SURVIVAL OF THE CITY Living and Thriving in an Age of Isolation

The authors of this quick-moving examination of the issues and problems of cities, in history and in the age of Covid, narrate its rather personal first section themselves. Both are professors of economics at Harvard. David Cutler displays some warmth, but Edward Glaeser's professorial tone is uncongenial. Narrator Teri Schnaubelt also registers a lack of warmth. Eventually, the listener gets used to the off-putting tone, but the relentless pace of the program--perhaps due to editorial compression--defies listener adjustment. It is always comprehensible but never comfortable. The text is often interesting and informative--covering public health, education, policing, business regulation, and zoning and building--but the failure to accommodate the listener's comfort in tone and pacing keeps this program from being fully enjoyable. W.M. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine [Published: DECEMBER 2021]