[applause] [inaudible conversations] >> i am so pleased to welcome matthew desmond but his new book "evicted" just out and already generating a much needed conversation about poverty in america at in the role he eviction plays to create to deliver a spiral for those on the economic edge. and those it women and children the hardest. to reverse themselves and the poorest communities in milwaukee and writes about the characters and reads like a local park coho to drive in -- draw comparisons behind the travers than your times has called this extensively researched and above all on and a horrible book after "evicted" you can no longer have a serious discussion about poverty without a serious discussion about housing. matthew desmond is the winner of a grant and also several other books including on the fire when ready chronicles the fire crew in northern arizona. professor of social science at harvard and co-director of the justice m. party project. please help me to welcome tingling. [applause] >> so now you can have a nice chair. >> it is so special to be here it is an honor of his good

author matthew desmond lived among them in 2008 to 2009. he's a sociologist, a professor at harvard and a winner of a macarthur fellowship last year. welcome to you. >> thank you. >> brown: that eviction is far more prevalent than most people think and far less part of the discussion around poverty in this country. why do you think that's the case? >> i think we focus a lot on jobs. we focus a lot on mass incarcerations, welfare reform. but housing has been left out of the debate a little bit. we focus on public housing and we focus on neighborhoods, but the private rental market where a vast majority of low income families are living has been largely overlooked. but here is this market, that's taking most of what low income families are making. there's a-- >> brown: an incredible amount, percentage of income. i mean, that's really striking. >> yes. >> brown: 70, 80, 90%. >> yeah, that's what i saw when i was living with families in milwaukee. and we reached a point today that we know that the majority of low income renters are paying most