Urban Futures: In Conversation with James Howard Kunstler

In this episode of ON CITIES, host Carie Penabad embarks on a conversation with best-selling author and social critic, James Howard Kunstler. Kunstler’s global recognition is grounded in his unapologetic scrutiny of modern American society, particularly within the realms of urban planning, architecture, energy and sustainability. A steadfast critic of suburban sprawl and unchecked urban expansion, Kunstler presents an alternative vision for the future — one that hinges on a return to local communities through the revitalization of small towns and cities. He underlines the urgency of confronting critical issues like peak oil and climate change, urging society to brace itself for a post-fossil fuel era. Tune in Friday, October 13, 2023 at 11:00 AM EST, 8:00 AM PST, exclusively on the VoiceAmerica Variety Channel https://www.voiceamerica.com/show/4119/on-cities. This episode promises to be a thought-provoking exploration on the structure of contemporary society and the future of our cities. Do not miss the conversation!

James Howard Kunstler said, “We have created thousands and thousands of places in America that aren’t worth caring about, and when we have enough of them, we’re going to have a country that’s not worth defending.”

About James Howard Kunstler
Kunstler is an American author, social critic, public speaker, and blogger. He has written over a dozen books; but is best known for The Geography of Nowhere (1994), a history of American suburbia and urban development, The Long Emergency: Surviving the Converging Catastrophes of the 21st Century (2005), and Too Much Magic: Wishful Thinking, Technology and the Fate of the Nation (2012). In the Long Emergency he imagines peak oil and oil depletion resulting in the end of industrialized society, forcing Americans to live in smaller-scale, localized, agrarian (or semi-agrarian) communities. In world Made by Hand, he branches into a speculative fiction depiction of this future world.

He is also the author of numerous novels including: The Halloween Ball and The Witch of Hebron: A World Made by Hand (Novel Series). He has been a regular contributor to the New York Times Sunday Magazine and Op-Ed page, where he has written on environmental and economic issues.

Mr. Kunstler was born in New York City in 1948. He moved to the Long Island suburbs in 1954 and returned to the city in 1957 where he spent most of his childhood. He graduated from the State University of New York, Brockport campus, worked as a reporter and feature writer for several newspapers, and finally as a staff writer for Rolling Sone Magazine. In 1975, he dropped out to write books on a full-time basis. He has no formal training in architecture or the related design fields.

He has lectured at Harvard, Yale, Columbia, Princeton, MIT, Cornell, MIT, and many other colleges; and he has appeared before many professional organizations such as the AIA, the APA, and the National Trust for Historic Preservation.

He lives in Washington County, upstate New York.

About On Cities
Did you know that the quality of our daily lives is directly influenced by the design of our built environment? Our homes, our work, the way we move, and where we play are all shaped by the design of our cities. This thought-provoking new show from architect, urban design and educator Carie Penabad, examines the complex forces that shape the making of our physical world. Lively conversations with leading experts in a variety of fields engage some of the greatest challenges facing our cities today including climate change, affordable housing, imbedded technologies, infrastructure design, architecture and the arts, urban policy, social mobility and much, much more. Tune in each week at 11:00 AM EST, 8:00 AM PST on the VoiceAmerica Variety Chanel so that we can design a better world.

About Carie Penabad
Carie Penabad is a founding partner of the Miami-based firm of CURE & PENABAD Architecture. The work of the firm has insisted on the importance of architecture and the design of the city as a singular investigation where inquiry and realization, poetry and practicality, history and invention are inextricably linked. Most recently, the firm was honored with the prestigious Emerging Voices prize from the Architectural League of New York, a competition that recognizes individuals with a distinct design voice and a significant body of realized work.

Parallel to her design practice, Penabad has engaged in teaching, writing and research. She is currently a Full Professor at the University of Miami School of Architecture; and in 2024 she will serve as the William Bishop Chair of Architecture and Yale University, along with Adib Cure. She has also served as the Louis I Kahn Visiting Assistant Professor at Yale University. Penabad’s publications include: Marion Manley: Miami’s First Woman Architect (with Catherine Lynn, University of Georgia Press, 2010); Call to Order: Sustaining Simplicity in Architecture (ORO Publishers, 2018) and the forthcoming book: Made in Miami/Hecho en Miami (with Adib Cure, Actar Publishers, 2024).