5 New Podcasts for the Strong Towns Advocate
The movement to build stronger and more financially resilient cities requires changing the conversation around growth and development in North America. I’m encouraged to see just how far-and-wide that conversation is, in fact, already spreading. For example, I recently noticed how many friends of Strong Towns have recently launched their own podcasts. I’m folding them all into my regular podcast rotation.
Do you have some travel ahead of you this holiday weekend? If so, this might be a good time to check these out for yourself.
Active Towns — John Simmerman
Active Towns is an Austin-based nonprofit dedicated to helping communities create a “Culture of Activity” for people of all ages and abilities. John Simmerman, the president and cofounder of Active Towns, has written for our site and was interviewed on the Strong Towns podcast. He was also the subject of a short profile.
We wrote last August about how much we appreciated Simmerman’s use of video to show people how good design contributes to active living and community wellness. Imagine our excitement, then, when earlier this year, Simmerman and Active Towns launched a podcast too. In each episode, Simmerman goes deep with leaders from a variety of fields—planners, walking and cycling advocates, nonprofit executives, entrepreneurs, and more. He did an extensive interview with Strong Towns president Chuck Marohn back in April. They talked about the origin story of Strong Towns, the power of incrementalism, and how cities can turn things around…even in the midst of a pandemic.
Eyes on the Street — CivicBrand
In The Death and Life of Great American Cities, Jane Jacobs wrote about the importance of “eyes on the street, eyes belonging to those we might call the natural proprietors of the street.” Eyes on the street are important not only for the neighborhood’s safety—the subject of that particular chapter in the book—but also its vitality, hospitality, and sense of self. We like Eyes on the Street as a name for the new podcast from CivicBrand, because, as a branding and marketing agency working exclusively on civic projects, CivicBrand helps communities become more vital and hospitable, and develop a stronger sense of identity.
In each podcast episode, CivicBrand founder Ryan Short talks to leaders about community branding, public engagement, destination marketing, and more. The episodes are brief, and only four have been released so far, so you’ll have no problem catching up. Just make sure not to miss the interview with Derek Avery in Episode 2. (The episode isn’t embeddable here, but you can listen to it by clicking through or going directly to Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or Spotify.)
Derek Avery is someone we admire at Strong Towns, and we were fortunate to interview him ourselves last year:
Livable City — Jim Hodapp
We love the work Jim Hodapp is doing with Livable City. Jim is a longtime Strong Towns member and the cofounder of Strong Indy. Though he now lives in Chicago, where he works as a software engineer, he’s still helping people co-create great neighborhoods and communities through the Livable City podcast and platform.
This weekend, I’ll be listening to an interview from back in February with Melissa Bruntlett and Chris Bruntlett of Modacity. I recently ordered the Bruntletts’ book, Building the Bicycling City, and this episode will tide me over until it arrives.
By the way, Jim has written for us too. Check out his article on how to start a Strong Towns action group in your city.
PLACECAST — ASH+LIME
PLACECAST is a project of ASH+LIME, a Dallas-based urban planning firm. Hosts Rik Adamski, Principal of ASH+LIME, and Christopher Duncan, the firm’s Director of Strategy & Operations, interview a wide variety of people in the fields of planning, real estate, and economic development.
Check out, for example, this great interview with Mike Lydon (unfortunately not embeddable). Lydon is the author of Tactical Urbanism, a Principal at Street Plans, and the creator of the Open Streets Project.
When you’re done with that episode, go back and listen to our interview with Adamski last year on the It’s the Little Things podcast:
The Embedded Church — Eric O. Jacobsen & Sara Joy Proppe
Last month I wrote about how the work of Eric O. Jacobsen—a pastor, author, and urbanist—helped me discover Strong Towns. Jacobsen now cohosts The Embedded Church, a podcast that shares stories of churches in walkable neighborhoods. Jacobsen has appeared a number of times in Strong Towns media, including this 2014 podcast interview with Chuck Marohn. Jacobsen’s cohost of The Embedded Church podcast will also be familiar to longtime Strong Towns readers: Sara Joy Proppe. The founder of the Proximity Project, Sara Joy has written a dozen articles for Strong Towns over the last five years.
There is a role for every sector in the work of building stronger towns and cities, including our religious communities. The Embedded Church highlights churches in walkable neighborhoods because of the opportunities there to create “new levels of belong with their neighbors.” Don’t miss the Season 1 interview with Keith Case:
Episode 6 - Walkability and Partnering with Civic & Nonprofit Organizations
What is walkability and why is it important for the common good? In this episode we drill down the concept of walkability and talk with Keith Case, Lead Pastor of Providencia about how his church partners with civic organizations to enhance the walkability of West Palm Beach, Florida.
Your turn: what podcasts have you been listening to lately that are helping you become a more effective advocate for change in your community? Let us know in the comments below!
Cover image via Siddharth Bhogra on Unsplash.
Benjamin Herold, author of Disillusioned: Five Families and the Unraveling of America’s Suburbs, joins host Chuck Marohn on this week’s episode of the Strong Towns Podcast.