Strong Sense of Place | Travel Through Books

Latest Episodes:

LoLT: The Great Philly Cheesesteak Debate and Two New Books Sep 01, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we’re excited about two new books: ‘Where There Was Fire’ by John Manuel Arias and ‘The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store’ by James McBride. Then Mel serves up the delicious story of the Philadelphia cheesesteak.

Links

The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com

Do you enjoy our show? Want access to fun bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplace

As always, you can find us at:

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LoLT: Edinburgh Fringe Festival and Two New Books Aug 25, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we’re excited about two new books: ‘The Continental Affair’ by Christine Mangan and ‘The Quickening’ by Elizabeth Rush. Then Dave explains why you should put the Edinburgh Fringe Festival on your must-visit list.

Links

The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com

As always, you can find us at:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LoLT: The Long Now Foundation and Two New Books Aug 11, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we’re excited about two new books — ‘The Bookbinder’ by Pip Williams and ‘Tabula Rasa, Vol 1’ by John McPhee — then Dave tells us about the fascinating work of the Long Now Foundation.

Links

The Bookbinder by Pip Williams
Tabula Rasa, Vol 1 by John McPhee
Pip Williams on the Invisible History of Female Bookbinders.
A New Novel That Captures the ‘Poetic Materiality’ of Books.
Our review of The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee.
Hear Dave talk about ‘The Crofter and the Laird’ in our podcast episode Scotland: Wraiths, Rebels, and Royalty.
The Long Now Foundation website.
The Long Now Foundation YouTube channel.
Radical Sharing event — 23 August
Our podcast episode Amusement Parks: Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!.
Transcript of this episode.

The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com

As always, you can find us at:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LoLT: Remembering the Concorde and Two New Books Aug 04, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we’re excited about two books — ‘Ms. Demeanor’ by Elinor Lipman Moreno-Garcia and ‘Speech Team: A Novel’ By Tim Murphy — then Mel gets nostalgic about Concorde and those zippy flights across the Atlantic.

Links

Ms. Demeanor by Elinor Lipman
Speech Team: A Novel by Tim Murphy
Visit Elinor Lipman’s website.
Elinor Lipman is the new EM Forster. Fight me.
Review of The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman.
Review of The Way Men Act by Elinor Lipman.
Review of Isabel’s Bed by Elinor Lipman.
My Ride on the Concorde.
What It Was Like to Fly Concorde in the ’70s.
Concorde Stories: Remembering the ‘Pocket Rocket’.
What Food & Drink Were Passengers Served On Concorde?
Vintage Champagne on the Edge of Space: The Supersonic World of a Concorde Stewardess by Sally Armstrong
Supersonic: The Design and Lifestyle of Concorde by Lawrence Azerrad
Transcript of this episode.

The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com

As always, you can find us at:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Bonus Episode With Tasha Sounart, Creative Director of Theme Parks at Pixar Jul 28, 2023

Show notes

If you’ve ever wanted to go behind the scenes of the best theme parks in the world — Hello, Disney! — you’re going to love today’s bonus episode.

We were thrilled to talk to friend-of-the-podcast Tasha Sounart about her job as Creative Director in the Theme Parks group of Pixar.

In this delightful conversation, we talked to Tasha about what a day at Pixar is like, what inspires her creativity, and which Pixar world she’d like to visit.

For more on Tasha, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.

Find Tasha on Mastodon: @tashasounart@worldkey.io
Tasha recommended the book Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths.
Lauren Passell’s excellent podcast recommendation newsletter Podcast the Newsletter.
Easy Homemade Caramel Popcorn.
SSoP — Amusement Parks: Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!

Transcript of this episode.

Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside.

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LoLT: Phantom Islands and Two New Books Jul 21, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we’re excited about two new books — ‘Silver Nitrate’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and ‘The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale’ by Jon Klassen — then Dave shares a fascinating art project about phantom islands.

Links

Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Visit Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s website, Twitter, and Instagram.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen
Follow Jon Klassen on Instagram.
Jon Klassen’s Hat Box by Jon Klassen (the trilogy)
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
The scoop on phantom islands from Wikipedia, Atlas Obscura, and Explorers Web.
Andrew Peckler’s Phantom Islands — A Sonic Atlas.
The album Sounds from Phantom Islands. (The vinyl is sold out, but mp3s are available.)
Andrew Peckler’s new musical release Cue.
Transcript of this episode.

