When people ask me what sorts of stories I’m pursuing as coordinating producer for the “Sound of Ideas," I can usually give them a straightforward answer.
“I’m working on a policy story with one of our Ideastream reporters.” Or, “I'm prepping for an interview with a local newsmaker.”
My latest endeavor has been turning some heads: "I’m reading a book about shade.”
“Huh?”
Yeah, the shadows cast by a tree. The cooling effect of being under an awning. How the temperature inside homes in shady environments stay cool even on a hot summer day. Or the plight of agricultural workers in this country as they labor in the sunbaked fields of California.
That shade.
The book, “Shade: The Promise of a Forgotten Natural Resource” by Sam Bloch, really has two main points.
One is that heat is incredibly dangerous. And the fact is, we don’t pay attention to it enough. We’re more preoccupied with natural disasters like tornadoes and hurricanes and often neglect how many heat-related injuries and deaths there are (the U.S. saw at least 2,325 such deaths in 2023).
And the second is how far removed from shade we've become when planning our cities and communities.
This second point is what’s really stuck with me as I’ve moved through this book. Because it feels like a lesson in humans being shortsighted, and in some ways our move toward more isolation.
For thousands of years, we built our communities where sidewalks and walkways that were covered with awnings and overhangs fostered more interaction.
Bloch argues that the rise of air conditioning in the 20th century, combined with things like television, pushed more Americans inside, leading to large-scale changes in community and relationships.
Also, Americans' desire for more space, wider suburban lots, bigger cars and lack of willpower to fund public transportation — and how all those factors relate to shade — are examined in the book.
He stops short of calling it a societal breakdown, but notes that the more time we spend inside our climate-controlled boxes, the less connected we feel with each other.
Engaging in books like this for the “Sound of Ideas” is enlightening and honestly a bit enraging.
I can’t unsee the problems illuminated by Bloch.
The trees that are knocked down because it’s easier for developers to build new housing on naked earth. Trees and benches that are removed because cities view shady spaces as contributing to criminal activity. Bus stops that are too small for vulnerable populations to use when waiting for transport.
Walking down the sidewalk and hearing the hum of air conditioning units. Windows shut, thermostat set to a perfect 72 degrees. Cut off from the world outside.
It's a book that, in a way, preaches the value of connection over comfort.
It's OK to be a bit hot, a bit sweaty.
It's OK to sit down on that shady park bench next to a stranger.
It's OK to have the windows down in the car and be exposed to the commotion of the city.
Isn't it true that when we get out of our comfort zone, we learn the most?
"The Cut" is featured in Ideastream Public Media's weekly newsletter, The Frequency Week in Review. To get The Frequency Week in Review, The Daily Frequency or any of our newsletters, sign up on Ideastream's newsletter subscription page.
