Strong Sense of Place | Travel Through Books

• Baseball Diamond: Root, Root, Root for the Home Team

  There’s nothing else quite like a night at the ballpark, especially when the light and temperature hit just right. The air is soft, the crowd is genial. You’ve got a hot dog in one hand and an icy-cold drink in the other. Your only job? Sit there, take in the action, and occasionally join in a cheer or shout at the ump. Since the 1860s, baseball has been called ‘America’s pastime.’ During times of strife — the Civil War, the Great Depression, the World Wars — baseball provided escapism and a sense of normalcy. It’s always been seen as a reflection of American attitudes and values: The game requires cooperation and self-sacrifice — and like America, baseball LOVES a maverick. Baseball is also democratic: Just about anybody can play just about anywhere if they’ve got an open space, a bat, and a ball. As a spectator, even if you don’t know all the rules, you can still recognize the elation of a stolen base or a home run. In this episode, we take a virtual tour of some of the remarkable ballparks around the US, meet the most eccentric man in baseball, delight in players' excellent nicknames, and wax poetic about popcorn. Then we recommend great books that took us inside the stadium on the page, including a sweetly funny epistolary novel that sneaks up on you, a love letter to the unsung catcher, a 1920s mystery starring the Cincinnati Reds, a closer look at pitching, and a literary mashup of campus novel, baseball story, and rom-com. Last Days of Summer: A Novel by Steve Kluger The Cincinnati Red Stalkings by Troy Soos The Art of Fielding: A Novel by Chad Harbach K: A History of Baseball in Ten Pitches by Tyler Kepner The Tao of the Backup Catcher: Playing Baseball for the Love of the Game by Tim Brown For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes. Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world. Transcript of Baseball Diamond: Root, Root, Root for the Home Team Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you! Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Museums: A Gathering of Muses, A Clutch of Curators [re-post]

  Museums are where we put our best stuff. An item might belong in a museum if it’s rare, expensive, irreplaceable, or so ordinary and beloved it becomes extraordinary. A self-portrait by Vincent Van Gogh, a can of SPAM, a Romanian mud hut, a narwhal horn, a discarded red stiletto: They can all be found in a museum somewhere in the world. But exhibitions in museums are more than mere collections of striking items. Museums are vital institutions that take on the tasks of collecting, interpreting, and caring for artifacts so they can be experienced by the general public. The Ancient Greek word mouseion means ‘seat of Muses.’ In classical antiquity, a museum was a place for contemplation and philosophical debate. When art moved from the open air, larger-than-life statuary of the Greco-Roman era to more intimate, human-scale paintings and objects, the definition of museum changed, too. It became a place to visit to see art — and anything placed in a museum became art. In this episode, we romp through the delightful hoarding behavior behind Renaissance Wunderkammers, learn about the first museum curator (spoiler: It was a woman!), and celebrate the majesty of the Louvre. Then we recommend books that transported us to museums around the world. Here are the books we recommend on the show: A Little History of Art by Charlotte Mullins A Parisian Cabinet of Curiosities: Deyrolle by Prince Louis Albert de Broglie Cabinets of Curiosities by Patrick Mauriès How to Enjoy Art by Ben Street Metropolitan Stories by Christine Coulson The Last Painting of Sara de Vos by Dominic Smith For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes at http://strongsenseofplace.com/podcasts/2022-07-18-museums Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplace Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• National Parks: Go Outside and Touch Grass

  The National Park System (NPS) is a national treasure. US National Parks represent just about every type of feature and wildlife you can imagine. And it’s not just parks: The NPS includes national monuments, memorials, scenic trails, lakeshores, battlefields, recreation areas, and more. The concept of a national park is credited to George Catlin, a 19th-century lawyer, painter, and adventurer. His travels took him all over the burgeoning United States, where he met fifty native tribes. He also worried about the loss of wildlife, wilderness, and indigenous people as America expanded westward into the frontier. His solution? A ‘nation’s park’ — land protected by the government for future generations. That vision became reality in 1872, when Yellowstone, in what’s now Wyoming, became the first national park established by Congress. Now there are 63 National Parks across the US and its territories, from Acadia in Maine to Yosemite in California, Denali in Alaska to Dry Tortugas in Florida, and so many more in between. In this episode, we explore the almost overwhelming awesomeness of the NPS and take a virtual tour of some of the coolest experiences you can have in nature. We learn about the history of hippos and the Everglades, meet the most dangerous animal in the Grand Canyon, and learn the best place to eat popovers in Maine. Then we recommend five books that took us on big adventures in national parks, including a historical novel in Oklahoma, an adventure story in the Pacific Northwest, a murder mystery in Michigan, a memoir in Arizona, and a Bigfoot tale in Washington. Shelterwood by Lisa Wingate Wild: A Journey from Lost to Found on the Pacific Crest Trail by Cheryl Strayed A Superior Death by Nevada Barr A Walk in the Park: The True Story of a Spectacular Misadventure in the Grand Canyon by Kevin Fedarko Devolution: A Firsthand Account of the Rainier Sasquatch Massacre by Max Brooks For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes. Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world. Transcript of National Parks: Go Outside and Touch Grass Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you! Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• Portugal: Storytelling, Surfing, and Ineffable Saudade

