Phoenix is sometimes referred as the most ecologically unsustainable city in the world. A city of millions in the the middle of a desert, it says something about what human effort and ingenuity make possible but also perhaps about how long impossibility may require to manifest itself. Needless to say, the city depends entirely on …
As I’ve written about here before, I am often deeply skeptical of the way we use the word “natural.” I’m thinking in particular of the way it is appended to all kinds of products (food, beauty and cleaning products, and so on) as a kind of code for safe, wholesome, and generally morally superior as …
I’m developing a new course right now about cities and power, and as part of that, I’ve started to think of a city as, in part, a built response to its environment. Chicago, for instance, is where it because of water—specifically, the proximity of one river system to another, allowing people and goods to be …
Song: “KYBM” by Tunde Olaniran A producer/rapper/singer from Flint, Michigan, of all places, Tunde Olaniran is pulling together all kinds of different sounds on his debut album, which is one of the most interesting things I’ve heard this year. This track is fairly representative, to the extent that any one song could be. Article: …