122 episodes
Strong Sense of Place Realm
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- Arts
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4.9 • 431 Ratings
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One lifetime is too short to visit everywhere and meet everyone. That‘s why we love books with a strong sense of place — they let us travel the world in our imagination. In each episode of our podcast, we explore one destination and talk about what makes that place different from everywhere else on earth. Then we recommend five books that took us to that place on the page. We‘re on a trip around the globe, one great read at a time. Please join us!
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LoLT: 1917 Pulitzer Prize and Two New Books
In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Tumbling Girl by Bridget Walsh and The West: A New History in Fourteen Lives by Naoíse Mac Sweeney. Then Mel shares the highlights of the first Pulitzer Prize winners.
LINKS
The Tumbling Girl by Bridge Walsh
The West: A New History in Fourteen Lives by Naoíse Mac Sweeney
Pulitzer Prize website
All the winners organized by year.
Herbert Bayard Swope’s Wikipedia page
See photos of his mansion on Long Island here and here.
Julia Ward Howe’s Wikipedia page.
Josef Pulitzer and the Crowdfunding Campaign That Saved the Statue of Liberty.
SSoP Podcast Episode 27 — Newsroom: From Clacking Typewriters to Viral Video.
An American Childhood by Annie Dillard
Catch and Kill: Lies, Spies, and a Conspiracy to Protect Predators by Ronan Farrow
The Crofter and the Laird by John McPhee
_Less: A Novel by Andrew Sean Greer
Middlesex: A Novel_ by Jeffrey Eugenides
The Shipping News: A Novel by Annie Proulx
So Big by Edna Ferber
Transcript of this episode.
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com
Do you enjoy our show? Want access to fun 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
As always, you can find us at:
Our site
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Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
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Theater: Act One, Scene I, Lights Up
Google the words’ history of theater,’ and you’ll get a timeline that begins in ancient Greece, circa the 6th century BCE, and high-kicks forward through time to Broadway and London’s West End.
And that’s accurate. But it’s also missing the dramatic developments in storytelling techniques happening in other parts of the world — Japan, China, Indonesia, India — at the same time. While European peasants learned to walk the straight and narrow via morality plays, Asian theater-goers explored mythology via shadow puppets, dance, and dramatic masks.
In this episode, we travel the world (and through time) for a make-believe theater festival that takes us from Shakespeare’s Globe Theater in London to the lights of Broadway, then to South America and Indonesia. We drop in on the premier of Fiddler on the Roof, learn about an avant-garde approach to theater meant to build empathy, and are dazzled by puppets that bring kings and demons to life.
Then we recommend five great books that took us straight to our seats in the theater, including a novel about a very bad actor making his Broadway debut, a lively retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, a peek inside the creative minds behind beloved musicals, historical fiction about Bram Stoker’s time at London’s legendary Lyceum Theatre, and an unputdownable slice of dark academia with tender theater kids at its heart.
Here are the books about theater we recommend on the show:
Shadowplay by Joseph O’Connor
Hag-Seed by Margaret Atwood
A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke
Audiobook: A Bright Ray of Darkness by Ethan Hawke
The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built by Jack Viertel
If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
Audiobook: If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio
For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.
Transcript of Theater: Act One, Scene I, Lights Up.
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.
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LoLT: Literary Street in Vilnius and Two New Books
Housekeeping note: There will be no 'Library of Lost Time' next week. The next episode will appear on Friday, June 2. 'Strong Sense of Place' will appear before then, on Monday, the 29th of May, with our episode about the theater. Thank you!
In this episode, we get excited about two books: 'Tasting History' by Max Miller and 'This Isn't Going to End Well' by Daniel Wallace. Then Mel transports us to a street in Vilnius, Lithuania that’s made for book lovers.
LINKS
Tasting History by Max Miller
This Isn’t Going to End Well by Daniel Wallace
Big Fish: A Novel of Mythic Proportions by Daniel Wallace
Video: Big Fish movie trailer.
Tasting History with Max Miller on YouTube
Atlas Obscura: Literature Street in Vilnius, Lithuania
Video: Tour of Literature Street
The wild ride of Adam Mickiewicz’s Wikipedia page
Pan Tadeusz; or, The last foray in Lithuania by Adam Mickiewicz on Gutenberg.org
Video: The Origin of Pan Tadeusz
Video: Pan Taduesz movie trailer
Mel’s Bigos recipe
Transcript of this episode
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com
Do you enjoy our show? Want access to fun 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
As always, you can find us at:
Our site
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
Maine: Lighthouses, Lobster Rolls, and the King of Horror
Perched in the top-right corner of the US, Maine is wrapped in a snuggly hug from Canada and bravely faces the crashing Atlantic. If bracing sea air, glorious pine trees, and fresh-from-the-ocean seafood is your thing, you’re going to want to visit asap.
