Interviews

Through the Rent, Eternity Enters

Abram Van Engen, Christian Wiman, and Marilyn Nelson

You read a poem and it awakens you to something that you already knew.

Laugh Track

Leann Davis Alspaugh

Raw, edgy, polemical—and you can only get it at Attica. Meet the inventor of jailhouse comedy.

The Murderer’s Reckoning

Leann Davis Alspaugh and John J. Lennon

My last day of freedom was January 24, 2002.

Release and Attack, Speed and Drag

“The world just flipped itself over with hardly any recognition of the tentacles it would sprout”—from an interview with artist Rosamond Casey, whose work appears in our spring issue.

Enchanted Embroidery

Leann Davis Alspaugh

Using photos from old magazines makes for a vulnerable working surface, since the paper usually is old, yellowed, and somewhat brittle. I like it that this quality emphasizes the human and personal vulnerability that exists as a subject in my work.

An Interview With Alan Jacobs

B.D. McClay and Alan Jacobs

Humility, laziness, true confessions, and The Karate Kid—an interview with Alan Jacobs on his 79 Theses for Disputation.

The Politics of Spectacle in Putin's Russia: An Interview with Peter Pomerantsev

Jay Tolson

The first thing Putin did when he took control, when he became president, was to seize control of TV—even before he took control of oil, energy, or anything else. So this is very much a system of political authoritarian control that is exercised through TV.

Governing for the Common Good

Stephen Assink

Governing for the Common Good

Stephen Assink

Charlottesville city councilor Kathy Galvin on the challenges of city governance

The Village Effect—An Interview With Susan Pinker

Stephen Assink

A more clever use of technology in cities would bring retired people together, for example, or allow municipalities to know exactly where their aging solo residents live, so that if there’s an environmental disaster such as a heat wave or a flood, teams can reach out to the isolated. The data-crunching can be done digitally, while the reaching-out can be done in person.

How Cities are Engaging the Arts: An Interview With Chris Yates—Part 2

Stephen Assink

A Connoisseur of Vanishing Acts: An Interview With John Rosenthal

Literature brought me to photography, but not right away. I had to learn somewhere that what you see isn’t all there is, and I learned it by reading.

Why Cities Need the Arts: An Interview With Chris Yates—Part 1

Stephen Assink

An interview with philosopher and artist Chris Yates detailing the importance of art for cities and communities

Is Portland for Slackers? An Interview With Tom Krattenmaker

Stephen Assink

An interview with Portland-based writer, Tom Krattenmaker concerning the health and future of Portland, OR.

Architecture and the Built Environment: Talking With William Sherman—Part 2

Stephen Assink

Interview with Professor William Sherman on the importance of architecture in urban life.

Architecture and the Built Environment: Talking with William Sherman—Part 1

Stephen Assink

Public Health and the City: Talking With Nisha Botchwey—Part 1

Stephen Assink

A video interview with Professor Nisha Botchwey, an expert in public health, the built environment, and community engagement.

Recombinant Approaches

Leann Davis Alspaugh

Though careful observation comes first, my process involves research: detecting palimpsests in the architecture or observing how people move and inhabit the place.

Thriving Cities Featured Again on Milwaukee Public Radio

Stephen Assink

Thriving Cities investigator, David Flowers, gets featured again by Milwaukee Public Radio.

Faith in the City: Part III, City Soul—An Interview with Cardus' Milton Friesen

Andrew Sharp

Religious institutions in their varied forms are to the social fabric of cities what swamps and bogs are to the ecological landscape. Cities that are serious about attending to the various social challenges in their communities cannot afford to be snobbish about a scarce resource.

Is Orlando more than just a tourist destination? An interview with Phil Hissom

Stephen Assink

An interview with Phil Hissom about what it means to be in the shadow of the mouse and how Orlando is emerging on its own terms as a thriving city, much more than just a tourist destination.

Can Richmond heal its past to become a thriving city? An interview with Julian Hayter

Andrew Sharp

An interview with Julian Hayter about what makes Richmond, Virginia a thriving city and how its history continues to be its greatest challenge and treasure.

Thriving Cities on Milwaukee Public Radio

In an interview on WUWM 89.7 , researcher David Flowers explains the value of The Thriving Cities project's approach to understanding urban life.