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Explorations Beyond the Blandscape

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A landlocked ship in the Aralqum Desert.

The geographer Alastair Bonnett laments a trend he’s noticed whereby our cities and towns look increasingly the same. He says our human places are being shaped into what he calls the “blandscape,” a global geography of monotony. In a new book, Bonnett leads a guided tour off the map of the blandscape to discover extraordinary locales that he says can relieve us from the dulling effects of the familiar and routine. He’ll join us to explore these places and to talk about their enchanting powers. (Rebroadcast)

Alastair Bonnett is a professor of social geography at Newcastle University. His new book is called Unruly Places: Lost Spaces, Secret Cities, and Other Inscrutable Geographies [Amazon|Indiebound]

Doug Fabrizio has been reporting for KUER News since 1987, and became News Director in 1993. In 2001, he became host and executive producer of KUER's RadioWest, a one hour conversation/call-in show on KUER 90.1 in Salt Lake City. He has gained a reputation for his thoughtful style. He has interviewed everyone from Isabel Allende to the Dalai Lama, and from Madeleine Albright to Desmond Tutu. His interview skills landed him a spot as a guest host of the national NPR program, "Talk of the Nation." He has won numerous awards for his reporting and for his work with RadioWest and KUED's Utah NOW from such organizations as the Society of Professional Journalists, the Utah Broadcasters Association, the Public Radio News Directors Association and the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences.