714. Why NYC's Socialist Mayor Can't Create More Housing
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
Release Date: 08/11/2026
717. Who Was Madam C.J. Walker?
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
She was born in a Louisiana cotton field to parents who had been enslaved, orphaned by age seven, and married at fourteen to escape an abusive home — yet Madam C.J. Walker became the first self-made female millionaire in American history. What if the problem everyone complained about became the business idea that changed your life? Connor tells the story of Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove in 1867 in Delta, Louisiana, the first child in her family born free after slavery was abolished. Both of her parents had been enslaved on a Louisiana plantation, and when they died of yellow fever,...
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716. How The King's Search for Gun Powder Strengthened Property Rights
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
In 1606, King James's men were tearing up English homes with crowbars searching for a gunpowder ingredient — and the court ruling that finally reined them in is still being cited in property rights cases four centuries later. In 1606, the Crown's search for gunpowder resulted in one of the most important court rulings that shaped American property rights over a century later. Connor traces the story back to a tense moment in English history: the Anglo-Spanish War had just ended after nearly two decades of fighting, leaving King James I's treasury and gunpowder stores depleted. Just months...
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715. The Man Who Saved Thomas Jefferson's Life
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
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714. Why NYC's Socialist Mayor Can't Create More Housing
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
New York City just elected a democratic socialist mayor, and his plan to fix the housing crisis starts with getting rid of the very thing that builds houses: private ownership. Brittany dives into the real-world experiment now playing out in New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his housing secretary, Cea Weaver, are pushing policies built on the idea that housing should be owned collectively rather than privately. It's a big claim from two people with a lot of new power over one of the largest cities in the country, and Brittany breaks down why the economics behind it don't hold up....
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713. What Can Legos Teach Us about Innovation?
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
A struggling Danish carpenter lost his business in the Great Depression, watched his workshop burn to the ground twice, and still built one of the most beloved brands on the planet out of tiny plastic bricks. Legos aren't just the toy you're constantly stepping on in bare feet, they're also one of the best case studies in entrepreneurship you'll ever find. In this episode of The Way the World Works, we tell the story of Ole Kirk Christiansen, the Danish carpenter who invented Legos, and how he used grit, adaptability, and a relentless commitment to quality to turn a failing woodworking shop...
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712. The Baker Who Fed The Continental Army
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
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711. How Did Two People From Massachusetts Advance Religious Liberty?
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
Two colonists broke every rule of Puritan Massachusetts—and accidentally invented American religious liberty. The Puritans and Pilgrims sailed to America seeking freedom to worship as they pleased. But once they had power, they didn't extend that freedom to anyone else. In 1630s Massachusetts Bay Colony, only church members could vote, starting a new church required government permission, and criticizing religious leaders could get you fined, whipped, or banished. This episode was inspired by Murray Rothbard's dense but brilliant history "Conceived in Liberty" (the same historian behind the...
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710. John Adams, Free Speech, and the First Constitutional Crisis
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
John Adams helped write America's promise of free speech, then signed a law that made criticizing him a crime. The Revolution was won and the Constitution was ratified. But then what happened? Did the Constitution actually stop the new American government from becoming the very thing the Revolution was fought against? Brittany picks up right where the last Tuttle Twins history book left off, tracing what happened once George Washington stepped aside and the country's first contested election handed the presidency to John Adams and the vice presidency to his rival, Thomas Jefferson. Almost...
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709. Benedict Arnold: The Hero Who Became a Villain
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
Benedict Arnold saved America at its most desperate hour, then became its most infamous traitor. This is the story of how wounded pride turned a war hero into a villain. Before he became America's most famous traitor, Benedict Arnold was one of its most valuable heroes. In this episode, Brittany traces Arnold's path from successful Connecticut merchant to battlefield legend, and asks the question that drives every villain origin story: villains aren't born, so what actually turns a hero into one? Arnold's turning point wasn't a single betrayal, but a string of wounds to his pride. He disobeyed...
