Strong Sense of Place | Travel Through Books

Latest Episodes:

Argentina: Tango to the End of the World Jun 26, 2023

Show notes

Argentina is so alluring. Rugged gauchos riding the pampas, the percussive heartbeat of the tango, the otherwordly beauty of Tierra del Fuego, the friendly passing of the yerba maté gourd. This South American country invites you to connect, to linger, to relax, and to explore.

A blend of old-world Europe — Buenos Aires is known as the ‘Paris of South America’ — and local flair, Argentina is like nowhere else. City skylines boast neoclassical, art nouveau, art deco, and baroque architecture. The streets are filled with the seductive melodies of cumbia and tango. Cafés buzz with conversations in Spanish, Italian, German, and Arabic. And the food! Empanadas and dulce de leche and milanesa and the best beef in the world drizzled with chimichurri.

There are breathtaking waterfalls, shockingly blue lakes, steppes, volcanoes, and glaciers that invite you to jump on a horse or bicycle, lace up your hiking boots, or bundle up for an ice climb. There are whales, seals, penguins, and the Train at the End of the World.

In this episode, we talk about all the adventures that await in Argentina’s various geographical regions and learn the secret past of one of the most famous Argentines. Then we recommend five books that took us there on the page, including a historical novel set in the world of tango, a spy novel with feelings, a noir thriller set in 1950 Buenos Aires, an eerie short story collection, and a modern crime novel about the Buenos Aires elite.

Here are the books about bookshops we recommend on the show:

The Gods of Tango by Carolina De Robertis
Who is Vera Kelly? by Rosalie Knecht
A Quiet Flame by Philip Kerr
Seven Empty Houses by Samanta Schweblin
Betty Boo by Claudia Piñeiro, Miranda France (translator)

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

Transcript of Argentina.

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: A Celebration of the Big Bang and Two New Books Jun 23, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we get excited about two new books — ‘Return to Valetto’ by Dominic Smith and ‘National Dish’ by Anya von Bremzen — then Dave shares a delightful poem about wonder by Reina del Cid.

LINKS

Return to Valetto by Dominic Smith.
The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith.
Strong Sense of Place podcast: Museums: A Gathering of Muses, A Clutch of Curators.
National Dish: Around the World in Search of Food, History, and the Meaning of Home by Anya von Bremzen.
Mastering the Art of Soviet Cooking: A Memoir of Food and Longing by Anya Von Bremzen.
The CrashCourse YouTube Channel.
Video: Hank Green talks about the Big Bang.
Reina del Cid’s website, Twitter, and Instagram.
Video: Reina del Cid reciting her poem ‘Big Bang’.
Strong Sense of Place podcast: New Orleans: Pass a Good Time.
Transcript of this episode.

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:

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

LoLT: The Literary Fun of ‘80 Days’ and Two New Books Jun 16, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we get excited about two new books — ‘Unpacking for Greece’ by Sally Jane Smith and the new DK Eyewitness title ‘Europe by Train’ — then Mel gets excited about adaptations of ’Around the World in 80 Days.

LINKS

Unpacking for Greece by Sally Jane Smith.
Sally Jane Smith’s website, Twitter, and Instagram.
Europe by Train by DL Eyewitness.
The super-handy train travel website The Man in Seat Sixty-One.
Lonely Planet’s Guide to Train Travel in Europe.
80 Days website.
Video: Why 80 Days is a perfect game.
Around the World in 80 Days TV show and the show trailer.
Strong Sense of Place podcast: Newsroom: From Clacking Typewriters to Viral Video.
Eighty Days: Nellie Bly and Elizabeth Bisland’s History-Making Race Around the World by Matthew Goodman.
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

Kenya: Hurrying Has No Blessing Jun 12, 2023

Show notes

Located on the east coast of Africa, Kenya is a fantastic place to explore Swahili culture and get close to exotic wildlife — lions, elephants, cheetahs, giraffes, impalas, gazelles, warthogs, wildebeests, and so many birds.

The capital city of Nairobi sits on a plateau between the Indian Ocean (hello, picturesque beaches!) and the Great Rift Valley (lush green hills, blue lakes, hot pink flamingoes). Nairobi hums with energy and everything you’d expect in a major capital. The city also gets a little wild — literally — with Nairobi National Park inside the city limits.

As you might expect in Africa, Kenyan history is basically two big buckets: before colonialism and after. The rich influences that led to the Swahili culture — Arab, Persian, Indian, and African — are all on display in cities like Mombasa. Wander the narrow alleys and take in the romantic architecture, then cruise on a white-sailed dhow to the nearby island of Zanzibar.

Outside the cities, get ready for outdoor adventures with a jeep safari, a hike on Mt. Kenya, a cycling tour through Hell’s Gate (!), or a visit to a Maasai village to experience their traditional lifestyle.

In this episode, we daydream about safari animals, listen to African music, and explore why Kenyans are such fantastic runners. Then we recommend five great books that transported us to Kenya on the page.

Here are the books about Kenya we recommend on the show:

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

Transcript of Kenya: Hurrying Has No Blessing.

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: Shakespeare’s First Folio and Two New Books Jun 09, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we get excited about two new books — The Power of Saying No by Vanessa Patrick and Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum — then Dave shares fun facts about Shakespeare’s First Folio.

