Intro: “S.P.Q.R.” by This Heat

Discussed:

Paul Goldberger

“Trump Will Destroy Washington if It’s the Last Thing He Does,” New York Times, March 13, 2026

More Times analysis on the White House ballroom plans

Godwin’s Law

Albert Speer

Benjamin Latrobe

Alternate venues, that would not require a new ballroom at the White House:

• National Building Museum
• Mellon Auditorium

Moynihan Train Hall

Saarinen's Dulles Airport design 

“Fedlandia” – a plan to rebuild 230 acres of Federal downtown Washington

East Potomac Golf Links Trump takeover plan, and the resistance

National Garden of American Heroes

Christopher Columbus statue, Baltimore

White House ballroom architects

• James McCrery
• Shalom Baranes

Arc de Trump – Justin Shubow

Suit against Kennedy Center renovations

Mamdani’s Trump-whispering to get funding for the Sunnyside Yards overbuild

Dulles Airport overhaul proposals

Original Dulles Airport mobile lounges

John Foster Dulles

Trump offer to release Gateway Tunnel funds in exchange for naming Penn Station after him

Renaming of Palm Beach airport, after Trump

Renovation and expansion of the US Embassy in Delhi, India (Edward Durell Stone > Weiss Manfredi)

Penn Station reconstruction under Trump:

• Move Madison Square Garden?
• AECOM joint venture to lead project management
• ASTM + HOK + PAU Plan: Keep MSG, remove Hulu Theater

Moynihan Train Hall

Ballpark: Baseball in the American City

FIFA Sites include:

• Gillette Stadium, Foxborough, MA
• Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City, MO
• SoFi Stadium, Inglewood, CA
• AT&T Stadium, Arlington, TX

Chuck Klosterman: “Football” as a “hyperobject”

Milan San Siro (Stadio Giuseppe Meazza)

NY Jets plan for West Side stadium

Upcoming Goldberger book (11/17/2026): “The Imperfect City: Design, Serendipity, and the Real Life of Cities”

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Outro: “The Leopards Ate My Face,” by Franchesca Ramsey