Strong Sense of Place

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.

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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As always, you can find us at:

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:

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. 

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:

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:

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.

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:

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:

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

In this episode, we get excited about two books: Assassins Anonymous by Rob Hart and Hip-Hop is History by Quest Love. Then Mel delves into the immersive storytelling, cosplay, and fantastic settings of LARPing.

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:

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

Is New York City the world capital of… everything? It’s sure putting up a good effort.

We could talk about how the New York Stock Exchange started under a tree (!) on Wall Street and how NYC is now the financial capital of the world. Billionaires, millionaires, blah blah blah. 

Let’s talk about what really matters.

Like… the best pizza and bagels in the world, the Met and the New York Public Library, art deco skyscrapers and bodega cats, Carnegie Hall, Broadway, Rockefeller Center, and that one place on the corner in Brooklyn with the best Polish pastries. 

There’s the immediately identifiable New York accent and the 800 or so languages spoken by New Yorkers from all around the world. The City That Never Sleeps is the ultimate melting pot; we’re all better for it.

New Yorkers are a unique breed who’ve changed the personality of the city over and over again. Dutch and British settlers named the place, immigrants made it cosmopolitan, the elite of the Gilded Age filled it with skyscrapers, and barriers were busted by the artists of the Harlem Renaissance. And let’s not forget the unnamed good samaritan on the subway who will warn you that the next station is closed so you need to transfer.

In this episode, we grab an imaginary coffee to go in a ‘We Are Happy to Serve You’ cup and explore the ultimate bookish day in New York City. In Two Truths and a Lie, we meet the musicians of the Phantom of the Opera on Broadway and visit a Brooklyn store where you can buy a can of chutzpah. Then we recommend six great books that took us to New York City on the page, including two graphic novels, a love letter to ’90s Manhattan, a frothy family saga, historical fiction with a challenging heroine, and a collection of short stories from a master of fiction.

Manhattan Beach by Jennifer Egan

LaserWriter II by Tamara Shopsin

Olga Dies Dreaming by Xóchitl González

Hello, NY by Julia Rothman

Roaming by Jillian and Mariko Tamaki

Table for Two: Fictions by Amor Towles

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 smart, friendly people who love travel and books.

Transcript of New York City: NO! SLEEP! TILL BROOKLYN!

Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? 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: The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis and The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley. Then Dave shares a very cool phone trick for tracking your books.

Links

The Main Character by Jaclyn Goldis

Video: Jaclyn Goldis on the Chris Voss Podcast

The Ministry of Time by Kaliane Bradley

Video: Kaliane Bradley’s first TV interview on Good Morning America

Video: How to Convert Image to Text in iPhone & Android

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:

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

According to people in the know, there are two Frances: Paris and the rest of the (alluring, picturesque) country. In this episode, we’re celebrating the châteaux, coastlines, cathedrals, cuisine, mountains, and museums that give France its unique je ne sais quoi.

It’s hard to argue with the notion that France offers the best of everything. From scenery and snacks to iconic art, world-changing history, and culture-shaping fashion, it’s practically ground zero for the good things in life. The light is golden. The wine is luscious. The cheese is heavenly, and the scenery is so beautiful, it makes the heart yearn. 

You can take a road trip or a bike ride among the purple rivers of lavender fields in Provence or the gilt-and-green vineyards in Burgundy. Loll in the sun and splash in the sea along the Riviera — or tour a château where nobles ruled and romanced 500 years ago. Wander the streets and cafés that inspired Vincent Van Gogh, then relax under a shade tree with a perfect baguette and the world’s best butter.

In this episode, we take a virtual road trip around France, explore the Bayeux Tapestry, and get curious about an obscure (and deeply romantic) French law. Then we recommend five great books that took us to France on the page.

Clara Reads Proust by Stéphane Carlier, translated by Polly Mackintosh

Joan by Katherine J. Chen

Murder on the Île Sordou by M.L. Longworth

A Woman of No Importance by Sonia Purnell

Fresh Water for Flowers by Valérie Perrin, translated by Hildegarde Serle

For more on the books we recommend, plus the other cool stuff we talk about, visit our show notes.

Sign up for our free Substack to connect with us and other smart, friendly people who love travel and books.

Transcript of France: Mostly Here for the Butter

Do you enjoy our show? Do you want access to awesome bonus content? 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!

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices