Strong Sense of Place Realm

In this episode, we get excited about two books: Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran and Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi. Then Dave delves into the mystery of Mongol warrior Genghis Khan’s lost tomb.
Links
Maria: A Novel of Maria von Trapp by Michelle Moran
Michelle Moran’s website
Maria by Maria von Trapp on Internet Archive
Podcast: Theater: Act One, Scene I, Lights Up
Navola by Paolo Bacigalupi
Paolo Bacigalupi’s website
Burial place of Genghis Khan
Why Genghis Khan’s Tomb Can’t Be Found
Podcast — Mongolia: Under the Eternal Blue Sky
The Mongol’s Coffin by E. Chris Ambrose
Transcript of this episode.

The Library of Lost Time is a Strong Sense of Place Production! https://strongsenseofplace.com
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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:

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Parts of the Strong Sense of Place podcast are produced in udio! Some effects are provided by soundly.
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If we say ‘Mongolia,’ and you imagine an eagle hunter on horseback silhouetted against an endless blue sky and vast open plains, you are not wrong. Ditto for thinking of Chingiss Khan, frigid winters, and resilient nomads in gers (yurts).
While those perceptions are valid, Mongolia may have some surprises for you. The sun shines 250 days a year, and summer days are luxuriously long and warm. Yes, Khan is a national hero (see: the 3-story glimmering steel statue of the Mongol leader on horseback), but Mongolians are most welcoming. The flap door of a ger is open to all, friends and strangers alike — and a hot bowl of milk tea will appear as soon as you cross the threshold.
In the capital city of Ulaanbaatar, you can eat in restaurants, visit a temple, and wander through museums. When you’ve had enough of the bustle, ride into the steppes — on a horse, a camel, or an all-terrain jeep — and back in time. Under that vast sky, you can head north to spruce forests that stretch toward Russia, or west to the jaggy Altai mountains, or south to the wind-swept dunes of the Gobi Deserts (and, eventually, China).
In this episode, we meet a formidable Mongolian warrior princess, listen to the otherworldly sound of Tuvan throat singing, and travel back in history with the annual Naadam Festival (a.k.a. the Mongolian Olympics).
Then we recommend five great books that took us to Mongolia on the page:

Akmaral by Judith Lindbergh

Rough Magic by Lara Prior-Palmer

Stand on the Sky by Erin Bow

Border Crossings: A Journey on the Trans-Siberian Railway by Emma Fick

When I’m Gone, Look for Me in the East by Quan Barry


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 friendly readers who are curious about the world.
Transcript of Mongolia: Under the Eternal Blue Sky
Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? 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

In this episode, we get excited about two books: A Season for That by Steve Hoffman and The God of the Woods by Liz Moore. Then Mel explains why she’s so excited to get the new episode of the ‘Pack One Bag’ podcast every week. 
Links
A Season for That by Steve Hoffman
Steve Hoffman’s website and an interview with the Star Tribune
Still blog by Mary Jo Hoffman and an interview with Yoga Journal
Still: The Art of Noticing by Mary Jo Hoffman
The God of the Woods by Liz Moore
Long Bright River by Liz Moore
Podcast: Pennsylvania: Political Player, Potato Chip Maker
The ‘Pack One Bag’ website
Deadline Magazine on the podcast and the upcoming TV remake
Stanley Tucci Compares WW2 Fascism Story to Now — ‘It’s Happening Today’
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? 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

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

As you read these words and listen to our podcast, we’re all riding on a ball about 8000 miles (13,000 km) across. Our rotating disco ball in space is dancing around the sun at about 67,000 mph (107,000 km/h).
Our sun is about 93 million miles (150 million km away), shooting us with subatomic particles. Probably not maliciously, but who knows? The sun might be a trickster. It’s also filling our solar system with light so we can see all the other planets, comets, asteroids, dwarf planets, and moons in orbit.
As humans, it’s nearly impossible to not put ourselves at the center of the world — we all have main-character energy. For millions of years, we puny humans have looked up at the sky and tried to understand just what the devil is going on and where we belong in the whole situation.
In this episode, we try to unpack many of the mind-blowing facts we know about space and our expanding universe — and we get real about the emotional impact of embracing our stardust origins. We talk about the condition called the Overview Effect and whether or not space smells funny. Then we recommend great books that took us there on the page:


Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers


The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowell


The Mars House by Natasha Pulley


The Milky Way by Moiya McTier


Beautyland by Marie-Helene Bertolino


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 Outer Space: We Are All Made of Stars
Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? 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

In this episode, we get excited about two books: A Super Upsetting Cookbook about Sandwiches by Tyler Kord and Good Material by Dolly Alderton. Then Dave shares three great stories about India from his podcast research.
Links


A Super Upsetting Cookbook about Sandwiches by Tyler Kord


Turkey and the Wolf: Flavor Trippin in New Orleans by Mason Hereford


Deadly Sin crime series by Lawrence Sanders


Good Material by Dolly Alderton

Meet The Indian Giant Squirrel That Looks Like A Dr. Seuss Concoction

India’s election 2024: A logistical triumph across a vast polling network

In Pictures: Kitchen that feeds 100,000 daily

Golden Temple (Wikipedia)

Video: How The World’s Largest Community Kitchen Feeds 100,000 Daily At Golden Temple



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? 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

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

India seems committed to being over-the-top in the best way possible. It’s colorful, noisy, crowded, vast, deeply historic, spiritual, vibrantly modern, multi-lingual, and stunningly beautiful. 
Want to get loud? India is the place for you! Sure, its population of 1.4 billion people might overwhelm you with the sheer crush of humanity, but its cities have an undeniable energy once you’re acclimated. Delhi, the capital, has everything that makes travel great: ancient forts, mosques and temples, leafy parks and botanical gardens, sprawling bazaars, and bustling lanes of street food. 
Feeling like a quiet retreat? India is the birthplace of yoga and meditation. You could visit Rishikesh, on the bank of the Ganges, to practice asanas in the birthplace of yoga. 
India is also a fantastic place to shop for jewelry in a market, eat the best curries in the world, browse epic English-language bookstores, wander through centuries-old forts, and, of course, marvel at the Taj Mahal.
In this episode, we celebrate the poet Kabir Das, talk about dolphin rights, dig into Salvador Dali’s quirks, and explore India’s Golden Triangle. Then we recommend five great books that took us to India on the page:

Loot: A Novel by Tania James

City of Djinns: A Year in Delhi by William Dalrymple

Dishoom: Cookery Book and Highly Subjective Guide to Bombay by Shamil Thakrar, Kavi Thakrar, Naved Nasir

The Last Dragoners of Bowbazar by Indra Das

The Bandit Queens: A Novel by Parini Shroff


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 India: The Continent Masquerading as a Country
Do you enjoy our show? Do you want be friends with other (lovely) people who love books and travel? 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