<p>This BCR program opened with a bit of Richard Harris' rendition of "MacArthur Park" and then quoted Daniel Libeskind -- whose architectural firm rebuilt the World Trade Center site; he described the slurry wall that held back the Hudson River after the collapse of the Towers as “an engineering wonder” and like the US Constitution – was a symbol of the “the durability of democracy and the value of human life.” We then asked is our democracy a melting cake or an indomitable slurry wall?</p><p>In the fall of 2011 – young Americans took over a private park near Wall Street --&nbsp;they set up camp and built a thriving community -- and for 59 days the 99% protested the 1%. &nbsp;&nbsp;Could Zuccotti Park happen today?</p><p>Rebecca McKean and I had a ranging conversation with Lynne Elizabeth the founding director of the<a href="https://www.newvillagepress.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"> <u>New Village Press</u> </a>-- publishing progressive books in the humanities and social sciences. Ms. Elizabeth was a past president and active member of <a href="https://www.adpsr.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><u>Architects, Designers, Planners for Social Responsibility</u>,</a> which produced programs for peace, environmental protection, and social justice. And we talked with Wendy E. Brawer, a designer, social innovator, consultant, speaker and the creator of <a href="https://greenmap.org/home" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Green Map System</a>.&nbsp;Wendy is one of UTNE’s [ chutney ] ”50 Visionaries Changing Your World.” She was the Designer in Residence at the Smithsonian National Design Museum and a 2017 TED Resident.&nbsp;And she is an active cyclist.</p><p>Our conversation focused on the New Village Press 2012 book -- <a href="https://nyupress.org/9781613320099/beyond-zuccotti-park/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">"Beyond Zuccotti Park: Freedom of Assembly and the Occupation of Public Space" </a>and Occupy Wallstreet.</p><p>Alan Winson</p><p><a href="mailto:[email protected]" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">[email protected]</a></p><br><p><br></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>