About Stephen Pimpare

Stephen Pimpare is Professor of Public Policy at Vermont Law and Graduate School. He is the author of The New Victorians (New Press, 2004), A People's History of Poverty (New Press, 2008), Ghettos, Tramps & Welfare Queens (Oxford, 2017), and Politics for Social Workers (Columbia, 2021).

Stephen Pimpare is Professor of Public Policy at Vermont Law and Graduate School.

Stephen's website

NBN Episodes hosted by Stephen:

David E. Gilbert, "Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land: A Social Movement Ethnography" (U California Press, 2024)

March 12, 2024

Countering Dispossession, Reclaiming Land

David E. Gilbert
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Two decades ago, a group of Indonesian agricultural workers began occupying the agribusiness plantation near their homes. In the years since, members …

Terry Williams, "Life Underground: Encounters with People Below the Streets of New York" (Columbia UP, 2024)

March 1, 2024

Life Underground

Terry Williams
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Aboveground, Manhattan’s Riverside Park provides open space for the densely populated Upper West Side. Beneath its surface run railroad tunnels, disus…

Laurence Cox et al., "Handbook of Research Methods and Applications for Social Movements" (Edward Elgar, 2024)

February 17, 2024

Handbook of Research Methods and Applications for Social Movements

Laurence Cox, Anna Szolucha, Alberto Arribas Lozano, and Sutapa Chattopadhyay
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Addressing practice-oriented questions, this handbook engages with both theoretical and political dimensions, unpacking the multidimensional nature of…

Nick Romeo, "The Alternative: How to Build a Just Economy" (PublicAffairs, 2024)

February 7, 2024

The Alternative

Nick Romeo
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Winners Take All meets Nickel and Dimed: a provocative debunking of accepted wisdom, providing the pathway to a sustainable, survivable economy. Conf…

Lisa L. Phillips et al., "Grassroots Activisms: Public Rhetorics in Localized Contexts" (Ohio State UP, 2024)

February 4, 2024

Grassroots Activisms: Public Rhetorics in Localized Contexts

Lisa L. Phillips, Sarah Warren-Riley, and Julie Collins Bates
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

What is the nature of grassroots activism? How and why do individuals get involved or attempt to make change for themselves, others, or their own comm…

Chrystin Ondersma, "Dignity Not Debt: An Abolitionist Approach to Economic Justice" (U California Press, 2024)

February 3, 2024

Dignity Not Debt

Chrystin Ondersma
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

American households have a debt problem. The problem is not, as often claimed, that Americans recklessly take on too much debt. The problem is that US…

Ofer Sharone, "The Stigma Trap: College-Educated, Experienced, and Long-Term Unemployed" (Oxford UP, 2024)

January 22, 2024

The Stigma Trap

Ofer Sharone
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

An eye-opening look at how all American workers, even the highly educated and experienced, are vulnerable to the stigma of unemployment. After receiv…

Daniel Campo, "Postindustrial DIY: Recovering American Rust Belt Icons" (Fordham UP, 2023)

December 20, 2023

Postindustrial DIY

Daniel Campo
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

A pioneering Detroit automobile factory. A legendary iron mill at the edge of Pittsburgh. A campus of concrete grain elevators in Buffalo. Two monumen…

Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce, "Practical Radicals: Seven Strategies to Change the World" (The New Press, 2023)

December 1, 2023

Practical Radicals

Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Listen:

In the tradition of Saul Alinsky’s Rules for Radicals and Sun Tzu’s The Art of War, Deepak Bhargava and Stephanie Luce’s Practical Radicals: Seven Str…

Eric M. Patashnik, "Countermobilization: Policy Feedback and Backlash in a Polarized Age" (U Chicago Press, 2023)

November 12, 2023

Countermobilization

Eric M. Patashnik
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

The most successful policies not only solve problems. They also build supportive coalitions. Yet, sometimes, policies trigger backlash and mobilize op…

Christopher John Bosso, "Why SNAP Works: A Political History--And Defense--of the Food Stamp Program" (U California Press, 2023)

October 14, 2023

Why SNAP Works

Christopher John Bosso
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

How did the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program evolve from a Depression-era effort to use up surplus goods into America's foundational food ass…

Lainey Newman and Theda Skocpol, "Rust Belt Union Blues: Why Working-Class Voters Are Turning Away from the Democratic Party" (Columbia UP, 2023)

October 12, 2023

Rust Belt Union Blues

Lainey Newman and Theda Skocpol
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Listen:

In the heyday of American labor, the influence of local unions extended far beyond the workplace. Unions fostered tight-knit communities, touching nea…

Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes, "When We Walk By: Forgotten Humanity, Broken Systems, and the Role We Can Each Play in Ending Homelessness in America" (North Atlantic Books, 2023)

October 1, 2023

When We Walk By

Kevin F. Adler and Donald W. Burnes
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Think about the last time that you saw or interacted with an unhoused person. What did you do? What did you say? Did you offer money or a smile, or di…

Luke Messac, "Your Money Or Your Life: Debt Collection in American Medicine" (Oxford UP, 2023)

September 17, 2023

Your Money Or Your Life

Luke Messac
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

A riveting exposé of medical debt collection in America -- and the profound financial and physical costs eroding patient trust in medicine For the cri…

Zachary Parolin, "Poverty in the Pandemic: Policy Lessons from COVID-19" (Russell Sage Foundation, 2023)

September 15, 2023

Poverty in the Pandemic

Zachary Parolin
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Listen:

Zachary Parolin's book Poverty in the Pandemic: Policy Lessons from COVID-19 (Russell Sage Foundation, 2023) is interested in poverty during the COVID…

Kathryn J. Edin et al., "The Injustice of Place: Uncovering the Legacy of Poverty in America" (Mariner Books, 2023)

September 1, 2023

The Injustice of Place

Kathryn J. Edin, H. Luke Shaefer, and Timothy J. Nelson
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Listen:

A sweeping and surprising new understanding of extreme poverty in America from the authors of the acclaimed $2.00 a Day: Living on Almost Nothing in A…

Frederick W. Gooding Jr. and Eric S. Yellin, "Public Workers in Service of America: A Reader" (U Illinois Press, 2023)

August 26, 2023

Public Workers in Service of America

Frederick W. Gooding Jr. and Eric S. Yellin
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

From white-collar executives to mail carriers, public workers meet the needs of the entire nation. In Public Workers in Service of America: A Reader (…

Lauren S. Foley, "On the Basis of Race: How Higher Education Navigates Affirmative Action Policies" (NYU Press, 2023)

August 16, 2023

On the Basis of Race

Lauren S. Foley
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Listen:

Diversity in higher education is under attack as the Supreme Court limits the use of race-conscious admissions practices at American colleges and univ…

Elizabeth Carpenter-Song, "Families on the Edge: Experiences of Homelessness and Care in Rural New England" (MIT Press, 2023)

August 4, 2023

Families on the Edge

Elizabeth Carpenter-Song
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Listen:

An intimate account of rural New England families living on the edge of homelessness, as well as the practices and policies of care that fail them. Fa…

Colleen M. Grogan, "Grow and Hide: The History of America's Health Care State" (Oxford UP, 2023)

August 2, 2023

Grow and Hide

Colleen M. Grogan
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Listen:

A sweeping history of the American health care state that reveals the public has been intentionally misled about the true role of government. The US g…

Brendan O'Brien, "Homesick: Why Housing Is Unaffordable and How We Can Change It" (Chicago Review Press, 2023)

July 18, 2023

Homesick

Brendan O'Brien
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare
Listen:

Nobody who sits in traffic on Sedona, Arizona's main stretch or stands shoulder-to-shoulder in its many souvenir shops would call it a ghost town. Nei…

Jacqueline Mondros and Joan Minieri, "Organizing for Power and Empowerment: The Fight for Democracy" (Columbia UP, 2023)

May 11, 2023

Organizing for Power and Empowerment

Jacqueline Mondros and Joan Minieri
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

Jacqueline Mondros and Joan Minieri's book Organizing for Power and Empowerment: The Fight for Democracy (Columbia UP, 2023) draws on extensive resear…

Mark Robert Rank, "The Poverty Paradox: Understanding Economic Hardship Amid American Prosperity" (Oxford UP, 2023)

March 29, 2023

The Poverty Paradox

Mark Robert Rank
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

The paradox of poverty amidst plenty has plagued the United States throughout the 21st century--why should the wealthiest country in the world also ha…

Raina Lipsitz, "The Rise of a New Left: How Young Radicals Are Shaping the Future of American Politics" (Verso, 2022)

March 5, 2023

The Rise of a New Left

Raina Lipsitz
Hosted by Stephen Pimpare

The mushrooming rolls of the Democratic Socialists of America, Marxist explainers in Teen Vogue, and the outsized impact of the youngest woman ever el…