Everything is Somewhere Podcast

Hosted by The American Surveyor

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Latest episode

Jun 2026

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EN-US

About the show

From the rope stretchers of ancient Egypt to ubiquitous satellite precision, geospatial technology has ever been the bedrock of the constructed world and of civilization itself. Your host, land surveyor and infrastructure writer Angus Stocking, engages in regular conversation with today's location experts to determine exactly where, in space and time, we find ourselves today. Location, location, location; it's not just real estate, it's everything and, Everything is Somewhere.

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36 recent

June 15, 2026Episode 3132 min

#31 - Pete Kelsey

Uncover the astonishing story of the last missing female pilot of World War II, Gertrude "Tommy" Tompkins, and how cutting-edge underwater technology might finally bring her home. In this episode, Angus and returning guest Pete Kelsey discuss how modern multi-beam sonar and autonomous underwater vehicles are transforming underwater archaeology and search-and-rescue efforts. They also address the fascinating engineering of UUVs (unmanned underwater vehicles): their capabilities, limitations, and the quest to identify aircraft wreckage in over 250 feet of water. Furthermore, the significance of artifacts like WWII oxygen tanks and how they lead to potential crash site discoveries—bringing both closure and celebration of the brave pilots who served. Perfect for history buffs, tech enthusiasts, and explorers at heart—this episode reveals how the convergence of science, storytelling, and relentless curiosity keeps history alive beneath the waves. Plus, Pete shares insights on future projects that leverage these innovations for preservation and discovery.

June 8, 20263 min

EiS Short: A Perfect Circle

It is sometimes said that the only perfect circles available for the contemplation of early humans were the sun, the full moon, and the iris of the eye. I think this is overstated. The ripples formed by a pebble falling in still water come to mind as do the circles formed in the center of sunflowers, such as sunflowers. But still, the point stands. Perfect circles were unusual in the life of early hominids and seeing as how the best examples ruled the daytime and nighttime skies, circles must have seemed mystical and miraculous, almost godly, worthy of veneration. Since circles were also found in the very sense organ used to observe the perfect circles in the sky, it doesn't seem impossible that these theoretical early hominids might have felt connected to the mystical circles in the sky, part of the divine mystery in a way that plants and mountains and trees were not, as if we were reflections or extensions of the great sun god or wise moon goddess. So imagine the very first hominid, a Neanderthal or Denisovan perhaps, or perhaps it was left for a member of our own species, Homo sapiens, that discovered a method for reliably creating a perfect circle here on earth...

May 22, 2026Episode 3033 min

#30 - Frank Artmont

Most bridges are designed to be functional—this one was crafted to be a striking work of art that blends seamlessly with its natural surroundings. In this episode, Frank Artmont, PE, PhD a senior engineer at Modjeski and Masters, reveals the innovative design secrets behind the award-winning Hawk Falls Bridge in Pennsylvania's scenic state park. From the strategic use of weathering steel to complex hinged arch mechanisms, discover how this project balances aesthetics, engineering excellence, and environmental harmony over a decade-long journey.

April 20, 2026Episode 2933 min

#29 - Anna Riling

Anna Riling is a seasoned geologist and award-winning cartographer based in Durango, Colorado. She's recognized for her stunning, purpose-driven maps that blend aesthetics with environmental advocacy and cultural storytelling. If you've ever wondered what goes into making a map that's both exquisite and meaningful — or how maps can serve as powerful tools for activism and education — this episode is your guide. Hit play to see the landscape through Anna's artist's eye and discover the future of creative cartography.

March 12, 20263 min

EiS Short: Temporary Autonomous Zone

The late and mostly unlamented anarchist philosopher, Peter Lamborn Wilson, under the pseudonym Hakim Bey, wrote extensively about the pirate utopias of the 18th century and from them derived the concept that he labeled temporary autonomous zones. If you were at the Solstice party at my place a few summers back, you were in a rather excellent temporary autonomous zone or TAZ. The party was temporary in that it had a beginning and an end. If you showed up on the wrong night, you weren't in a TAZ, you were SOL. It was a zone, taking place entirely within the boundaries of my particular parcel. And most importantly, it was autonomous. Within the temporal and spatial boundaries of the party, you hopefully experienced a suspension of certain laws, a relaxing of legal, cultural, and even physical restraints. Perhaps you felt free to drink or smoke more than you usually do, or to give free rein to a flirtatious alter ego, or to talk and sing in an unusually loud voice. Perhaps, like me, you became convinced that you could dance, despite past experience to the contrary.

