September 2019 » Read Learn Live Podcast

Landscape Architecture, California Style – Ep 64 with Kelly Comras

Landscape architect Ruth Shellhorn helped define the distinctive mid-century regional aesthetic of Southern California. Most well known for her work with Walt Disney on the original design of Disneyland, she also designed original landscape plans for the Bullock’s department stores and Fashion Square shopping centers, a landscape master plan for the University of California at Riverside, and a number of private gardens and estates for post-war movie stars, and the business and financial leaders of the Los Angeles region. She developed a distinctive palette of plant materials and her landscape designs refined an indoor-outdoor living concept that perfectly expressed the exuberance and optimism of the “Southern California look.”

Kelly Comras is a Fellow of the American Society of Landscape Architects and a member of the State Bar of California. Her landscape architectural practice focuses on community-based open space design, research, and publication in the field of cultural landscape. She is a founding member of the The Cultural Landscape Foundation’s Stewardship Council, Past-President of the California Garden & Landscape History Society, and Chaired the Editorial Board for the journal, Eden. She lectures at such institutions as Harvard Graduate School of Design, Society of Architectural Historians, California Preservation Foundation, and others. Her book, Ruth Shellhorn, was released in 2016.

French Youth Resistance in World War II – Ep 63 with Ronald Rosbottom

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

The author of the acclaimed When Paris Went Dark, longlisted for the National Book Award, returns to World War II once again to tell the incredible story of the youngest members of the French Resistance—many only teenagers—who waged a hidden war against the Nazi occupiers and their collaborators in Paris and across France. Sudden Courage: Youth in France Confront the Germans, 1940-1945 is available now.

Ronald Rosbottom is the Winifred L. Arms Professor in the Arts and Humanities and a professor of French, European Studies, and Architectural Studies at Amherst College. Previously he was the dean of faculty at Amherst. His previous book, When Paris Went Dark: The City of Light Under German Occupation, 1940-1944 was long listed for the National Book Award in Nonfiction and was acclaimed as a landmark study, “an intimate, sweeping narrative” (Stacy Schiff) that reshaped our conception of the period. He divides his time between Amherst, Massachusetts, and Paris.

Unlonely Planet – Ep 62 with Jillian Richardson

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

You can live the loneliest life while being surrounded by people. You can be the busiest person and still feel unfulfilled. In an age when individualism and self-reliance are prized above all other traits, how can we feel connected? Where are our healthy congregations? Do we even know what those are anymore?

Enter, Unlonely Planet. This book is your roadmap to defining joy in your life and reconnecting with the community around you — whether that’s through traditional events and gatherings or by shaking things up and making one of your own. If you’re ready to live a happier, more connected life, Unlonely Planet is here for you.

Jillian Richardson is committed to creating connection and community by organizing places where people feel seen, heard, and valued. As a professional community builder, public speaker, and writer, Jillian is most known for being the founder of The Joy List, a weekly newsletter with the mission of reducing loneliness in New York City and eventually the world. She’s been sending it out every Monday morning for over two years, helping people build connection to both place and each other. In addition to her successful career in freelance writing and event design, Jillian has just released her first book, titled Unlonely Planet.

Read Learn Live Podcast

Read Learn Live Podcast – Improve Yourself Through Literature

Month: September 2019

Landscape Architecture, California Style – Ep 64 with Kelly Comras

French Youth Resistance in World War II – Ep 63 with Ronald Rosbottom

Unlonely Planet – Ep 62 with Jillian Richardson