In this podcast, managing editor Natalie Argerious and reporter Ray Dubicki talk about the names we put on places and events. It’s the second week in October, long considered to kick off with Columbus Day. However, that name has been changed, recognizing the Indigenous People that were harmed by the colonizer’s actions.
More broadly, there are names in our communities and monuments that we do take for granted. The United States military recently undertook a naming commission to examine bases and symbols for remnants of the Confederates that actually fought against the United States. They found quite a few. Washington State (an interesting name in itself) has established a process to rename places that carry a particular derogatory name.
Of course, we want to know your thoughts, opinions, and meaningfully named places. Reach out to us at podcast [at] theurbanist.org. As always, you can find The Urbanist podcast on iTunes, Spotify, and other major platforms.
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Ray Dubicki is a stay-at-home dad and parent-on-call for taking care of general school and neighborhood tasks around Ballard. This lets him see how urbanism works (or doesn’t) during the hours most people are locked in their office. He is an attorney and urbanist by training, with soup-to-nuts planning experience from code enforcement to university development to writing zoning ordinances. He enjoys using PowerPoint, but only because it’s no longer a weekly obligation.