The Shape of the World

What if your upstairs neighbor, your cousin, or the bartender down the street were chosen by lottery to represent you in government? Writer and political philosopher Alex Guerrero believes this radical idea, known as lottocracy, is a better alternative than voting....

This episode was originally published in 2021, but we're bringing it back because the questions landscape architect Sarah Cowles asks—about which kinds of nature get space in our cities—feel particularly urgent right now. As debates over land, development, climate resilience, and public space continue....

As the founder and principal at site design group ltd., a Chicago-based urban design and landscape architecture firm, Ernest (“Ernie”) Wong has spent over three decades transforming overlooked spaces into places where people can gather, play, rest, wander, and connect....

Ornithologist Doug Stotz is a key player in the Field Museum of Natural History’s strenuous effort to safeguard threatened landscapes, galvanize community stewards, and advance action-oriented science research. Doug’s long tenure at the museum is on the verge of changing...

Each of the largest cities on earth plays host to hundreds of thousands of dogs. Dr. Alexandra Horowitz, founder of the Dog Cognition Lab at Barnard College and the author of the bestselling book, Inside of a Dog, discusses how dogs managed....