This is The Nature of Cities
Podcast Archive

Many voices. Greener cities. Better cities.

“This is The Nature of Cities” is the Podcast of The Nature of Cities, a virtual magazine and discussion site on cities as ecosystems. Subscribe on iTunes

2021

31 January 2021

Stories of the Nature of Cities 1/2 Hour—Episode 4: Oasis
David Maddox, New York

Episode 4: Oasis “Happy Hour at the Green Man” by Kate Wing, read by Lucy Symons A small bar in the middle of the city has a portal to an...

18 January 2021

The LEAF: Episode 4. Show and Tells from Urban Arts Collective Members
Bibi Calderaro, New York
Nicolas Dumit Estévez Raful Espejo, New York
Ursula Heise, Los Angeles

Explore with us diverse and connecting threads in urban ecological arts. In the LEAF, three FRIEC Urban Arts Collective members share something from their ideas and work for 10 minutes...

2020

9 December 2020

The LEAF Episode 3: Show and Tells from TNOC Urban Ecological Arts Collective Members
Tim Collins, Glasgow
Robin Lasser, Oakland
Wendy Wischer, Salt Lake City

Want to explore diverse and connecting threads in urban ecological arts? In the LEAF, three FRIEC Urban Arts Collective members share something from their ideas and work for 10 minutes each,...

18 November 2020

Stories of the Nature of Cities 1/2 Hour. Episode 3—Generations of Climate Change
Ari Honarvar, San Diego
Michael Harris Cohen, Sofia
Laura Shillington, Montreal

Episode 3: Generations of Climate Change “A Child of the Oasis” by Ari Honavar, read by Nora AchratiA mother and daughter meet an undocumented refugee on their annual ride to the...

14 November 2020

The LEAF Episode 2: Show and Tells from FRIEC Collective Artists
Christina Freeman, New York
Lucie Lederhendler, Brandon
Paula Nishijima, Diemen

Want to explore diverse and connecting threads in urban ecological arts? In the LEAF, three FRIEC Urban Arts Collective members share something from their ideas and work for 10 minutes each,...

8 October 2020

The LEAF Episode 1: Show and Tells from FRIEC Collective Artists
Olive Bieringa, Oslo
Matthew Jensen, New York
Stéphane Verlet-Bottéro, Paris

Want to explore diverse and connecting threads in urban ecological arts? In the LEAF, three FRIEC Urban Arts Collective members share something from their ideas and work for 10 minutes each,...

7 October 2020

Stories of the Nature of Cities 1/2 Hour. Episode 2—Sea Level Rise
Alyssa Eckles Alyssa Eckles, Cleveland
Rym Kechacha, Norwich

Episode 2—Sea Level Rise The read stories are Rym Kechacha’s “Old Father Thames” and Alyssa Eckles’ “Uolo and the Idol”. The Stories are first read, then authors Rym and Alyssa...

2016

16 October 2016

It Takes a Village to Green an Alley
Philip Silva, New York
David Maddox, New York

Story Notes: More and more cities throughout the world are turning to parks, gardens, green roofs, and other kinds of “green infrastructure” to soak up storm water and simultaneously create vibrant...

11 September 2016

How Did Seoul’s Cheonggyecheon River Restoration Get Its Start? TNOC Podcast Episode 10
Philip Silva, New York
David Maddox, New York

Story Notes: A casual chat on a bus nearly thirty years ago led to the improbable removal of a major elevated highway and the restoration of a beloved river in...

10 August 2016

Some Birds Love Cities—Can Cities Love them Back? TNOC Podcast Episode 9
Philip Silva, New York
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story Notes:  House sparrows, rock pigeons, and red-tailed hawks are three bird species that have successfully—and very visibly—adapted to life in cities. Yet as the number and...

22 June 2016

What Should We Make of Jane Jacobs’ Critique of Parks in The Death and Life of Great American Cities?—TNOC Podcast Episode 8
Philip Silva, New York
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story Notes: Andy Hernandez walked into Washington Square Park on a sunny afternoon in 1981 with a cameraman, a boom box, and a mandate to make a music...

12 May 2016

Look Who’s Coming to Dinner…Bacteria that Eat the Gowanus Sludge—TNOC Podcast Episode 7
Philip Silva, New York
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story notes: The Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn is well known throughout New York City as a nearly two-mile-long trench filled with sewage and chemicals left behind by years...

29 February 2016

The Flint Water Crisis Illuminated by Citizen Science—TNOC Podcast Episode 6
Philip Silva, New York
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story notes: Federal regulations make clean drinking something close to a guaranteed right for residents of cities in the United States, but not all urban water systems are...

25 February 2016

Setting Out from Bangkok. TNOC Podcast Bangkok to Barcelona 01
Jennifer Baljko, Barcelona

Also available at iTunes. Story notes: I am Jenn Baljko, and my partner Lluís and I started walking from Bangkok, Thailand, back home to Barcelona, Catalonia. Along the 12,000km journey, we’ll explore the idea...

2015

13 May 2015

The City Bee. TNOC Podcast Episode 005
Jennifer Baljko, Barcelona
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story notes: (See the companion essay here.) Bees have always been a part of the city landscape. But something is happening in the world today that’s making their...

15 April 2015

What Is Civic Ecology? 25 Definitions. TNOC Podcast Episode 004
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story notes: Marianne Krasny and Keith Tidball of Cornell’s Civic Ecology Lab convened a workshop in Annapolis Maryland, at the offices of The National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, or...

30 March 2015

Where Can Civic Ecology Lead? TNOC Podcast Episode 003
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story notes: A conversation about civic ecology between Lance Gunderson, a landscape ecologist from Emory University in Atlanta; Caroline Lewis, of Climate Leadership Engagement Opportunities, or CLEO, in Miami;...

8 February 2015

Closing the Sustainability and Equity Gap: What Does it Mean to be both a Green and Just City? TNOC Podcast Episode 002
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story notes: Cities face many challenges with competing solutions: climate change, economic inequality, lack of access to resources and opportunities, and social and political conflict. Can...

9 January 2015

Participation and Urban Open Space. TNOC Podcast Episode 001
David Maddox, New York

Also available at iTunes. Story notes: The Nature of Cities was invited to create a session at the 2014 Smart Cities Expo in Barcelona: “Participation and the Role of Green and...