Altered Mobillity: Recent Episodes
Sheryl Gross-Glaser
The story of the gondolas of Medellin, Columbia, is the history of Medellin itself. We explore how Medellin went from Spanish colonial mining town to industrial city and then, via building a robust public transportation system - and in particular the gondolas - Medellin transformed itself from a murder capital to a tourist-magnet destination. Medellin took a no-wrong-door, holistic approach to its many problems. In the process, the city built a responsive, but inexpensive, form of public infrastructure well suited to its mountainous, but urban, terrain.
Resources
Moment in Equity
Wealth Inequality by Country 2023 – https://worldpopulationreview.com/country-rankings/wealth-inequality-by-country
Adriaan Alsema, Colombia’s wealth gap bogging down economic growth and progress: World Bank, Columbia Reports (Oct. 28, 2021) – https://colombiareports.com/colombias-wealth-gap-bogging-down-economic-growth-and-progress-world-bank/
Geography and history of Medellin
Political Map of Columbia, nationsonline.org (Undated) – https://www.nationsonline.org/oneworld/map/colombia_map.htm#:~:text=About%20Colombia&text=It%20is%20bordered%20by%20Brazil,Cayman%20Islands%20(United%20Kingdom).
Medellin, Britannica (Updated Sept. 7, 2022) – https://www.britannica.com/place/Medellin-Colombia
Medellin FactFile, MedellinColumbia.co (Undated) – https://www.medellincolombia.co/general-information/medellin-factfile/
Brief History of Medellin, casacol (Undated) (author name as Patrick, with no other information) – https://en.casacol.co/2022/06/11/brief-history-of-medellin/
Kenneth Fletcher, Columbia Dispatch 9: The Story of Medellin, Smithsonian (Oct. 28, 2008) – https://www.smithsonianmag.com/travel/colombia-dispatch-9-the-story-of-medellin-88441797/
David Freedman, How Medellin, Columbia, Became the World’s Smartest City, Newsweek (Nov. 18, 2019) - https://www.newsweek.com/2019/11/22/medellin-colombia-worlds-smartest-city-1471521.html
Gondolas
Gondola, Cambridge Dictionary (Undated) (definition) – https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/gondola
Gondola, Online Etymology Dictionary (Undated) – https://www.etymonline.com/word/gondola#:~:text=gondola%20(n.),open%20railway%20cars%20by%201871.
Gondola (disambiguation), Wikipedia (Updated Feb. 20, 2023) (discussing less common transportation-related meanings of the word “gondola”) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gondola_(disambiguation)
Frequently Asked Questions, Georgetown-Roslyn Gondola (Undated) – http://www.georgetownrosslyngondola.com/faqs
Gondolas of Medellin
Steven Dale, Medellin/Caracas, Part 1, The Gondola Project (Oct. 5, 2015) – https://www.gondolaproject.com/2015/10/05/medellincaracas-part-1/
Steven Dale, Medellin/Caracas, Part 2, The Gondola Project (Mar. 12, 2010) – https://www.gondolaproject.com/2010/03/12/medellincaracas-part-2/
Steven Dale, Medellin/Caracas, Part 3, The Gondola Project (Mar. 14, 2010) – https://www.gondolaproject.com/2010/03/14/medellincaracas-part-3/
Cable Cars as Urban Public Transport in Medellin, Seeds of Good Anthropocenes (Undated (seems like 2019) – https://goodanthropocenes.net/cable-cars-as-urban-public-transport-in-medellin/
Video: Medellin: Columbia’s Sustainable Transport Capital, Streetfilms (2012) – https://vimeo.com/39704761
Charles Parkinson, Medellin’s Strategy for Driving Down Crime: Add More Gondolas, The Future of Resilience (blog), Next City (Nov. 11, 2013) – https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/medellin-expands-the-transit-system-that-helped-tame-its-rampant-crime
Metrocable (Medellin), Wikipedia (Updated May 22, 2023) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Metrocable_(Medell%C3%ADn)
Venezuela: Avila National Park, parkswatch.org (March 2002) – http://parkswatch.org/parkprofiles/pdf/avnp_eng.pdf
Metrocables in Medellin, Columbia, Oxfam International (case study) (Jan. 2021) – https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/621119/cs-metrocables-medellin-colombia-270121-en.pdf;jsessionid=68262E16B5AE71A0EF680FA5E085B1AF?sequence=1
Notes - Episodes 5 and 6
Colleges and common space
In episodes 5 and 6, we look at the history of the American college and university campus from the commencement of British American settlement through modern times. The open and public spaces of campuses, as well as the design of buildings and overall layouts, reflect societal trends, philosophies, and prejudices as much as the changing purpose of higher education itself. We explore starting with the first colleges, their charters and founding as institutions meant to educate upper class white men through the post World War II period that has seen a democratization of higher education.
Our moments in equity for these two episodes look at how college establishment and funding were intimately connected to the slave trade, slave labor, and the profits from the sale of slaves in the British colonies and in the pre-Civil War United States.
