House, 2023) makes an attempt to rescue philanthropy from its progressive decline into vanity projects that drive wealth inequality, so that it may support human flourishing as originall ... Show More
38m 36s
Mar 2024
Untold Stories: Homelessness and Mental Illness
From the streets of San Francisco to the depths of human struggle, Dr. Robert L. Okin, MD, shares the deeply personal narratives of people he spoke with experiencing homelessness during his two-year journey living among and listening to the stories of homeless individuals with me ... Show More
32m 2s
Jul 2024
Amanda McMillan Lequieu, "Who We Are Is Where We Are: Making Home in the American Rust Belt" (Columbia UP, 2024)
Half a century ago, deindustrialization gutted blue-collar jobs in the American Midwest. But today, these places are not ghost towns. People still call these communities home, even as they struggle with unemployment, poverty, and other social and economic crises. Why do people re ... Show More
41m 40s
Nov 2023
Curtis Smith, "Homelessness and Housing Advocacy: The Role of Red-Tape Warriors" (Routledge, 2022)
Through compelling ethnography, Homelessness and Housing Advocacy: The Role of Red-Tape Warriors (Routledge, 2022) reveals the creative and ambitious methods that social service providers use to house their clients despite the conflictual conditions posed by the policies and inst ... Show More
1h 23m
Mar 2024
Homelessness and Mental Illness (Bonus Content)
“Ten percent of the population has amassed a huge amount of wealth, more than 50% of the bottom half of the population combined. Government basically, through our taxation policies, stuffed the richest segment of the population, which inevitably meant that it starved the poorest ... Show More
28m 37s
Nov 2023
Astra Taylor, "The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart" (House of Anansi Press, 2023)
These days, everyone feels insecure. We are financially stressed and emotionally overwhelmed. The status quo isn’t working for anyone, even those who appear to have it all. What is going on?In The Age of Insecurity (House of Anansi Press, 2023), author and activist Astra Taylor e ... Show More
1h 1m
Aug 2024
How To Let In New Perspectives
With the U.S. election swiftly approaching, the political divide can feel overwhelming. But what happens when we recognize the limits of our knowledge? Link to episode transcript: https://tinyurl.com/83a5wbkp Episode SummaryWhen we internally acknowledge the limits of our knowled ... Show More
23m 30s
Apr 2025
Speak Your Reality Into Existence & Transform Your Life | Billy Carson EP 943
Order my newest book Make Money Easy! https://lewishowes.com/moneyyouCheck out the full episode: greatness.lnk.to/1752From near-death to new beginnings, Billy Carson shares his profound understanding of how our thoughts and words physically alter our reality. After battling pneum ... Show More
6m 44s
Nov 2023
Nancy Lindisfarne and Jonathan Neale, "Why Men?: A Human History of Violence and Inequality" (Hurst, 2023)
How did humans, a species that evolved to be cooperative and egalitarian, develop societies of enforced inequality? Why did our ancestors create patriarchal power and warfare? Did it have to be this way? These are some of the key questions that Dr. Nancy Lindisfarne and Dr. Jonat ... Show More
1h 14m
Aug 12
How Are Those Luxury Beliefs Working Out? Rob Henderson and the coinage that keeps on giving.
This week, I welcome back Rob Henderson, the social psychologist, author, and commentator who coined the concept of luxury beliefs: ideas that confer status on the upper class while inflicting real costs on lower-income communities. Rob was last here in early 2024 discussing his ... Show More
29m 47s
Listen to millions of songs and podcasts on Anghami