Peter Ekman (Architecture)

Punkast is a weekly podcast exploring punk in the historical present through critical conversations, inquiry, and collaboration.

>>> Follow the show to stay tapped in. New episodes every Friday.

In this episode:

"There is this specter of demolition that, in some ways, haunts the American city."

Jessica Schwartz is joined by urban historian and geographer Peter Ekman for a conversation exploring how architecture, urban renewal, and the built environment have shaped the sounds, spaces, and histories of punk. Drawing from his article Corner, Garage, and Basement: Reused Spaces and Vernacular Sounds Since the Bulldozer, Ekman traces the relationships between postwar urban redevelopment, street-corner singing, garage rock, and hardcore punk.

Together, they discuss the politics of urban renewal, the sonic histories of doo-wop, garage rock, and hardcore, and the ways everyday spaces—including street corners, garages, and basements—became sites of creativity, resistance, and DIY cultural production. The conversation also considers Los Angeles, Washington, D.C., race, segregation, automobility, and the critical possibilities that emerge when architecture and sound are understood together.

Peter Ekman is on the faculty of the USC School of Architecture and holds a Ph.D. in Geography from the University of California, Berkeley. He is the author of Timing the Future Metropolis: Foresight, Knowledge, and Doubt in America's Postwar Urbanism (Cornell University Press). His research explores the history and theory of cities, landscapes, architecture, and the built environment, with particular attention to sound, urbanism, and everyday spatial practice.

Recorded June 2026.

Links + References:

USC faculty website: Peter Ekman | USC School of Architecture

Link to book, Timing the Future Metropolis: https://cornellpress.cornell.edu/book/9781501778391/timing-the-future-metropolis/#bookTabs=1

Link to article, “Corner, Garage, and Basement”: https://read.dukeupress.edu/qui-parle/article-abstract/34/2/379/407908/Corner-Garage-and-BasementReused-Spaces-and

Credits:

Punkast is hosted and produced by Jessica Schwartz.

Editorial support: Melanie Hui – audio editing, episode notes, and audio-synced transcript.

Transcript:

Audio-synced transcript

Theme Music:

Lady Bits, "Bitch-a-thon," Lady Bits.

Related:

Jessica Schwartz co-hosts the Punk Scholars Podcast.

Connect with Punkast:

Spotify

Instagram: punkastucla

Stay tapped in.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.