The Strong Towns Podcast

This week, Kea Wilson and Chuck Marohn began a conversation about the merits and pitfalls of Amazon with dueling articles (read Chuck's piece here and Kea's piece here). Today, we're sharing a podcast conversation in which these two Strong Towns staff members explain their differing perspectives on Amazon's place within a Strong Town. Is Amazon helpful or harmful to authors? Does Amazon support or discourage small businesses? Most importantly, does Amazon help towns become stronger or less strong?

Rachel Quednau interviews Matt Tyrnauer and Robert Hammond, directors of a new movie called Citizen Jane: Battle for the City, which is coming out this week (April 21) in select theaters and on demand. In this conversation, they discuss the power of Jacobs' message, her role as a non-professional female urban activist, and their goals for the film.

Joyce Mandell is a mom, community organizer, sociologist, community development specialist, and urban studies professor who has lived in Worcester, Massachusetts for over twenty years. She blogs at Jane Jacobs in the Woo where she looks at her city through the eyes of the famous urban activist. Chuck Marohn interviews Joyce to discuss the energy and community growth happening in Worcester, the fight against the impending destruction of a historic church in Worcester, and how her daily morning walk helps connect her with her neighborhood.

Check out Joyce's blog and read her entry in last year's Strongest Infrastructure Project contest.

Chuck and Rachel discuss Chuck's travel woes amidst the Delta airlines disaster last week. (Spoiler: He did eventually make it home.) Chuck turns it into a broader lesson about fragility and efficiency. 

Mentioned in this podcast:

• "Lessons from the Delta Implosion" by Chuck Marohn
• "How Fire Chiefs and Traffic Engineers Make Places Less Safe" by Steve Mouzon
• Events in Mount Pleasant, MI this Thursday
• The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
• Thank you for your Service by David Finkel
• Hardcore History w/Dan Carlin - World War I episodes
• "To stop a road widening project, be persistent" by Rachel Quednau
• Two Former Mayors - 1 Republican and 1 Democrat - Find Common Ground in Conversation - from the podcast

In this podcast interview, recorded live at the Strong Towns Summit last week, Chuck Marohn speaks with Joey Durel—a Republican former mayor of Lafayette, LA—and Michael McGinn—a Democrat former mayor of Seattle, WA. They discuss what led them to run for office, the transportation issues they handled as mayors, and what lessons they learned during their time in leadership.

Chuck and Rachel discuss Chuck's packed event schedule including events in Eau Claire, WI and Omaha, NE last week, and one in Wabash, IN this week. They also talk about a legal case against dangerous road design.

Mentioned in this podcast: 

• Event in Wabash, IN
• "L.A. agrees to pay $9.5 million in wrongful death case" from the Los Angeles Times
• After the Prophet: The Epic Story of the Shia-Sunni Split by Lesley Hazleton
• The Last Week: What the Gospels Really Teach About Jesus's Final Days in Jerusalem by Marcus Borg and John Dominic Crossan
• Thank you for your Service by David Finkel
• Two perspectives on Amazon: "Why Urbanists Need to Talk about Amazon" by Kea Wilson and "Okay, let's talk about Amazon then" by Chuck Marohn. Join us this Friday at 11:30am CT for a Slackchat on this topic. (Sign up for Slack here.)

Chuck and Rachel debrief about the Strong Towns Summit and share the highlights of the event, including a smart, #DotheMath-related presentation by government staff from Fate, TX. Chuck and Rachel also discuss an upcoming event in Austin, TX (with a bonus public meet-up) and some recent favorite books.

Mentioned in this podcast:

• "A Fateful Summit" (reflections on Fate, TX's presentation at the Summit)
• April 6 event in Austin, TX
• Watch videos from the Strong Towns Summit
• The Apache Wars: The Hunt for Geronimo, the Apache Kid, and the Captive Boy Who Started the Longest War in American History by Paul Andrew Hutton
• Moral Tribes: Emotion, Reason, and the Gap Between Us and Them by Joshua Greene

Chuck and Rachel discuss the Strong Towns Summit, which begins on Thursday (and a few tickets remain for purchase!), plus they announce the winner of the #StrongestTown Contest. Chuck also discusses a documentary film he's being featured in.

Mentioned in this episode:

• Strong Towns Summit
• Summit transportation document: "A Transportation Revolution"
• Strongest Town Contest
• The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
• The Road by Cormac McCarthy
• "Almost half of Americans have dogs. Do they also need cars?" by Gracen Johnson

Today we’re sharing the audio from a webcast we recorded earlier this week with representatives from the two final towns competing in our StrongestTown Contest—Traverse City, Michigan and Guelph, Ontario. You can view the webcast here if you prefer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjqrxgoiLuc Make sure to vote for the Strongest Town in this final match-up by 5pm CT on Friday, March 24. 

Cast your vote here: https://www.strongtowns.org/journal/2017/3/20/the-final-strongesttown-contest-showdown-a-live-webcast