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Nice Try! is a new seasonal podcast about the perpetual search for the perfect place from Curbed and the Vox Media Podcast Network. Hosted by Avery Trufelman (@trufelman), the first seven-episode season titled “Utopian” tells the stories behind the world’s most fascinating communities, from an enclosed bubble of environmentalists to the first American “company town” to 19th-century spiritual sects.
Many of these utopian attempts started with noble intentions to solve problems of nature, government, or religion — issues still relevant to people seeking answers about how to live in the world today.
“There’s something that’s so eternally beguiling about the idea of utopia, to construct your identity from scratch, and build the world you want to live in,” says Trufelman. “As a lot of these stories attest that it’s — if not impossible — extremely difficult to do. It’s interesting to watch how far people can go, and to what degree they can succeed in the construction of their ideal world.”
Throughout the season, Trufelman will take listeners on a journey through the history of the Jamestown settlement, the Indian capital city of Chandigarh, the racially diverse suburban development Concord Park, the 19th century Oneida Community, Albert Speer’s Berlin plan, Biosphere 2 in Arizona, and Herland, a feminist utopia first explored in a novel from 1915.
Avery Trufelman is an Oakland, California-based producer on Radiotopia’s 99% Invisible and the host of 99PI’s Articles of Interest, a capsule series that examines what we wear and why. Articles of Interest was deemed one of the best podcasts of 2018 by the BBC, New York Magazine, and the New Yorker.
Listen to the first episode of Nice Try! Utopian today and subscribe for free on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or in your favorite podcast app to automatically receive new episodes. Learn more about new shows from the Vox Media Podcast Network on our newsroom.
About Curbed
Curbed’s network of 12 city-focused publications and industry-leading national coverage helps people love where they live through daily news, on-the-ground local reporting, and in-depth features on everything to do with homes and cities.
About the Vox Media Podcast Network
The Vox Media Podcast Network is one of the largest, fastest-growing, and most topically diverse collections of high-quality podcasts. With more than 100 active shows from Vox Media’s editorial networks and partners, our network is home to a show to feed every passion — from daily news and policy, to tech and business, to culture and sports.
