

Strong Sense of Place | Travel Through Books
Melissa & Dave
One lifetime is too short to visit everywhere and meet everyone. That‘s why we love books with a strong sense of place — they let us travel the world in our imagination. In each episode of our Strong Sense of Place podcast, we explore one destination and talk about what makes that place different from everywhere else. Then we recommend five books that took us to that place on the page. Every other week, we share The Library of Lost Time, a mini-pod that features two new books and our Distraction of the Week. We‘re on a trip around the globe, one great read at a time. Please join us!
Episodes
Mentioned books

Aug 11, 2023 • 7min
LoLT: The Long Now Foundation and Two New Books
In this episode, we’re excited about two new books — ‘The Bookbinder’ by Pip Williams and ‘Tabula Rasa, Vol 1’ by John McPhee — then Dave tells us about the fascinating work of the Long Now Foundation.Links
The Bookbinder by Pip Williams
Tabula Rasa, Vol 1 by John McPhee
Pip Williams on the Invisible History of Female Bookbinders.
A New Novel That Captures the ‘Poetic Materiality’ of Books.
Our review of The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee.
Hear Dave talk about ‘The Crofter and the Laird’ in our podcast episode Scotland: Wraiths, Rebels, and Royalty.
The Long Now Foundation website.
The Long Now Foundation YouTube channel.
Radical Sharing event — 23 August
Our podcast episode Amusement Parks: Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!.
Transcript of this episode.
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:
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Aug 4, 2023 • 11min
LoLT: Remembering the Concorde and Two New Books
In this episode, we’re excited about two books — ‘Ms. Demeanor’ by Elinor Lipman Moreno-Garcia and ‘Speech Team: A Novel’ By Tim Murphy — then Mel gets nostalgic about Concorde and those zippy flights across the Atlantic.Links
Ms. Demeanor by Elinor Lipman
Speech Team: A Novel by Tim Murphy
Visit Elinor Lipman’s website.
Elinor Lipman is the new EM Forster. Fight me.
Review of The Inn at Lake Devine by Elinor Lipman.
Review of The Way Men Act by Elinor Lipman.
Review of Isabel’s Bed by Elinor Lipman.
My Ride on the Concorde.
What It Was Like to Fly Concorde in the ’70s.
Concorde Stories: Remembering the ‘Pocket Rocket’.
What Food & Drink Were Passengers Served On Concorde?
Vintage Champagne on the Edge of Space: The Supersonic World of a Concorde Stewardess by Sally Armstrong
Supersonic: The Design and Lifestyle of Concorde by Lawrence Azerrad
Transcript of this episode.
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:
Our site
Instagram
Facebook
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Patreon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 28, 2023 • 23min
Bonus Episode With Tasha Sounart, Creative Director of Theme Parks at Pixar
If you’ve ever wanted to go behind the scenes of the best theme parks in the world — Hello, Disney! — you’re going to love today’s bonus episode.We were thrilled to talk to friend-of-the-podcast Tasha Sounart about her job as Creative Director in the Theme Parks group of Pixar.In this delightful conversation, we talked to Tasha about what a day at Pixar is like, what inspires her creativity, and which Pixar world she’d like to visit.For more on Tasha, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.
Find Tasha on Mastodon: @tashasounart@worldkey.io
Tasha recommended the book Dying Fall by Elly Griffiths.
Lauren Passell’s excellent podcast recommendation newsletter Podcast the Newsletter.
Easy Homemade Caramel Popcorn.
SSoP — Amusement Parks: Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!
Transcript of this episode.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