Resources
Paul Venable Turner, Campus: An American planning tradition (MIT Press 1987)
A History of Stanford, Stanford University (Undated) – https://www.stanford.edu/about/history/
College of William & Mary, Wikipedia (Updated Feb. 17, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/College_of_William_%26_Mary
Royal Charter (Feb. 8, 1693) [posted on Internet Archive Wayback Machine (Updated Mar. 26, 2012) – https://web.archive.org/web/20120529035803/http://scdb.swem.wm.edu/wiki/index.php/Charter#Transcription_of_the_Royal_Charter]
History, Columbia University in the City of New York (Undated) – https://www.columbia.edu/content/history
Frederick Law Olmsted: College and School Campuses, National Park Service (undated) – https://www.nps.gov/frla/learn/historyculture/college-campuses.htm
Judith Schiff, Resources on Yale History: A Brief History of Yale, Yale University Library (Updated June 22, 2021) – https://guides.library.yale.edu/yalehistory
Rebecca Woodham, David J. Trowbridge, and Clio Admin, Nott Memorial, Union College, Clio: Your Guide to History (August 1, 2021, accessed Mar. 15, 2022) – https://theclio.com/entry/6225
Benjamin Henry Latrobe (1764-1820), Dickinson College Archives & Special Collections (2005) – https://archives.dickinson.edu/people/benjamin-henry-latrobe-1764-1820
Benjamin Henry Latrobe, Wikipedia (Updated Nov. 23, 2021) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Henry_Latrobe
Lisa Chase, Imagining Utopia: Landscape Design at Smith College, 1871-1910, 65 New England Quarterly no. 4, p. 560 (Dec. 1992) – https://garden.smith.edu/sites/garden/files/imagining-utopia-lisa-chase.pdf
Jim McCarthy, Spotlight on…Gallaudet University, National Association for Olmsted Parks (Mar. 14, 2022) – https://olmsted200.org/spotlight-on-gallaudet-university/
Rebecca Beatrice Brooks, History of Cambridge, Massachusetts, History of Massachusetts Blog (May 30, 2021) – https://historyofmassachusetts.org/cambridge-ma-history/
Brief History of Cambridge, Mass., Cambridge Historical Commission (undated) – https://www.cambridgema.gov/historic/cambridgehistory
Harvard Square is famous for a lot of things, History, Harvard Square Business Association – https://www.harvardsquare.com/history/
John Harvard (clergyman), Wikipedia (Updated July 28, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Harvard_(clergyman)
Michael Johnson, 94 University Place: Old Mill, Burlington 1830 (Undated) – https://www.uvm.edu/histpres/HPJ/burl1830/streets/university/oldmill.html
Prof. Thomas Visser, Old Mill, University of Vermont (Undated; based on a professional report on the history of Old Mill prepared in 1988 by Thomas Visser and MaryJo Llewellyn of the UVM Historic Preservation Program's Architectural Conservation and Education Service.) – https://www.uvm.edu/~campus/oldmill/oldmillhistory.html
Vassar College, Wikipedia (Updated July 5, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vassar_College#History
Historic Horseshoe, South Carolina, University History, University of South Carolina (Undated) – https://www.sc.edu/about/our_history/university_history/historic_horseshoe/index.php
Lydia Brandt, University of Virginia, Architecture of the, Encyclopedia Virginia (Dec. 14, 2020) – https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/university-of-virginia-the-architecture-of-the/
History and Traditions, Washington University in St. Louis (Undated) – https://wustl.edu/about/history-traditions/#:~:text=In%201853%2C%20prominent%20St.,of%20immigrants%20flooded%20into%20St.
Smith College, Wikipedia (Updated Aug. 4, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smith_College
Smith History, Smith College (Undated) – https://www.smith.edu/about-smith/smith-history
Moments in Equity
Stephen Smith and Kate Ellis, Shackled Legacy – History shows slavery helped build many U.S. colleges and universities, American Public Media Reports (Sept. 4, 2017) – https://www.apmreports.org/episode/2017/09/04/shackled-legacy
Yoruhu Williams, Why Thomas Jefferson’s Anti-Slavery Passage Was Removed from the Declaration of Independence, History.com (June 29, 2020) – https://www.history.com/news/declaration-of-independence-deleted-anti-slavery-clause-jefferson
Nancy Clanton, Sally Hemings: Mother of 6 of Thomas Jefferson’s children was also his property, Atlanta Journal Constitution (Feb. 27, 2019)– https://www.ajc.com/news/national/sally-hemings-mother-six-thomas-jefferson-children-was-also-his-property/oKIBF28ni64Yv4i6x2NHJM/#:~:text=Jefferson%20fathered%20all%20six%20of,Hemings%20continued%20in%20the%20interview
Rachel Swarns, 272 Slaves Were Sold to Save Georgetown. What Does It Owe Their Descendants?, NY Times (Apr. 16, 2016) – https://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/17/us/georgetown-university-search-for-slave-descendants.html
Timeline of abolition of slavery and serfdom, Wikipedia (Updated Mar. 12, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_abolition_of_slavery_and_serfdom
The American college and university campus is an excellent example of a type of public space/prototypical town or small city on its own, always with a pedestrian network. It is an integral element in a common experience of the modern planning professional as well as the seminal growing up experience of every post-WWII generation. We explore in this episode and next the foundations of the American higher educational system, where its designs emerged from, and the societal philosophies and trends those designs have expressed.
