Strong Sense of Place | Travel Through Books

Hello! Please take our end-of-the-season survey at http://strongsenseofplace.com/survey! We'd love to hear from you.Seattle is a mashup of water and mountains — it just might be the ultimate outdoor playground. If you want to go hiking, camping, boating, biking, or meander in a beautiful garden, Seattle is a fantastic place to do all of that.It can also claim a vast realm of ‘firsts’ in music, architecture, politics, and literature. (Not to mention Bigfoot sightings, if that’s your thing.) There’s grunge music, Elvis appearances, the Seattle Seahawks’ 12th Man, an inordinate number of sunglasses, and more library cards than anywhere else in the United States. The city also hosted two World’s Fairs: the Alaska–Yukon–Pacific Exposition in 1909 to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Klondike Gold Rush (you do not want to miss the Two Truths and a Lie story about that one!) — and the Century 21 Exposition in 1962. That one tried to predict what life in America would be like in the year 2000 and beyond — which gave us the Space Needle, the Alweg Monorail, and a car shaped like a rocket.In this episode, we learn the stories of a few remarkable Seattle women, celebrate Seattle’s superlatives, and share a bookish itinerary for the ‘Most Literate City in the Country.’ Then we recommend seven great books that took us there on the page, including an unusual ghost story, a memoir about living in 1950s Seattle, a thriller set in the world of journalism, three graphic novels that will make you want to take a walk, and a modern fable set in the San Juan islands. I Wish I Was Like You by S.P. Miskowski This Boy’s Life: A Memoir by Tobias Wolff Deadline Man: A Novel by Jon Talton Seattle Walk Report: An Illustrated Walking Tour through 23 Seattle Neighborhoods by Susanna Ryan Secret Seattle: An Illustrated Guide to the City’s Offbeat and Overlooked History by Susanna Ryan Street Trees of Seattle: An Illustrated Walking Guide by Taha Ebrahimi Bear by Julia Phillips For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes.Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world.Transcript of Seattle: City of SuperlativesDo you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you!Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Absinthe Forger by Evan Rail and The Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland Allen. Then our guest Evan Rail shares his enthusiasm for fountain pens and special inks. LinksThe Absinthe Forger: A True Story of Deception, Betrayal, and the World’s Most Dangerous Spirit by Evan RailThe Notebook: A History of Thinking on Paper by Roland AllenEvan Rail’s website and InstagramEvan’s interview with Radio Prague InternationalPelikan fountain pensRohrer & Klingner inksRohrer & Klingner Alt Goldgrun (gold-green ink) - see it hereRohrer & Klingner Solferino (purple) - see it here.Kaweco pens — and the Kaweco SportParker Quink ink cartridgesHerbin inksHerbin Lie de Thé (brown) - see it here.Diamine inksDiamine Writer’s Blood (maroon)Diamine Bloody Absinthe (green and red)Diamine Aurora Borealis (teal green)Transcript of this episode.The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comJoin our FREE Substack to get our (awesome) newsletter and join in chats with other people who love books and travel.Do you enjoy our show? Do you want to make friends with other (lovely) listeners? 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Substack Patreon Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Graveyards, cemeteries, ossuaries, and crypts — all places of reverence where the living can pay their respects to those who’ve crossed over before us.But that wasn’t always the case.In the Middle Ages, graveyards were far more raucous, home to fairs, markets, and even grazing cattle. In the 19th century, some cemeteries were the place to see and be seen, possibly with a well-stocked picnic basket in tow.In 1860, The Green-Wood Cemetery in New York rivaled Niagara Falls (!) as the most popular tourist attraction in the US.In this episode, we take leisurely strolls through Pére Lachaise and Greyfriars Kirkyard, learn about the one-way train for the dearly departed, and visit a cheery Romanian cemetery. Then we share five books we love that explore these often peaceful, sometimes eerie ‘museums of people,’ including a 19th-century classic mystery tale, a how-to for death, two beloved fantasy novels, and a Gothic thriller set in 1980s Barcelona. The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins Advice for Future Corpses (and Those Who Love Them) by Sallie Tisdale A Fine and Private Place by Peter S. Beagle Lincoln in the Bardo: A Novel by George Saunders Marina by Carlos Ruiz Zafón For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes.Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world.Transcript of Cemetery: Celebrate Life, Honor the DeadDo you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you!Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures by Wally & Amanda Koval and Polostan by Neal Stephenson. Then Wally and Amanda from Accidentally Wes Anderson recommend a silly-fun music hotline. Links Accidentally Wes Anderson website and Instagram Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures by Wally and Amanda Koval Accidentally Wes Anderson by Wally and Amanda Koval Accidentally Wes Anderson: Adventures audiobook narrated by Jeff Goldblum Radio Prague on the Red Arrow train Polostan by Neal Stephenson Video: Neal Stephenson at the Long Now Foundation NPR on Callin’ Oates Video: She’s Gone Video: Sarah Smile Transcript of this episode.The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comJoin our FREE Substack to get our (awesome) newsletter and join in chats with other people who love books and travel.Do you enjoy our show? Do you want to make friends with other (lovely) listeners? 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Substack Patreon Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

If you think a trip to Brazil is an invitation to the best party ever, you are correct! Colorful, sizzling, breathtakingly beautiful, and populated with friendly people (and amazing animals), Brazil is the place for good times, good food, good drinks, and good energy.We begin with the Amazon, a vast rainforest and river teeming with magical creatures like pink dolphins, bioluminescent mushrooms, and — yes — piranhas and anacondas. (Shout-out to the friendly capybaras!)Brazil’s cities offer something for everyone — the capital city of Brasília’s futuristic architecture, Sao Paulo’s international food scene, and Rio’s seductive combo of city sights and sparkling beaches. (There’s a reason we’ve been singing about the tall and tan, young and lovely girl from Ipanema for decades.)While you’re surely ready to dance the samba and drink a few caipirinhas, did you know Brazil is also the place for award-winning cheese? Or a spring-fed pool that feels like champagne? Or ‘chestnuts from Para’?In this episode, we explore Brazil’s rainforest and urban jungles, dig into the fascinating (really!) story of Brazil nuts, and meet one of the world’s finest Emperors. Then we recommend five great books that took us there on the page: The Invisible Life of Euridice Gusmao by Martha Batalha, Eric M.B. Becker (translator) Ways to Disappear by Idra Novey The Silence of the Rain by Luiz Alfredo Garcia-Roza, Benjamin Moser (translator) Daytripper by Fabio Moon and Gabriel Bá Flesh and Bone and Water by Luiza Sauma For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes.Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other awesome readers who are curious about the world.Transcript of Brazil: Sugarloaf, Samba, and Sao PauloDo you enjoy our show? Do you want to be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you!Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel and Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham. Then Mel recommends the History Extra podcast for your Spooky Season storytelling needs. Links The Hitchcock Hotel by Stephanie Wrobel Book and Dagger by Elyse Graham History Extra podcast Ancient Egypt: The Big Questions Salem: Investigating the Witch Trials More episodes about witches Halloween episodes Transcript of this episode.The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comJoin our FREE Substack to get our (awesome) newsletter and join in chats with other people who love books and travel.Do you enjoy our show? Do you want to make friends with other (lovely) listeners? 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Substack Patreon Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Saudi Arabia is the largest country on the Arabian Peninsula, a sea of sand (95% of the country is desert) that holds 17% of the world’s petroleum reserves.Its cities encapsulate the country’s contradictions: ancient souks and ultra-modern skyscrapers, women veiled in abayas but also entering the workforce, petroleum refineries, and sparkling beach resorts.Cards on the table: Saudi Arabia has an abysmal track record on human rights, with women, LGBTQ+ communities, and journalists the target of discrimination and violence. Women are still legally classified as minors, with male relatives making significant decisions on their behalf. But in the last few years, Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — known as MBS — passed laws that lessened some restrictions with Saudi Arabia. And he’s invited the world in: His Vision 2030 plan opened Saudi Arabia to tourism. Road signs and menus now appear in English, Western credit cards are widely accepted, and you can even catch an Uber. In this episode, we dive into the changing norms in Saudi Arabia, talk about some of the amazing sights that are now open to the Western world, and discuss the ambitious Neom project: a ‘city of the future’ in the desert.Then we recommend five books that took us to Saudi Arabia on the page: City Of Veils by Zoë Ferraris MBS: The Rise to Power of Mohammed bin Salman by Ben Hubbard Cardamom and Lime: Recipes from the Arabian Gulf by Sarah Al-Hamad The Green Bicycle by Haifaa Al Mansour Eight Months on Ghazzah Street by Hilary Mantel For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes.Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world.Transcript of Saudi Arabia: Old Ways and New Directions (?)Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you!Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison and The Wildes by Louis Bayard. Then Dave shares the exploits of the world’s greatest art detective.Links Rachel Harrison’s website So Thirsty by Rachel Harrison Black Sheep by Rachel Harrison — hear Mel talk about it Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison — hear Dave talk about it Cackle by Rachel Harrison The Veil audiobook by Rachel Harrison, Louisa Krause (narrator) The Wildes: A Novel in Five Acts by Louis Bayard Jackie & Me by Louis Brayard Courting Mr. Lincoln by Louis Brayard The Black Tower by Louis Brayard The Pale Blue Eye by Louis Brayard Podcast — Detective Agency: Discrete Inquiries, Mysteries Solved Arthur Brand’s website and Instagram Meet the World’s Greatest Art Detective Confessions of an Art Detective The Indiana Jones of the Art World Hitler’s Horses: The Incredible True Story of the Detective who Infiltrated the Underworld by Arthur Brand Transcript of this episode.The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comJoin our FREE Substack to get our (awesome) newsletter and join in chats with other people who love books and travel.Do you enjoy our show? Do you want to make friends with other (lovely) listeners? 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Substack Patreon Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Fictional detectives are some of the most beloved characters in print and on-screen. It’s easy to relate to someone with an overblown sense of justice and a need to set the world right (or as right as it can be).There are nosy neighbors like Nancy Drew and Miss Marple with no real credentials whatsoever and police detectives — Hello, Harry Bosch! Ta, Inspector Lynley! — with entire departments behind them. Relentless journalists, dogged medical examiners, resourceful bounty hunters (We see you, Stefanie Plum!), and, perhaps, the most endearing detectives of them all: private eyes.This show is all about the gumshoes who work outside the pesky laws of search warrants and chain of evidence. Who maybe toil in an office with a frosted glass door and a dame with moxie tapping away at a typewriter — or perhaps the dame with moxie is the detective. This installment celebrates independent investigators who distract and delight in their search for the truth.In this episode, we meet the world’s first PI and first American lady detective, delve into Poe scholarship and the problem with his ‘The Murders in the Rue Morgue,’ and discuss one of the kindest mystery authors. Then we recommend five books we love that put us in the thick of dangerous inquiries, including the escapades of a thoroughly modern detective agency, an urban mystery with a bookish PI, a British caper with an unforgettable hero, a how-to for wannabe detectives, and a noir-tinged fantasy novel about a reluctant sleuth.Here are the books about Detective Agencies we recommend on the show: The Verifiers by Jane Pek IQ by Joe Ide Odds Against by Dick Francis The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Private Investigating by Steven Kerry Brown The Manual of Detection by Jedediah Berry For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes.Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world.Transcript of Detective Agency: Discrete Inquiries, Mysteries SolvedDo you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you!Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Bookseller of Venice by Giovanni Montanaro (translator: Edward Williams) and _ Creation Lake_ by Rachel Kushner. Then Mel recommends the immersive, interactive walking tours from Secret City Trails. Links The Bookseller of Venice by Giovanni Montanaro, Edward Williams (translator) Libreria Acqua Alta Libreria Studium Creation Lake by Rachel Kushner Secret City Trails interactive walking tours Transcript of this episode.The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comJoin our FREE Substack to get our (awesome) newsletter and join in chats with other people who love books and travel.Do you enjoy our show? Do you want to make friends with other (lovely) listeners? 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Substack Patreon Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices