🎙 A Teen Podcast

REAL
TOPIA

Real estate. Real conversations. Hosted by a teenager who wants to understand the world she's about to inherit.

NC
Naomi CohenHost & Creator
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3Seasons
22Episodes
21Guests So Far
Stephanie Perez · Jennifer Rosenfeld · Michael Young · Leon Azicri · Ruben Jimenez · Kobi Karp · Eli Rouimi (Plad Homes) · Jerry Chu (Lofty.ai) · Carlos Moreno (Sorbonne) · Majora Carter (Princeton) · Dr. Colin Ellard (Waterloo) · 15-Minute City · Regenerative Cities · Psychology of Home · Tokenization · Climate Migration · Smart Cities ·     Stephanie Perez · Jennifer Rosenfeld · Michael Young · Leon Azicri · Ruben Jimenez · Kobi Karp · Eli Rouimi (Plad Homes) · Jerry Chu (Lofty.ai) · Carlos Moreno (Sorbonne) · Majora Carter (Princeton) · Dr. Colin Ellard (Waterloo) · 15-Minute City · Regenerative Cities · Psychology of Home · Tokenization · Climate Migration · Smart Cities ·    

Episodes

01
Understanding the Industry

What Real Estate Is

Season 1 introduces the real estate lifecycle through clear, role-based conversations with professionals in the field — from designers and agents to investors and builders.

▶ Season Trailer
Intro
The Beginning
Introduction to Real Estate
Why Naomi started Realtopia
What real estate actually includes
Why teens should understand housing early
Cities as systems that shape our lives
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Episode 01
Interior Designer
Stephanie Perez
How interior design impacts value
Function vs aesthetics
Lifestyle reflected in space
Emotional connection to home
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Episode 02
Real Estate Agent
Jennifer Rosenfeld
What agents do day-to-day
Negotiation & relationship-building
Helping families make major decisions
The importance of community knowledge
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Episode 03
Real Estate Investor
Michael Young
Buying property as an investment
Risk and long-term thinking
Renovation and value creation
Real estate as wealth-building
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📈
Episode 04
General Contractor
Leon Azicri
Turning plans into structures
Budgeting and timelines
Construction problem-solving
Coordinating large projects
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Episode 05
Architect
Ruben Jimenez
Designing buildings from concept
Creativity within structural limits
Architecture shaping cities
Long-term urban impact
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📐
02
Challenging the System

Does Today's Housing Model Work for My Generation?

Season 2 moves from understanding to questioning — examining affordability, ownership, sustainability, and whether traditional structures still serve young people. Ten episodes, ten guests.

▶ Season Trailer
Kobi Karp
Episode 06
Architecture & Climate Responsibility
Kobi Karp
Climate resilience in design
Long-term planning responsibility
Luxury vs sustainability
Designing for future generations
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🌍
Eli Rouimi
Episode 07
Modular Housing & Affordability
Eli Rouimi · Plad Homes
Modular construction explained
Speed and cost efficiency
Flexible ownership models
Adaptable housing solutions
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🧩
Jerry Chu
Episode 08
Real Estate Tokenization
Jerry Chu · Lofty.ai
Fractional ownership via digital shares
Blockchain and property investment
Accessibility vs. traditional real estate
What needs to happen for mainstream adoption
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🔗
Carlos Moreno
Episode 09
The 15-Minute City
Prof. Carlos Moreno · Sorbonne University
Proximity over infrastructure
Reducing car dependency
Walkability, local services, and belonging
Young generations reshaping cities
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🚶
Majora Carter
Episode 10
Regenerative Cities
Prof. Majora Carter · Princeton University
Regenerative vs. extractive development
Environmental justice in the South Bronx
Third spaces and community belonging
Mixed-income neighborhoods and anti-displacement
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🌱
Colin Ellard
Episode 11
The Psychology of Home
Dr. Colin Ellard · University of Waterloo
Psychogeography and how space shapes emotion
Why blank buildings hurt mental health
Autonomy, belonging, and teen space
Measuring community through real-world indicators
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🧠
Marc Norman
Episode 12
Solving the Homeownership Crisis
Prof. Marc Norman · Associate Dean, NYU Schack
Why post-WWII zoning killed affordable housing
Neighborhood REITs and shared ownership
Gentrification, displacement, and protecting renters
The real "belonging index" — walkability and choice
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Toby Israel
Episode 13
Decoding the Hidden Psychology of Home
Dr. Toby Israel · Founder of Design Psychology
Environmental autobiography — how childhood places shape us
Design psychology and people-centered spaces
Recreating vs. rejecting the homes we grew up in
Personalizing rented and temporary spaces
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Greg Clark
Episode 14
Cracking the DNA of Great Cities
Prof. Greg Clark · Advisor to 400+ Cities
Endowed, inherited & acquired traits that make a city unique
Why copycat cities lose their identity
Belonging and the social contract of a city
Affordability, climate, and the future of cities
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Nolan Gray
Episode 15
How Zoning Shapes Cities, Housing, and Belonging
Nolan Gray · Research Director, California YIMBY
What zoning quietly controls
The YIMBY movement & ending the shortage
Why new housing prevents displacement
Suburbs, abundance, and belonging
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03
Belonging & Connection

