Examining the Sweeping History of the Lure of the Beach with Robert C. Ritchie

July 12, 2021

Going to the Beach: Trend or Timeless?

On this episode, Peter Ravella and Tyler Buckingham are joined by Dr. Robert "Roy" Ritchie to examine the sweeping history of going to the beach. Archaeological evidence shows that humans, and even pre-humans, were visiting ancient beaches over 100,000 years ago. From there, humans have cultivated a relationship with the land-water interface that has changed our species and the planet. Come along as we examine some of the major historical inflection points in our relationship with the shoreline as described in Ritchie's new book, The Lure of the Beach: A Global History. A fascinating story we should all know better. Only on ASPN!


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Show Transcription
This transcription was generated by a computer. Please excuse any errors.
Peter Ravella & Tyler Buckingham

Peter and Tyler joined forces in 2015 and from the first meeting began discussing a project that would become Coastal News Today and the American Shoreline Podcast Network. At the time, Peter and Tyler were coastal consultants for Pete’s firm, PAR Consulting, LLC. In that role, they worked with coastal communities in Texas, Florida, and North Carolina, engaged in grant writing, coastal project development, shoreline erosion and land use planning, permitting, and financial planning for communities undertaking big beach restoration projects. Between and among their consulting tasks, they kept talking and kept building the idea of CNT & ASPN. In almost every arena they worked, public engagement played a central role. They spent thousands of hours talking with coastal stakeholders, like business owners, hotel operators, condo managers, watermen, property owners, enviros, surfers, and fishermen. They dived deep into the value, meaning, and responsibility for the American shoreline, segment-by-segment. Common threads emerged, themes were revealed, differences uncovered. There was a big conversation going on along the American shoreline! But, no place to have it. That's where CNT and ASPN were born.