In today’s episode, I chat with author John Grindrod. John’s work explores Britain’s post-war and contemporary architecture from a personal and sociohistorical perspective. John describes his books as being for those of us who are fascinated by the modern histories of our towns, cities, and suburbs - but also aren’t quite sure what to make of them.
John has published four books: Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain (2013), Outskirts: Living Life on the Edge of the Green Belt (2017), How to Love Brutalism (2018), and Iconicon: A Journey Around the Landmark Buildings of Contemporary Britain (2022).
In my conversation with John, we learn about the key characteristics of post-war architecture, and what got John particularly interested in this era of construction. We also explore what the greenbelt is and the issues surrounding it, as well as John’s self-professed love of Brutalism. Finally, we take a look at John's new book, Iconicon, and ponder the ups and downs of our mutual home town, Croydon.
For more on John, check out https://www.johngrindrod.co.uk/
NOTE: Please excuse the poor audio at times in this episode. Someone commented it sounded like I was eating a bag of crisps. The rustling was coming from John's mic as he spoke. I was unable to edit it out as it would have lost John's speech all together. Apologies in advance!
(Recorded March 2022)
Ep 28: Sunken Lands: A Journey Through Flooded Kingdoms and Lost Worlds ft. Gareth E. Rees
Ep 27: Out Of Sight And In Your Face: Street Art & Graffiti ft. Chris Pensa
Ep 26: Making Sense With All the Senses: Tangible Territory, Artistic Research & Dining in the Dark ft. Dr Tereza Stehlíková
Ep 25: Mudlarking & London Clay ft. Tom Chivers
Ep 24: The Uncanny: Freud, Ghost Stories & Christmas ft. Richard V. Hirst
Ep 23: Photography and a sense of place: Autochrome
Ep 22: Music with a sense of place: Rocketman ft. Lizzy Laurance
Ep 20: Islands of Abandonment: Life in the Post-Human Landscape ft. Cal Flyn
Ep 19: Zines with a sense of place ft. Kieran Cutting, Christian Kitson, Richard Daniels & Simon Moreton
Ep 18: The Macabre World Of Dark Tourism ft. Dr Philip Stone
Ep 17: Liminality from an Archaeological perspective ft. Rebecca Lambert
Ep 16: Unofficial Britain: Everyday Myth, Magic, & Folklore ft. Gareth E. Rees
Ep 15: Our stinking city: the importance of smell when understanding place ft. Dr. Alex Rhys-Taylor
Ep 14: Hauntology: Nostalgia, disquiet & lost futures ft. Bob Fischer
Ep 13: Medieval Graffiti ft. Matthew Champion
Ep 12: Liminal Narratives: stories of the betwixt and between ft. Ian Rodwell
Ep 11: Bringing to life the stories of Australia's regional towns ft. Hamish Sewell
Ep 10: The power of Vortexes: How earth's energies can effect our sense of place ft. Dan Shaw
Ep 9: Britain’s Forgotten Footpaths: The fight to save our historic rights of way ft. Jack Cornish
Create your
podcast in
minutes
It is Free
Voices of Misery Podcast
House of Whimsical Terror
Just Dumb Enough Podcast
Stuff You Should Know
Timcast IRL