February 26, 2026Episode 2831 min

#28 - Phil Lundman and Henri Kinson

In this episode Angus talks with Petersen Products' Phil Lundman and design engineer Henri Kinson about the strange, high‑stakes world of inflatable plugs and custom mechanical solutions for pipelines and critical infrastructure. We start with the company's roots in a Danish immigrant's drain‑cleaning tool and follow its evolution into a design‑build shop that routinely solves one‑off problems for industrial and municipal clients around the world. Along the way, Phil and Henri walk through a dramatic underwater project at the Hanahan Water Treatment Plant, where divers installed a folding, seven‑foot bulkhead 50 feet below the surface to protect millions of dollars in assets. We also get into NASA rocket‑fuselage stress tests, offshore energy platforms, and what it takes — in software, fabrication capability, and rigorous testing — to ship devices that simply cannot fail under pressure.

February 3, 20264 min

EiS Short: On Petrarch's Ascent

689 years ago, in April, the Italian poet now known as Petrarch climbed Mont Ventoux in Provence. By the standards of recreational hikers in my home state, Colorado, it wasn't much of a climb—Mont Ventoux is just a little over 6,200 feet, and Petrarch was done with his climb well before dinner. But by the standards of his day, the climb was apparently sensational. In a widely-published letter he wrote about the ascent, Petrarch claimed to be the first person since antiquity to climb a mountain solely for the view—that is, the first person to climb a mountain not for work, or exploration, or conquering, or to glorify God, or for any practical reason, but simply… because he wanted to. This self-absorbed focus on his own wellbeing was a revolutionary act in an age still ruled by the Church, so revolutionary that many scholars today point to Petrarch's springtime hike as the beginning of what we now call the Renaissance.

January 28, 2026Episode 2736 min

#27 - Nate Dang and Kevin Grover

In this episode, Angus talks with Nate Dang of Accurate Surveying & Mapping and Kevin Grover, Head of Customer Success at Looq AI, about pushing reality capture into everyday surveying. They walk through an award‑winning project on a historic opera house in Soldier, Idaho, where Nate deliberately skipped the total station and combined Looq's handheld QCAM imagery with GNSS and drone data to deliver survey‑grade results. The conversation explores hardware and workflow, how Looq's imagery‑only approach compares to lidar, where AI actually adds value, and why dense, intelligent photo‑based datasets can finally make photogrammetry practical for "bread and butter" topo and design jobs. It is a nuts‑and‑bolts look at turning R&D into reliable production work.

January 21, 20263 min

EiS Short: Houston, We Have a Problem

At the conclusion of a long series of curious circumstances—which is to say, my life—I found myself stuck in traffic, for hours, in Houston, on my way to a conference devoted to high-tech land surveying equipment. Such conferences are more exciting than they sound—they'd almost have to be wouldn't they?—and I find them inspiring; the speakers at these events look around at our crumbling world, at the failing infrastructure and dwindling resources, and they see… business opportunity. They believe that technology is equal to the challenge, that new knowledge will keep pace with the Horsemen of Armageddon, and even pull ahead a bit.

January 14, 2026Episode 2657 min

#26 - David Seamon

In this wide-ranging conversation, Angus talks with geographer and phenomenologist David Seamon about the life, work, and legacy of architect and thinker Christopher Alexander. Seamon, editor of the long-running journal Environmental and Architectural Phenomenology, explains what phenomenology is, why "lifeworld" and "natural attitude" matter, and how these ideas illuminate Alexander's quests for wholeness, life, and genuine beauty in the built environment. The two dig into Alexander's evolving methods—from A Pattern Language and The Production of Houses to The Nature of Order and the Japanese Eishin campus—probing both their power and their limits. Along the way, Seamon contrasts phenomenology with systems theory, discusses Henry Bortoft, Edmund Husserl, and others, and offers a candid, affectionate critique of Alexander's style, process, and publishing choices. The episode closes with Seamon's thoughts on place-making, climate, and why Alexander's work may be "for the future" more than for our present moment.