The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com

As always, you can find us at:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Amusement Parks: Wheeeeeeeeeeeee! Jul 17, 2023

Show notes

The gates of an amusement park are a portal to a magical realm of thrill rides and fantasy worlds, larger-than-life characters, and the best portable foods on the planet. (We’re looking at you, corn dogs and kettle corn!)

And it’s been that way since the beginning. The first quasi-amusement park entertained revelers in 1133 with merry-go-rounds, extravagant stage shows, gingerbread, sausages, and dancing in the streets. All that merriment made it easy to forget it was all meant to honor St. Bartholomew.

Eventually, the rides got bigger (and faster and more hair-raising), the shows more over-the-top, and the spectacle more spectacular. Roller coasters! Carousels! Tilt-a-Whirls! Mickey and Donald and Cinderella! Legos! Quidditch! Funnel cakes! Turkey legs! And fireworks!

In this episode, we take a fast romp through the history of amusement parks, revel in an essay by Russian writer Maxim Gorky, and celebrate the magical world of Walt Disney. Then we recommend five books that took us to amusement parks on the page, including a comedy-thriller set in Helsinki, a nonfiction exploration of delight, a dystopian disaster tale, and historical mysteries set in 1915 Chicago and 1911 Coney Island.

Here are the books about amusement parks we recommend on the show:

The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen, David Hackston (translator)
Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand
Dreamland by Nancy Bilyeau
Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson
Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven

For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.

Transcript of Amusement Parks: Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!.

Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LoLT: Beautiful Street Art by NeSpoon & Two Great Books Jul 14, 2023

Show notes

This is a replay of an episode featuring books from beloved authors that are excellent summer reads: 'Killers of a Certain Age' by Deanna Raybourn and 'Fairy Tale' by Stephen King. Then Mel takes us around Europe with the Polish street artist Nespoon.

BOOKS

Killers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybourn

https://bit.ly/3RBg1dW

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

https://bit.ly/3AVh01I

DISTRACTION OF THE WEEK

The Library of Lost Time

https://bit.ly/3PIqMd8

NeSpoon on Instagram

https://bit.ly/3ql5GHj

NeSpoon on YouTube

https://bit.ly/3BeS6M8

NeSpoon website

https://nespoon.art

Video of the mural at the Museum of Lace and Fashion

https://youtu.be/XeFNYiYC0VE

More about the square in Belorado, Spain

https://bit.ly/3RmCL1s

German video (with some English) featuring NeSpoon's various works

https://youtu.be/ehh5A0AW-p4

Colossal magazine

https://bit.ly/3etn6PC

Five questions with NeSpoon

https://bit.ly/3euaeZD

Transcript of this episode

https://bit.ly/3cNqmoy

The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production!https://strongsenseofplace.com

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LoLT: A Sneaky Socialite and Two New Books Jul 07, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we get excited about two new books — ‘The Only One Left’ by Riley Sager and ‘The Art Thief’ by Michael Finkel — then Dave shares the amazing story of the gilded age socialite Ida Wood.

LINKS

The Only One Left by Riley Sager.
Visit Riley Sager’s website and Instagram.
Riley talked about his book in this video from The Poisoned Pen bookshop.
Smithsonian magazine: Why 19th-Century Axe Murderer Lizzie Borden Was Found Not Guilty.
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel.
Our podcast episode Maine: Lighthouses, Lobster Rolls, and the King of Horror.
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel.
Smithsonian magazine on Ida Wood: Everything Was Fake but Her Wealth.
Wikipedia entires for Ida Wood and her husband Benjamin Wood.
A personal essay: My Crazy Aunt Ida.
Transcript of this episode.

The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com

As always, you can find us at:

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

LoLT: Postcard Pen Pals and Two New Books Jun 30, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we get excited about two new books — ‘100 Places to See After You Die’ by Ken Jennings and ‘What the Dead Know’ by Barbara Butcher — then Mel gets excited about postcards from around the world.

LINKS