Concrete Jungle

Faedah Totah is a walker. So when she traveled to Damascus, Syria in the 2000’s, she ditched the car and sauntered the streets to really take in the beauty of the old city. She soon came across a neighborhood that sparked her forthcoming book, Palestinian Refugees in the Old City of Damascus. Also: The report card is out for America’s stormwater infrastructure. Spoiler alert: it’s a grade that probably would’ve gotten us all grounded by our parents. Tanjina Afrin explains where America is failing and why effective stormwater management is such an important but largely forgotten public amenity. Later in the show: As the Cold War drew to a close in the 1990s, the Hispanic Caribbean was rocked by what Elena Valdez calls “crisis moments.” She says these “crisis moments” sparked important changes in representations of sexuality and gender in the public sphere - especially in the urban spaces of Cuba, the Dominican Republic, and Puerto Rico.