Can We Design Our Way Out of Loneliness?

Season 3 turns to the question underneath every conversation so far: belonging. As loneliness becomes one of the defining challenges of our time, Naomi asks the people who study, build, and manage places whether design can actually bring us back together — and builds toward her Belonging Index, a way to measure how places shape connection.

Charles Montgomery
Episode 16
Happy Cities, Trust & the Design of Belonging
Charles Montgomery · Author of Happy City
Why the "city effect" has grown stronger
The lost-wallet test for social trust
Density, social clusters & missing middle housing
Breaking the screens-and-isolation doom loop
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Ethan Kent
Episode 17
How Placemaking Creates Belonging
Ethan Kent · Co-founder, PlacemakingX
What turns a space into a place
Beach chairs, Times Square & the Power of 10
Lovable vs. merely livable cities
Place-led development vs. place taking
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Melody Warnick
Episode 18
Can You Learn to Love Where You Live?
Melody Warnick · Author, This Is Where You Belong
Place attachment and why it matters
The Love Where You Live experiments
Neighbors, trust & porch parties
How much belonging is you vs. the place
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Katherine Loflin
Episode 19
Can Love for a Place Be Measured?
Dr. Katherine Loflin · The City Doctor
Soul of the Community: 26 cities, 40,000 people
Social offerings, aesthetics & openness beat jobs
Why perception and reality don't match
Young people are "dating" their cities
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Gil Peñalosa
Episode 20
Who Is Your City Really Built For?
Gil Peñalosa · Founder, 8 80 Cities
The 8 80 test: does it work for an 8-year-old and an 80-year-old?
Bogotá's Ciclovía — streets where people meet as equals
Autonomy: can a teenager get around without a ride?
Hardware and software: parks need programs too
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🚲
Ryan Gravel
Episode 21
Can One Idea Reconnect a City?
Ryan Gravel · Creator of the Atlanta BeltLine
From a 1999 student thesis to a 22-mile loop
"Catalyst infrastructure" and reconnecting neighborhoods
Equity, missing transit & what he'd do differently
Why young people's big ideas matter
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Rik Adamski
Episode 22
Can You Create a Third Place?
Rik Adamski · Storefront Renaissance League
Designing a third place vs. the conditions for one
Why third places are harder to sustain today
Hybrid places, regulars & the people who connect
Empty storefronts, old buildings & small first steps
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☕

The Journey

Season 1
Learn the Professions

A clear introduction to the core roles behind real estate: design, build, sell, and invest — told through conversations with real practitioners.

1
Season 2
Question the Structure

Examining whether traditional ownership, development, and city planning still serve young people — and what's broken about the system.

2
Season 3
Design for Belonging

Turning to the human question at the center of it all: loneliness, connection, and whether places can be designed so people truly belong.

3
Season 4
Redesign the Future

Structural redesign and future-thinking — elevating Naomi from curious interviewer to young urban thinker on ownership, belonging, and cities.

4