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The Creative Class: Dismissed?

Downtown Tacoma
Flickr Photo/Scott Hingst

More than a decade ago, Richard Florida’s best-selling book, “The Rise of the Creative Class,” was a cultural phenomenon. Florida argued that young, educated, single folks would reinvent American cities. Today, Florida's critics say the wealth of the creative class hasn't trickled down to the working class. What’s the evidence? Some places, like Tacoma, used Richard Florida’s ideas as a blueprint for reinventing their downtown areas. What was the outcome? We’ll explore these ideas with journalist and geographer Joel Kotkin and Tacoma arts administrator Amy McBride.

Also this hour: Chinua Achebe's "Things Fall Apart" influenced African writers for a generation and reshaped perceptions about African literature. The Stranger's Charles Mudede joins us to consider Achebe's influence on and beyond the page.