Brian Goldstone

@brian-goldstone

Author of There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America • essays and reporting in The New York Times, Harper's, The New Republic & elsewhere briangoldstone.net

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Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· 11d

A friend spotted this in a new interview with @emilyrcwilson.bsky.social. I wouldn't normally post this, but I've long admired Wilson's work (and appreciated her review of a certain movie this week), so seeing There Is No Place for Us as the book she "can't stop talking about" really means a lot.

Screenshot of a new interview in Country & Town House with Emily Wilson with the title "Homer is for Everyone: How Emily Wilson Elucidates and Obfuscates in Equal Measure"

Screenshot of Emily Wilson recommending Brian Goldstone's book There Is No Place for Us, calling it the book she "can't stop talking about right now"

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· 21d

This photo was taken not long after I first met Marvin. His family was living in an extended-stay hotel. His son loved Pac-Man, so Marvin and Natasha spent hours making this hand-drawn Pac-Man game out of cardboard to surprise him.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· 21d

I'm heartbroken to share that Marvin (known to readers of There Is No Place for Us as Maurice) died earlier today in a workplace accident. He was 43. Natasha (Natalia in the book) asked me to share this news because she is too devastated to do so herself. We are all in shock.

Marvin, Natasha, and their newborn child

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Jul 11

Hmm, still not working for some reason

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Jun 4

Just this spring, KTU made history: they won the first tenant-bargained lease agreement in the South. Along the way, they faced relentless retaliation from their out-of-state landlord, including property managers wearing "FUCK THE TENANT UNION" t-shirts. They kept organizing anyway, and won.

In These Times article from April 15, 2026 by Thomas Birmingham: "Rural Kentucky Tenants Win Unprecedented Lease Agreement After Yearlong Campaign

How tenants in four federally-backed buildings in the South overcame intense retaliation and won a new contract from their out-of-state landlord."

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Jun 4

I had the honor of spending time this week with the Kentucky Tenant Union and came away inspired by their razor-sharp clarity of purpose and commitment to one another. At a time when so many feel powerless, they're showing what's possible when neighbors come together to build real collective power.

Group photo of Brian with Kentucky Tenant Union members and organizers in Louisville

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· May 25

Picked up the paperback with the new cover at my local bookstore today. Pretty surreal.

Brian holding the updated paperback edition of There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· May 24

This is wild: homelessness is now so intertwined with low-wage work that *proof of employment is actually a prerequisite* for housing programs like this one.

Flyer for an Atlanta housing program for homeless working families with children. Eligibility requirements include proof of employment, minimum weekly work hours, proof of homelessness, background checks, and monthly case management meetings.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· May 19

Atlanta friends! @thrasherxy.bsky.social will be at Charis Books tomorrow night in conversation with Donovan Ramsey. Wednesday, May 20 — 7:30pm It will be an amazing event. Come join us if you can.

Event flyer for Steven Thrasher's book The Overseer Class: A Manifesto. Includes portraits of Steven Thrasher and Donovan X. Ramsey, an image of the book cover, and event details for a Charis Books hybrid event in Atlanta on Wednesday, May 20 at 7:30 PM ET.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· May 18

Honored to be recognized with this proclamation at Atlanta City Hall today by @kelseabondatl.bsky.social, the first socialist on city council. In my remarks, I spoke about how the suffering documented in my book, far from inevitable, is the direct outcome of policy choices and budget priorities.

Framed proclamation from the Atlanta City Council recognizing journalist and author Brian Goldstone for his reporting on housing insecurity and homelessness. The proclamation references his book There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America. Signed by multiple councilmembers and presented at Atlanta City Hall.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· May 7

The new cover. Still hard to believe this is real.

Updated cover of There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone, featuring a Pulitzer Prize winner seal and a New York Times Book Review "10 Best Books of 2025" emblem.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· May 4

I don't quite have words yet. I'm stunned, grateful, disoriented. My deepest, deepest thanks to the five families without whom this book would not exist. It has been the honor of my life to know and learn from you.

Graphic announcing the Pulitzer Prize winner for General Nonfiction to There Is No Place for Us by Brian Goldstone

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· May 3

Speaking of Charis: if you're in Atlanta, don't miss the great @thrasherxy.bsky.social (in conversation w/ Donovan Ramsey) on May 20. charisbooksandmore.com/event/2026-0...

Event flyer for Steven Thrasher at Charis Books on Wed, May 20 at 7:30pm

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· May 3

A friend just shared that There Is No Place for Us is a bestseller at Charis, my favorite bookstore here in Atlanta. Especially cool to be alongside @chanda.blacksky.app's The Edge of Space-Time!

