A Lot You Got to Holler

A Lot You Got to Holler is dead! For our last episode, we look ahead to Chicago architecture and urbanism to come: The Obama Library! 2017 Chicago Architecture Biennial! Neoliberalism! Ben lets us in on how Uber but for architecture will work in the utopian future. (It's actually not terrible, we promise!). Zach looks back on his own checkered past as a naive proponent of not so great Postmodernism. Finally, we toast to the real A Lot You Got to Holler journey: the friends we made along the way. (That's you.) WE OUT. Special thanks to recording engineer Tim Joyce.

It's a pretty wild time to be a historic preservationist, what with burgeoning preservation movements centered on building styles that few folks are sure they really like. (We're talking PoMo here.) As such, Lisa DiChiera takes us on a tour of all the Chicago buildings on Landmarks Illinois' 2017 list of most endangered places in the state before they're gone. Furthermore! Why we need to preserve buildings that aren't really even very old, the political fortunes of historic preservation in the Age of Trump, the sustainability ethos of preservation, and preservation's relationship to urban "authenticity" for the back-to-the-city gentrifiers. Special thanks to recording engineer Tim Joyce.

Katherine Darnstadt's architecture firm Latent Design creates objects and urban systems, but it's biggest victories have come from pulling the upstream policy levers that set the context for what architecture can achieve. In her chat with Ben and Zach, Katherine comes out in favor of "extreme vetting" for architects, and how to structure your firm for equity and diversity. And hark! A new segment! A Lot You Got to Holler introduces "Qs for As," a series of rapid-fire questions that gets Katherine riffing on her favorite cities of the world and her least favorite architectural jargon. Special thanks to recording engineer Tim Joyce.

Edgar Miller is perhaps the most overlooked artist in the Chicago canon. Art was everywhere and everything to Miller, who used the city as his canvas through painting, woodworking, stained glass, sculpture, printmaking, iron working, industrial design and whatever materials fell his way. His expressionist, bespoke approach to design, art and architecture enlivens some of Chicago's (quietly) iconic spaces, from his Carl Street Studios to collaborations with Andrew Rebori on the Gold Coast's Frank Fisher Apartments. Miller's story embodies the movement of 20th century bohemia gliding across Chicago's landscape, from his early works in "Tower Town," adjacent to Bughouse Square, to his imprint on the nascent artistic enclave of Old Town, and to the rediscovery of his work - and his own personal artistic resurgence - in the 1980s and 1990s. For this episode of "A Lot You Got to Holler," co-hosts Ben Schulman and Zach Mortice look at the life and legacy of Edgar Miller with Zac Bleicher, the director of the Edgar Miller Legacy. You'll want to break out your phone as you listen and follow along with @edgarmillerart on Instagram. Special thanks to producer Tim Joyce.

Now that a native New Yorker real estate agent is our president-elect, cities finally have the pro-urbanism voice in the White House they need! Right? NO EVERYTHING IS TERRIBLE. How terrible? We ask Chicago urban policy ace Daniel Kay Hertz (@danielkayhertz) to explain how far the toilet we've flushed. Special thanks to recording engineer Tim Joyce.