Program 717: Bill Bryson At Home; Pico Iyer In Search of Paradise; Walkable Cities

Author Bill Bryson listened to what the walls had to say in the old house he bought in England, to understand how much the comforts of home have changed in just a few generations.

Pico Iyer explains how visiting challenging places, can shed light on where "paradise" might be.

And urban planner Jeff Speck tells us how some cities in North America are catching up with their European cousins in designing pedestrian-friendly streets. 

Come along as we look around the world, and around the house, on the next Travel with Rick Steves.

• Author Bill Bryson, author of titles including "At Home: A Short History of Private Life" (Random House)
• Pico Iyer, author of "The Half-Known Life: In Search of Paradise" (Penguin-Random House)
• Urban planner Jeff Speck, author of "Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America One Step at a Time" (Picador) 

• Bill Bryson has written a number of best-selling books on travel, language and science topics since 1984.  Rick talked with him about his 2010 book "At Home: A Short History of Private Life." (Random House)
• Pico Iyer writes about how his travels have revealed distinctive views of the world in his book "The Half-Known Life: In Search of Paradise."
• Pico writes about "The Trouble with Paradise" for the New York Times.
• Pico joined us on Travel with Rick Steves program #586a in October 2022 to share his observations about living in Japan.  He also talked about his "Beginner's Guide to Japan" on program #576 in September 2019.  Pico spoke with Rick on the art of travel writing on program #656 in November 2021, and described how he was faring in pandemic lockdowns on program #611 in August 2020. Some of his earlier appearances include describing a visit to North Korea on program #412 in July 2015, and his concept of "Nowhere Travels" on #400 in April 2015. 
• Jeff Speck is a city planner and urban designer based in the Boston area. His book "Walkable City: How Downtown Can Save America One Step at a Time" has been updated in a tenth anniversary edition.  Links that show many of Jeff's city design projects and TED talks are provided on his website.

• Michel Legrand, "La Station-Service," Les Parapluis de Cherbourg (soundtrack) / Sony
• Symphony Nova Scotia, Howard Cable, cond., "Fancy Free for Orchestra," Opportunity Knocks / CBC Records
• Edmonton Symphony Orchestra, "John Field Suite: Nocturne (Sir Herbert Hamilton Harty)," Orchestral Suites of the British Isles / CBC Records
• Hen's Tooth Discs, "Home Sweet Home," Authentic Musical Box Arrangements - Disc 2 / Hen's Tooth Discs
• Massimo Farao Trio, "Aguas de Março," Summer Travels: Music from the World Brazilian Dream (collection) / Playaudio
• * Robert Maxwell and the Fortune Tellers, "Song of the Nairobi Trio," The Song of the Nairobi Trio / Petite Fleur
• Atlanta Symphony, Louis Lane, cond., "'The Cuckoo' from 'The Birds' (Respighi)," Bella Tuscany  (collection) / Telarc
• Orchestral intro to Nina Simone, "Il n-y pas de amour heureux," A Single Woman / Nonesuch-Elektra
• Gamelan Semar Pegulingan, "Gambangan," Music for the Gods: The Fahnestock South Sea Expedition-Indonesia (collection) / Smithsonian Folkways-Mickey Hart Collection
• Ryuichi Sakamoto, "Aoneko No Torso," Smoochy / Milan
• Al-Andalus, Tarik and Julia Banzi, "Chiaroscuro," Genetic Memories / Al-Andalus Records
• Osamu Kitajima, "The Three Orders,"  Behind the Light / Higher Octave
• Manickam Yogeswaran, "Paradise," Peace for Paradise  / beatscience
• Light Music Society Orchestra, Vivien Dunn, cond., "Little Suite - 1: March (Duncan)," British Light Classics (collection) / Warner Classics
• * Mark Isham, "Raffles in Rio," Vapor Drawings / Windham Hill
• SEL_SEL_5086_00201_Happy_Intermezzo_APM
• Melos Ensemble, Gervase de Peyer, clarinet, "Quintet in B Minor for Clarinet and Strings, Op. 115, III-Andantino (Brahms)," The Key to the Classics: Brahms (collection) / Angel
• John Cale, "Bicycle," Hobo Sapiens / Or Music
• New York Philharmonic, Leonard Bernstein, cond., "On the Town III: Times Square,"  Bernstein: Candide Overture, et al. / Sony Classical
• Queen's Hall Light Orchestra, Sydney Torch cond., "Portrait of a Flirt," British Light Classics (collection) / Warner Classics
• Thievery Corporation, "Barrio Alto," ESL Soundtracks - Modular Systems (collection) / Eighteenth Street Lounge Music

* Indicates filler music used during breaks

• Rick notes, at 10:47, that the interview with Bill Bryson was recorded when his book "At Home" was first published.  Rick adds that an audio collection of Bill's appearances on BBC Radio Four "has just been released." At 16:47, Rick mentions Bill's book "The Body: A Guide for Occupants" being just recently released in an illustrated edition.
• Pico Iyer explains at 10:52 that his traveler's appetite was heightened during lockdown of the covid pandemic.
• Pico says at 28:13 that he's been in Japan for 35 years. In a reset at 28:58, Rick adds that Pico's travel observations come from nearly 50 years of travels.
• At 36:20, Pico notes that he's spent 48 years traveling with the Dalai Lama.
• Jeff Speck mentions, at 45:08, "an 82% increase in pedestrian deaths in the past 14 years" in the US, while pedestrian deaths have been "declining steadily" in Europe.
• At 50:05, Jeff describes how Boston Mayor Wu is dealing with car versus foot traffic. At 51:00, he describes bike-friendly improvements to Paris under Mayor Hidalgo.
• Rick says that Jeff's "Walkable City" book is out in a "tenth anniversary edition" at 53:22.