A screenshot from Charis Books in Atlanta showing There Is No Place for Us and The Edge of Space-Time as bestsellers

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Apr 29

A student at University of Oregon read There Is No Place for Us in a class and couldn't let go of Britt's story: her job at the Atlanta airport, the nights on her great-grandmother's couch, the housing voucher she lost because no landlord would take it. So she made this. Amazing.

An artwork depicting Britt, a woman whose story is told in There Is No Place for Us, with handwritten text woven into the illustration.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Apr 18

Honored and humbled (and truly stunned!) to have won the LA Times Book Prize. My profound thanks to the five families at the heart of this book, whose trust and generosity made it all possible. I will never stop being grateful to them.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Apr 13

Friends in the Chicago area! Tomorrow night I'll be speaking in Evanston, as part of an event organized by the Family Action Network and 48 member schools and organizations. Free and open to all *and* there's a book giveaway. Tuesday, April 14 | 7pm Evanston Township HS Auditorium

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Apr 6

Atlanta friends! This Sunday, April 12 at 1pm, I'll be at St. Luke's for a conversation on housing, homelessness, and economic justice, moderated by Georgia State Senator Kim Jackson. Books will be available for purchase from Charis Books. Free and open to all. 435 Peachtree Street NE.

Event flyer for a conversation with Brian Goldstone at St. Luke’s Atlanta, Sunday April 12 at 1pm, 435 Peachtree Street NE. Features the cover of There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America, a photo of Brian Goldstone, and a photo of moderator State Senator Kim Jackson.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Apr 3

Next Thursday, April 9, I'll be in Kansas City at the Uptown Theater for "The Rent Is Too Damn High," a conversation with Tara Raghuveer and Matthew Desmond, moderated by Carmen Rojas. Live music, an after-party, and free copies of our books for all registered guests!

Event flyer for event at the Uptown Theater in Kansas City on Thursday, April 9, 5pm to late. Features headshots of four speakers: Brian Goldstone, Tara Raghuveer, Dr. Carmen Rojas, and Matt Desmond. Music by Owen, Mates of State, and DJ ShardaySpinzz. MC: The Kid Mero

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Apr 3

Pretty surreal to explain how mass homelessness emerged in the 1980s from the deliberate defunding of housing and the social safety net—and then see this, today, from the White House: "It's not possible for us to take care of day care, Medicaid, Medicare, all of these individual things."

“New York Times headline and subheadline reading: ‘White House Seeks $1.5 Trillion for Defense in New Budget Request. The huge proposed increase would be partly offset by steep cuts to domestic programs, some of which the Trump administration describes as wasteful.’“

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 26

Grateful to see THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US included in @scarymommy.com's Editor Picks this month. "I honestly and without exaggeration think that every American should be required to read this book… You will be very educated, and very mad, when you finish."

Screenshot of Scary Mommy Editor Picks header: “9 Books We Read In March & Can’t Stop Thinking About.”

Subheading reads: “These reads got us through the month, honestly.”

Screenshot of Scary Mommy Editor Picks page: There is No Place For Us: Working And Homeless In America by Brian Goldstone.

Blurb reads: “I honestly and without exaggeration think that every American should be required to read this book, which follows several families who are living homeless in Atlanta despite having jobs and despite all of their best efforts. This is a book about the housing crisis, about racism, about sexism, and about the greed of the top one percent. You will be very educated, and very mad, when you finish.” — Sarah Aswell

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 22

And what it would take to end this disaster:

Screenshot of CNN piece about There Is No Place for Us: “Homeless is viewed as an intractable problem. But aren’t there solutions?

The solutions to this crisis are not unattainable. They’re not even complicated. They require only that we place human dignity above investor profits, and people’s stability above speculation. What’s been missing is the political will to act at the scale the crisis demands."

"The response has to work on two fronts: getting people into housing they don’t yet have, and keeping people in the homes they already have. That means making a major public investment in permanently affordable housing and removing the barriers that prevent it from being built. But it also means stopping homelessness before it starts — by strengthening tenant protections, guaranteeing the right to counsel in eviction court, enacting just-cause eviction laws, banning predatory rental fees and screening practices, and providing direct assistance to families on the brink.

Ultimately, though, addressing this preventable catastrophe requires a paradigm shift in how we think about housing itself. In the United States we’ve come to treat housing primarily as a commodity, a vehicle for profit and wealth accumulation. But a safe, stable place to live is not a luxury item. It’s a fundamental human necessity. And until we begin to treat housing as something closer to an essential public good — in other words, as a basic human right — we will keep reproducing the very conditions that create homelessness in the first place.”

