Mar 19 2025 36 mins 104
In the 19th century, about one in three Americans moved every year. In the 1960s, that figure had shrunk to one in five
In 2023, it was one in 13.
In other words, a smaller percentage of Americans are moving today than they have at any time in our history. As Yoni Appelbaum, historian and deputy executive editor at The Atlantic makes clear in his book, “Stuck: How the Privileged and the Propertied Broke the Engine of American Opportunity,” this change has played a devastating role in many of the most pressing issues Americans face, from income inequality to economic mobility to political polarization.
On this episode, Dan Richards talks with Appelbaum about why Americans stopped moving, why that’s a problem for all of us, and what we can do to revive this key component of growth and opportunity in the U.S.