Resources
Movie
Roman Holiday, Wikipedia (Updated Oct. 9, 2022) - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roman_Holiday
Maksym Chornyi, Roman Holiday' Filming Locations, Follow Your Passionated Movies (Nov. 16, 2019) - https://www.recenzent.org.ua/roman-holiday-filming-locations/
Mark Cartwright, The Arch of Septimius Severus, Rome, World History Encyclopedia (June 29, 2013) – https://www.worldhistory.org/article/502/the-arch-of-septimius-severus-rome/
Gregory DiPippo, Damnatio Memoriae, Veterum Sapientia Institute: Latin & Greek for Catholics (Feb. 4, 2022) - https://veterumsapientia.org/damnatio-memoriae/ (describing the family history of Septimius Severus and his sons)
Roman Forum, History.com (Updated Aug. 21, 2018) – https://www.history.com/topics/ancient-rome/roman-forum
Brandon Shaw, 12 Astounding Facts About the Spanish Steps, The Roman Guy (Updated Aug. 9, 2022) – https://theromanguy.com/italy-travel-blog/rome/spanish-steps/the-spanish-steps-romes-modern-day-landmark/
The History of Rome’s Trevi Fountain, Black Tomato (Undated) – https://www.blacktomato.com/us/inspirations/the-history-of-romes-trevi-fountain/
Trevi Fountain, Wikipedia (Updated Oct. 9, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevi_Fountain
Ponte Sant'Angelo | History & Info About the Bridge of Angels, Castel Sant Angelo Tickets (Undated) – https://www.castel-sant-angelo-ticket.com/ponte-sant-angelo/
Princess Margaret
Princess Margaret, Countess of Snowden, Wikipedia (Updated Oct. 17, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Princess_Margaret,_Countess_of_Snowdon
Peter Townsend (RAF Officer), Wikipedia (Updated Oct. 16, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Townsend_(RAF_officer)
Equity
Hollywood Blacklisting, UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History, Encyclopedia.com (Oct. 6,2022) – https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/hollywood-blacklisting
House Un-American Activities Committee, UXL Encyclopedia of U.S. History, Encyclopedia.com (Oct. 17,2022) – https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/united-states-and-canada/us-history/house-un-american-activities-committee#3048900288
Phil Helsel, Kirk Douglas helped end the Hollywood blacklist, but he wasn't alone, NBC News, (Feb. 5, 2020) – https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kirk-douglas-helped-end-hollywood-blacklist-he-wasn-t-alone-n1131256
Our foundational texts, legends and tales have a lot to tell us about ourselves and how we as a society see the world. We have inherited a particular tradition that views good and bad – or evil – in ways that give transportation, design of public spaces, and even the prospect of grave danger to our planet, a free pass.
I’m going to do a grave injustice to Gilgamesh (because there are lively disputes about whether this poem should even be called an epic) by only briefly summarizing it and employing this literary work only as a contrast for the mainly foundational early stories and laws in the Old Testament. I want to highlight the purposes of the texts, the values that they reveal, and how these preferences and judgments play out in our own society to this day for purposes of our public spaces and transportation.
Oh yes, we look at how Gilgamesh and the Bible view rural versus urban communities, and we do a quick tour of Abraham, Joseph, Moses, the Tower of Babel, the flood stories, and more.
Sources for more information:
Please note that the articles cited are available for free through many public library systems. They are not all available otherwise on the Internet.
Ancient Babylon: Paul Kriwaczek, Babylon: Mesopotamia and the Birth of Civilization (St. Martin’s Press 2010)
Tower of Babel, Wikipedia (last updated July 31, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epic_of_Gilgamesh
Epic of Gilgamesh
· Joan Acocella, How to Read “Gilgamesh,” New Yorker (Oct. 7, 2019) (Explaining the different translations and the purposes and backgrounds of the translators and writers of modern versions of the epic)
· Michael Schmidt, Gilgamesh: The Life of a Poem (Princeton University Press 2019)
· Morris Jastrow, Jr. and Albert Clay, An Old Babylonian Version of the Gilgamesh Epic (Yale University Press 1920) (available at https: //www.gutenberg.org/files/11000/11000-h/11000-h.htm)
· There are endless versions of Gilgamesh as poetry or prose, as literal translations of the poem, many which note where text is missing and the sources for the text and differences among sources. There are also many interpretive books and articles about the text. Even in the last 20 years, more clay tablets have been discovered that continue to fill in the missing spaces. The classic translation cited above, therefore, is not an up-to-date version. Indeed, the initial discovery, searches for tablets, and continued translations of older versions and, as yet, untranslated, tablets means that we do not yet have a final version even in its original, multiple, dead languages.
Bible – Old Testament/Hebrew Bible
· Sefaria – https://www.sefaria.org/texts/Tanakh (available online for free in Hebrew, with English translation)
· King James Bible – https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/
As far as translations, we know that translations do not always retain the cadence, the poetry, or the feel of the original, though the text is accurately translated.
Notes for Episodes 4 & 5: Blaise Pascal and the First Modern Omnibus Transit Network
Episodes 4 dives deep into the life of Blaise Pascal. In Episodes 5, we look at Pascal's friend, colleague, and benefactor, Artus Gouffier (the Duc de Roannez) and we discuss the omnibus system that the two friends created.
Sources for more information:
Please note that the newspaper articles are available for free through many public library systems. They are not all available for free on the Internet.
