What We Were
#38 - James Howard Kunstler on The Geography of Nowhere
In this episode, I speak with James Howard Kunstler, author of The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise And Decline of America's Man-Made Landscape , about the decline of America’s built environment and the profound effects it has had on our communities, culture, and quality of life. We discuss how automobile dependence, suburban sprawl, strip malls, zoning laws, and large-scale development transformed the American landscape—often replacing coherent towns and neighborhoods with places that feel fragmented, impersonal, and difficult to inhabit. Kunstler explains why traditional towns and cities tend to produce a stronger sense of beauty, belonging, the sacred, civic life, and why modern development so often fails to do the same. Our conversation also explores the relationship between architecture and human flourishing, the disappearance of meaningful public space, the economic forces that perpetuate bad development, and what it might take to begin building places that are once again worthy of our affection. Find James Howard Kunstler on his Substack at https://www.kunstler.com/
