Where did the money go, and who was actually helped?

Money meant to help people without a home should change lives. HUD Secretary Scott Turner joins Dr. Ben Carson to question the results of homelessness spending in Los Angeles, discuss allegations that public funds paid for personal luxuries, and explain why he wants greater accountability.

For taxpayers footing the bill—and families still waiting for help—the stakes are personal. Turner makes the case for changing how homelessness is addressed, while Dr. Carson presses him on what went wrong and what needs to change.

The conversation also explores another challenge facing American families: buying a home. From factory-built housing and cutting red tape to respecting skilled trades, Turner shares his approach to expanding opportunity—and the faith he says guides his hardest decisions.

In this episode:

Turner’s criticisms of homelessness spending in Los Angeles; fraud allegations and accountability; his case for a treatment-first approach; housing affordability and regulatory barriers; factory-built homes; skilled trades and opportunity beyond college; disaster recovery; faith in public service.

Subscribe to Common Sense with Dr. Ben Carson for conversations about practical solutions, family, faith, and opportunity.

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Why should starting a family mean leaving the community you love?

Dr. Ben Carson joins Bobby Fijan, co-founder of the American Housing Corporation, at HUD’s Innovative Housing Showcase on the National Mall to explore missing starter homes, the cost of building where families want to live, and a new approach to making homeownership more attainable.

A first home can mean staying near the people, schools, and church that already anchor your life. Fijan describes the smaller starter homes he believes cities are missing, and the families who leave when marriage or children change what they need. His company is working to reduce construction costs through three-story row homes built for the places people want to live.

What if the path to your first home started on a factory floor? Fijan’s company builds large panels in Austin with electrical, plumbing, and mechanical systems already inside, ready to ship to where homes are needed. The goal: bring construction costs down so more families can put down roots. And the stakes go beyond owning a house—it’s the chance to raise children near the family and community who help make it home.

In this episode:

The missing starter home; why cities lose young families; housing near jobs and schools; family and community support; three-story row homes; factory-built panels and freight transport; what first-time buyers really want.

Subscribe to Common Sense with Dr. Ben Carson for conversations about practical solutions, family, opportunity, and the future of our communities.

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Could construction robots make homeownership more affordable? Dr. Ben Carson joins Nick Callegari, founder and CEO of Verustruct, at HUD’s Innovative Housing Showcase on the National Mall to explore how robotics, reinforced concrete, and coordinated construction could lower housing costs.

Callegari explains why automating a single construction task may not change the economics of an entire project. His approach seeks to coordinate more of the work, use locally available materials, and reduce delays between subcontractors.

The conversation also explores robots that climb the walls they build, parallel work on electrical, plumbing, insulation, and finishes, and the role of local regulation. Based on full-scale device testing, Callegari projects that a 2,500-square-foot home’s wall system could be built in under 48 hours.

In this episode:

Coordinating construction trades; reinforced concrete and local materials; the 50% cost-reduction ambition; the under-48-hour wall-system projection; robots working in parallel; reducing waste; scaling robotic fleets; local rules and affordable housing.

Subscribe to Common Sense with Dr. Ben Carson for conversations about practical solutions, opportunity, and the future of our communities.

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