Omnibus and Pascal
· Fiona Zublin, The First Buses in the World Were in Paris (And They Ate Hay), Ozy (Dec. 11, 2018) – https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/the-first-buses-in-the-world-were-in-paris-and-they-ate-hay/90088/
· Carrosses a cinq sols, Wikipedia (Updated Nov. 21, 2021) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrosses_%C3%A0_cinq_sols
· Randy Alfred, March 18, 1662: The Bus Starts Here … In Paris, Wired (Mar. 17, 2008) – https://www.wired.com/2008/03/march-18-1662-the-bus-starts-here-in-paris/
· Transport Network, whytodayisbrilliant (blog) (Mar. 18, 2016) (Shows a map of the omnibus network at its height) – https://whytodayisbrilliant.wordpress.com/tag/blaise-pascal/
· Jerry Mikorenda, Blaise Pascal Gets Taken for a Ride, Jerry Mikorenda (blog) (Mar. 10, 2020) – https://www.jerrymikorenda.com/post/blaise-pascal-gets-taken-for-a-ride-1
Biography of Pascal
· Morris Bishop, Pascal: The Life of Genius (Greenwood Press 1936)
· Desmond Clarke, Blaise Pascal, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (June 22, 2015) – https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal/
· Dominique Descotes and Gilles Proust, Les Pensees de Blaise Pascal, (Introduction provides a chronology of Pascal’s life and explains what happened to Pascal’s personal papers following his death; information about the authors appears at http://www.penseesdepascal.fr/General/CML.php) (2011) – http://www.penseesdepascal.fr/General/Introduction.php
· Bridge-to-terebethia, Blaise Pascal, Timetoast Timelines (undated) – https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/blaise-pascal--5
· David Simpson, Blaise Pascal, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (No date given) – https://iep.utm.edu/pascal-b/#SH1e
· A Provincial Named Blaise Pascal (Undated) (Webpages with information about specific aspects of Pascal’s life and work) – https://blaisepascal.bibliotheques-clermontmetropole.eu/
Pascal’s health problems
· Anca Sava, et al., The mysterious “mental illness” of a philosopher: the case of Blaise Pascal, 60 Romanian Journal of Morphology and Embryology 1383-89 (2019) (Diagnosis of Pascal’s illness from early childhood, its progression, and medical causes of his early death) –https://rjme.ro/RJME/resources/files/60041913831389.pdf
· Marc Zanello, et al., The mysteries of Blaise Pascal’s sutures, Childs Nerv Syst 31, 503–506 (2015) (Diagnosis of oxycephaly, which has to do with malformation of the skull) – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00381-015-2622-9 and https://rdcu.be/cGjiL
· David Simpson, Blaise Pascal, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (No date given) (Arguing that Pascal suffered from “migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia – a complex of illnesses often found together and which also frequently occur in combination with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and emotional distress.”) – https://iep.utm.edu/pascal-b/#SH1e
Calculating machine
· Mechanical calculator, Wikipedia (Updated Nov. 3, 2021) (History of these early machines and their inventors) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_calculator
· Pascal’s calculator, Wikipedia (Updated Oct. 26, 2021) (Explains how the machine worked) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_calculator
Artus Gouffier, the Duc de Roannez
· Artus Gouffier de Roannez, Wikipedia (Last updated Dec. 28, 2021) - https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artus_Gouffier_de_Roannez
· Richard Watson, Pascal, Piety, and Les Roannez, brill.com (undated) (stated that the information about the friendship is derived from Jean Mesnard,Pascal et les Roannez (Paris: Desclée, De Brouwer, 1965), a “monumental” work) - https://brill.com/previewpdf/book/edcoll/9789004305922/B9789004305922_003.xml
· Artus Gouffier, Duke of Roannez, A Provincial Named Blaise Pascal (Undated) (webpage of a larger site with information about Pascal’s mathematic, scientific, and entrepreneurial work) – https://blaisepascal-bibliotheques--clermontmetropole-eu.translate.goog/autour-de-blaise-pascal/galerie-de-portraits/duc-de-roannez?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
Episode 4: Moment in Equity: Slavery Laws passed in 1662
· History of Slavery in Virginia, Wikipedia (Updated Jan. 7, 2022) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_Virginia#:~:text=A%20law%20making%20race%2Dbased,based%20on%20partus%20sequitur%20ventrem
· Slavery and the Making of America, Thirteen, Educational Broadcasting Corporation (2004) [Website online, but no longer updated] – https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/timeline/1662.html
Episode 5: Moment in Equity: French Slavery and the Sugar Trade
· Slavery in the British and French Caribbean, Wikipedia (Updated Apr. 3, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_British_and_French_Caribbean
· Khalil Gibran Muhammad, The sugar that saturates the American diet has a barbaric history as the ‘white gold’ that fueled slavery, NY Times (Aug. 14, 2019) (part of the 1619 Project – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/sugar-slave-trade-slavery.html
· Mark Cartwright, Life on a Colonial Sugar Plantation, World History Encyclopedia (July 6, 2021) (describing the genesis of the plantation slave system with Portuguese colonization) – https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1795/life-on-a-colonial-sugar-plantation/
Notes for Episodes 4 & 5: Blaise Pascal and the First Modern Omnibus Transit Network
Episodes 4 dives deep into the life of Blaise Pascal. In Episodes 5, we look at Pascal's friend, colleague, and benefactor, Artus Gouffier (the Duc de Roannez) and we discuss the omnibus system that the two friends created.
Sources for more information:
Please note that the newspaper articles are available for free through many public library systems. They are not all available for free on the Internet.
