Yeoman
Host Geoff Graham interviews a diverse range of guests, including builders, farmers, entrepreneurs, architects, technologists, writers, artisans, and theologians. The conversations explore their professional work and personal lives, touching on broader themes of society, history, and the future. The show aims to connect varied perspectives and crafts through in-depth discussion.
Episodes
Nassim Taleb – #36
Nassim Nicholas Taleb hosted Geoff for a casual conversation in his library. Their discussion began with books and meandered through a dozen topics before concluding for supper. Show notes at the Yeoman website.
Jason Cox: Rural urbanism and firetrucks – #35
Jason Cox of the Monroe Companies joins Geoff to discuss his work revitalizing downtown Graham, NC through historic rehabs and infill projects. They explore the outsized influence of fire departments and oversized apparatus on street design, zoning, and urban form—contrasting U.S. practices with more human-scaled European cities—along with Jason’s self-described identity as a “rural urbanist” who
Willy Denner: Intro to Georgism – #34
Willy Denner of Little Seed Gardens introduces Geoff to Georgism, the concept of the Land Value Tax, how it differs from conventional property taxes, the moral argument in favor of it, and the ameliorative impact it could have on our agricultural lands, rural areas, and urban environments.Little Seed Gardens is a hundred acre family farm near Chatham, NY started by Willy and his wife Claudia Kenny
Joel Hollingsworth: Restoring Agriculture through Commissioned Stewardship – #33
Joel Hollingsworth (@untappedgrowth) and I discuss how Smoke River Ranch got started, their herdshare program, and the economics of farming and ranching.Show notes on the Yeoman website.
Grant Broggi: Strength & Service – #32
Grant Broggi, founder of The Strength Co., joins Geoff to talk about strength, entrepreneurship, and the Marines.I love Grant’s story: from a homeschooled teenage window cleaner in the South Carolina Lowcountry, to the Citadel then Marines, to a strength coach, to the (pandemic inspired) manufacturer of gym equipment, to balancing the obligations of his new business with his reservist commitments,
Russ Greene: Total Boomer Luxury Communism – #31
Russ Greene discusses Total Boomer Luxury Communism, the burden it shoulders on young people and future generations, the existential threat it poses to America, and prospects for reform. Russ is the Executive Director of the Prime Mover Institute. Show notes on the Yeoman website. You can find Yeoman on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, Youtube, and elsewhere.
Discussion of Paul Kingsnorth’s Against the Machine – #30
Justin Owings and Ty Abernathy joined Geoff to discuss Paul Kingsnorth’s latest book, Against the Machine.Our two-hour, fire-side, dog-accompanied conversation covers a lot of territory—raising children in the age of the Machine, entrepreneurship, globalism and financialization, corporate bureaucracy, technocracy, rootedness, homelessness, skin-in-the-game, limits, GenZ—and we hardly scratched the
Chuck Marohn: Strong Towns' Bottom-up Revolution – #29
Charles "Chuck" Marohn is the president of Strong Towns, a national organization he started in 2008 as a blog and grew into a widespread movement advocating for financially resilient, prosperous cities and towns through bottom-up, incremental development. Chuck is the author of countless articles and three books: Strong Towns: A Bottom-Up Revolution to Rebuild American Prosperity (2019),
Zak Slayback: Rerum Novarum, Pope Leo XIII, Capital, Labor, and Morality – #28
Zak Slayback joins Geoff to discuss Pope Leo XIII’s encyclical Rerum Novarum, the context in which it was written, and its relevance to today. Topics include the emergence of nationalism and industrial-scale capitalism, the subsequent fracturing of cottage industries, the rise of socialist reactionary movements, the obligations employers have to workers (and vice versa), subsidiarity, and the mora
Vince & Geoff Graham – #27
Vince Graham joins Geoff to talk about the early days of developing I’On in Mount Pleasant, SC. Vince and Geoff commonly hear people wrongly assume the neighborhood’s success resulted from strict controls and prescriptions, and they felt that misconception is so widespread that it merited a conversation. They discuss setting the stage, vision, rallying key players around that vision, recruiting bu
Clay Routledge – #26
Dr. Clay Routledge is an existential psychologist who specializes in nostalgia. He is the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of the Human Flourishing Lab at the Archbridge Institute, a nonpartisan think tank. Clay is the author of Supernatural: Death, Meaning, and the Power of the Invisible World (published in 2018), Past Forward: How Nostalgia Can Help You Live a More Meaningful
Steve Mouzon – #25
Steve Mouzon and Geoff discuss the evolution of Steve's practice, the role of a town architect, vernacular construction, sustainability, beauty, lovable buildings, and the "Original Green".Show notes on the Yeoman website.
