Urban Dynamics: Power and Planning in NYC

Ideas can often be an engine to think about the world. Seeing Like a State by James C Scott is a great book that has illuminated the world with the power of its frameworks — and both Amit and Ajay are fans.

Welcome to Episode 115 of Everything is Everything, a weekly podcast hosted by Amit Varma and Ajay Shah.

In this episode, Ajay talks about what Scott’s book meant to him — and lays out an easy introduction to its powerful ideas.

TABLE OF CONTENTS: 00:00 Packaging00:13 Intro: The Velvet Underground of Ideas03:57 Chapter 1: What the Book Means to Ajay13:17 Chapter 2: State Legibility26:36 Chapter 3: High Modernism31:12 Chapter 4: Metis33:07 Chapter 5: An Example: Prussian Forestry Management39:27 Chapter 6: Watch out for These Four Things41:38 Chapter 7: More Examples49:14 Chapter 8: Some Takeaways1:00:49 Chapter 9: An Engine for Thinking About the World1:02:14 Chapter 10: Recommendations

For full show notes, please click here!