Podcasts about place the life

When you head to New York, do you ever take a break from the city and get lost on a trail in Central Park? This hour, we take a look at the life of the man behind that beloved and iconic city park: Connecticut native Frederick Law Olmsted. Although best known for his work designing New York's Central Park, Olmsted was also a journalist and abolitionist. And he shaped landscapes here in Connecticut and across the country, changing how we think about the role of nature in the process. This hour we sit down with historians and landscape architects to talk about Frederick Law Olmsted's legacy. GUESTS: Justin Martin: Author, Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted Walt Woodward: Connecticut State Historian; Associate Professor of History, UConn; Host, Grating The Nutmeg podcast Phil Barlow: Founding Principal, ToDesign LLC Landscape Architects Beka Sturges - Principal Landscape Architect, New Haven Office of Reed Hilderbrand Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired on September 9, 2019. Support the show: http://wnpr.org/donate See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Drew Gasparini is an award-winning  musical theatre composer/lyricist, a singer/songwriter, and a teacher. He is equally committed to forging a new sound in the intersection between theatre and pop, to nurturing the next generation of artists, and to throwing one hell of a party. Drew is currently developing a number of new stage musicals including the Broadway-bound musical adaptation of The Karate Kid for Gorgeous Entertainment (book by screenwriter Robert Mark Kamen), It's Kind of a Funny Story for Universal Theatrical Group (book by Alex Brightman); Night Shift for Warner Bros. Theatre Ventures (book by screenwriters Babaloo Mandel & Lowell Ganz); and The Whipping Boy (book and co-lyrics by Brightman). Other writing projects include the infamous, award-winning Super Bowl publicity stunt, Skittles Commercial: The Broadway Musical, starring Michael C. Hall (book by Will Eno, lyrics with Nathaniel Lawler, directed by Sarah Benson); We Aren't Kids Anymore (a song cycle); Everything in its Place: The Life and Slimes of Marc Summers, a one-man-show starring Marc Summers, and Make Me Bad (both with scripts by Alex Brightman); Crazy, Just Like Me (2011 New York Musical Theatre Festival “Best of Fest”); Turn of the Screw and #UntitledPopMusical (both with Michael Kimmel); and songs for Hit List on the NBC television series SMASH, the children's cooking program “Monica's Mixing Bowl”, and Hot Mess in Manhattan (“The Text Message Song”). Let's connect! Instagram: @broadwaybrainspod Website: broadwaybrains.com Email: podcast@broadwaybrains.com

On this episode of Out of Office: A Travel Podcast, Ryan interviews Justin Martin, the author of “Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted” about the legacy of America's most influential and prolific landscape architect. Plus, Olmsted's journeys into nature inspire the boys to recount their favorite state parks in the Last Stop. Things we talked about in today's podcast: Justin Martin's website https://justinmartin1.com/ “Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted” https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Place-Frederick-Olmsted-Lawrence/dp/0306821486  “A Fierce Glory: Antietam—The Desperate Battle That Saved Lincoln and Doomed Slavery” https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Place-Frederick-Olmsted-Lawrence/dp/0306821486  National Parks are Overrun https://nypost.com/2021/06/14/pandemic-fatigued-americans-are-overrunning-national-parks/ 

On this episode of Out of Office: A Travel Podcast, Ryan interviews Wally Koval, the creator of “Accidentally Wes Anderson,” the brilliant Instagram account—and now book!—capturing the most interesting and idiosyncratic places on Earth. Things we talked about in today’s podcast: Accidentally Wes Anderson: AWA Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/accidentallywesanderson AWA Website & Newsletter: https://accidentallywesanderson.com/ AWA Book:  https://accidentallywesanderson.com/book/ “Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted” https://www.amazon.com/Genius-Place-Frederick-Olmsted-Lawrence/dp/0306821486 Rick Steves Monday Night Travel https://www.ricksteves.com/travel-tips/travel-classes/monday-night-travel