Orthodox Masonry – #24
Seth Harris & Patrick Lemon of Orthodox Masonry to discuss what it's like to build a company that builds things that last. To my great embarrassment, I transposed two of the letters in Patrick's last name when I introduced him.Show notes: https://yeomanpodcast.com/2025/07/25/orthodox-masonry-24/
Matt Simmons: Culture, History, and Identity of the American South – #23
Professor W. Matthew J. Simmons, Sr. is the Assistant Director of the Institute for Southern Studies at the University of South Carolina and a self-described old-school humanist academic. He teaches courses on Southern culture and literature, as well as an immensely popular new course on barbecue. In this episode, Geoff and Matt discuss the identity of the South, changing cultures and places, barb
Lenny Wells: Pecan History, Trees, and Growing – #22
Lenny Wells is a pecan grower, writer, and Professor of Horticulture and Extension Pecan Specialist at the University of Georgia. Show notes: https://yeomanpodcast.com/2025/06/12/lenny-wells-22/
Ari Bargil (with Vince Graham): The Legal Context of Zoning – #21
Ari Bargil is a senior attorney with the Institute for Justice and a co-lead of the Zoning Justice Project, a campaign to protect and promote the freedom to peacefully and productively use property. Ari frequently represents property owners battling aggressive zoning regulations and excessive fines in state and federal court nationwide. Ari’s work has been featured by USA Today, NPR, Fox News, Was
Emily Hamilton: How policy and code reform can shape the future of housing – #20
Emily Hamilton is a Senior Research Fellow and Director of the Urbanity Project at the Mercatus Center, where she focuses on urban economics and land-use policy. She publishes both academic research and policy work, contributes to outlets including the Washington Post and the Los Angeles Times, and writes an occasional column at Governing. Emily also advises state and federal policymaking and has
Vibes with Craig, CBQ, & Geoff – #19
Geoff is joined by two good friends, Craig and CBQ, to discuss how people are feeling about the current state of the world.Craig is the co-founder and CEO of Matchstic. CBQ is the co-founder and CEO of Greenzie. Geoff is the co-founder of Periodical.ink, a partner in the development of I'On, the developer of Big Ridge Mountain Club, and the shepherd of the Yeoman podcast.Shownotes at https://yeoma
Kevin Klinkenberg: Subsidiarity, Local Governance, and the Human-Scale – #18
Kevin Klinkenberg is an urban designer, architect, planner, and writer. He is the Executive Director of Midtown KC Now, a nonprofit in Kansas City working on effective community development and management in Midtown Kansas City. Kevin is also the host of the Messy City Substack and podcast, where he dissects work on design, development, planning, and placemaking around the country. In this episode
Saifedean Ammous, Austin Tunnel, & Jaime Izurieta-Varea: Time Preference & Beauty - Episode #17
Geoff Graham is joined by Saifedean Ammous, Austin Tunnel, and Jaime Izurieta-Varea to discuss how monetary policy, hard money, fiat currency, time preference, and the regulatory environment impact the quality of our built environment. https://yeomanpodcast.com/2024/11/01/saifedean-ammous-austin-tunnel-jaime-izurieta-varea-time-preference-beauty-episode-17/
Michael Buckley: The Butcher Episode – Episode #16
Michael Buckley is the owner and operator of The Ventura Meat Company, the first full-service, sustainable butcher shop in Ventura, California. They exclusively offer grass-fed beef and other pastured, free range meat products in the Ventura area. Michael is a butcher-philosopher changing the way people think about meat, what sustainable production means, and how we consume it. In this episode, Ge
Don Boudreaux: Constitution Day, Freedom of Speech, the Fed, Regulatory Capture, Intellectual Property, and Voting – Episode #15
Don Boudreaux of cafehayek.com joined Geoff on Constitution Day. Geoff's first question for Don: Is Constitution Day to be celebrated or mourned?
Show notes on the Yeoman website: https://yeomanpodcast.com/2024/09/22/don-boudreaux-constitution-day-freedom-of-speech-regulatory-capture-voting-15/
Jaime Izurieta-Varea: Authenticity on Main Street and the Experience Economy - Episode #14
Jaime Izurieta is the founder of Storefront Mastery, a creative agency that helps Main Street districts and retailers succeed in a world tilted towards big box competitors. Jaime is also the author of several books, including Storefront Mastery and Main Street Mavericks: Innovation, Leadership, and a Bright Future for Main Street Businesses. In this episode, he discusses the unique opportunities f
Aaron Lubeck: Fostering Human-Scaled Development and Localism - Episode #13
Aaron Lubeck is an urbanist, land planner, and builder in Durham, North Carolina. He’s also the founder of Southern Urbanism, an action-tank committed to building better cities in the South. Aaron writes about housing, urbanism, placemaking, and politics on his own Substack, onHousing. In this episode, Aaron discusses incrementalism, local development, New Urbanism, and more, sharing in Geoff’s op
Akiva Silver: Conversing with Nature, Fighting Cynicism, and Growing Trees - Episode #12
Brace yourselves for some rough audio! Something about our cellphone connection caused some problems with Akiva's voice. Our producer got it into a tolerable condition.
