Karen MacDonough had paid her mortgage for years, raised her family, and lived a quiet life in her Quincy, Massachusetts home—until one day, a group of strangers appeared on her lawn, claiming her house was up for foreclosure. What followed was a surreal discovery of “zombie mortgages,” forgotten second loans from the housing bubble era that have come back to haunt homeowners like Karen. As real estate prices rise, debt collectors are reviving these dormant debts, threatening homes across the country.

This episode is from our friends at Planet Money, a podcast about economics...possibly the biggest thing that we all collectively try not to think about, only to have it greet us at the grocery store, at the gas station, even in our homes. This episode illustrates how massive forces pull at the economy like tides and create ripple effects in our lives, like how a decade-old loan can suddenly come back to life and take everything away.

Subscribe to Planet Money wherever you get your podcasts. They also have a digital piece with further reporting on Zombie Mortgages from NPR’s Investigations Team. You can find that at npr.org/zombie.

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Once considered the most dangerous city in the world due to drug cartel violence, by the early 2000s Medellin had reinvented itself. But gentrification is allowing criminal gangs to reap large profits from a shadow economy powered by the tourist boom.

Medellin, Revisited

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The impacts of climate disasters are often measured in terms of property damage. But in places like Phoenix, Arizona, and in hot places all over the world, climate change is wreaking a very different kind of havoc – on living things. In the final episode of Not Built for This, we reckon with the biological limits of climate adaptation.

Not Built For This is a 6-part mini-series from 99% Invisible, with new episodes on Tuesdays and Fridays in the 99% Invisible feed. Listen wherever you get your podcasts.

Subscribe to SiriusXM Podcasts+ on Apple Podcasts to listen to ad-free new episodes and get exclusive access to bonus content.