Ep. 76: Malls [EXTENDED TEASER]

Full episode available on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/SilentGeneration 

 

On this week’s episode of Silent Generation, Joseph and Nathan discuss one of the biggest culprits of car-oriented development in the mid-20th century: malls. The boys begin by surveying several malls in Chicago (900 N. Michigan, The Water Tower Place, Block 37, and Ford City Mall) before delving into the largest malls in the country (Mall of America, American Dream Mall, and King of Prussia Mall). They then discuss a multitude of mall brands, noting the mall goth feedback loop generated by Hot Topic and the toxicity of Bath and Body Works. They conclude by discussing the urbanist critique of malls and what should be done with dying ones. 

 

Links:
The Economics and Nostalgia of Dead Malls by Nelson D. Schwartz
The Great American Shopping Mall: Past, Present, and Future by Spencer Li
The Perfectly Optimized Building for Late Capitalism - Stewart Hicks
Opening of Minnesota's Southdale Center
99 Percent Invisible: Meet me by the fountain
How Malls Are Evolving In The U.S
What Is a Class A Mall?
Why Restaurants Have Become So Important To Shopping Malls
Water Tower Place ‘Past Its Prime’ As A Mall — But Mag Mile Recovery In Full Swing, Backers Say by Melody Mercado
The Only Thing To Do in a Dying Mall by Edward Robert McClelland
What is The Metropolitan? What to know about the new urban village in Phoenix by Taylor Seely
Meet the ‘Queen Spinner of Shell Shock,’ a local celebrity at MOA by Nicole Ki
Spencer’s Gifts existed back in the ‘40s as a mail order catalog that sold donkeys
Yankee Candles Levels of Abstraction
Mall Chicken Made Me Feel More American by Su Jit-Lin
Luxurydeptstore Instagram account
The Great Places Erased by Suburbia - Notjustbikes
What We Should (Actually) Do with Dying Malls - Chuck from Strong Towns

 

Artwork:
1990s aerial photo of Glendale Galleria and pre-Americana

 

Recorded on 6/22/2025