This is Cohousing: The Cohousing Podcast

Cooperation is the secret ingredient of cohousing. Charles Durrett talks with Alfie Kohn, author of "No Contest: The Case Against Competition," to discuss why cooperation beats competition and how cohousing groups can learn to make it their default.In this episode:• Why competition undermines self-esteem, relationships, and even productivity• "Broken Squares," a puzzle that tests whether people will give up their own success for the group's• Why conflict isn't the enemy, and the danger of groupthink• Deep listening as the most important skill a cohouser can bring• Martin Buber's difference between a true community and a mere collective• Designing a neighborhood together, where "one plus one equals twenty"About Alfie Kohn: Alfie Kohn is the author of 14 books on human behavior, education, and parenting, including No Contest: The Case Against Competition, Punished by Rewards, and The Brighter Side of Human Nature. He has also written hundreds of articles for newspapers, magazines, and scholarly journals. Kohn lectures widely at universities, as well as to school faculties, parent organizations, and community groups, and, as of 2025, hosts a podcast called Kohn's Zone. He lives (actually) in the Boston area and (virtually) at www.alfiekohn.org.No Contest: https://www.alfiekohn.org/contest/Kohn's Zone: https://www.alfiekohn.org/podcasts/Cohousing books and classes: https://cohousingco.comContact Chuck: [email protected] by The Cohousing Company: Nadthachai Kongkhajornkidsuk and Melissa TurnbullFor more info visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.cohousingco.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/CohousingCo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bossa Antigua Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode of This is Cohousing, Chuck Durrett talks with Laurie Frank, one of the sharpest thinkers in the cohousing movement. Laurie is a former public school teacher with more than 50 years of experience, beginning in special education and moving into building school communities centered on participation, collaboration, and leadership. She is the author of Journey Toward the Caring Classroom. She serves on the boards of United World College Costa Rica and the National Cohousing Alliance, and she lives at Linden Cohousing, an intergenerational community of about 70 people in Madison, Wisconsin.Laurie shares the Alliance’s new name, mission, and five strategic priorities. She explains why the organization now sees cohousing as part of a wider ecosystem of community-rooted housing that includes land trust partnerships, tiny home villages, and co-ops. Chuck describes how the first U.S. cohousing community in Davis, California, helped 23 first-time homebuyers into homes, and why restricting resale prices keeps cohousing from turning into a quick profit. The two also discuss the “social infrastructure” every forming group needs, including common values, community agreements, and governance. Laurie draws on Vygotsky’s zone of proximal development to explain why groups need experienced guides, and Chuck reflects on lessons from a Chicago project about following the lead of the people you hope to serve.They close with a survey of Copenhagen seniors, where 55% chose cohousing as the place they’d most like to grow old, and with what cohousing has meant to each of them personally.Resources mentioned:National Cohousing Alliance (formerly Coho/US)No Contest: The Case Against Competition and Punished by Rewards by Alfie KohnAffluenza by John de Graaf, David Wann, and Thomas NaylorCohousing Communities, Creating Cohousing, and Cohousing: A Contemporary Approach to Housing Ourselves by Charles Durrett and Kathryn McCamant

How do you grow a cohousing movement, and what does it take to make it a normal housing choice? Charles Durrett talks with Owen Jarvis, director of the UK Cohousing Network and co-founder of the Community Led Housing Growth Lab, ahead of Chuck's upcoming UK tour through Lancaster, Manchester, Bristol, Oxford, and London.They explore how cohousing has grown in Britain since its first community opened in 2003, and what needs to change for a post-Brexit, post-financial-crash housing landscape. Along the way, they talk about a proposed London School of Economics study on how much senior cohousing could save government, the million-dollar fire truck a Nevada County community didn't have to buy, and why UK landowners and developers are now approaching cohousing groups rather than the other way around.Owen shares how Housing 21 is bringing cohousing to underserved communities through "community coaching," and why the UK's new commonhold law could open the door for hundreds of thousands of people to consider cohousing. Chuck reflects on a study of 80,000 Copenhagen seniors, most of whom chose senior cohousing over every other option, and a Danish community whose mission is to have as much fun in their second 50 years as in their first.#Cohousing #SeniorCohousing #Community #Belonging #Loneliness #AgingWell #IntentionalCommunityFor more info visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.cohousingco.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/CohousingCo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bossa Antigua Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

In this episode, Chuck sits down with Senait Brown of House of Mkeka, an eight-household intergenerational pocket neighborhood being developed by Black families in Seattle. Senait, a community organizer and single parent, shares how her community chose what they call "self-determined communal living": pooling their collective net worth and pursuing grants, donations, and community resources rather than taking on thirty-year mortgages or accepting the AMI and resale caps of conventional affordable housing.The conversation moves from the practical to the profound. Senait explains their "reparatory real estate" model as a direct response to redlining, foreclosure, and generations of exclusion from the wealth-building tools other Americans took for granted. She and Chuck trade hard-won strategies for finding land in a tight market — from faith-based land initiatives and city surplus sites to the biases that persist even when the money is in hand. In one striking moment, Senait recounts a fully funded land deal that fell through simply because a seller didn't want to see a Black community empowered, and why they refused to put a white face out front to make it easier.They also dig into what makes cohousing actually work: designing decision by decision rather than brick by brick, the pre-development "healing work" that funders overlook, parking and car-free design, and what Senait calls "Afro security" — designing for protection and belonging in light of the community's history. Woven throughout are the principles guiding the project, from Kwanzaa to Ubuntu — "I am because we are" — and Muhammad Ali's two-word poem, "Me, We."A wide-ranging, hopeful conversation about building community as, in Senait's words, an act of revolution.Learn more about House of Mkeka: https://www.houseofmkeka.org/#Cohousing #SeniorCohousing #Community #Belonging #Loneliness #AgingWell #IntentionalCommunityFor more info visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.cohousingco.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/CohousingCo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bossa Antigua Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

What makes us feel like we belong? Psychologist, author, and podcast host Dr. Richard Louis Miller joins Charles Durrett to make the case that connection isn't a luxury — it's a biological need we've engineered out of modern life, and one that cohousing is uniquely built to restore. Dr. Miller traces how architecture, economics, and the pandemic have manufactured isolation and offers small, concrete antidotes anyone can start this week: introduce yourself to a stranger, wave at the four-way stop, make one phone call instead of sending a text. The conversation then turns to seniors, where Dr. Miller argues that "acting your age is dangerous," that aging is fundamentally about maintenance, and that senior cohousing offers a way for people to genuinely come alive again. Charles shares the practical details that make cohousing click — from remarkably affordable internet to sharing a single lawnmower across dozens of households — alongside the deeper story of neighbors who supported one another through their final years at home. Learn more about the Study Group 1 facilitator training (starting October 7, 2026): cohousingco.com/products/p/sg1Dr. Richard Louis Miller's Podcast: Mind Body Health Politics#Cohousing #SeniorCohousing #Community #Belonging #Loneliness #AgingWell #IntentionalCommunityFor more info visit ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.cohousingco.com⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ or ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://linktr.ee/CohousingCo⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Facebook⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Instagram⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠LinkedIn⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Youtube⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠X⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bossa Antigua Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/