Omnibus and Pascal
· Fiona Zublin, The First Buses in the World Were in Paris (And They Ate Hay), Ozy (Dec. 11, 2018) – https://www.ozy.com/true-and-stories/the-first-buses-in-the-world-were-in-paris-and-they-ate-hay/90088/
· Carrosses a cinq sols, Wikipedia (Updated Nov. 21, 2021) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carrosses_%C3%A0_cinq_sols
· Randy Alfred, March 18, 1662: The Bus Starts Here … In Paris, Wired (Mar. 17, 2008) – https://www.wired.com/2008/03/march-18-1662-the-bus-starts-here-in-paris/
· Transport Network, whytodayisbrilliant (blog) (Mar. 18, 2016) (Shows a map of the omnibus network at its height) – https://whytodayisbrilliant.wordpress.com/tag/blaise-pascal/
· Jerry Mikorenda, Blaise Pascal Gets Taken for a Ride, Jerry Mikorenda (blog) (Mar. 10, 2020) – https://www.jerrymikorenda.com/post/blaise-pascal-gets-taken-for-a-ride-1
Biography of Pascal
· Morris Bishop, Pascal: The Life of Genius (Greenwood Press 1936)
· Desmond Clarke, Blaise Pascal, Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (June 22, 2015) – https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/pascal/
· Dominique Descotes and Gilles Proust, Les Pensees de Blaise Pascal, (Introduction provides a chronology of Pascal’s life and explains what happened to Pascal’s personal papers following his death; information about the authors appears at http://www.penseesdepascal.fr/General/CML.php) (2011) – http://www.penseesdepascal.fr/General/Introduction.php
· Bridge-to-terebethia, Blaise Pascal, Timetoast Timelines (undated) – https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/blaise-pascal--5
· David Simpson, Blaise Pascal, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (No date given) – https://iep.utm.edu/pascal-b/#SH1e
· A Provincial Named Blaise Pascal (Undated) (Webpages with information about specific aspects of Pascal’s life and work) – https://blaisepascal.bibliotheques-clermontmetropole.eu/
Pascal’s health problems
· Anca Sava, et al., The mysterious “mental illness” of a philosopher: the case of Blaise Pascal, 60 Romanian Journal of Morphology and Embryology 1383-89 (2019) (Diagnosis of Pascal’s illness from early childhood, its progression, and medical causes of his early death) –https://rjme.ro/RJME/resources/files/60041913831389.pdf
· Marc Zanello, et al., The mysteries of Blaise Pascal’s sutures, Childs Nerv Syst 31, 503–506 (2015) (Diagnosis of oxycephaly, which has to do with malformation of the skull) – https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00381-015-2622-9 and https://rdcu.be/cGjiL
· David Simpson, Blaise Pascal, Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy (No date given) (Arguing that Pascal suffered from “migraine, irritable bowel syndrome, and fibromyalgia – a complex of illnesses often found together and which also frequently occur in combination with symptoms of anxiety, depression, and emotional distress.”) – https://iep.utm.edu/pascal-b/#SH1e
Calculating machine
· Mechanical calculator, Wikipedia (Updated Nov. 3, 2021) (History of these early machines and their inventors) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mechanical_calculator
· Pascal’s calculator, Wikipedia (Updated Oct. 26, 2021) (Explains how the machine worked) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pascal%27s_calculator
Artus Gouffier, the Duc de Roannez
· Artus Gouffier de Roannez, Wikipedia (Last updated Dec. 28, 2021) - https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artus_Gouffier_de_Roannez
· Richard Watson, Pascal, Piety, and Les Roannez, brill.com (undated) (stated that the information about the friendship is derived from Jean Mesnard,Pascal et les Roannez (Paris: Desclée, De Brouwer, 1965), a “monumental” work) - https://brill.com/previewpdf/book/edcoll/9789004305922/B9789004305922_003.xml
· Artus Gouffier, Duke of Roannez, A Provincial Named Blaise Pascal (Undated) (webpage of a larger site with information about Pascal’s mathematic, scientific, and entrepreneurial work) – https://blaisepascal-bibliotheques--clermontmetropole-eu.translate.goog/autour-de-blaise-pascal/galerie-de-portraits/duc-de-roannez?_x_tr_sl=fr&_x_tr_tl=en&_x_tr_hl=en&_x_tr_pto=sc
Episode 4: Moment in Equity: Slavery Laws passed in 1662
· History of Slavery in Virginia, Wikipedia (Updated Jan. 7, 2022) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_slavery_in_Virginia#:~:text=A%20law%20making%20race%2Dbased,based%20on%20partus%20sequitur%20ventrem
· Slavery and the Making of America, Thirteen, Educational Broadcasting Corporation (2004) [Website online, but no longer updated] – https://www.thirteen.org/wnet/slavery/timeline/1662.html
Episode 5: Moment in Equity: French Slavery and the Sugar Trade
· Slavery in the British and French Caribbean, Wikipedia (Updated Apr. 3, 2022) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_the_British_and_French_Caribbean
· Khalil Gibran Muhammad, The sugar that saturates the American diet has a barbaric history as the ‘white gold’ that fueled slavery, NY Times (Aug. 14, 2019) (part of the 1619 Project – https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/sugar-slave-trade-slavery.html
· Mark Cartwright, Life on a Colonial Sugar Plantation, World History Encyclopedia (July 6, 2021) (describing the genesis of the plantation slave system with Portuguese colonization) – https://www.worldhistory.org/article/1795/life-on-a-colonial-sugar-plantation/
Episode 2: Funiculars
In this episode, we define the term funicular and quickly delve into its history, with odd characters, wealthy businessmen, and marketing gurus along the way. We also talk about where funiculars can be found today as well as many that only exist in the pages of history.
What is a funicular? Basically, a funicular is one of a paired set of carriages that use a cable or rope in order to be moved up or down a steep incline, with each carriage counterbalancing the other. Spoiler alert: Some famous ones are Angel's Flight in LA, Peak Tram in Hong Kong, and about 30, which I don't think are individually named, in Valparaiso, Chile. Hence another term for funicular is an incline.
While the early history is not well documented, we do have evidence of funiculars dating back to the Middle Ages. Look through our sources as well to go enjoy performances of Funiculi, Funicila, an Italian folk song. You might get lost there.
Sources for more information
Please note that the newspaper articles are available for free through many public library systems. They are not all available otherwise on the Internet.
Definitions
· Oxford English Dictionary – free access through library cards from many public libraries in the United States
· Merriam-Webster Dictionary – definitions are available for free online
· Matt Hickman, 14 Fabulous Funiculars from Around the Globe, Treehugger: Sustainability for All (blog and website) (Nov. 21, 2018) at https://www.treehugger.com/fabulous-funiculars-from-around-the-globe-4863745 – Treehugger states that it is “the only modern sustainability site that offers advice, clarity, and inspiration for both the eco-savvy and the green-living novice.”