Maine’s 5000 miles (8000 km) of coastline mean there are dozens of lighthouses, ample excuses to get out in a boat (kayaking along the Maine Island trail, anyone?), and opportunities to see puffins, seals, and whales in their natural habitat.
Or set your sights on the forest! The Pine Tree State is perfect for honing your Disney princess skills with moose, black bears, white-tailed deer, river otters, foxes, and other furry forest creatures.
When you’re ready to get cozy with a book, there’s the poetry of Longfellow, the delight of Charlotte’s Web, and the malevolent Pennywise, who is the terrifying and brilliant invention of Maine’s number one literary hero, Stephen King.
In this episode, we get hungry for lobster rolls and Maine blueberries, learn some funny island names, and honor a delightful ambassador to Maine. Then we recommend five books that took us to Maine on the page, including a Gothic coming-of-age story, two vastly different (but unputdownable) memoirs, a literary crime novel, and a sweet story about the magical power of love and the Northern Lights.
Here are the books about Maine we recommend on the show:
Grange House by Sarah Blake
The Stranger in the Woods by Michael Finkel
The Midcoast by Adam White
Vacationland: True Stories from Painful Beaches by John Hodgman
Almost, Maine by John Cariani
For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.
Transcript of Maine: Lighthouses, Lobster Rolls, and the King of Horror.
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.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
LoLT: Jeremy Anderberg Recommends Shepherd.com and Two New Books
In this episode, we get excited about two books: The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin and The Partisan by Patrick Worrall. Then guest Jeremy Anderberg shares a fun website to find great new-to-you titles.
LINKS
The Lioness of Boston by Emily Franklin
The Partisan by Patrick Worrall
Video: The history of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
Video: A tour of the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.
An Explosive Netflix Documentary About the $500 Million Isabella Stewart Gardner Heist.
Netflix: This is a Robbery: The World’s Biggest Art Heist.
Portrait of Isabella Stewart Gardner by John Singer Sargent.
Isabella Stewart Gardner ‘Come to Tea’ mug.
Jeremy Anderberg’s Read More Books, The Big Read, and Instagram.
Shepherd.com
Transcript of this episode
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com
Do you enjoy our show? Want access to fun 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
As always, you can find us at:
Our site
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices -
LoLT: The Forty Elephants Girl Gang and Two New Books
In this episode, we get excited about two books: Dinner Party by Sarah Gilmartin and You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith. Then Dave tells the tale of remarkable women involved in London’s criminal underworld.
LINKS
Dinner Party by Sarah Gilmartin
You Could Make This Place Beautiful by Maggie Smith
Maggie Smith’s website and Twitter
Legal Design Podcast: Fighting Crime by Design with Lorraine Gamman
Wikipedia: Shirley Pitts
Wikipedia: Alice Diamond
Gone Shopping: The Story of Shirley Pitts, Queen of Thieves by Lorraine Gamman
The Guardian: Girl Gang’s Grip on London Underworld Revealed
Criminal Secret Society: The Story of Forty Elephants
Video: Diamond Annie and the Forty Elephants — The All-Female Gang That Terrorized London
Transcript of this episode
The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com
Do you enjoy our show? Want access to fun 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
As always, you can find us at:
Our site
Instagram
Facebook
Twitter
Patreon
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Customer Reviews
Great for Global Explorers & Armchair Travelers
As an avid reader who is also a full-time global nomad this podcast hits on all cylinders for me. I’m on a constant quest to find interesting books that take place in the destinations I visit. Melissa & Dave have given me plenty of options from all over the world…my TBR list never runs dry!
Whether its Japan, Paris, or simply a “place” such as “the bookstore,” they present each destination with a witty repartee that is fun and interesting. They’ve guided me toward new books featuring places I’ve visited often AND intrigued me with destinations to add to my TBV (to be visited) list.
Their short, weekly “Library of Lost Time” episodes are fun, bite-sized snippets that are perfect for a quick infusion of literary curiosities.
If you’ve ever searched for a destination on Google Maps as you’ve read a book, this is the podcast for you!
Travel the world!
Such great book recommendations from this show! I try to read widely and the awesome locations the hosts choose are definitely helping me to do that. Thanks for the awesome content!
Absolutely love this show
This is my favorite podcast & I look forward to each & every episode. Such amazing info on all these amazing places to visit around the world & with book recommendations too! What could be better! & the show notes, photos & links on the website! Incredible!!!! Thank y’all for putting so much work into every episode.