Book Club: Four Lost Cities

Science journalist and sci-fi novelist Annalee Newitz thinks and writes a lot about the future. But in their latest book, Four Lost Cities: A Secret History of the Urban Age, Annalee looks at the distant past in four ancient cities: Cahokia, Pompeii, Catalhoyuk, and Angkor. Annalee explores how our ideas of the past change with new technology and new ideas, and what the stories of these cities tell us about humanity’s future in the face of the existential threat of climate change.

The next Outside/In book club pick is Fuzz: When Nature Breaks the Law by Mary Roach. It comes out on September 14, 2021.

Don’t forget to tag us @OutsideInRadio on Twitter and Instagram, and use the hashtag #ReadingOutsideIn to share your thoughts and questions about Four Lost Cities or Fuzz!

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Annalee Newitz tells the history of Cahokia (an indigenous city near present-day St. Louis, Missouri), Pompeii (of the Roman Empire), Catalhoyuk (the world’s first known city), and Angkor (of the Khmer Empire in present-day Cambodia).

Annalee Newitz tells the history of Cahokia (an indigenous city near present-day St. Louis, Missouri), Pompeii (of the Roman Empire), Catalhoyuk (the world’s first known city), and Angkor (of the Khmer Empire in present-day Cambodia).

The outdoor lab at Cahokia. “Everything in the city was built from wood and it’s no longer there. All that’s left are these beautiful earthen mounds,” says Annalee. (photo courtesy of Annalee Newitz)

The outdoor lab at Cahokia. “Everything in the city was built from wood and it’s no longer there. All that’s left are these beautiful earthen mounds,” says Annalee. (photo courtesy of Annalee Newitz)

Archaeologist Ian Hodder explains stratigraphic layers at a house in Catalhoyuk. (photo courtesy of Annalee Newitz)

Archaeologist Ian Hodder explains stratigraphic layers at a house in Catalhoyuk. (photo courtesy of Annalee Newitz)

Tabernas, or Roman bars and restaurants, lined every major street in Pompeii, featuring L-shaped marble-topped counters with built-in ceramic storage containers. (photo courtesy of Annalee Newitz)

Tabernas, or Roman bars and restaurants, lined every major street in Pompeii, featuring L-shaped marble-topped counters with built-in ceramic storage containers. (photo courtesy of Annalee Newitz)

Lidar imaging reveals a “huge wooden city” that once surrounded the temples of Angkor, which had a population of up to 900,000. (Image courtesy of Damian Evans)

Lidar imaging reveals a “huge wooden city” that once surrounded the temples of Angkor, which had a population of up to 900,000. (Image courtesy of Damian Evans)

Credits

This episode of Outside/In was produced by Felix Poon, Justine Paradis, and Taylor Quimby.

Erika Janik is our Executive Producer.

Our theme music is by Breakmaster Cylinder.

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