Have you checked to see if there is an herb society near you? Herb societies offer gardeners what I call next-level understanding of plants. Aside from parsley, oregano, and thyme, you'll probably be surprised by the sheer number of plants that fall into the herbal category; plants like bronze fennel, red-veined sorrel, lovage, tansy and sweet cicely.   Brevities   #OTD On this day in 1878 the American botanist Forrest Shreve was born. We owe such a debt of gratitude to Shreve. He was THE preeminent botanist of North American deserts during the first half of the Twentieth Century. Shreve worked out of a laboratory in Tucson, Arizona. The lab was ideally situated for Shreve's field research of the western United States and northern Mexico. Shreve relished telling the origin story of his lab: “Of course you are familiar with the story of Andrew Carnegie,” he began, “the immigrant boy who became one of America’s richest steel magnates and who left a fortune “to encourage in the broadest and most liberal manner investigation, research, and discovery, and the application of knowledge to the improvement of mankind.” Before he died Carnegie had established an institution which divided its scientific investigations into twelve departments in widely separated parts of the country. The Desert Laboratory became one of the outposts of the Division of Plant Biology. The total Carnegie benefaction totaled about $25,000,000.” In July of 1908, Shreve ascended the Santa Catalina Mountains for the very first time. His party rode on horses to climb the 6,000 feet from Mount Lemmon's desert base to the summit which is 9,100 feet above sea level. During that climb, Shreve noticed what he called, "a continually shifting panorama of vegetation". Shreve's astuteness helped him realize the most amazing aspect of desert mountains; changes in vegetation are compressed into a few thousand feet of elevation - started with desert scrub, then grassland, then oak woodland... and followed by pine-oak woodland and forest, then pink forest, montane fir forest, and finally subalpine forest. Shreve's mastery of the North American Desert allowed him to describe and define, with precision, the four distinct desert regions of the United States. Today, each year, in Shreve's honor, the Forrest Shreve Student Research Award ($1000-2000) is given to support ongoing research of the hot deserts of North America.   #OTD  Today in 1901, the world lost Eva Reed, a botanist, author, and librarian with the Missouri Botanical Gardens . In a tragic accident, Reed had been sketching on the tracks of the Burlington railway, near Louisiana, Missouri, when she was run over and instantly killed by a passenger train. Several years earlier, she had become almost totally deaf as the result of a fever.      #OTD   Today in 1934, Leonard Cockayne passed away. Cockayne was 79 years old and is considered New Zealand's greatest botanist.  Cockayne was born in England and was raised in home that encouraged the exploration and appreciation of the natural world. As a child, Cockayne loved pressing flowers. In addition to Cockayne, both his brother and sister were great gardeners. In 1879, Cockayne left England and made his way to New Zealand. Dominion became his home for the remainder of his life. Ever modest, Cockayne once sent a letter to Kew along with a small parcel of seeds. He attached a little note which said, "I may say I am not a nursery gardener but merely a private individual who spends his whole time in the study of botany." In recognition of his 30 years of tireless work in New Zealand, Cockayne won the Darwin metal. During his career, Dr. K Richter von Goebel and John Paulus Lotsy, two distinguished botanists from the UK, visited him in New Zealand. Those visits where true highlights for Cockayne and they inspired him to continue his work. When he died, Cockayne was buried at the open-air museum he founded, which is serves as lasting memorial.vFrom his grave, one can see the native vegetation which had captured his heart, as well as the heights which bear his name.     #OTD Today we wish Monty Don a happy birthday! Don is an English television presenter, writer and speaker on horticulture, best known for presenting the BBC television series Gardeners' World. Over the past year, Don wrote Japanese Gardens: a journey by Monty Don and Derry Moore, the complement to the BBC2 series. In this personal and lyrical exploration of both the traditional and the modern aspects of Japanese gardening, Monty Don guides us through the history and beauty of Japanese gardens throughout the spectacular changing seasons.       Unearthed Words National Meadows Day took place over the weekend in the UK - and it is an annual celebration of the wildflower meadows of England. Each year, the event takes place on or around the first Saturday of July.  So, in tribute, here's a little poem about the Meadow Sweet by Charles MacKay:   ROSE ! we love thee for thy splendor, Lily ! for thy queenly grace ! Violet ! for thy lowly merit, Peeping from thy shady place ! But mine airy, woodland fairy, Scattering odors at thy feet, No one knows thy modest beauty, No one loves thee, Meadow-Sweet !     Today's book recommendation: A Sense of Place: The Life and Work of Forrest Shreve by Janice Emily Bowers This first in-depth study of Shreve's life and work. It is a beautifully written account of Shreve's career. The author shares a friend's description of Shreve, which compares him to a desert, "in his patience and his detachment, and like the desert, he put on a good display when he flowered." On writing about the desert, Shreve noted, "The most significant lesson that the desert dweller can learn from a familiarity with its plant and animal life is to regard himself not as an exile from some better place but as a man at home in an environment to which his life can be adjusted without physical or intellectual loss.'"     Today's Garden Chore Stop fertilizing in hot weather. Heat is a stressor for most plants and they will do better without having to contend with fertilizer while they are trying to survive the hottest part of the summer. Think about fertilizing as a shoulder season activity - spring and fall. The temps are cooler and water is generally more plentiful. As always, after you fertilize, make sure to water your garden well.     Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart From an article in the Vicennes Sun from this week in 1965, here's a little footnote to history... It was about 140 years ago that the town of Hindustan , lndiana, was abandoned by its residents because of a plague of "milk fever."  This disease occurs after milk cows have eaten Wild Snakeroot.  A few years ago a botanist [shared] that the Hindostan neighborhood still is the best place in the Midwest to collect Wild Snakeroot for laboratory work." Wild or White snakeroot is a problem for livestock if they consume it. All parts of the plant are toxic. Transferring the toxin through cow's milk is a concern for humans; t his is known as milk sickness.    In the early 1800's, milk sickness resulted in the death of thousands of people; the most famous person to die from it was Abraham Lincoln's mother in 1818.     Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

