Kicking off things for 2023 is Lee Bey, Chicago architecture critic,  photographer for the new book Who Is the City For? with Blair Kamin, and the author of Southern Exposure: The Overlooked Architecture of Chicago’s South Side.  Later on, we turn up the heat with grillmaster Greg Sages, also the Executive Director of The Philip Johnson Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut. 

Since the 1950’s, the US Government has hired Modernist architects like Edward Durell Stone, John Johansen, Walter Gropius, Marcel Breuer, Richard Neutra, and more recently Kieran Timberlake to design US Embassies all over the world.  Modernism most clearly expresses the idea of freedom and these buildings are a showcase for America.  But as Dr. Phil might say, “how’s that working for us?” Joining us are Angel Dizon, who supervised $2B worth of construction projects for the US State Department and is now with the GSA - and returning podcast guest Mina Chow, architecture professor at USC and producer of the documentary Face of a Nation: What Happened to the World’s Fair?  Later on, musical guest Oleta Adams. 

It’s our holiday show on USModernist Radio!  Co-hosting with George and Tom is Raleigh architect Erin Sterling Lewis, with McGill University professor Sarah Moser on glamourous Modernist fantasy cities we drool about in glossy architecture magazines, and later on, special musical guest, the legendary Brenda Lee, to rock us yet again around the Christmas tree!

The American Institute of Architects, or AIA, is the leading professional association in the US, and USModernist Radio was there for their national conference last June in Chicago, where George talked with Katie Swenson of MASS Design Group, known for emotionally powerful buildings like the National Memorial for Peace and Justice in Montgomery, Alabama. After that, George visits with Kira Gould, a communications strategist, author, and cohost of the podcast Design the Future who was awarded honorary AIA status. Later on, musical guest Michael Sinatra singing from the songbook many Modernists know and love. 

The American Institute of Architects or AIA, is the leading professional association in the US, and USModernist Radio was there for their national conference last June in Chicago.  Joining us from that conference are Jen Masengarb, architectural historian and Executive Director of AIA Chicago; Marty Hylton, legendary historic preservationist and the Historic Architect for Climate Change at the National Park Service Climate, Science, and Disaster Response Program; and later on, the President of another AIA, the Australian Institute of Architects, Shannon Battisson.

The American Institute of Architects or AIA, is the leading professional association in the US, and USModernist Radio was there for their national conference last June in Chicago.  Joining us is the most relaxed person at the conference, just-retired CEO of the AIA, Robert Ivy. And later, music with American jazz legend Diane Schuur, aka Deedles.

Wildwood used to be the Palm Springs of the Jersey Shore. No, not where Snooki and The Situation spent their misspent youth, that’s Seaside Heights, way to the north.  Wildwood is three towns along a six-mile barrier island near the southern tip of New Jersey: Wildwood Crest, Wildwood, and Wildwood North, famous for a colorful array of over 300 wildly themed mid-century motels providing families wonderful vacation memories for decades.  Staying in Wildwood was the first exposure to Modernism for millions of Americans. Over drinks at the Philadelphia Marriott, where they spoke at the DOCOMOMO Conference, you’ll hear George talk with Daniel Vieyra, Professor Emeritus in the Kent State University School of Architecture; Stephanie Hoagland, Principal and Architectural Conservator of Jablonski Building Conservation; and Ian Smith, Principal of IS-DG Architects. 

You can have the best architect design your new Modernist house, but if your builder doesn’t know how to handle Modernist construction, materials, and details, you are in deep bleep.  Joining us are two masters of the Modernist domain:  Jake Goldberg, founder and president of Goldberg General Contracting in Chicago; and Kevin Murphy, founder and president of Newphire Building in Chapel Hill NC. Later on, jazz with James Torme, son of Mel.

Sometimes even the best design needs a little help, particularly when Mother Nature is having a bad day. Her earthquakes, for example, do not care whether your building is Modernist.  Her monsoons are not impressed with how famous the architect was, even if he was Paul R. Williams.  One of California’s most well-known architects, Williams’ buildings get more famous year by year.  There are two in Los Angeles at UCLA that have been recently restored and shored up for such ominous natural events, and joining us is the architect for those University projects, Scott Kelsey of CO Architects.  After that, jazz with musical guest John Armato, the drummer who loves ballads.

Ever since Modernism started, most banks have been, let's say this delicately, a huge PITA. Getting reasonable appraisals for mortgages, insurance claims, property taxes, and determining sales price is difficult, especially post-2008 when all the appraisal rules tightened up.  That’s where you need an expert, someone who knows Modernist architecture and can assign fair value.  Today’s guest is one of the foremost Modernist appraisers in California, James Ebert.  Later on, musical guest, the classy Elijah Rock.