LINKS

The Power of Saying No by Vanessa Patrick
Bad Summer People by Emma Rosenblum
SSoP Podcast Episode 53 — Theater: Act One, Scene I, Lights Up.
Celebrating the 400th anniversary of the Bard’s First Folio.
Video: Unboxing Shakespeare’s First Folio.
The Book of William: How Shakespeare’s First Folio Conquered the World by Paul Collins.
Hamnet by Maggie O’Farrell

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: 1917 Pulitzer Prize and Two New Books Jun 02, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh and The West: A New History in Fourteen Lives by Naoíse Mac Sweeney. Then Mel shares the highlights of the first Pulitzer Prize winners.

LINKS

The Tumbling Girl by Bridge Walsh
The West: A New History in Fourteen Lives by Naoíse Mac Sweeney
Pulitzer Prize website
All the winners organized by year.
Herbert Bayard Swope’s Wikipedia page
See photos of his mansion on Long Island here and here.
Julia Ward Howe’s Wikipedia page.
Josef Pulitzer and the Crowdfunding Campaign That Saved the Statue of Liberty.
SSoP Podcast Episode 27 — Newsroom: From Clacking Typewriters to Viral Video.
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee
_Less: A Novel by Andrew Sean Greer
Middlesex: A Novel_ by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Shipping News: A Novel by Annie Proulx
So Big by Edna Ferber
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

Theater: Act One, Scene I, Lights Up May 29, 2023

Show notes

Google the words’ history of theater,’ and you’ll get a timeline that begins in ancient Greece, circa the 6th century BCE, and high-kicks forward through time to Broadway and London’s West End.

And that’s accurate. But it’s also missing the dramatic developments in storytelling techniques happening in other parts of the world — Japan, China, Indonesia, India — at the same time. While European peasants learned to walk the straight and narrow via morality plays, Asian theater-goers explored mythology via shadow puppets, dance, and dramatic masks.

In this episode, we travel the world (and through time) for a make-believe theater festival that takes us from Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London to the lights of Broadway, then to South America and Indonesia. We drop in on the premier of Fiddler on the Roof, learn about an avant-garde approach to theater meant to build empathy, and are dazzled by puppets that bring kings and demons to life.

Then we recommend five great books that took us straight to our seats in the theater, including a novel about a very bad actor making his Broadway debut, a lively retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a peek inside the creative minds behind beloved musicals, historical fiction about Bram Stoker’s time at London’s legendary Lyceum Theatre, and an unputdownable slice of dark academia with tender theater kids at its heart.

Here are the books about theater we recommend on the show:

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

Transcript of Theater: Act One, Scene I, Lights Up.

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: Literary Street in Vilnius and Two New Books May 19, 2023

Show notes

Housekeeping note: There will be no 'Library of Lost Time' next week. The next episode will appear on Friday, June 2. 'Strong Sense of Place' will appear before then, on Monday, the 29th of May, with our episode about the theater. Thank you!

In this episode, we get excited about two books: 'Tasting History' by Max Miller and 'This Isn't Going to End Well' by Daniel Wallace. Then Mel transports us to a street in Vilnius, Lithuania that’s made for book lovers.

LINKS

Tasting History by Max Miller
This Isn’t Going to End Well by Daniel Wallace
Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace
Video: Big Fish movie trailer.
Tasting History with Max Miller on YouTube
Atlas Obscura: Literature Street in Vilnius, Lithuania
Video: Tour of Literature Street
The wild ride of Adam Mickiewicz’s Wikipedia page
Pan Tadeusz; or, The last foray in Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz on Gutenberg.org
Video: The Origin of Pan Tadeusz
Video: Pan Taduesz movie trailer
Mel’s Bigos recipe
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

Maine: Lighthouses, Lobster Rolls, and the King of Horror May 15, 2023

Show notes

Perched in the top-right corner of the US, Maine is wrapped in a snuggly hug from Canada and bravely faces the crashing Atlantic. If bracing sea air, glorious pine trees, and fresh-from-the-ocean seafood is your thing, you’re going to want to visit asap.

Maine’s 5000 miles (8000 km) of coastline mean there are dozens of lighthouses, ample excuses to get out in a boat (kayaking along the Maine Island trail, anyone?), and opportunities to see puffins, seals, and whales in their natural habitat.

Or set your sights on the forest! The Pine Tree State is perfect for honing your Disney princess skills with moose, black bears, white-tailed deer, river otters, foxes, and other furry forest creatures.

When you’re ready to get cozy with a book, there’s the poetry of Longfellow, the delight of Charlotte’s Web, and the malevolent Pennywise, who is the terrifying and brilliant invention of Maine’s number one literary hero, Stephen King.

In this episode, we get hungry for lobster rolls and Maine blueberries, learn some funny island names, and honor a delightful ambassador to Maine. Then we recommend five books that took us to Maine on the page, including a Gothic coming-of-age story, two vastly different (but unputdownable) memoirs, a literary crime novel, and a sweet story about the magical power of love and the Northern Lights.

Here are the books about Maine we recommend on the show:

Grange House by Sarah Blake
The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
The Midcoast by Adam White
Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman
Almost, Maine by John Cariani

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

Transcript of Maine: Lighthouses, Lobster Rolls, and the King of Horror.

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: Jeremy Anderberg Recommends Shepherd.com and Two New Books May 12, 2023

Show notes

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin and The Partisan by Patrick Worrall. Then guest Jeremy Anderberg shares a fun website to find great new-to-you titles.

LINKS