Jul 21, 2023 • 9min
LoLT: Phantom Islands and Two New Books
In this episode, we’re excited about two new books — ‘Silver Nitrate’ by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and ‘The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale’ by Jon Klassen — then Dave shares a fascinating art project about phantom islands.Links
Silver Nitrate by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Visit Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s website, Twitter, and Instagram.
Gods of Jade and Shadow by by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Certain Dark Things by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Skull: A Tyrolean Folktale by Jon Klassen
Follow Jon Klassen on Instagram.
Jon Klassen’s Hat Box by Jon Klassen (the trilogy)
I Want My Hat Back by Jon Klassen
We Found a Hat by Jon Klassen
This Is Not My Hat by Jon Klassen
The scoop on phantom islands from Wikipedia, Atlas Obscura, and Explorers Web.
Andrew Peckler’s Phantom Islands — A Sonic Atlas.
The album Sounds from Phantom Islands. (The vinyl is sold out, but mp3s are available.)
Andrew Peckler’s new musical release Cue.
Transcript of this episode.
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:
Our site
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 17, 2023 • 1h 3min
Amusement Parks: Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!
The gates of an amusement park are a portal to a magical realm of thrill rides and fantasy worlds, larger-than-life characters, and the best portable foods on the planet. (We’re looking at you, corn dogs and kettle corn!)And it’s been that way since the beginning. The first quasi-amusement park entertained revelers in 1133 with merry-go-rounds, extravagant stage shows, gingerbread, sausages, and dancing in the streets. All that merriment made it easy to forget it was all meant to honor St. Bartholomew.Eventually, the rides got bigger (and faster and more hair-raising), the shows more over-the-top, and the spectacle more spectacular. Roller coasters! Carousels! Tilt-a-Whirls! Mickey and Donald and Cinderella! Legos! Quidditch! Funnel cakes! Turkey legs! And fireworks!In this episode, we take a fast romp through the history of amusement parks, revel in an essay by Russian writer Maxim Gorky, and celebrate the magical world of Walt Disney. Then we recommend five books that took us to amusement parks on the page, including a comedy-thriller set in Helsinki, a nonfiction exploration of delight, a dystopian disaster tale, and historical mysteries set in 1915 Chicago and 1911 Coney Island.Here are the books about amusement parks we recommend on the show:
The Rabbit Factor by Antti Tuomainen, David Hackston (translator)
Curious Toys by Elizabeth Hand
Dreamland by Nancy Bilyeau
Wonderland: How Play Made the Modern World by Steven Johnson
Fantasticland by Mike Bockoven
For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.Transcript of Amusement Parks: Wheeeeeeeeeeeee!.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

Jul 14, 2023 • 10min
LoLT: Beautiful Street Art by NeSpoon & Two Great Books
This is a replay of an episode featuring books from beloved authors that are excellent summer reads: 'Killers of a Certain Age' by Deanna Raybourn and 'Fairy Tale' by Stephen King. Then Mel takes us around Europe with the Polish street artist Nespoon.BOOKSKillers of a Certain Age by Deanna Raybournhttps://bit.ly/3RBg1dWFairy Tale by Stephen Kinghttps://bit.ly/3AVh01IDISTRACTION OF THE WEEKThe Library of Lost Timehttps://bit.ly/3PIqMd8NeSpoon on Instagramhttps://bit.ly/3ql5GHjNeSpoon on YouTubehttps://bit.ly/3BeS6M8NeSpoon websitehttps://nespoon.artVideo of the mural at the Museum of Lace and Fashionhttps://youtu.be/XeFNYiYC0VEMore about the square in Belorado, Spainhttps://bit.ly/3RmCL1sGerman video (with some English) featuring NeSpoon's various workshttps://youtu.be/ehh5A0AW-p4Colossal magazinehttps://bit.ly/3etn6PCFive questions with NeSpoonhttps://bit.ly/3euaeZDTranscript of this episodehttps://bit.ly/3cNqmoyThe Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production!https://strongsenseofplace.comDo 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 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jul 7, 2023 • 13min
LoLT: A Sneaky Socialite and Two New Books
In this episode, we get excited about two new books — ‘The Only One Left’ by Riley Sager and ‘The Art Thief’ by Michael Finkel — then Dave shares the amazing story of the gilded age socialite Ida Wood.LINKS
The Only One Left by Riley Sager.
Visit Riley Sager’s website and Instagram.
Riley talked about his book in this video from The Poisoned Pen bookshop.
Smithsonian magazine: Why 19th-Century Axe Murderer Lizzie Borden Was Found Not Guilty.
The Art Thief: A True Story of Love, Crime, and a Dangerous Obsession by Michael Finkel.
Our podcast episode Maine: Lighthouses, Lobster Rolls, and the King of Horror.
The Stranger in the Woods: The Extraordinary Story of the Last True Hermit by Michael Finkel.
Smithsonian magazine on Ida Wood: Everything Was Fake but Her Wealth.
Wikipedia entires for Ida Wood and her husband Benjamin Wood.
A personal essay: My Crazy Aunt Ida.
Transcript of this episode.
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:
Our site
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 30, 2023 • 8min
LoLT: Postcard Pen Pals and Two New Books
In this episode, we get excited about two new books — ‘100 Places to See After You Die’ by Ken Jennings and ‘What the Dead Know’ by Barbara Butcher — then Mel gets excited about postcards from around the world.LINKS
100 Places to See After You Die: A Travel Guide to the Afterlife by Ken Jennings.
Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs by Ken Jennings.
Maphead: Charting the Wide, Weird World of Geography Wonks by Ken Jennings
What the Dead Know: Learning about Life as a New York City Death Investigator by Barbara Butcher.
Visit the Postcrossing.com website, Twitter, and Instagram.
Transcript of this episode.
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.comDo 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:
Our site
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Jun 26, 2023 • 1h 3min
Argentina: Tango to the End of the World
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

Jun 23, 2023 • 7min
LoLT: A Celebration of the Big Bang and Two New Books
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.comDo 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/strongsenseofplaceAs always, you can find us at:
Our site
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices