Season 1
Introduction
Stockholm: Kristina Höök
Trondheim: Dag Svanæs
Berlin: Hans-Peter Krüger
Vienna: Ruth Anderwald, Leonhard Grond
Paris: Mathias Girel
Tokyo: Tanehisa Otabe
Montreal: Mark Watson
Bologna: Andrea Borsari
In this opening episode of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman’s conference remarks introduce the central question of the series: how do we experience atmosphere? Recorded in connection with the 2024 “Somaesthetics of Atmosphere” conference at Florida Atlantic University, the episode prepares listeners for a season of conversations and commentary on cities, spaces, environments, and lived situations.
In Episode 2 of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman speaks with Kristina “Kia” Höök, professor of interaction design at KTH Royal Institute of Technology and a leader in somaesthetics design, about Stockholm, Sweden. Their conversation opens the city through seasons, darkness, candlelight, trust, social distance, and touch, showing how atmosphere can be shaped by climate, bodily boundaries, and the quiet design of everyday life.
In Episode 3 of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman speaks with Dag Svanæs, professor of computer science at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology and a researcher in human-computer interaction design about Trondheim, Norway. Their conversation explores atmosphere through the themes of daylight, winter darkness, city tempo, student life, collective mood, rituals, and the environmental forces that shape how a place is experienced.
In Episode 4 of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman speaks with Hans-Peter Krüger, philosopher and professor emeritus at the University of Potsdam, about Berlin, Germany. Their conversation explores how atmosphere is shaped through historical events and monuments, political narratives, tourism, migration, and especially the ways a city’s past continues to shape how it is felt in the present.
In Episode 5 of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman speaks with Ruth Anderwald + Leonhard Grond, Vienna-based artist-researchers, about their home city of Vienna, Austria. Their conversation explores atmosphere through the topics of imperial memory, parks, climate anxiety, moving images, and the strange mixture of beauty, unease, and nostalgia in the city.
In Episode 6 of atmospheres, Dr. Richard Shusterman speaks with Mathias Girel, philosophy professor at the École normale supérieure in Paris, France. Their conversation discusses the meanings of atmosphere through inner and outer space, varieties of light and landscape, and the subtle ways atmosphere moves between the external environment and inner experience.
In Episode 7 of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman speaks with Tanehisa Otabe, professor of aesthetics at Tokyo University, Japan about his home city of Tokyo. Their conversation examines the idea of urban atmosphere through such topics as the mega-city as a network of smaller worlds with distinctive architectural differences, the effects of Covid on urban atmosphere, and the atmospheric qualities of different languages, such as Japanese and German in contributing to the atmosphere of communication.
In Episode 8 of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman speaks with Mark K. Watson, anthropology professor at Concordia University, Montreal, about the atmosphere of Montreal, Canada. Their conversation explores how the city’s atmosphere is influenced by Montreal’s bilingual and bicultural life, its contrast of cold climate and warmly welcoming attitude, its micro-atmospheres in different parts of the city, and the changing colors of the city’s different seasons.
In Episode 9 of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman speaks with Andrea Borsari, professor of philosophy at the University of Bologna, about Bologna, Italy. Their conversation explores atmosphere through the themes of walking, architecture, the rhythms of university life, student presence, and the balance between historical depth and everyday urban experience.
In Episode 10 of atmospheres, Dr. Shusterman speaks with Bartłomiej Struzik, Leszek Koczanowicz, and Dorota Koczanowicz about the different atmospheres of different Polish cities, notably Kraków, Warsaw, and Wrocław. Their conversation examines the experience of atmosphere through family history, insider and outsider perspectives, city structure, tourism, memory, and the different ways personal and public histories shape how a city is experienced.