Funicular traveler writings
· Joseph Brennan, All the Funiculars: Explorations in Britain (2019) (webpage and blog posts about each funicular visited and the surrounding town; lots of photos and a map) – http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/fun/
o Example of his treks from London – West Hill Lift, Hastings, East Hill Lift, Hastings – http://www.columbia.edu/~brennan/fun/10_HASTINGS.html
· Matt Hickman, 14 Fabulous Funiculars from Around the Globe, Treehugger: Sustainability for All (blog and website) (Nov. 21, 2018) at https://www.treehugger.com/fabulous-funiculars-from-around-the-globe-4863745
· Wayne Bernhardson, The Hills of Valparaíso, Chile, Moon (undated) (neighborhoods on the steep hills, landmarks, and funicular transportation) – https://www.moon.com/travel/trip-ideas/the-hills-of-valparaiso-chile/
· Tom Osborne, The 15 Coolest Things to Do in Valparaíso, Chile, Worldly Adventurer (Mar. 21, 2021) (public art, hilly neighborhoods, views, funiculars, and food and drink, as well as earthquakes) – https://worldlyadventurer.com/things-to-do-valparaiso/
· Ulrike Lemmin-Woolfrey, The Most Fantastic Funicular Railways You’ll Experience in Europe, Fodors Travel (Jan. 28, 2020) – https://www.fodors.com/news/photos/the-most-fantastic-funicular-railways-youll-experience-in-europe
History
· History blog (Untitled) (June 2011) – http://the---history.blogspot.com/2011/06/history-of-train.html
· Timeline of Railway History, Wikipedia (Oct. 4, 2021) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_railway_history
· The Monongahela Incline: A Pittsburgh Icon, The Monongahela Incline – https://monongahelaincline.com/
· Early History (About the Incline page), Duquesne Incline – http://www.duquesneincline.org/index8656.html?page=about-the-incline
· Iowa SP Fenelon Place Elevator, National Archives Catalog (1978) (primary source document available online) – https://catalog.archives.gov/id/75338808
· Marshall Cohen, Fourth Street Elevator, Encyclopedia Dubuque (Sept. 19, 2021) – http://www.encyclopediadubuque.org/index.php?title=FOURTH_STREET_ELEVATOR
· Jim Swenson, Up-and-down history: Dubuque's elevator attraction still drawing them in, Telegraph Herald (Nov. 22, 2017) – https://www.telegraphherald.com/news/tri-state/article_98e97014-71dc-5768-a4d5-226a02bee57b.html
· James E. Jacobsen, Phase V Dubuque Historical and Architectural Survey of the Fenelon Place, North Main and Broadway Neighborhoods (2005) (Report prepared by History Pays!; funded by a State of Iowa Certified Local Governments grant with matched funding being provided by the City of Dubuque, and federal funding from the National Park Service. The report provides a detailed description of the neighborhood.) – https://www.cityofdubuque.org/DocumentCenter/View/2926/Phase-V-Report?bidId=
· Los Angeles and Southern California – Nathan Masters, Three Forgotten Incline Railways from Southern California History, KCET (Nov. 3, 2018) – https://www.kcet.org/shows/lost-la/three-forgotten-incline-railways-from-southern-california-history
· Mark Dodge, Lookout Mountain Funicular — a ride of a lifetime, Golden History Museum & Park (Feb. 15, 2017) (noting the many requests for the museum’s history blog to provide information about the funicular).
· Lookout Mountain Funicular, Golden History Museum & Park (Jan. 5, 1998) (undated entry)
· Franchise Granted for Lookout Line, Republican-Advocate (May 4, 1910) – https://www.coloradohistoricnewspapers.org/?a=d&d=RPA19100504-01&e=-------en-20--1--img-txIN%7ctxCO%7ctxTA-%e2%80%a2%09Lookout+Mountain+Funicular-------0------ (available for free and without library card)
· Swiss hotel – https://www.asme.org/wwwasmeorg/media/resourcefiles/aboutasme/who%20we%20are/engineering%20history/landmarks/259-bro-standseilbahn.pdf
· Fenelon Place Elevator Company History, Fenelon Place Elevator Co. – https://www.fenelonplaceelevator.com/history/
· World's highest urban funicular opens second line in Bolivia, EFE News Service (Sept. 16, 2014)
Funiculars for tourism and at ski resorts
· Funicular lifts wordwide, Skiresort.info – https://www.skiresort.info/ski-lifts/lift-types/lift-type/funicular/
· Ben Schlappig, Review: St. Regis Deer Valley (Park City, Utah), One Mile at a Time (Set. 14, 2021) (funicular description, photos, and experience are covered midway through the post) – https://onemileatatime.com/reviews/st-regis-deer-valley/ and the video of the funicular ride at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=czLmtMCxPIQ
· Broken River Ski Area, Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broken_River_Ski_Area
· Eric Grundhauser, 14 Amazing Gravity-Defying Funiculars, Atlas Obscura (July 13, 2016)
· Switzerland unveils world's steepest funicular railway, CNN Wire Service (Dec. 15, 2017) (steepest funicular) – available through public library periodical database
· Katoomba Scenic Railway – https://www.infobluemountains.net.au/rail/ksr/Default.htm
· Schwebebahn Dresden, Germany for Visitors (undated) –https://europeforvisitors.com/germany/dresden/schwebebahn.htm
· Schwebebahn Dresden, Atlas Obscura (undated) – https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/schwebebahn-dresden https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/schwebebahn-dresden
Funicular information sources
· Michel Azema, Funimag (blog, twitter feed, youtube, facebook) – https://twitter.com/funimag and https://www.funimag.com/photoblog/
o Part 2: History and Description (1997) (History and details of the Reiszug funicular in Salzburg, Austria) – https://www.funimag.com/funimag10/RESZUG02.HTM
o Frequent posts on twitter.
o Amazing historical photos of American funiculars, many of which look like roller coaster cars – https://www.funimag.com/photoblog/index.php/articles/us-the-great-era-of-lost-american-funiculars/
· Bruse Persson, Bruse’s Funiculars.net – https://www.funiculars.net/ (Worldwide database of operational, defunct, and funiculars no longer in existence; listed by countries, with dates of operation. Be careful to double check information about funiculars noted as still in operation and also the database does not include funiculars built after 2001.)
