Introduction

Five families from Chicago, Atlanta, Dallas, Los Angeles, and Pittsburg move to the suburbs in search of the American dream, drawn by promises of better schools and all the other amenities promised by suburban life…but instead, they’re experiencing the decline of the suburbs, rather than the benefits that were sold to them.

On this week’s episode, host Abby Kinney and co-host Chuck Marohn discuss this story, told in “The Suburbs Have Become a Ponzi Scheme,” and based on the book, Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America's Suburbs.

• “The Suburbs Have Become a Ponzi Scheme,” by Alex Kotlowitz, The Atlantic (January 2024).

• Abby Newsham (X/Twitter).

• Chuck Marohn (X/Twitter).

• Theme Music by Kemet the Phantom.