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 22

On the term "working homeless":

Screenshot of CNN piece about There Is No Place for Us: “There are people who say I do everything right — I work hard and pay my bills. Why should I care about people like Celeste and others who are homeless?

What is so striking about the term, ‘the working homeless,’ is the ways it explodes myths about the American dream: The idea that if you just work hard enough, if you just clock enough hours, you … might not make it rich, but you’ll at least have a modicum of stability. You’ll at least be able to meet your most basic material needs. The term ‘working homeless’ immediately explodes that myth. What it says is the line separating the housed from the unhoused has become devastatingly porous in this country. The line between us and them is much thinner than we would like to believe.”

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 22

Since the piece is behind a paywall for some readers, I wanted to share a few key excerpts here—starting with the core argument:

Screenshot of CNN piece about There Is No Place for Us: “But the traditional story about those experiencing homelessness is a myth, according to Brian Goldstone, author of the acclaimed recent book, ‘There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America.’ Goldstone says the people on the streets are only the tip of the iceberg, because most of the nation’s homeless live in a ‘shadow realm’ invisible to most Americans. They work at Amazon warehouses, in the meat section of their local supermarket, watch kids at daycare centers and drive for DoorDash. But they don’t have stable places to live.

He says most people don’t fall into homelessness. They are pushed into it by the same challenges that many housed people face: affordability. Surging housing prices nationwide have outpaced income gains, he says. The social safety net is being shredded. Workers and renters have little bargaining power. There is not a single state, city or county in the US where a full-time worker earning the federal minimum wage of $7.25 an hour or the prevailing local minimum wage can afford a two-bedroom home at fair market rent.”

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 18

Friends in Maine: I'll be at Mechanics' Hall in Portland next Monday (3/23) at 7pm for a conversation about There Is No Place for Us and the rise of America's "working homeless." The event is co-hosted by Project Home and PRINT Bookstore. I'd love to see you there.

Poster for a March 23 author conversation at Mechanics’ Hall in Portland, Maine featuring Brian Goldstone and Nicole Witherbee.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 9

Well, this wasn't something I ever expected: today several state representatives honored THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US with a resolution at the Georgia State Capitol. I'm very grateful—and hopeful it helps shine a light on Georgia's predatory housing market and the need for stronger tenant protections.

Georgia House chamber inside the Georgia State Capitol during a legislative session. A state representative speaks at a podium while others stand nearby, including someone holding a copy of “There Is No Place for Us.”

Framed resolution from the Georgia House of Representatives honoring Brian Goldstone and his book “There Is No Place for Us,” with an official gold seal at the bottom.

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 5

Starting research for a new project on youth mental health, I went to the CDC website. This brazenly discriminatory anti-trans notice is tacked to the top of the page.

Screenshot of a CDC webpage. The page title reads “Mental Health,” with a subheading: “Poor Mental Health Effects Adolescent Well-being.”

“Per a court order, HHS is required to restore this website as of 11:59PM ET, February 14, 2025. Any information on this page promoting gender ideology is extremely inaccurate and disconnected from the immutable biological reality that there are two sexes, male and female. The Trump Administration rejects gender ideology and condemns the harms it causes to children, by promoting their chemical and surgical mutilation, and to women, by depriving them of their dignity, safety, well-being, and opportunities. This page does not reflect biological reality and therefore the Administration and this Department rejects it.”

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 4

Grateful beyond words to everyone who came out last night for the paperback launch at Auburn Ave Research Library in Atlanta. Two of the families from the book were there, and of course @jduffyrice.bsky.social was a brilliant, generous conversation partner. Huge thanks to Charis Books for hosting.

Josie Duffy Rice and Brian Goldstone in conversation

the audience at last night's book launch at Auburn Ave Research Library

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 3

Today the paperback of THERE IS NO PLACE FOR US is out. It's arriving in a country once again waging war—a country that can spend tens of billions on bombs without blinking, while millions of Americans are one missed paycheck, one rent hike away from homelessness. Let's take stock of where we are.

Paperback edition of There Is No Place for Us: Working and Homeless in America by Brian Goldstone

Brian Goldstone@brian-goldstone· Mar 2

Atlanta friends, hope to see you tomorrow night at the Auburn Avenue Research Library. Free and open to all. Register here: www.eventbrite.com/e/there-is-n...