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Cities That Changed The World: Mapping History's Hubs Of Innovation

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In looking to our past, a curious trend appears. A vast amount of mankind's great accomplishments in art, music, science, technology and language seem to emerge from a relatively small number of cities:  Athens, Hangzhou, Florence, Rome, Calcutta, Vienna, and Silicon Valley-- just to name a few.

But the reasons these locations gave rise to so much advancement remain a source of debate. What multitude of factors must converge to make an otherwise un-notable city become a hub of creative genius? This hour we speak with geographers, and cultural historians to unravel this ancient and ongoing mystery.

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Colin McEnroe and Chion Wolf contributed to this show, which originally aired on April 25, 2017.

Josh was a producer for WNPR's talk shows. He has produced for Where We Live and was a producer for The Colin McEnroe Show until 2020.

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