We’ve had many shows on the great midcentury architects of Palm Springs, people like Chambers, Clark, Cody, Frey, Krisel, Sackley, Wexler, White, Williams, and the last man standing, Hugh Kaptur.  But that was the 20th century, and we’re in the 21st.  In fact, we’re pretty near mid-century in the 21st, so today, you’ll hear from two of today’s Palm Springs architects, Michael Kiner and Mark Daniels.  They create houses that Modernist fans will be fondly touring and doing podcasts about - 30 years from now. 

Michael Kimmelman is the architecture critic for the New York Times. He writes on design, housing and homelessness, neighborhood development, cities, the environment,  and civil society. Then it's a delightful visit with returning musical guest Monika Ryan.

Kirsten Reoch is the new executive director of Philip Johnson’s Glass House in New Canaan, Connecticut. Then, take a ride down memory lane with Marina Coates, creator of the YouTube series Behind the Scenes, featuring tours of your favorite TV and movie houses.  Later on, musical guest Andrea Carter.

Designed by Richard Meier, with project architect Tod Williams, the 1973 Douglas House is a towering white residence built on a steep, conifer-covered slope overlooking Lake Michigan.  In 2007, retired Proctor & Gamble executives Mike McCarthy and Marcia Myers became the fourth owners and embarked on its second restoration, doing a deep dive to bring it back to life.

Today, we’ll talk to three people who live in Palm Springs: the folks who work to document, share, and safeguard Palm Springs’ heritage – and gladly share their stories. First, expert tour guides John Stark and Trevor O’Donnell. Later on, the President of the Palm Springs Plaza Theatre Foundation, JR Roberts, working to bring back the theatre to its full glory.  

In the Modernist kitchen today, we’ve got a full course meal, starting with architect and author Scott Specht, architecture photographer Ste Murray, and wrapping up for dessert, the always delightful hosts of the podcast Bad Architecture, Sara Tietje-Mietz and Erin Kennealy.

Let’s talk art, maybe one of the paintings you could buy from today’s guests. The height of Modernist architecture was around 1962 but those butterfly roofs, dressing up for martini parties, sculpted tailfins, and even tiki décor have never been more popular.  Artists Danny Heller and Josh Agle, aka Shag, each brilliantly capture that midcentury vibe that keeps us all inspired. Later on, returning musical guest the great Stacey Kent with music from her new album.

In 1966 the first episode of Gene Roddenberry's Star Trek launched a franchise still going strong nearly 60 years later.  Star Trek adapted midcentury Modern furniture for set design, from the Bridge to the Conference Room to buildings on the planets they landed on. In a follow up to Where No Furniture Has Gone Before, where we interviewed Dan Chavkin and Brian McGuire on their book Star Trek: Designing the Final Frontier, George travelled to Kingsland GA to see, and sit on, that special Star Trek furniture.  You’ll hear from Ray Tesi, owner of Neutral Zone Studios, and Vic Mignogna, Executive Producer of the true-to-canon web series Star Trek Continues.  Later on, quality time with musical guest Amanda Carr.

Ah, Aspen.  The land of clean air, brisk skiing, pensive thinktanks, and enormous wealth.  Nestled in the gorgeous mountains of Colorado, you might not know that Aspen was influenced by Modernism and has special connections to the Bauhaus in Germany.  Today you’ll hear from Lissa Ballinger, acting director of the Aspen Institute, about the Bauhaus-Aspen connection, and then it’s photographer Isaac Jeffreys one Modernist resorts of the Catskills in New York, famous for more than just comedians and Mrs. Maisel. Later, music with jazz trumpeter David Weiss and the Cookers.

Welcome to USModernist Radio, where we talk and laugh with people who enjoy, own, create, dream about, preserve, love, and hate Modernist architecture, the most exciting and controversial buildings in the world. It’s especially exciting in New York City, which punches way above its weight in architecture and architects, and today we’ll talk with three from that city, Peter Eisenman, Esther Sperber, and Richard Olcott.