In ‘The Cities We Need,’ Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani Celebrates Unassuming Places That Foster Community

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4.2 • 726 Ratings

🗓️ 3 September 2024

⏱️ 57 minutes

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Summary

The donut shop. The local diner. The vacant lot where kids gather to play. These are the kinds of unassuming places that can foster a sense of belonging, according to author, scholar and visual artist Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, In her new book, “The Cities We Need: Essential Stories of Everyday Places,” she argues that these often overlooked places do the essential work of forming communities. She spotlights residents making acute observations about the ordinary wonders in places such as Oakland’s Mosswood neighborhood. We talk about the book, and hear from you: Where would you take someone on a guided tour of your neighborhood? Email us at forum@kqed.org or leave a voicemail at 415-553-3300. Guests: Gabrielle Bendiner-Viani, author, "The Cities We Need:Essential Stories of Everyday Places", Bendiner-Viani is the co-founder of Buscada, an interdisciplinary art, design and social research studio. She is also the author of "Contested City: Art and Public History as Mediation at New York's Seward Park Urban Renewal Area." Marty Price, longtime resident of Oakland. Born and raised in Oakland and served as vice principal of Oakland Technical High School. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Hey, forum listeners. It's Alexis. Did you hear that forum is launching a video podcast? It is true.
0:07.0	Each week we'll drop a video recording of a recent forum episode on the KQED News YouTube channel.
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0:32.1	Support for Forum comes from Broadway SF, presenting Parade, the musical revival based on a true story.
0:39.9	From three-time Tony-winning composer Jason Robert Brown comes the story of Leo and Lucille Frank,
0:46.2	a newlywed Jewish couple struggling to make a life in Georgia. When Leo is accused of an
0:51.9	unspeakable crime, it propels them into an unimaginable test of faith, humanity, justice, and devotion.
1:00.0	The riveting and gloriously hopeful parade plays the Orphium Theater for three weeks only, May 20th through June 8th.
1:08.3	Tickets on sale now at Broadwaysf.com.
1:13.2	From KQUD in San Francisco, I'm Alexis Madrigal.
1:30.3	Gabrielle Bandina Viani's new book, The Cities We Need,
1:34.3	Essential Stories of Everyday Places, revolves around a simple insight.
1:38.3	Much of the work of being human happens in everyday places, she writes.
1:43.3	We become ourselves, we become able to see each other
1:46.6	to be a community. The book highlights the Mosswood neighborhood of North Oakland, which has seen
1:51.7	tremendous change over the last 20 years. And it's also a broader argument about the value of
1:56.7	donut shops and corner stores and laundromats. They are where you actually become a resident.
2:02.6	What's a seemingly ordinary place you know that actually underpins a whole community?
2:07.6	That's all coming up next, after this news. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal. For 20 years, Gabrielle Bandina Viani has been researching place. That is to say, she's been researching how people end up finding or giving meaning to the areas where they live and work.
2:35.8	The everyday is tricky to write about because it can feel both incredibly boring and
	...

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