The Strong Towns Podcast

John Simmerman of Active Towns talks about his move to Austin, the Active Living tour and efforts to slow cars.

Hazel Borys of Placemakers talking about living in a northern city, the spread of form based codes and being a reluctant, but necessary, free range parent.

Steve Mouzon talking about the Original Green, his new book, Cuba and a rescue project in Bahamas.

Dan Parolek is Principal at Opticos Design in Berkley, CA. Opticos is the force behind www.missingmiddle.com, a website devoted to reintroducing the housing and building types that were ubquitous in the human scaled development era, and nearly extinct for the last 60 years. The website shows pictures and diagrams of duplexes, quadplexes, bungalow courts, courtyard housing and more.

Andrew Burleson and Chuck Marohn manage to waste 90 minutes talking about nothing of any real importance. There are some book recommendations, discussion on Hardcore History, a Meriwether Lewis biography and some reflection on the purpose of CNU.

Cynthia Nikitin of Project for Public Spaces on the Citizen's Institute on Rural Design, the unique challenges of small towns and the importants of arts in creative placemaking.

Johnny Sanphillippo of Granola Shotgun talks about why old urbanism is better and easier, why "Go West" is being replaced by "Go East" and the upside of failure. Johnny is a long time supporter of Strong Towns and a regular contributor to the blog.

Jason Roberts of The Better Block talking about his home town of Dallas, traveling and sharing the message around the world. the implications of the Law of the Indies and how to bring about better buildings.

Jen Krouse, Strong Towns contributor, talking about her move from North Adams to Memphis, working within the mayor's office, Bass Pro, big bets, the Cheat Sheet for an Agile Nation and her startup efforts.

Mike Lydon and Anthony Garcia from Street Plans Collaborative talking about their new book, Tactical Urbanism as well as their work in San Francisco, Miami and Ponderay.

Kristin Green and Kevin Shepherd from the Dallas-based engineering and planning firm Verdunity talk about doing fiscally-based comprehensive plans, green infrastructure and the CNU Legacy Charettes.

The council president of Chuck's hometown of Brainerd, MN, Gary Scheeler, stops in the studio to talk about the future of the city. The conversation gets heated in the way you would expect with two passionate Minnesotans. 

Our friend and Strong Towns member Steven Shultis from Springfield, Massachusetts, joins Chuck this week to talk about his experience as a parent of children in an urban school system. Get more on this subject from Steve's site at Rational Urbanism.

Chuck does a solo podcast this week in an attempt to tie together a bunch of loose ends.

This week New Testament scholar, historian and author John Dominic Crossan returns to the podcast to talk about his latest book, How to Read the Bible and Still be a Christian: Struggling with Divine Violence from Genesis through Revelation.

The American West is a unique and fascinating place. This week Chuck is joined by Sam Western, author, poet and correspondent for the Economist, to talk about the American West.

This week Chuck talks to Heidi Johnson-Wright, an ADA coordinator in Miami Dade County, about the Americans with Disabilities Act.

This week Chuck has a long overdue conversation with Patrick Kennedy, an urban designer advocating for more walkable/bikable neighborhoods in one of the country's most car-focused cities. They discuss the controversial Highway 345 project in Dallas as well as the Trinity Toll Road, among other things. You'll want to follow Patrick on Twitter at @walkableDFW as well as read his well-respected work at D Magazine's Street/Smart blog.

The host of EconTalk, Russell Roberts of Stanford University's Hoover Institute (Twitter / personal website), joins the podcast to talk about his latest book, How Adam Smith can change your life: An unexpected guide to human nature and happiness.

Joe Cortright of City Observatory talks about their report -- Lost in Place -- explaining why consistent and concentrated poverty -- not gentrification -- is America's biggest urban challenge.