As we previously reported at The Real News, voters in Berlin were recently faced with a game-changing referendum to expropriate housing held by giant corporate landlords who have made the city increasingly unaffordable for most residents. The passing of the referendum, and the organizing that made it possible, was not only a shock but a source of hope for many around the world who have seen options for affordable housing gobbled up by vampire capitalists and large companies contributing to the runaway financialization of the housing market. How were Berliners able to take on these big landlords and pass this historic referendum? What happens now? And can Berlin provide a model for those fighting for housing justice around the world?

In this segment of The Marc Steiner Show, Marc speaks with longtime TRNN contributor Molly Shah and Berlin-based activist Ian Clotworthy about the recent referendum and the great global housing struggle to come. Ian Clotworthy is from Ireland and has lived in Berlin for about 10 years; he is active in DW Enteignen (where he represents the Right2TheCity group), DSA Berlin, and the Green New Deal for Europe. Molly Shah is a freelance writer and social media consultant based in Berlin, and she’s a regular contributor to The Real News. Prior to moving to Germany, Molly was an activist, teacher, and lawyer in Louisville, Kentucky.

Tune in for new episodes of The Marc Steiner Show every Tuesday on TRNN.

Pre-Production/Studio/Post Production: Stephen Frank

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Host, The Marc Steiner Show
Marc Steiner is the host of "The Marc Steiner Show" on TRNN. He is a Peabody Award-winning journalist who has spent his life working on social justice issues. He walked his first picket line at age 13, and at age 16 became the youngest person in Maryland arrested at a civil rights protest during the Freedom Rides through Cambridge. As part of the Poor People’s Campaign in 1968, Marc helped organize poor white communities with the Young Patriots, the white Appalachian counterpart to the Black Panthers. Early in his career he counseled at-risk youth in therapeutic settings and founded a theater program in the Maryland State prison system. He also taught theater for 10 years at the Baltimore School for the Arts. From 1993-2018 Marc's signature “Marc Steiner Show” aired on Baltimore’s public radio airwaves, both WYPR—which Marc co-founded—and Morgan State University’s WEAA.
 
marc@therealnews.com
 
@marcsteiner