Writers Bloc Presents Ezra Klein, Derek Thompson and Jon Favreau

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New York Times columnist and podcast host Ezra Klein and Atlantic journalist and podcast host Derek Thompson are energizing, and generate hope. Especially when they're talking about a serious social mess or yet another political crisis.

Problems problems problems. But problems can create opportunity.  The extraordinary journalists Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson examine a slew of social problems in their new book, Abundance-- problems that were actually created by solutions dreamed up decades ago by sometimes well-meaning legislation. Solutions that might have seemed perfectly sensible a generation or two ago have actually been force multipliers for problems we're looking at right now. Take  housing shortages. The housing crisis strangling cities across the country are the result of density zoning laws that decades ago made sense. Los Angeles, for example, enacted strict anti-density regulations, and we fought long and hard against looking like New York. The result is a staggering and catastrophic lack of housing-- affordable and not so affordable. But don't despair. Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson find hope and promise for us in Abundance, suggesting that we need to reframe our thinking, and that it's possible in a host of sectors, to protect and at the same time, to improve and expand.

Ezra Klein is a columnist for the New York Times, and he hosts the terrific twice-weekly podcast, The Ezra Klein Show, which you can listen to or watch on Tuesdays and Fridays on nytimes.com. He tackles social and political issues with experts who provide clarity when and where you didn't think clarity could be found. Derek Thompson is a regular contributor to The Atlantic, and writes on tech, culture, and politics. He is the host of Plain English, a podcast in which he navigates issues in the news and breaks it down into plain English.  

Crooked Media’s Jon Favreau and Ezra Klein talk about political problems, challenges, and possible solutions, a lot. They mull opportunities within those problems they explore.  Favreau was President Obama’s speechwriter for four years, after having worked on Obama’s first presidential campaign in that capacity. When Trump was elected, Favreau and fellow Obama White House colleagues Tommy Vietor, Jon Lovett and Dan Pfeiffer launched their landmark podcast, Pod Save America, and the enormously influential media company Crooked Media. Favreau also hosts Offline with Jon Favreau, as well as The Wilderness. The Crooked guys’ first book, Democracy or Else, will be published in late June 2025.

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