7 Must-Listen Podcasts from 2019
Tomas Sedlacek
“Mind = blown.” That’s how Chuck Marohn described his first encounter with the work of Tomas Sedlacek back in 2016. In fact, if we made a shortlist of the people who have had the most influence on our thinking here at Strong Towns, this Czech economist would be on it. All this is to say it was a big deal for us back in September when Chuck was able to interview Sedlacek for the Strong Towns podcast.
In this episode, Chuck and Sedlacek do a deep dive into our economic system, which venerates the "cruel deity" of "the god of growth." Growth capitalism, as Sedlacek describes it, esteems growth above all else—even over values like democracy, stability and neighborliness. In such a system, the previously unthinkable either subtly or suddenly becomes credible.
Pairs well with: Understanding Growth, a five-part series Chuck wrote in 2016 based on Sedlacek’s brilliant book, Economics of Good and Evil.
2. What the Left Gets Wrong about Public Transportation
For many self-proclaimed progressives, transit funding is a top priority, and for any number of reasons: to reduce our reliance on cars, for the sake of the environment, to better serve the working poor, etc. We need to build more transit and and we need it yesterday, and the reason we don’t have more of it is because of the dark money forces on the Right hijacking our transit dollars.
Here’s the thing: replace the word "transit” with “auto infrastructure,” and pin the blame on some ominous liberal dark money group, and we hear the same basic argument from self-proclaimed conservatives.
In this episode of Upzoned, hosts Chuck Marohn and Kea Wilson explore why the loudest voices on both the Left and the Right get it wrong when it comes to public transportation. Along the way, they tell you how to spot the real transit boondoggles, why making our cities easier for all our neighbors to get around might mean not funding your pet mega-project, and what it will take to build a transportation network that makes our cities financially stronger, not weaker.
Pairs well with: “Why Development-Oriented Transit is Better than Transit-Oriented Development”
Regina Portillo
How many neighborhood-boosting ideas have died on the vine because of the disconnect between local officials and the residents they’ve been hired to serve? How can we harness the creativity welling up within our neighborhoods to strengthen the community as a whole?
These are some of the challenges addressed by City Makery, a nonprofit organization in Laredo, Texas. City Makery cultivates public-private partnerships with residents whose ideas for change align with the City of Laredo’s comprehensive plan. They’ve worked with skateboarders to create a city-funded skatepark, created urban farms, and organized a young professionals network, among other projects.
In this episode of It’s the Little Things, Jacob Moses interviews Regina Portillo, the Executive Director of City Makery. Portillo shares how you can adopt a City Makery approach for your own community, including how to encourage people to share their ideas, how to uplift people to act on their ideas, and how to get local government involved in the process.
Pairs well with: ”Yes, Your Tactical Urbanism Project Can Save Lives, Too”, Jacob’s interview with Austin Taylor of BikeWalk Provo.
Ann Sussman
There is one design field that’s been shockingly slow in absorbing the lessons of modern psychology: architecture. The thing is, we used to. Though it was mostly unconscious, arrived at by trial-and-error over the course of centuries, we used to build places that were comfortable, coherent, and brought out the best in our neighborhoods.
Architect Ann Sussman is a leading voice in bringing the insights of psychologists and neuroscientists to bear on how architects and planners design pro-social places. She is the author of the 2014 book Cognitive Architecture. (She’s also the coauthor of a controversial 2017 essay in Common Edge titled ”The Mental Disorders That Gave Us Modern Architecture.”) In this episode, Chuck Marohn and Sussman discuss how the trauma of World War I gave force to the modernist movement in architecture, what two very different places—separated by 2000 years and the Atlantic Ocean—teach us about designing environments that inherently bring out the best in us, and why we should design not just with human physical health in mind (in the form of sidewalks and bike paths) but mental health too.
Pairs well with: “The Spooky Wisdom of Cities,” by Chuck Marohn
Kelli Jackson
According to the USDA, 13.5 million Americans live in food deserts—neighborhoods where they can’t easily access affordable and nutritious food. The conventional solution for cities is to offer huge tax incentives to supermarket chains to open a store close by. Unfortunately, those subsidies encourage a “race-to-the-bottom” between communities, and the corporate chain has little actual loyalty to the neighborhood.
Are there small bets a community can make to address food deserts in their neighborhoods before giving away valuable tax dollars? In this episode of It’s the Little Things, Jacob Moses talks to Kelli Jackson about one community response you may not expect: the local corner store.
Since 1998, Kelli Jackson’s family has operated the beloved Hank’s Mini Market in the Hyde Park neighborhood of South Los Angeles. In 2018, Jackson partnered with the L.A. Food Policy Council to participate in its Healthy Neighborhood Market Network: a program that empowers owner of food stores in low-income and minority neighborhoods to provide healthy food in their communities. In this episode, Jackson shares the story of Hank’s Mini Market and how corner stores across the country can combat food deserts. They discuss how Jackson responded to the needs of the neighborhood, why corner stores represent more than a place to buy the day’s needs, and how corner store store owners can empower customers to lead healthier lives.
Pairs well with: The story of another grassroots response to a food desert
6. The Two Things Your City Should Do Right Now If You Want to End Blight
You know that old saying about how everything looks like a nail to the person who only has a hammer? The same seems to be true for cities, though their capacity for blunt destruction works on a much larger scale. Every problem block looks like blight for the city that only has a bulldozer. Our communities need more tools in their tool belts.
Thankfully, more tools are available, as Mobile, Alabama recently demonstrated. That Southern town took a novel approach to its notorious blight problem—or, more accurately, what they thought was blight. Because as it turns out, when the mayor took an actual walk in his city’s neighborhoods and saw where people were struggling, he discovered a much smarter approach—no bulldozers required.
On this episode of Upzoned, Chuck and Kea Wilson explore exactly what Mobile did to turn their place around, and why it’s so hard—but so necessary—to celebrate quiet victories like theirs.
Pairs well with: “Poor Neighborhoods Make the Best Investments,” by Chuck Marohn
Paul Stewart
Here at Strong Towns, we’re distrustful of one-size-fits-all solutions. There’s just too much that is unique from neighborhood, town, or city to the next.
That said, there is one organization whose model Strong Towns president Chuck Marohn says every community should adapt for their own place: the Oswego Renaissance Association (ORA). Among other activities, the ORA makes small matching grants to clusters of homeowners who want to collaboratively improve the exterior of their neighborhood. This results in a huge return on investment, not to mention the value of neighbors working together...often for the first time. It’s a simple but profound process that unlocks neighbors’ confidence in their neighborhood.
In this episode of the Strong Towns podcast, Chuck interviews Paul Stewart, the founder and executive director of the ORA. They discuss the simple principles that underly the ORA’s approach, the subtle power of strengthening what’s working (rather than fixing what’s often dismissed as broken), and the “disinvestment snowball” that leads to declining conditions and a “bank run” on neighborhood confidence.
Listen to this episode and we think you’ll agree that the Oswego Renaissance Association has developed a model of community investment that could be applicable for towns and cities everywhere. What could it look like where you live?
Pairs well with: Chuck’s 2016 interview with Paul Stewart
Top photo via Unsplash.