USModernist Radio - Architecture You Love

We've dug into the podcast vault to bring back two interviews with internationally respected architects Moshe Safdie and Danlel Libeskind.

Shane Hood safeguards Tulsa's architectural gems. Peter Maunu lovingly restored Frank Lloyd Wright's Lamberson House in Iowa. Emily Almloff, the youngest licensed architect in the US, is transforming hospitals across the Midwest. Later, musical guests Danger Hall, with Peter Lamb and Daniel Hall.

Aidan Anderson is a former carpenter in Sydney Australia who turned a local furniture business into the Local Project, a worldwide media company for architecture and design. Trading a career a NASA for furniture, you will meet The Rattan Man Harvey G. Schwartz. And later, Hugh Martin, one of the founders of the UK Modern House Index, a huge digital archive documenting British modernist homes from the 1920s to today.

We've dug into the podcast vault to bring back a show from the first year of USModernist Radio. One of the best 80s films is Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Here's the plot: near the end of the school year, high school senior Ferris Bueller (played by Matthew Broderick) fakes being sick to stay home. His parents believe him, though his sister Jeanie (played by Jennifer Grey, the baby you don't back into a corner) is not convinced. Ferris persuades his best friend Cameron (Alan Ruck) to help lure Ferris' girlfriend (Mia Sara) out of school and let them use his father's prized 1961 Ferrari. Spoiler: that Ferrari tumbles out of a really cool Modernist house, much to the chagrin of Cameron and his dad. Our pal Bob Langford, who pretty much knows every line in the movie, drops by to help us examine this cultural icon with guest Meghann Salamasick, who with her husband Chris are the owners of the that famous Modernist house. Later in the show, with apologies to Wayne Newton, it's George and Bob and Tom serenading Meghann.

Tom Kundig of Seattle’s Olson Kundig is a superstar in residential architecture, and he’s got a new book, Complete Houses. But you can’t have a world-class architect without a world-class builder, and we’ll talk with Kundig’s close friend and frequent collaborator, Jim Dow of Dowbuilt. Later, you'll hear Veronneau, a husband-and-wife duo whose tunes go around the world.

Back on the show is one of our favorite guests, YouTube architecture star Professor Stewart Hicks; Brian Horowitz revives the joy and nostalgia of pinball, that midcentury pastime that was going to rot our midcentury minds; and author Hillary Carlip shares the wonderful world of Willis Wonderland, a new popup book for all ages.

E. Fay Jones is a name most architects know but the public does not. A student of Frank Lloyd Wright, Jones blurred the line between indoors and outdoors with careful use of wood, stone, and glass. It’s like these buildings just emerge from the woods. Today, we’ve got three people dedicated to preserving Jones legacy. David McKee worked for Jones and is the go-to guy for restoring houses. We’ll talk with Jonathan Formanek, who created the E. Fay Jones Conservancy, along with his partner, Andy Whitmore, who live in the Faubus house in Arkansas. And back in the studio, we talk with influencer Maggie Weber, whose takes on bad design keep us laughing.

We've got author and architect Peter Forguson celebrating Michigan’s extraordinary collection of bold, Modernist houses with the new book Contemporary Michigan, from the UK, Michael Diamant rants against Modernism, and later on, musical guest Brent Jensen serves classic tunes made famous by Paul Desmond.

Kata Walters went from the catwalk to the construction site, changing from an international career in modeling to building Modernist houses. Allison Meier shares her map of New York, uncovering hidden histories in architecture and culture from cemeteries to the streets. Kyle Bergman of the New York Architecture and Design Film Festival shares this year’s highlights, and from Sweden, musical guest Klas Lindquist.

Tom shares exciting details of Moon Over Modernism, a benefit cocktail party Saturday, October 11, in Raleigh NC. The next weekend, we'll host a jazz brunch a special Gates and Ford house in New Canaan CT. Tickets for both: www.usmodernist.org/tours.

We’re back with one of our most popular segments, Children of Genius. Them apples don’t fall too far from the tree, and today we’ll hear from two that dropped nearby, Toby Rapson and Ron Kappe. They grew up immersed in Modernist design with some of the most influential architecture of the 20th century, thanks to their fathers Ralph Rapson and Ray Kappe, tradition they continue today. Later, Modernist homeowner and musical guest Holly Cole.

You all know we love midcentury modern houses in Palm Springs, but what about new ones? These will be the houses we will tour and sip martinis at and give lectures about 40 years from now. Today we’ll talk with one of those architects, Jill Lewis, about a new house in the Desert Palisades area of Palm Springs, along with the landscape architect for that project, John Hreno. Then we’ll meet the leader of SOCOMCM, architect Edward Peck, plus returning jazz vocalist Jaimee Paul.

Who’s the author of that architecture book on your coffee table? It’s probably written by one of our guests, Dominic Bradbury and Adam Stech. Later on, jazz with returning musical guest Elijah Rock.

Do you like architecture? Do you like Jeopardy? Recent Jeopardy contestant Jade Snelling is an archivist at Virginia Tech working at the International Archive of Women in Architecture, preserving the history of women architects around the world. Next we've got Catherine Croft, the Director of the Twentieth Century Society dedicated to protecting Britain’s most significant 20th-century buildings. Then special musical guest, Thomas Lauderdale and Pink Martini.

Every serious Modernist fan knows about the Case Study Houses, the legendary program started by John Entenza of Arts and Architecture Magazine in the 1950’s, attracting top and emerging architects to create affordable houses for Los Angeles. We’ll talk with Dustin Bramell, who’s working to create a new series of Case Study Houses; Cary O’Dell on the great Bucky Fuller; mother-daughter duo Sarah and Debbie Dykstra share the story of their Frank Lloyd Wright house, and music by Lenore Raphael.

Our last set of poolside interviews from Modernism Week 2025 features three fun and exciting author pairs: Corey and Margeret Bienert on midcentury motels, Jonathan Schroeder and Janet Borgerson on instructional records, and Adriene Biondo and Chris Nichols on the sporting craze of the 1950's - bowling!

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 Monday, August 4, and we’ve got prolific architecture author Sam Lubell, Colorado architects Rowland and Broughton, and musical guest Taurey Butler. Plus, a new addition for the USModernist Archives - we're taking on architecture podcasts that stopped producing new episodes - and preservation websites that have vanished.

From the swanky USModernist compound in Palm Springs during Modernism Week 2025, it’s a full schedule of poolside guests. We’ve got pop culture historian Charles Phoenix, the Craig Ellwood Whisperer Barton Jahncke, and authors Peter Moruzzi and Sven Kirsten on the most fun you can have in a brightly colored Polynesian shirt - tiki bars.