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Connections
Connections

The Abundance debate: can Democrats get back to building things again?

By Evan Dawson,
Julie Williams, Veronica Volk
Published September 2, 2025 at 2:52 PM EDT
Three men sit at a table in a radio talk studio: a man at left has short dark hair and is wearing a light blue button-down shirt; a man at center has short dark hair and is wearing a white button-down shirt; a man at right has short dark hair and is wearing a grey button-down shirt and jeans.
David Griffin
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WXXI News
Nate Salzman and Jeremy Cooney with host Evan Dawson on "Connections with Evan Dawson" on Tuesday, September 2, 2025
WXXI News

The political left has been engaged in a heated debate about who's to blame for the high cost of living in blue states and cities.

In the new book Abundance, Ezra Klein and Derek Thompson take their fellow progressives to task for making it too difficult to build... well, almost anything. New housing. High speed rail. Clean energy projects.

If thousands of Californians are moving to Texas, what does it mean for the effectiveness of Democratic governance? Our guests have strong views on how Democrats can accomplish more on the state and local levels.

In studio:

Connections
Evan Dawson
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
See stories by Evan Dawson
Julie Williams
Julie Williams is an associate producer for "Connections with Evan Dawson." She started at WXXI in 2019 and has been working on Connections since 2022.
See stories by Julie Williams
Veronica Volk
Veronica Volk is a senior producer and editor for WXXI News.
See stories by Veronica Volk