Here There Be Dragons

We are taking a small break from our regularly scheduled programming to give listeners a little taste of the mini episodes that Patreon subscribers receive every other week. That's right, for subscribers Here There Be Dragons is a weekly podcast. Support us at: https://www.patreon.com/htbdpodcast You might remember that in episode 2, The Malms, we interviewed a Swedish-Chilean woman, Paulina Torre...

Last episode, we learned about a few key concepts. The design and planning of the Million Program. The increase of working class immigrants in Swedish cities. And the privatization of public housing. These conditions all woven together created a situation where urban immigrant families were stuck living on Stockholm’s periphery, in housing that was aging and coming apart. We’re going to pick up wh...

The more we poked around the edges of what Stockholmers meant when they talked about the separation in their cities, we realized people were talking about many different things. Because segregation comes in many forms. Racial segregation is often the most obvious. But there is also class segregation, segregation by citizenship, by social status, by family size, by age. And the way these forms of s...

Housing is one of the hairiest urban planning questions. You have to get the balance absolutely perfect. If you build too much the cost of upkeep will bankrupt the state. But if you build too little, you’ll have a human crisis on your hands in no time. Sweden is a case study of this teeter totter, constantly chasing that perfect balance. And the right way to get it is always up for debate. Twitter...

No matter how neighborhoods change, old meanings and power structures remain. This episode, we explore how the power and wealth wielded in the neighborhoods of Södermalm, Östermalm, and Gamla Stan, impact city residents today. Check out Ellen Arkbo's music: https://ellenarkbro.bandcamp.com/album/for-organ-and-brass Twitter/Instagram: @dragons_podcast Sign up for our newsletter: www.htbdpodcast.com...

Welcome to Stockholm! For all the city's seeming calm and quiet there were many stories of fear, safety, and identity to be told. We are excited to take you to the big little capital of Sweden, where one in every five Swedish residents call home. Let's find out how Stockholmers feel about their city's bigness and smallness. We are produced with the generous support of the Graham Foundation for Adv...

This time around Jess Myers returns alongside senior producer Adélie Pojzman-Pontay, to discuss the triumphs and trials of Stockholm, Sweden. Since the Cold War, Sweden has positioned itself as a third way between Soviet collectivism and American capitalism. Through the eyes of Stockholmers we explore how that vision has aged, as politics across the West seek to cast the country as the ideal of a...

Paris: Centres (Season Finale) by Jessica Myers

It will come as no surprise to you that Paris, a city that is roughly two thousand years old, has had many plans for urban utopias. Utopias of morality, technology, health, and much more. Plans for the aristocracy, for the poor, for police, for immigrants and on and on. But one person’s utopia can be another person’s nightmare depending on who you talk to.  In this episode we’ll be diving into the...

This episode will focus not just on the identities of people but of places. We’ll be talking about the way that Paris is divided through years of history, politics and design. Cities have significant physical and psychic borders that create local bias and affinities. Paris is no different.

Last episode we talked about “French hipsters” or bobos and the anxiety about being perceived as one. This episode we’ll be expanding our ideas about how people want to be perceived in public space. The stereotype of Parisians being stylish and glamorous trendsetters is nothing new. But the more you get to know the city the more you see how style can be contentious. It often dances along the fault...

Bobo means bourgeois-bohème; a left leaning, culture loving elite. Kind of the French version of the hipster. Someone of or joining a more comfortable class who likes to dabble in the cultural spaces of the working class and/or ethnic groups. The bobo like the hipster is the boogieman of gentrification. No one wants to be bobo and yet we see them everywhere. And with their presence goes the neighb...

Paris: Communautarisme (Community) by Jessica Myers

Does a good social mix create greater security for urban residents?  This episode we're talking mixité or diversity. How does it affect public space socially and politically in the Parisian region.

Welcome back! This is the first episode of Here There Be Dragons season 2. This season we're listening to Parisians tell their stories of fear and identity in the city of lights. You might remember the horrifying news we’ve heard from Paris as terrorist attacks rocked the city. Three attacks in the past two years. The one on November 13th 2015 left 130 people dead and 413 injured. These attacks le...

Here There Be Dragons Podcast: On the Series Welcome to Here There Be Dragons, a podcast about safety and identity in cities. For this show I spoke to seven New York natives from all over the city and for the past two months you’ve heard their stories and experiences. This is the final episode where I’ll talk about making the show and listener responses. The title of the project comes from the med...

Here There Be Dragons Podcast: New Yorkers reflect on the Bronx Welcome to Here There Be Dragons, a podcast about safety and identity in cities. I spoke to seven New York natives from all over the city about their stories and experiences. This is the 5th episode of the series being released weekly on CoLab Radio. In this episode we hear New Yorkers’ reflections on the Bronx. Despite being the most...

Here There Be Dragons Podcast: New Yorkers Reflect on Harlem Welcome to Here There Be Dragons, a podcast about safety and identity in cities. I spoke to seven New York natives from all over the city about their stories and experiences. This is the 4th of the series being released weekly on CoLab Radio. In this episode we hear New Yorkers’ reflections on Harlem. Harlem is one of the most famous nei...

Here There Be Dragons Podcast: New Yorkers Respond to Violence Welcome to the first episode of Here There Be Dragons, a podcast exploring safety and identity in cities. I spoke to seven New York natives from all over the city about their stories and experiences. The episodes that follow will be released weekly on CoLab Radio over the next 2 months. The theme of this inaugural episode is violence i...

Here There Be Dragons Podcast: New Yorkers Discuss Public Housing Welcome to the third episode of Here There Be Dragons, a podcast about safety and identity in cities. I spoke to seven New York natives from all over the city about their stories and experiences. The six episodes that follow will be released weekly on CoLab Radio. In the third episode below we hear New Yorkers reflect on public hous...

Here There Be Dragons Podcast: New Yorkers Respond to Gentrification Welcome to the second episode of Here There Be Dragons, a podcast about safety and identity in cities. I spoke to seven New York natives from all over the city about their stories and experiences. The episodes that follow will be released weekly on CoLab Radio over the next 2 months. This second episode considers the cultural imp...