How close are your earliest bloomers to your front door?   Your crocus, snowdrops, iris, daffodils, tulips, forsythia, daphnes, and magnolias.   When I redid my front garden last year, the designer had put all my earliest bloomers right near the front porch and walk.  When I asked her reasoning, she reminded me of our long winters. Her advice was spot on: When spring finally arrives, it's much more pleasurable to have those earliest blooms where you can see them first thing.     Brevities #OTD It's the birthday of Eugene Delacroix born on this day in 1798. Delacroix is widely considered as one of the last great history painters. A son of France, he received his artistic training in Paris and was a major figure among the French Romance painters of the 19th century. His striking 'A Vase of Flowers' (1833) shows a crystal vase filled mostly with dahlias. It is his earliest surviving flower painting.   #OTD American physicist Charles Townes sat on a park bench on this day in 1951 and came up with the theory that would lead to the laser.     He recalled, "I woke up early in the morning and sat in the park. It was a beautiful day and the flowers were blooming."   #OTD It's the birthday of Irma Franzen-Heinrichsdorff, a German-born landscape architect. In 1913, she attended the Elmwood School of Gardening. In the 1980's she recounted the experience in ten handwritten pages. Here's an excerpt: At 10:15  we went outside and did the currently necessary work in the fruit, vegetable or flower garden.   Every kind of vegetable was cultivated. Countless flowers were multiplied through seeds, cuttings, etc. to be sold in the spring or fall.   The morning hours passed quickly. At 1 o'clock we stopped work. At 1:30 we had lunch, and at 2:30 we went back to work until 4:30. We then drank tea and at 7 o'clock we appeared in festive evening dress for dinner. In the summer we had the same hours of work except for an extra hour in our greenhouse from 7 to 8 o'clock to water and spray our thirsty plants.   But I must add, even if it means praising ourselves, that we did not content ourselves with the times I indicated.  We were often found in the garden at 6 o'clock if not at 5 o'clock or even earlier.  Also in the evenings we preferred to be active outside. Miss Wheeler had never had students as eager as we were.   #OTD John James Audubon was born in Haiti on this day in 1785.    Audobon said, “A true conservationist…knows the world is not given by his fathers but borrowed from his children”  A naturalist and a lover of birds, The Ottowa Daily Republic published a charming story about his burial.  "John J. Audobon, the naturalist and bird lover, is buried in Trinity, cemetery. There has been erected over his grave an Iona cross; the arms of which are connected by a circular band of stone, making apertures of the four corners at the intersection.   In one of these, (apertures) robins built a nest last month. This fell under the eye of a caretaker, who got a pole and dislodged the nest. The birds flew about disconsolately for a time, then went away.   So far as any one knows, Audubon did not turn over in his grave, neither did any of the carved birds on the [cross] cry out."   #OTD in 1822 visionary 19th century landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted is born.   He was born to a prosperous family in Hartford, Connecticut. Aside from his legacy as a landscape architect, Olmsted dedicated his entire life to social reform.  In many ways, his designs for public spaces played an important role in his social work.  His vision for Central Park was an ordered oasis for all of the city’s social classes; where everyone could come together and enjoy nature.   Dubbed the Nation's Foremost Parkmaker, Olmsted designed Boston's Emerald Necklace, Forest Park in Springfield, Massachusetts and and Mount Auburn Cemetery in Cambridge.    Considered the father of American landscape architecture, he situated his design firm in Brookline and named it Fairsted - a likely nod to his family's ancestral home in England.   In 1893 he helped design the Chicago World's Fair.   It was Frederick Law Olmsted who said, “The enjoyment of scenery employs the mind without fatigue and yet exercises it; tranquilizes it and yet enlivens it.”   "The root of all my good work is an early respect for, regard and enjoyment of scenery."     Unearthed Words Every April, one should read Henry Wadsworth Longfellow's  words on Spring.   This passage is from his "Kavanagh" written in 1849. It's a lovely reminder to appreciate spring's unfolding.  “Ah, how wonderful is the advent of the Spring!—the great annual miracle…. which no force can stay, no violence restrain, like love, that wins its way and cannot be withstood by any human power, because itself is divine power. If Spring came but once in a century, instead of once a year, or burst forth with the sound of an earthquake, and not in silence, what wonder and expectation would there be in all hearts to behold the miraculous change!… We are like children who are astonished and delighted only by the second-hand of the clock, not by the hour-hand.”   Today's book recommendation  Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted by Justin Martin In addition to his marvelous professional legacy, this book offers an intimate look at the personal life of Frederick Law Olmsted. His momentous career was shadowed by a tragic personal life, also fully portrayed here.   Today's Garden Chore It's another Photo Friday.   Today take photos of the edges of your beds. Evaluate the lines. Your plant choices. Consider incorporating edibles like onions or garlic to the edges of your borders where they are easy to harvest.     Something Sweet  Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart On this week, in 1897, a woman named Anna Eliza Reed Woodcock took some branches off her flowering apple tree and brought via wheelbarrow down Capitol Avenue to the Michigan Statehouse.   While at the Statehouse, Woodcock adorned the office of the Speaker of the House with the blooming branches. Woodcock had been looking out her kitchen window and had seen her apple trees in bloom. She thought it would make a great state flower. Knowing that the Legislature was going to be voting on a state flower, she hoped her Apple Blossom branches would have some influence... and they did.    Woodcock's victory with the Legislature sparked a passion for apple blossoms.  She said, "I feel my apple blossoms have taken me to the top of the world."   Thanks for listening to the daily gardener, and remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

