Cynthia Kierner, historian, self-declared "non-21st century person," and Mets fan, is deeply interested in the role of disturbances across American history- hurricanes, earthquakes, and disease, oh my. In her book, Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood, she reviews the history of natural disasters and how we respond to them across time and space in the United States.

Hosts Alysha and Todd join their guest in asking colossal questions on cataclysms: How do governments simultaneously prepare for risks at local, regional and national levels? What role do community outsiders play in disaster prevention and recovery? Can the government make you wear a seatbelt?

From Philadelphia's yellow fever epidemic of 1793 to the worldwide shutdown of COVID-19, disturbances shape communities in a major way. In this episode, we review the life cycle of natural disasters and how they impact communities today... and tomorrow.

Cynthia's Haiku (An Ode to Jersey City):
Superstorm Sandy
Rollercoaster in the sea
Inspiring disaster


Links:
Inventing Disaster: The Culture of Calamity from the Jamestown Colony to the Johnstown Flood: https://uncpress.org/book/9781469652528/inventing-disaster/

Rethinking American Disasters (NEW): https://lsupress.org/9780807179932/rethinking-american-disasters/

Bio: https://historyarthistory.gmu.edu/people/ckierner

We know that green spaces are good for you. They provide benefits to air quality, biodiversity, and even your mental health... but why?

Returning guest Joeri Morpurgo, a postdoctoral fellow at Universiteit Leiden in the Netherlands, set out with his team to answer this question. They found an important distinction: not all green spaces are created equal.

The team also investigated the various benefits of green space, and found natural variables to attribute them to: lower air temperatures were directly related to tree heights, soil quality promotes water storage, and so on. Every green space has unique characteristics that give it unique, nuanced benefits. In this episode, Joeri joins hosts Alysha and Todd to talk about why distinction between outdoor spaces is so important.

Joeri's Haiku:
Lush green fill the streets
Yet life and function diverge
Features shape what they give

Links:
Joeri's Bio: https://www.universiteitleiden.nl/en/staffmembers/joeri-morpurgo#tab-1
Joeri's Publications: https://scholar.google.nl/citations?user=PHxx0pIAAAAJ&hl=nl

Pre-print of Joeri's newest pub: https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-5841194/v1

The Mississippi River Basin covers over a million square miles across the southeast and midwest US. Despite growing up far away in the northeast US, Boyce Upholt thinks about the nation's largest waterway more than most: he's the author of "The Great River: The Making and Unmaking of the Mississippi." The book began nearly eight years earlier with a paddling trip, a sunken steamboat, and love-at-first-sight for the iconic southern river.

Upholt speaks to our hosts Alysha and Todd about his intertwining passions for history and nature, and why this work centers on "the Great River." The book covers how humans have thought about, related to, and altered the region over centuries, and how the river changes to meet us in new ways.

"We know it's out there, this sort of heart beating in the middle of America, but most Americans don't know what it looks like."

Boyce's Haiku (The Edgelands Wander Haiku):
Shopping cart half-sunk
Into the crust-dried batture mud
Nothing lasts too long

Links:
Check out the book: https://www.boyceupholt.com/
Southlands Magazine, a new project by Boyce Upholt, is launching later this year: https://www.boyceupholt.com/southlands