Placemakers

Slate Podcasts

4.7 (99)
SOCIETY & CULTURE

All communities face certain challenges. But some people see challenges as opportunities. On Placemakers, we bring you stories about the spaces we inhabit and the people who shape them. Join us as we criss-cross the country, introducing you to real people in real communities — people who make a difference in how we travel, work, and live. You’ll never look at your community the same way again.

12/05/2016

The Quest to Make the Perfect Place

Imagine a place where you can stroll down the sidewalk, wave to your neighbors on their porch, then pick up your dry cleaning or have lunch at the café. That’s the kind of walkable, compact, mixed-use community envisioned by the founders of New Urbanism—including Elizabeth Plater-Zyberk. But some people say there’s a reason one of Plater-Zyberk’s developments played a starring role in a memorable Hollywood film about overly constructed reality. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

33 min
12/05/2016

Paid Podcast: Uniting a Neighborhood

Seattle’s Yesler Terrace was the first racially integrated housing project in the U.S. Today, it remains a multicultural nexus for the city. The Seattle Housing Authority and its partners at JPMorgan Chase have been hard at work rebuilding and rejuvenating this historic community’s infrastructure and investing in its economic sustainability. Join Brian Babylon as he explores how the city has tackled such an enormous revitalization project. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 min
11/28/2016

When Good Placemakers Go Bad

George Leonidas Leslie was perhaps the most sensational—and successful!—criminal in American history. An architect by training, he planned and pulled off a series of record-breaking bank robberies throughout the late 1800s and arguably ushered in the modern heist. On this episode of Placemakers, producer Mike Vuolo explores the unholy relationship between burglary and the built environment. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

34 min
11/21/2016

A City of Blue Ribbons

Long before the Black Lives Matter movement swept the U.S., Dallas’ police chief tried to diffuse the anger and mistrust between minority communities and police. His reforms made an impact. The number of people killed in confrontations with police fell, just as crime fell. But Dallas was still torn apart by racial hate last summer, leaving five officers dead and the city in shock. It fell on the police chief to bring people back together in the aftermath. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

32 min
11/14/2016

Live Free or Die

How does a small group of people change politics? The Free State Project wants libertarians to concentrate themselves in New Hampshire and promote libertarian causes. Thousands have already moved, and thousands more are on the way. But not everyone is happy to see them coming. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29 min
11/07/2016

The Greatest Misallocation of Resources in the History of the World

How do you solve a problem like the suburbs? For one man in Arizona, it means creating an agricultural utopia, replete with picket fences and a community garden. He was inspired by one of our era's most scathing critics of suburban sprawl: James Howard Kunstler. We'll hear from both about what happens when you try to remedy what Kunstler calls “the greatest misallocation of resources in the history of the world.” Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

29 min
10/31/2016

Fighting Blight in the Gateway City

Three stories from St. Louis highlight different ways to combat urban blight, from fighting urban decay on MLK Jr. Drive, to turning vacant lots into lush corner gardens. Whether it’s one street, one garden or one tree, it gets easier to imagine change when you literally see it take root. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

31 min
10/31/2016

Paid Podcast: Elevating the Neighborhood

In the 1950s and ‘60s, Oretha Castle Haley Boulevard was a thriving commercial district beloved by New Orleans’ African-American community. After decades of disinvestment, the boulevard has turned a corner and is starting to blossom, once again, into a lively center for commerce and the arts. Down in the Big Easy, we explore how local businesspeople, JPMorgan Chase philanthropists, and creative community thinkers have brought the boulevard back to life. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

19 min

See All (22)

4.7

out of 5

99 Ratings

GREAT SHOW!

11/28/2017

mwaldemar

Love that this show spans beyond topics on gentrification, etc. Show does a really great job of intersexting various other topics and how they relate to our cities and towns we live in. Listen to this while doing homework. Always leaves me thinking about the world & my neighborhood in a different way.
Great for urban studies buffs

08/21/2017

YourOnlyJason

This podcast series is well produced. The stories are interesting, human and honest. If you like stories about urban spaces and urban planning, I haven't found a better podcast. If you like good story telling period, this is for you. My only complaint? I've listened to all of them and don't know when they'll be adding more!
Love at first listen

03/23/2017

My score

I love this podcast. It is so important to hear the stories that it tells and it tells them so well. It's so important to hear about life outside the bubble of your world, whatever it may be, and this podcasts works towards creating the empathy this world needs
Great stories about people improving places

02/15/2017

GrahamProjects

Placemakers presents an enagaing array of stories about the many challenges facing cities, and how regular people are improving the places they love. From explaining old school, urban design strategies to investigating urgent issues around urban equity and justice, this podcast helps us better understand the power of place.

All communities face certain challenges. But some people see challenges as opportunities. On Placemakers, we bring you stories about the spaces we inhabit and the people who shape them. Join us as we criss-cross the country, introducing you to real people in real communities — people who make a difference in how we travel, work, and live. You’ll never look at your community the same way again.