Other sources tangentially related to funiculars
· Konstantinos Tzanakakis, The Railway Track and Its Long Term Behaviour: A Handbook for a Railway Track of High Quality (2013) (includes a history of rail infrastructure dating back to ancient times, but mostly about engineering, safety, and maintenance)
· Hohensalzburg (former residence of Matthäus Cardinal Lang, who became the Archbishop of Salzburg a few years after writing the first known document to mention a funicular) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hohensalzburg_Fortress
· Hohensalzburg Fortress (full history and current activities at the former residence of Matthäus Cardinal Lang, who became the Archbishop of Salzburg a few years after writing the first known document to mention a funicular) – https://www.salzburg.info/en/sights/top10/hohensalzburg-fortress
· Castle of the Week, Hohensalzburg Castle, Austria, Heraldic Times (Oct. 18, 2010) https://heraldictimes.wordpress.com/2010/10/18/castle-of-the-week-hohensalzburg-castle-austria/
· Broseley, Wikipedia (July 3, 2021) – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Broseley#History
Crashes
· Angel’s Flight (Los Angeles, California)
o Michel Azema, Accident at Angels Flight Funicular, Funimag (undated) – https://www.funimag.com/funimag18/AngelsFligth01.htm
o First accident in 87 years closes L.A. funicular, Metro Magazine (Mar. 1, 2001) – https://www.metro-magazine.com/10009438/first-accident-in-87-years-closes-l-a-funicular
· Mottarone Funicular (Italy)
o Blame in Italy cable car deaths rests with technician who disabled emergency brake, judge rules, NBC News, from Associated Press (May 30, 2021) – https://www.nbcnews.com/news/world/blame-italy-cable-car-deaths-rests-technician-who-disabled-emergency-n1269115
· Czech Republic
o One killed in Czech cable car accident, CNN, from Reuters (Oct. 31, 2021) – https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/31/europe/czech-cable-car-accident-intl/index.html
Funiculi, Funicula performances
· Andrea Boccelli singing - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PG4SbelgIFk
· Flashmob performance at the Viewnna train station – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HzIDVeQmYOo
· Many more versions available through a search
Moment in Equity: Early Atlantic slave trade
· Free the Slaves, Slavery in History – https://www.freetheslaves.net/slavery-in-history/
· Wikipedia – https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slavery_in_medieval_Europe
Poetry on Transit is a story that starts with American moxie, in combination with quality British public transportation and literature. Poetry on transit begins with a native Brooklynite, who was living in London and sitting around a table with a group of friends. The idea was embraced by the London Underground and soon spread in Europe and across the US, with drama along the way. Poetry on transit has lasted and it has evolved, with greater awareness of diversity in culture and languages, and service to the transit riders who read the lines of poetry as they travel to work, school, or wherever they go, wherever they live.
Sources for more information:
Please note that the newspaper articles are available for free through many public library systems. They are not all available otherwise on the Internet.
Reciting of poetry during the episode: At the end of the show notes for this episode is an explanation of the legal fair use of the poetry mentioned and recited during the episode. Some of the poems included in the episode are not subject to copyright law due to age of the poem and the number of years since the poet’s death. Some poems are reprinted with permission. “Reprinted with permission” is noted wherever applicable. There were also inquiries with no response.
Equity
· EPA report – “Environmental Equity: Reducing Risk for All Communities” (volume 1 and volume 2)
Poetry on Transit
What is poetry on transit?