Akiva is the owner of Twisted Tree Farm, a 20 acre homestead and nursery dedicated to growing healthy trees, food, and family in Spencer, New York. He is also the author of Trees of Power: Ten Essential Arboreal Allies. In this
Vince Graham: Battling to build beautiful places - Episode #11
I sat down with Vince Graham in the Winter Hall of his South Carolina beach castle, Mugdock (named after the historic seat of the Graham family in Scotland). We discuss a lot of things: building beautiful places, Ivan Illich, Corbu, Brave New World, HOAs, forces of institutionalization and atomization, books, Supreme Court decisions that have shaped our culture and land patterns.
Shownotes:
https
Tom Graham: The making of a yeoman real estate developer - Episode #10
I had the pleasure of sitting down with my father, Tom Graham, for a lengthy discussion of his career. The conversation begins with Dad's early life in 1940s and 50s Rock Hill, South Carolina, we continue through his careers in energy and the nascent software industry, his introduction to real estate development, and his work as what one might appropriately call a wildcatter developer in Atlan
Chris Smaje: A small farm future (and our small farm past) - Episode #9
For the last two decades years, Chris Smaje has been a small-scale vegetable grower in Somerset in South West England. Prior to that, he was a researcher and teacher in political science and policy. Chris has authored two books: 2020’s A Small Farm Future and 2023’s Saying No to a Farm Free Future. Visit yeomanpodcast.com for show notes.
Geoffrey Long: Farming for health and community - Episode #8
Geoffrey Long is the owner of Long Story Farms in Newberry, SC. We discuss his farm, his roots, what brought him to farming, and how his farm connects him to his community.
Please pardon the awkward delay. That left Geoffrey and I stumbling over each other a bit, hence the decision to continue the conversation face-to-face in the near future. So much more to discuss! Their soon-to-open retail loc
Charlie Gardner: How property law shapes community - Episode #7
Charlie on Twitter:
https://twitter.com/OldUrbanist
Charlie's bio at Mercatus:
https://www.mercatus.org/scholars/charles-gardner
Some court decisions referenced in our conversation:
Euclid v. Ambler, 1926
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/272/365/
Spann v. City of Dallas, 1921
https://casetext.com/case/spann-v-city-of-dallas-1
Buck v. Bell, 1927
https://supreme.justia.com/cases/
Ashley Fitzgerald: Nurturing Community in Modernity - Episode #6
Ashley on Twitter
Rizoma Field School
Ashley's writings
Doomer Optimism podcast
I open our conversation quoting from this article by Ashley in Front Porch Republic.
Ashley referenced Andrew Szasz's Shopping our Way to Safety.
"Spreadsheet Brain"
Coby Lefkowitz: How real estate finance shapes what gets built and who builds it - Episode #5
Coby's guest post on Noahpinion: "Why small developers are getting squeezed out of the housing market"
Coby on Twitter
Coby's website
Coby's business
Coby's interview on Building Culture
Ilya Somin: The Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning - Episode #4
Ilya Somin joins Geoff to discuss the newly published paper, The Constitutional Case Against Exclusionary Zoning, that he co-authored with Joshua Braver.
What's the big deal about exclusionary zoning and what does it have to do with the overarching Yeoman theme? Glad you asked! Geoff answered that question in this thread.
Professor Somin is a Professor of Law at George Mason University and the
Michael Tavani: Building Switchyards - Episode #3
Michael Tavani is the founder and CEO of Switchyards, the world's first neighborhood work club. He joins Geoff to talk about creating a new—and much needed—type of "third place", his love of third places, the inspiration he took from Oldenburg's book The Great Good Place, building with soul, the advantages of being an owner operator, and the growth of the business.
Some relevant
Austin Tunnell: Building Culture, structural masonry, & creating beauty - Episode #2
Austin Tunnell joins Geoff for a conversation about his business Building Culture. They talk about getting started as a mason and a homebuilder, small scale real estate development, structural masonry, apprenticeships, living in a place like Carlton Landing, and creating beauty.
Some relevant links:
Austin on X
Build Culture on X, Instagram, YouTube, and Spotify
Build Culture's new Townsend pr
Geoff Graham: Introduction to Yeoman - Episode #1
Geoff Graham introduces the Yeoman podcast.
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