A few years ago, Witold Rybczynski, one of The American Scholar's frequent contributors, happened to be coming to town for—of all things—a chair symposium. Not really having considered the chair as more than a functional object, we arranged to meet up at the Smithsonian American Art Museum to track down some classics of global chairmaking. And, of course, to sit in them.

Go beyond the episode:

• Witold Rybczynski’s Now I Sit Me Down
• On his blog, Rybczynski reviews quite a lot of chairs
• Watch a video on the making of Arne Jacobsen’s Series 7 chair from 1955
• Scope out Mies van der Rohe’s Barcelona chair from 1929 at MOMA, or buy your own for the low, low price of $5507!

Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek.

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