· RIPTA Poetry in Motion – https://www.ripta.com/projects/poetryinmotion/#:~:text=In%20September%202017%2C%20the%20Rhode,display%20boards%20inside%20RIPTA%20buses
London Poems on the Underground
· Steven Prokesch, London Journal; For the Straphangers, Poetry Sweetens the Ride, NYTimes (Jan. 9, 1992)
· Poems on the Underground Facebook page
New York and Poetry in Motion
· General information and history of the program – https://poetrysociety.org/poetry-in-motion
· Poetry exchange between New York’s MTA and the London Underground in 1994 – Judith Chernaik, O Brooklyn Local, NYTimes (May 14, 1994)
· 2008 end of poetry in motion and its resurgence –
o Robin Pogrebin, MTA Derails Poetry, NYTimes (Apr. 30, 2008);
o Adam Sternbergh, Because We Fight Over Poetry; Literature provides commuter inspiration, Vox Media, LLC (Dec. 21, 2009);
o Michael Grynbaum, In the City's Subway, Literary Placards Will Soon Be Mere Echoes in the Memory, NYTimes (Dec. 21, 2010);
o Clyde Haberman, A Second Act for Poetry in the Subways, NYTimes (Mar. 28, 2012)
· Poetry in Motion history and coming through Covid – Colin Moynihan, For the Subway, All the Right Lines, NYTimes (May 4, 2020)
Evolving iterations of poetry on transit
· Indianapolis – Poetry taking the bus, Indianapolis Business Journal, vol. 27, no. 18, 10 p. 13 (July 10, 2006)
· Pittsburgh, which still has a poetry in transit program, adorned the exterior of buses with poetry – Elwin Green, New Port Authority buses become poetry in motion, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Jan. 24, 2006)
· New Jersey high school poetry project – Douglas Goetsch, Poetry stand: how a precocious group of high school poets learned to provide verse on demand, American Scholar, vol. 76, 4 (Autumn 2007)
King County, WA, including Seattle and surrounding area –
· https://www.4culture.org/poetry-on-buses-takes-a-poetic-stand-on-water/ and https://www.4culture.org/public_art/poetry-on-buses/
· https://www.americansforthearts.org/by-program/networks-and-councils/public-art-network/public-art-year-in-review-database/poetry-on-buses-your-body-of-water
· https://poetryonbuses.org/about/
Poetry read during the episode
· Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman – https://poetrysociety.org/poems/crossing-brooklyn-ferry
· Let There Be New Flowering by Lucille Clifton, from good woman: poems and a memoir 1969-1980 by Lucille Clifton. Copyright © 1987. Reprinted with the permission of BOA Editions, Ltd – https://poetrysociety.org/poetry-in-motion/let-there-be-new-flowering
· Thanks Forever by Milton Kessler, from The Grand Concourse by Milton Kessler. Copyright © 1990; published by the State University of New York at Binghamton – https://poemsontheunderground.org/thanks-forever
· Western Wind (unknown author) – https://poemsontheunderground.org/western-wind
· Separation by W.S. Merwin, from The Second Four Books of Poems by W.S. Merwin, published by Copper Canyon Press. Copyright © 1993. Reprinted with the permission of the Wylie Agency LLC – https://merwinconservancy.org/2015/02/poem-of-the-week-separation-2/
· Root/Route by Michelle Penaloza – https://poetryonbuses.org/poems2017/michelle-penaloza/?indv=y. Information about the poetry of Michelle Penaloza is available at http://www.michellepenaloza.com/.
Poems and excerpts of poems read during the episode
Let there be new flowering by Lucille Clifton
let there be new flowering
in the fields let the fields
turn mellow for the men
let the men keep tender
through the time let the time
be wrested from the war
let the war be won
let love be
at the end
Crossing Brooklyn Ferry by Walt Whitman (excerpts)
Flood-tide below me! I see you face to face!
Clouds of the west—sun there half an hour high—I see you also face to face.
Crowds of men and women attired in the usual costumes, how curious you are to me!
On the ferry-boats the hundreds and hundreds that cross, returning home, are more curious to me than you suppose,
And you that shall cross from shore to shore years hence are more to me, and more in my meditations, than you might suppose.
… … …
Others will enter the gates of the ferry and cross from shore to shore,
Others will watch the run of the flood-tide,
Others will see the shipping of Manhattan north and west, and the heights of Brooklyn to the south and east,
Others will see the islands large and small;
Fifty years hence, others will see them as they cross, the sun half an hour high,
A hundred years hence, or ever so many hundred years hence, others will see them,
Will enjoy the sunset, the pouring-in of the flood-tide, the falling-back to the sea of the ebb-tide.
Western Wind by unknown
Westron wynde when wyll thow blow
the smalle rayne downe can Rayne
Cryst yf my love were in my Armys
And I yn my bed Agayne.
Thanks Forever by Milton Kessler
Look at those empty ships
floating north
between south-running ice
like big tulips
into the Narrows
under the Verrazano
toward the city harbor.
I’m parked here
out of work all year.
No hurry now
and sleep badly.
But I’m self-employed.
My new job’s
to wave them in.
Hello freighter,
hello tanker.
Welcome, welcome,
to New York.
Root/Route by Michelle Penaloza
Water, the first and only route,
And so, our roots and namings –
tau, people of the current; taga-ilog,
river folk; maynila, place of water
lilies – no surprise that my mother
landed in a cold hand surrounded
by lakes eerie and superior. No surprise
I found my way to the sound.
Unless otherwise noted, general information about the poets was gleaned through Google searches and from Wikipedia.
Fair Use doctrine and poetry mentioned and recited during the episode
As this podcast episode includes reciting poems in whole or in part, the doctrine of fair use in copyright right law is being invoked. As a podcast is part spoken recitation and, with written show notes, part publication, guidelines for both written and spoken uses are being followed.
According to the Center for Media & Social Impact, Code of Practices for Fair Use of Poetry (2011) (hereinafter referred to as the “Code”), poetry may be written in a blog or other according to the following principle:
Under fair use, an online resource (such as a blog or web site) may make examples of selected published poetry electronically available to the public, provided that the site also includes substantial additional cultural resources, including but not limited to critique or commentary, that contextualize or otherwise add value to the selections.
According to the Code, for criticism, comment or illustration (in contrast to a poetry reading performance):
Under fair use, a critic discussing a published poem or body of poetry may quote freely as justified by the critical purpose; likewise, a commentator may quote to exemplify or illuminate a cultural/historical phenomenon, and a visual artist may incorporate relevant quotations into his or her work.
It is the opinion of the producer of this podcast that the episode both includes (1) “substantial additional cultural resources, including but not limited to critique or commentary, that contextualize or otherwise add value to the selections” and (2) “exemplif[ies] or illuminate[s] a cultural/historical phenomenon” due to discussions of their use in the poetry on transit programs and discussions of the programs themselves. Inclusion of the poems in the episode demonstrates the choices of poems selected, and in which time periods.
Preview of the Altered Mobility podcast for some hints of the history what transportation and public spaces topics we will be exploring as we get rolling. Hints: First ladies, odd 17th century Frenchmen, and quirky old transportation modes still in use are just a few we will delve into. So start listening to the podcast for more!