PODCAST · society
53206 Cast
by Meg and Alex Bruzan
53206, located in the inner city of Milwaukee, is the poorest zip code in the state of Wisconsin. 99.2% of residents are non-white and the median household income is $24,000. Meg and Alex talk about what they have learned over the last 15 years from living in a place that is very different than the suburbs they grew up in. Each episode typically covers thoughts on education, social justice, and the normalization of inequities they see on a daily basis.Join Meg & Alex as we rethink our inner cities together
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Episode 244: The End Of We Got This (For The Summer)
This week, Meg and Alex recap the last week of We Got This for the 2026 summer program season.
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Episode 243: Assets or Liabilities
This week, Meg and Alex talk about assets and liabilities and how that distinction can be found on a micro and macro level within the neighborhood.
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Episode 242: We Got This Mega Work Day Recap
This week, Meg and Alex recap the latest work day at We Got This which set a record for the highest number of student participants.
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Episode 241: Aligning Yourself With Change
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the subtle difference between feeling like you need to be the change and aligning yourself with the change that you are currently seeing around you.
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Episode 240 - We Got Pancakes
This week, Meg and Alex recap the last few weeks at We Got This.
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Episode 238: We Got This Week 3 Recap
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 3 at We Got This.
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Episode 237: Blacklisted and Broken Fire Hydrants
This week, Meg and Alex talk about being blacklisted from the bank and governmental approval ratings.
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Episode 236: We Got This Week 2 Recap
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 2 at We Got This and manufacturing scarcity.
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Episode 235: We Got This Week 1 Recap
This week, Meg and Alex recap the first Saturday of We Got This for the 2026 growing season.
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Episode 234: The Way It Is
This week, Meg and Alex talk about some of the anomalies around common public services found in the inner city.
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Gentrification Watch 2026
This week, Meg and Alex give some updates on the status of the neighborhood pertaining to gentrification.
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Episode 232: Comfort
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the curious relationship between comfort and meaning and how value can be found when we live outside of our comfort zones.
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Episode 231: The Garden House
This week, Meg and Alex talk about their latest project, the garden house.
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Episode 230: Buds and Blooms
This week, Meg and Alex reflect on the seasons changing and the natural benchmarks of the year that provide snapshots for progress in the neighborhood.
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Episode 229: Fluffy Dogs
This week, Meg and Alex talk about changes in the neighborhood.
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Episode 228: The Wire Snatcher
The inner city has an underground economy of individuals canabalizing the buildings to sustain themselves. This week, Meg and Alex talk about that economy and discuss how they think about the negative impacts of this group of individuals.
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Episode 227: Why Things Are The Way They Are
This week, Meg and Alex talk about how some of the physical spaces within the neighborhood have arrived at their current condition.
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Episode 226: Picking A Lane
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the value of choosing a lane and sticking with it when it comes to social justice work.
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Episode 225: Multiple Truths
This week, Meg and Alex discuss a couple of instances where two potentially conflicting things can be true at the same time.
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Episode 224: Investing
This week, Meg and Alex discuss the value found in investing in our young people within the community.
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Episode 223: What Comes Next
This week, Meg and Alex discuss what comes next in our evolution toward a more socially just world.
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Episode 222: Raising Kids
This week, Meg and Alex discuss the question, who is responsible for raising up the next generation and whose to blaim when it doesn't go well.
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Episode 221: Outrage
Outrage seems to be everywhere today. This week, Meg and Alex talk about our propensity for outrage and what we can do about it.
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Episode 220: Why Is This The Best Option
This week, Meg and Alex talk about corporate landlords and ask the question, why is renting from one of them someone's best option.
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Episode 219: Amos Malone
This week, Meg and Alex are joined by Amos Malone, a PHD student from the community. The three talk about the criminal justice system and Amos' pathway from struggling student to PHD candidate.
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Episode 218: Silos
This week, Meg and Alex talk about silos in social justice work and the offer some adivce on how to navigate long term humanitarian work when new social inequities arise.
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Episode 217: Why Are All The Grocery Stores Closing?
The concept of a food desert isn't new. Traditional models for food distribution struggle in areas with high concentrations of poverty. This week, Meg and Alex talk about the third grocery store to close nearby and talk about what might work in the community.
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Episode 216: It's Ok To Get It Wrong
No one ever gets it right one hundred percent of the time. This week, Meg and Alex talk about what to do when you get something wrong and give some advice on how to develop the habbit of constant improvement.
