“People travel thousands of miles to go on outdoor adventures, but you can do all that right here on the Mississippi.”

The great river through the middle of the country is so many things to so many people. It’s a transportation lifeline, a natural wonder, a deep connection to the human spirit, and the birthplace of countless cities and towns.

Dean Klinkenberg, who happens to be my older brother, has spent all his adult life living along the river, studying it, exploring it, and thinking about how to make it more accessible and healthier for all. He’s written numerous books with the river as the star, and now has his own podcast. All of it can be found from his website - the Mississippi Valley Traveler.

What’s even more interesting is how our interests overlap when it comes to thinking about cities, towns, nature and the middle of the country. In this podcast, Dean talks about a possible vision of holistic river management. It sounds an awful lot like how I think about the places humans inhabit - how we’ve applied reductionist, narrow approaches for about a century that haven’t exactly worked out so well. And now, how we need a more holistic approach to life in our places. There’s been some overlap in the world of environmental science to this line of thinking for years, but we too often still think of our rivers as just simplistic navigation channels.

Welcome to the podcast my mother has been waiting for. I hope you enjoy it as well.

The future is holistic!

Key links:

Trempealeau National Wildlife Refuge

Poverty Point World Heritage Site

Cahokia Mounds

Find more content on The Messy City on Kevin’s Substack page.

Music notes: all songs by low standards, ca. 2010. Videos here. If you’d like a CD for low standards, message me and you can have one for only $5.

Intro: “Why Be Friends”

Outro: “Fairweather Friend”