Sociologist and author Matthew Desmond spent more than a year living in some of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s poorest neighborhoods to document the complex relationship between housing and poverty. (Photo courtesy of Matthew Desmond)



Matthew Desmond is a sociologist and author of the Pulitzer Prize-winning book Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City.

Desmond spent more than a year living in some of Milwaukee, Wisconsin’s poorest neighborhoods to document the complex relationship between housing and poverty. He visited Indianapolis this week to speak on a panel about poverty, hosted by the Christian Theological Seminary's Faith & Action Project.

WFYI’s Drew Daudelin sat down with Desmond, and started by asking him why he decided to focus on evictions.