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Episode 215: The Benefits and Challenges Of A Meritocracy
This week Meg and Alex talk about the benefits and challenges of living in a meritocracy, speficically as it pertains to areas of concentrated poverty.
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Episode 214: Christmas At We Got This
This week, Meg and Alex talk about scarcity around the holidays and the annual gift shop at We Got This.
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Episode 213: The Bubble
All of us have routines and patterns that create bubbles for us. This week, Meg and Alex talk about that value in reaching outside of our bubbles and share how that can benefit us personally and benefit the world around us.
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Episode 212: It Seemed Like A Good Idea
Why does anyone do what they do? For most of us, we choose to do whatever seems like a good idea at the time. This week, Meg and Alex talk about how living in the inner city seemed like a good idea 20 years ago and how it still does today.
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Episode 211: SNAP Part 2
This week Meg and Alex continue their conversation on SNAP and give a little insight on what it might be like to be reliant on a safety net like SNAP.
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Episode 210: SNAP
Every few years, we get moments in time where the call to do something becomes louder while simultaneously, the questioning on why we should care becomes more targeted. The suspension of SNAP benefits may have been one of those times. This week, Meg and Alex talk about SNAP benefits and our societies preference that programs like SNAP to not exist.
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Episode 209: Using AI To Make Systemic Change
This week, Meg and Alex dream a little bit about how the current and future advancements in artificial intelligence could promote progress in inner city neighborhoods.
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Episode 208: The Perception Of The Neighborhood
For years the perception of our neighborhood has been one of the biggest things holding it back. This week we talk about neighborhood perception and talk about reasons someone would want to stay here.
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Episode 207: How A House Gets Torn Down
Vacant properties are abundant in the inncer city. Sometimes they are rehabbed and become useful housing stock again and sometimes they end their lives vacant and are torn down. This week Meg and Alex talk about how a house gets torn down and give some insights on how the community is impacted.
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Episode 206: Unexpected House Guests
The unexpected happens more often in the inner city. This week, Meg and Alex talk about an unexpected guest at the White House On The Corner and give some insight into the mental health challenges that face areas of concentrated poverty.
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Episode 205: My Appliances Caught Fire
What does a tenant do when their landlord is unresponsive to emergencies or refuses to offer a basic level of quality in their building? This week Meg and Alex talk about a house on their block and one tenants experience living there.
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Episode 204: We Got This Week 11 Recap
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 11 at We Got This and talk about the importance of marketable skills.
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Episode 203: We Got This Week 10 Recap
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 10 at We Got This and talk about teaching the kids the concept of being kind to your future self.
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Episode 202: Food Deserts
This week Meg and Alex talk about why food deserts exist and how you can impact an area to lessen the likelihood of it becoming a food desert.
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Episode 201: We Got This Week 9 Recap
We are 3/4 of the way through the 2025 We Got This summer program. This week Meg and Alex give a recap of the week and talk about changing mindsets and the team's evolution.
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Episode 200: Reflections on 20 Years Of Living In The Inner City
The 53206 Cast is 200 episodes old. This week, Meg and Alex reflect on the last 5 years of podcasting and give some advice on how to organize your life in a way that allows you to make the changes you hope to see in the world.
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Episode 199: We Got This Week 7 Recap
We Got This has hit the half way mark for the summer. This week, Meg and Alex recap a rainy Saturday at the garden and discuss some of the ins and outs of running a non-profit.
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Episode 198: The Bunnies
Signs of change are everywhere if you know what to look for. This week, Meg and Alex talk about changes in the neighborhood and the recent influx of rabbits in the neighborhood.
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Episode 197: We Got This Week 6 Recap
This week, Meg and Alex recap week 6 at We Got This. With over 160 coming out to the garden to work this week, it was a busy one. Food was produced and given away for the first time this season and the kids had plenty of opportunities to learn life lessons and practice working.
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Episode 196: We Got This Week 5 Recap
This week, Meg and Alex talk about the heat, leadership, winning at work, and week 5 at We Got This.
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Episode 195: All or Nothing
This week, Meg and Alex discuss the idea that someone or something can be all good or all bad and the traps that this line of thinking can lead to.
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
53206, located in the inner city of Milwaukee, is the poorest zip code in the state of Wisconsin. 99.2% of residents are non-white and the median household income is $24,000. Meg and Alex talk about what they have learned over the last 15 years from living in a place that is very different than the suburbs they grew up in. Each episode typically covers thoughts on education, social justice, and the normalization of inequities they see on a daily basis.Join Meg & Alex as we rethink our inner cities together
HOSTED BY
Meg and Alex Bruzan
CATEGORIES
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