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Matt Levin

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Matt Levin was the data and housing dude for CalMatters. His work entails distilling complex policy topics into easily digestible charts and graphs, finding and writing original stories from data, yelling at his computer for something he did wrong in his code, and complaining about his rent on "Gimme Shelter", the housing podcast he co-hosts. Matt's award-winning housing and data reporting has been featured on Marketplace, NPR's Here & Now, and the San Francisco Chronicle. Matt is a former research associate for the Public Policy Institute of California, where he specialized in quantitative analysis of poverty and social policy. He has a Master’s in Public Policy from UCLA and an MS in Journalism from USC, but he'll always consider himself a Cal bear.

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gimme-shelter-final-logo
Housing
Gimme Shelter Podcast: Housing stories to watch in 2018
You can also subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play and Overcast. The Gimme Shelter year-end holiday spectacular. First, Matt and Liam submit their nominations for “Avocado of the Year”, that story which most distills the absurdity of CA housing in 2017 (2:00). Then, a quick preview of the GOP tax plan and its possible CA fallout (8:30). […]
By • December 20, 2017
Justice
Congress again protects medical pot from Trump—for two weeks
For the fourth time this year, Congress has prevented the Trump administration from arresting medical marijuana users. But for California medical growers and users to feel safe from federal prosecution, Congress will need to act a fifth time before the end of 2017. 
By • December 11, 2017
gimme-shelter-final-logo
Housing
Gimme Shelter Podcast: Is rent control good or bad?
A simple question, a complicated answer. Ahead of a possible 2018 ballot initiative that could dramatically expand rent control, Matt and Liam explain who benefits and who loses under economists' least favorite housing policy.
By • November 22, 2017
Paper house under a magnifying lens
Housing
Your frequently asked California housing crisis questions—answered
A few months back, we created an explainer to answer two questions: How bad is California's housing crisis, and how did it get so bad? We tried to cover as much ground as possible—from affordable housing funding to Proposition 13 to why no one else in your apartment building cleans out the lint filter after using the communal dryer. But we knew we couldn’t get to everything. So we asked readers “What did we miss? What questions do you still have about California’s certifiably insane housing market that we didn’t answer?”
By • November 16, 2017
gimme-shelter-final-logo
Housing
Gimme Shelter Podcast: State housing director Ben Metcalf
You can also subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play and Overcast. Matt and Liam award the Avocado of the Week to Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon (5:00). Then a discussion of the House GOP’s tax plan and how it would impact California, including Liam’s hot takes on the mortgage interest deduction (6:30) and Matt’s take-it-to-the-bank prediction on the […]
By • November 9, 2017
gimme-shelter-final-logo
Housing
Gimme Shelter Podcast: North Bay housing, after the fires
You can also subscribe to us on iTunes, Stitcher, Soundcloud, Google Play and Overcast. Gimme Shelter’s tour of California’s housing woes takes them to Sonoma County this week, where the devastating North Bay fires have thrown a harsh spotlight on the region’s housing shortage. First, Liam and Matt discuss an initiative possibly headed for the November 2018 ballot that would […]
By • October 25, 2017

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