  Snuggled up next to Spain on the Iberian Peninsula and perched on the westernmost edge of Europe, Portugal has a long love affair with the sea. The Age of Discovery, launched in 15th-century Lisbon, carried Portuguese sailors to far-flung lands and brought sugarcane, tobacco, cotton, coffee, gold, spices, and chocolate back home. Today, the traditions of the colonies — and a Moorish invasion or two — are integrated into Portugal’s cuisine, music, architecture, and the azulejos that tell stories of Portuguese life in colorful ceramic tiles. Portugal has treasures to offer every kind of traveler: the fortified wine of Madeira and the port of the Douro Valley, ancient Roman ruins and crenelated medieval castles, lush hilltop gardens and one-of-a-kind beaches, savory fried snacks and perfectly-sweet pastries — and bookish delights including a baroque library, a literary hotel, and a church-turned-bookshop. In this episode, we hit the high seas with Portuguese explorers, take a virtual visit to the world’s oldest operating bookstore, and learn the multifaceted story of the Portuguese poet Pessoa. Then we recommend great books that took us there on the page, including a punch-you-in-the-feelings thriller, a charming history of Lisbon, a different kind of WWII story, a swashbuckling adventure starring a language-loving ape, and a memoir-cookbook hybrid that reads like the best kind of travel guide. Two Nights in Lisbon_ by Chris Pavone Queen of the Sea: A History of Lisbon by Barry Hatton Estoril by Dejan Tiago-Stankovic The Night in Lisbon by Erich Maria Remarque The Murderer’s Ape by Jakob Wegelius, Peter Graves (translator) My Lisbon: A Cookbook from Portugal’s City of Light_ by Nuno Mendes For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit show notes. Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other lovely readers who are curious about the world. Transcript of Portugal: Storytelling, Surfing, and Ineffable Saudade Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? Please support our work on Patreon! Strong Sense of Place is an audience-funded endeavor, and we need your support to continue making this show. Get all the info you need right here. Thank you! Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio. Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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• LoLT: The Twisty Tale of Salt Water Taffy and Two New Books

  In this episode, we get excited about two new books: Aftertaste: A Novel by Daria Lavelle and Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls. Then Mel delves into the story of New Jersey’s favorite beachy souvenir for National Taffy Day. Links Aftertaste: A Novel by Daria Lavelle Black Cake by Charmaine Wilkerson Butter Honey Pig Brea by Francesca Ekwuyasi Cinnamon and Gunpowder by Eli Brown Lush by Rochelle Dowden-Lord Feeding Ghosts: A Graphic Memoir by Tessa Hulls Podcast: Mel recommends Piglet by Lottie Hazell The History of Fralinger’s Salt Water Taffy Inside the Epic Quest for a More Perfect Taffy A Mathematical History of Taffy Pullers by Jean-Luc Thiffeault Cape May Magazine: Fralinger’s Salt Water Taffy Buy Fralinger’s Original Salt Water Taffy Tasty’s recipe for salt water taffy Peanut Butter Salt Water Taffy from Food52 Video: How Shriver’s Salt Water Taffy Is Made Using A 200-Year-Old Technique Transcript of this episode. The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com Join our FREE Substack to get our (awesome) newsletter and join in chats with other people who love books and travel. Do you enjoy our show? Do you want to make friends with other (lovely) listeners? Please support our work on Patreon. Every little bit helps us keep the show going and makes us feel warm and fuzzy inside - https://www.patreon.com/strongsenseofplace As always, you can find us at: Our site Instagram Substack Patreon Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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