Frederic Law Olmsted is the gifted American who was responsible for designing New York City's Central Park as well as significant and beautiful parks across the country. Justin Martin's illuminating book about him is titled "Genius of Place: The Life of Frederic Law Olmsted."

Gardens! Plants! Growing things! Can we do it? Probably not! But we read books about it anyway. We talk about houseplants we’ve killed, the appeal of beautiful pictures of plants, and failing to grow things. Plus: Another chance to enter our contest! You can download the podcast directly, find it on Libsyn, or get it through iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or your favourite podcast delivery system. In this episode Anna Ferri | Meghan Whyte | Matthew Murray | Jessi Books We Read (or tried to) Lone Pine Publishing 37 Houseplants Even You Can't Kill by Mary Kate Hogan Bunch Up!: A Step-By-Step Guide for Budding Florists by Irene Cuzzaniti, Irene Rinaldi Public Natures: Evolutionary Infrastructures by Marion Weiss and Michael A. Manfredi Cougar Annie’s Garden by Margaret Horsfield Tiny World Terrariums: A Step-by-Step Guide to Easily Contained Life by Michelle Inciarrano and Katy Maslow Terrariums Re-Imagined: Mini Worlds Made in Creative Containers by Kat Geiger Terrarium Craft: Create 50 Magical, Miniature Worlds by Amy Bryant Aiello, Kate Bryant, and Kate Baldwin The Fruit Hunters: A Story of Nature, Obsession, Commerce, and Adventure by Adam Leith Gollner Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted by Justin Martin Art of the Olmsted Landscape by Bruce Kelly Books We Mentioned Monster Manual Salt: A World History by Mark Kurlansky Vanilla: The Cultural History of the World's Favorite Flavor and Fragrance by Patricia Rain Banana: The Fate of the Fruit That Changed the World by Dan Koeppel Secrets of Saffron: The Vagabond Life of the World's Most Seductive Spice by Pat Willard American Pests: The Losing War on Insects from Colonial Times to DDT by James McWilliams Bee Time: Lessons from the Hive by Mark L. Winston Delicious in Dungeon by Ryoko Kui Rutabaga the Adventure Chef by Eric Colossal Blood Flag by Steve Martini Links, Articles, and Things Vellum (“is prepared animal skin or "membrane" used as a material for writing on”) Hooker’s Onion Folly  (“is a building constructed primarily for decoration, but suggesting through its appearance some other purpose, or of such extravagant appearance that it transcends the range of garden ornaments usually associated with the class of buildings to which it belongs”) Legends of the coco de mer (Wikipedia article) Rambutan (after more research, Matthew thinks he loaded Longan onto the truck) Our list of potential genres for the podcast Photos of our plant babies Questions Do you read books about gardening? How do you choose them? How many houseplants have you killed? What’s your favourite plant? Contest! To celebrate 15,000 total downloads of our podcast we’re having a contest! Retweet one of our tweets about episode 34 or episode 35 of this podcast any time during August, 2017, and you’ll have a chance to win some books or comics! Prizes include Moonstruck #1, Moonshine vol. 1, I Hate Fairyland vol. 2, Howtoons: Tools of Mass Construction, Fierce Kingdom by Gin Phillips, Run by Ann Patchett, and Island of the Blue Dolphin by Scott O’Dell (plus probably some other stuff). We can neither confirm nor deny that this is extra stuff we have from ALA and other conferences. (Though all the above listed titles are unread.) Number of prizes will depend on number of entrants. Check out our Pinterest board and Tumblr posts for all the Gardening, plant, etc books we read, follow us on Twitter, join our Facebook Group, or send us an email! Join us again on Tuesday, September 5th, when we’ll talk about Podcasts. Then come back on Tuesday, September 19th, when we’ll be discussing Experimental Fiction!

