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Take a seat and listen to our hour on chairs

Wooden chair on wooden floor up against a bright blue wall in an empty room.
Julian Ward / Getty Images
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Moment RF
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What can we learn about ourselves from what we sit on?

This hour, the history of chairs, their impact on our lifestyle and health, and what’s in store for their future.

Plus, we celebrate the joy of a well-designed chair, talk with a chair maker, and discuss some of our favorite examples.

GUESTS:

  • Galen Cranz: Professor emerita of architecture at the University of California at Berkeley and a founding member of the Association for Body Conscious Design; she is the author of The Chair: Rethinking Culture, Body and Design, among other books, and a certified teacher of the Alexander Technique
  • Aspen Golann: Artist and furniture maker; she teaches in the furniture department at The Rhode Island School of Design and founded The Chairmaker’s Toolbox, a project that provides free tools, education, and mentorship to increase equity and access in the field of chairmaking
  • Witold Rybczynski: Architect, emeritus professor of urbanism at the University of Pennsylvania, and author of Now I Sit Me Down: From Klismos to Plastic Chair — A Natural History, among other books; his latest is The Story of Architecture

The Colin McEnroe Show is available as a podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, Amazon Music, TuneIn, Listen Notes, or wherever you get your podcasts. Subscribe and never miss an episode!

Subscribe to The Noseletter, an email compendium of merriment, secrets, and ancient wisdom brought to you by The Colin McEnroe Show.

Join the conversation on Facebook and Twitter.

Colin McEnroe and Cat Pastor contributed to this show.

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Lily is the senior producer for The Colin McEnroe Show. She's also a producer of the podcast 'Generation Barney.' She first worked at Connecticut Public as an intern in 2014. She has previously worked for WBUR, KUNC and as a producer for the New England News Collaborative's weekly show Next. Lily can be reached at ltyson@ctpublic.org.