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708. Seeing America Through Fresh Eyes
The Way the World Works: A Tuttle Twins Podcast for Families
A German tourist's viral videos about hotel rooms and gas stations reminded millions of Americans just how extraordinary their everyday life really is. During the 2026 World Cup, visitors from around the globe are experiencing America for the first time, and their reactions are going viral. Brittany starts with the story of Freddie, a tourist from Germany whose posts about oversized hotel rooms, huge gas stations, and other "ordinary" American things have captivated millions online. It's easy to stop noticing the things we live with every day. Brittany shares her own experience of taking...
info_outlineNew York City just elected a democratic socialist mayor, and his plan to fix the housing crisis starts with getting rid of the very thing that builds houses: private ownership.
Brittany dives into the real-world experiment now playing out in New York City, where Mayor Zohran Mamdani and his housing secretary, Cea Weaver, are pushing policies built on the idea that housing should be owned collectively rather than privately. It's a big claim from two people with a lot of new power over one of the largest cities in the country, and Brittany breaks down why the economics behind it don't hold up.
Before getting into Mamdani and Weaver's specific ideas, Brittany walks through what's actually causing America's housing shortage: permitting delays, red tape, and rent control policies that discourage landlords from building or maintaining property in the first place. She revisits the COVID-era eviction moratoriums as a case study in what happens when government overrides market incentives, then digs into Weaver's past comments about collectively owned housing and the broader "housing is a right" argument.
That argument, Brittany explains, confuses a natural right to own property with a claim on other people's labor, since somebody still has to buy the land, pour the concrete, and build the house. She looks at real-world experiments in giving away free housing, the claim that private ownership causes inequality, and why handing something this important to government bureaucracy is a risky bet given its track record. It's a story worth watching closely, especially as similar collectivist thinking starts showing up in the city's education policy too.
What You'll Learn in This Episode
- Why New York City has become a real-world test case for democratic socialist housing policy
- Who Mayor Zohran Mamdani and housing secretary Cea Weaver are, and what they're proposing
- How permitting delays and red tape make it harder and more expensive to build new housing
- Why rent control discourages landlords from maintaining or building rental properties
- What happened during COVID-era eviction moratoriums, and why they backfired
- How Cea Weaver's past comments describe a vision of collectively owned, not privately owned, housing
- Why "housing is a right" confuses property rights with a claim on someone else's labor
- What real-world experiments giving away free housing to homeless individuals actually revealed
- Why private ownership isn't the source of real inequality, and where true inequality comes from
- How new housing actually gets built, through developers, contractors, and workers, not government decree
- Why government's track record raises doubts about handing it control of the housing market
- How the same collectivist thinking is now showing up in New York City's education policy
Timestamps
0:00 A "Thrilling" Topic: Housing Policy in NYC
0:53 Why New York Is the Stage for Democratic Socialism
1:44 Meet Housing Secretary Cea Weaver
2:11 America's Housing Shortage, Explained
3:06 How Permits and Red Tape Choke Housing Supply
4:15 Rent Control and the COVID Eviction Story
5:49 Cea Weaver's Vision: Collectively Owned Housing
8:05 Is Housing a Right? Property vs. Force
8:52 What Happens When You Give Away Free Housing
10:52 Does Private Ownership Cause Inequality?
12:12 Why Government Isn't Built to Run Housing
13:05 Where New Housing Actually Comes From
14:11 A Real-Time Experiment Worth Watching
👍 Like this video if you believe property rights, not government mandates, build more housing
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💬 Comment below: Do you think New York's housing experiment will work, or backfire?
Shop Resources
📘 Discover the ideas behind property rights and limited government in The Tuttle Twins Guide to the Constitution
https://www.tuttletwins.com/products/the-tuttle-twins-guide-to-the-constitution
📘 Learn the free market principles behind why prices and incentives matter in The Tuttle Twins and the Search for Atlas
https://www.tuttletwins.com/products/the-tuttle-twins-and-the-search-for-atlas
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