The Spin Podcast

Samir Mayekar has built a battery startup, helped run Chicago’s economic development strategy, and now leads innovation at the University of Chicago.We talk about what startups teach you about the limits of policy, what city hall reveals about power and implementation, and why the Midwest keeps getting innovation wrong — and right.

Violence feels inevitable. Cities seem increasingly dangerous, moments spiral, and we assume it’s all rational. Planned, organized, premeditated. Jens Ludwig’s research shows that’s not the case. Most crime is fast, emotional, and hyper-local. We talk about why some blocks turn deadly while others stay calm, what actually reduces violence, and the hidden costs of gunfire in America. This is a conversation about the moments, places, and policies that shape urban life.

The data looks good. Growth is steady. Markets are high. Yet beneath the headline numbers, Professor Thomas Coleman sees an economy drifting toward deeper structural risk. We talk tariffs, immigration, fiscal credibility, and policies that Make America Poor Again (MAPA). This is a conversation about the policies we see, the risks we don’t, and the economic future we may be drifting toward.

We said we’d start in June. It’s November. Close enough.