In the mid-19th century, Pfaff's Saloon in Manhattan hosted a circle of radicals who changed American society and helped set poet Walt Whitman on the path to immortality. In "Rebel Souls: Walt Whitman and America's First Bohemians," Justin Martin tells the story of this colorful group of artists-regulars at Pfaff's, who are "rightly considered American's original bohemians." Speaker Biography: Justin Martin is the author of three previous biographies: "Greenspan: The Man Behind Money," "Nader: Crusader, Spoiler, Icon" and "Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted." As one of the few journalists to gain access to Greenspan, Martin produced a best-selling biography of the secretive Federal Reserve chairman, which was selected as a notable book by The New York Times Book Review. Martin's Nader biography served as a primary source for "An Unreasonable Man," an Academy Award-nominated documentary. "Genius of Place," the first full-scale biography of Olmsted, received glowing reviews nationally. Martin's articles have appeared in a variety of publications, including Fortune, Newsweek and the San Francisco Chronicle. For transcript, captions, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=6831

In the shadow of the Civil War, a circle of radicals in a rowdy saloon changed American society and helped set Walt Whitman on the path to poetic immortality.Rebel Souls is the first book ever written about the colorful group of artists -- regulars at Pfaff's Saloon in Manhattan -- rightly considered America' original Bohemians. Besides a  young Walt Whitman, the circle included actor Edwin Booth;  trailblazing stand-up comic Artemus Ward; psychedelic drug pioneer and author Fitz Hugh Ludlow; and the brazen Adah Menken, who achieved worldwide fame for her "Naked Lady" routine. Author Justin Martin shows how this first bohemian culture -- imported from Paris to a dingy Broadway saloon -- seeded and nurtured an American tradition of rebel art that thrives to this day.Justin Martin is the author of three previous books, most recently Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted.Recorded On: Wednesday, October 15, 2014

Biographer Justin Martin appears at the 2011 National Book Festival. Speaker Biography: Justin Martin is the author of the widely acclaimed biographies "Greenspan: The Man Behind the Money," about the former chairman of the Federal Reserve, and "Nader: Crusader, Spoiler, Icon," about the consumer advocate and failed presidential candidate. His new book, "Genius of Place: The Life of Frederick Law Olmsted," focuses on the man behind the designs for Central Park, the U.S. Capitol Grounds and the campus of Stanford University, among many other landscapes. Martin also writes about Olmsted's careers as a journalist, an environmentalist and an abolitionist credited with helping dissuade England from joining the South in the Civil War. For captions, transcript, and more information, visit http://www.loc.gov/today/cyberlc/feature_wdesc.php?rec=5278.