Street Fight Part I: Hobos, Bums, and the Homeless

What we call “homelessness” is a relatively modern phenomenon. Today, we tell the story of its emergence and why, in the 1980s, one woman fought so fervently for her right to live on a New York City street corner. You can hear the full series right now when you become a Longview subscriber by visiting us⁠⁠⁠⁠ ⁠here THIS EPISODE FEATURES: Stephen Eide LINKS: 60 Minutes segment on Joyce Brown Stephen Eide at the Manhattan Institute The New York Civil Liberties Union  Jack London’s memoir of his hobo years, The Road Joyce Brown’s obituary New York magazine story on Brown Retro Report piece featuring Brown’s niece Study on homelessness mortality HUD’s 2024 Annual Homelessness Assessment Report (Part 1) For this series we also read, and recommend, the following books: Homelessness in America: The History and Tragedy of an Intractable Social Problem by Stephen Eide, Reckoning with Homelessness by Kim Hopper, The Hobo: The Sociology of the Homeless Man by Nels Anderson, and Down and Out, on the Road: The Homeless in American History by Kenneth L. Kusmer. CREDITS: This story was reported by Emma Pettit and produced by Andy Mills, Ethan Mannello, Matthew Boll, and Simon Adler. It was mixed by Emma Munger. Music for this episode was composed by Cobey Bienert and Simon Adler. Artwork for this episode is by Jacob Boll. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices