A Tiny Plot

Using broken refrigerators, mattresses, and dishwashers, residents of Union Point Park barricade their tent city. And they fight for an extraordinary idea: their own plot of land, where they could live in community and set their own rules.

A Tiny Plot is a new 5-part series from KQED’s Snap Studios. Host and Reporter Shaina Shealy takes listeners inside an encampment in Oakland for an against-all-odds story about scarcity, community, and the complexity of building something new from the margins of a broken system. What happens when people who’ve been shut out of a system that has failed them decide to take the lead? Disaster, and unexpected beauty.

Huge love & thanks to the entire cast from A Tiny Plot for sharing your worlds with us at Snap Judgment!

Last refreshed: December 27th, 2025 at 9:24 AM ⓘ

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Episodes

Burned

The group from Union Point moves into their new homes on the tiny plot of land near Lake Merritt. They run their own security and decide who comes into their space. But then, on a Monday morning in March, we hear devastating news… A fire burns through the plot of land on E12th. Is this the end of the experiment, or will the group keep building? This episode contains strong language & graphic imagery. Please take care while listening. Thank you to the entire cast from A Tiny Plot for sharing ...

Sep 10, 2025•31 min•Season 1Ep. 5

Rocked

Mama D, President Matt, and the rest of the group are finally seeing their experiment in co-governance take shape. They built their security sheds and saw their tiny homes for the first time. But when Nino Parker stepped onto the sidewalk in a neck brace, on crutches, it was clear that the group was about to face a whole new level of chaos. This episode contains strong language & graphic imagery. Please take care while listening. Thank you to the entire cast from A Tiny Plot for sharing your...

Sep 10, 2025•26 min•Season 1Ep. 4

The Fence

Mama D sees that the future of the experiment is up to her and what she decides: Lead the group to the plot of land offered by the city, hope and pray for a magical new plot, or disband the group and dissolve the experiment. Following weeks of indecision, Mama D makes a choice. And while everyone from the group was hard at work to turn their dream into reality, they didn’t seem to notice a major problem with the setup. A fault line of sorts. This episode contains strong language & graphic im...

Sep 10, 2025•34 min•Season 1Ep. 3

Moving Camp

The standoff between Public Works and the group from Union Point Park ends with a handshake -- a deal to build a new kind of housing community funded by the city where homeless residents make their own rules. But right away, the civility of this agreement seems to break down. And after months of waiting, the group from Union Point Park finally gets a plot of land on E12th Street for their radical experiment. But there’s a big problem with the land. It's something that leaves the future of this e...

Sep 10, 2025•38 min•Season 1Ep. 2

The Barricade

Using broken refrigerators, mattresses and dishwashers, residents of Union Point Park barricade their tent-city. And they fight for an extraordinary idea: their own plot of land from the city, where they could live in community and set their own rules, on their own terms. A Tiny Plot is a new 5-part series from KQED ’s Snap Studios. Host and Reporter Shaina Shealy takes listeners inside an encampment in Oakland for an against-all-odds story about scarcity, community, and the complexity of buildi...

Sep 10, 2025•45 min•Season 1Ep. 1

Trailer

It's barricades vs. bobcats, tents vs. tiny homes, and a team of people fighting to stay together. Listen to a radical experiment in freedom that puts an entire city under the microscope… "A Tiny Plot” is a new series from KQED’s Snap Studios. Producer Shaina Shealy embedded with a group of people in an encampment in Oakland at a park called Union Point. They were ordered to disperse, running out of time, but they were bound together by an extraordinary new idea: their own living space where the...

Sep 09, 2025•2 min

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