During his advertising campaign for the presidency, one of Donald Trump’s signature promises was that he would create a “great great wall structure” on the border between the United States and Mexico, and Mexico was going to pay for it. A year and a half into his term, with just a few prototype sections erected, the wall may be the 2,000-mile multibillion-dollar elephant in the area of modern American lifestyle. In The Great Great Wall structure, architectural historian and critic Ian Volner takes a deep dive into the story of Trump’s wall. Volner follows the conception, offering, design, and structure (or lack thereof) of this costly and consequential barrier, giving listeners a detailed explanation of what’s taking place in Washington, DC-and along the border. He also travels far afield, to China, the Middle East, northern Britain, and back to our border to examine the barriers we have been building for years and years. Why do we build walls? What perform they reveal about history?