“15-minute cities” are having a moment, and not exactly in a good way. How did a mundane urban planning concept turn into the latest grist for the culture-war mill? Why does the idea of making it easier to walk to school or the grocery store have some people afraid that they won’t be able to leave their homes for more than 15 minutes? And why do some think this is all a plot by the World Economic Forum to force people to “own nothing and be happy”? We break down this conspiracy theory and ask if we can ever get back to reality.

This episode is produced with support from Radpower Bikes and Cleverhood.

***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, special bonus content and stickers!***

Friends of The War on Cars receive 20% off tickets to Micromobility Europe, the world’s largest conference for small electric vehicles, June 8 & 9th in Amsterdam.

Pick up official podcast tees and other merch in our official store.

Buy books by podcast guests and check out our book recommendations at our official Bookshop.org page.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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Photo credit: Mitchel Raphael Kern

EPISODE 101: FEMINIST CITY WITH LESLIE KERN

Cities have almost always been designed by men, prioritizing men’s needs as defined by the traditional male-female binary. But as scholar and author Leslie Kern writes in her  book, Feminist City: Claiming Space in a Man-Made World, a truly feminist city could be, “an ongoing experiment in living differently, living better, and living more justly in an urban world.” Sarah talks with Dr. Kern about  how gender influences the way we move through our streets, and how adopting a feminist perspective could make our cities more humane and livable for everyone, regardless of gender identity.

This episode is sponsored by Cleverhood. Receive 15% off anything in the Cleverhood store using the special coupon code in this episode. Good for a limited time only!

***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, special bonus content and free stickers!***

LINKS:

Find out more about Dr. Leslie Kern’s work.

Buy Feminist City and other books by podcast guests at our official Bookshop.org page.

Pick up official  The War on Cars merch in our store.

This episode was produced and edited by Sarah Goodyear. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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This marks the 100th episode of The War on Cars, and we’re feeling pretty good about it! In our centenary edition, we go all the way back to Episode 1 and ask what we got right, what we got wrong—and what the heck has been happening since we launched back in September of 2018. Then we hear from listeners around the world about what The War on Cars means to them.

Here’s to the next hundred!

This episode is sponsored by Cleverhood. Receive 15% off anything in the Cleverhood store using the special coupon code in this episode. Good for a limited time only!

***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of all our regular episodes, exclusive bonus content and free stickers!***

LINKS:

Take a stroll down memory lane with us and listen back to Episode 1: Why the World Needs a War on Cars.

Here’s listener Alex Dyer’s project to break car culture.

Buy The War on Cars merch in our store and books by podcast guests at our official Bookshop.org page.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer and recorded by Walter Nordquist of the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Our logo was designed by Dani Finkel of Crucial D Designs.

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Is it acceptable to harm another person? To steal someone’s private property? To bend health and safety rules just to save a few minutes or make more money? According to a new study, it might depend on whether or not a car is involved. Dr. Ian Walker, a professor of environmental psychology at Swansea University in Wales, joins us for a fascinating discussion about the unconscious biases we all share in favor of cars, how those assumptions shape our streets, and how they prevent the kind of change needed to make them safer. It’s a phenomenon he and his co-authors call “motonormativity.”

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

This episode is sponsored by Cleverhood. Receive 15% off anything in the Cleverhood store using the special coupon code in this episode. Good for a limited time only! 

***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, exclusive bonus content and free stickers!***

LINKS:

Read the full study: Motonormativity: How Social Norms Hide a Major Public Health Hazard.

Learn more about Dr. Ian Walker.

How closely do drivers pass cyclists? According to Dr. Walker’s research, it depends.

What if people behaved in grocery stores the way they do behind the wheel of a car? (PSA via Norway’s State Road Administration)

Buy The War on Cars merch in our store and books by podcast guests at our official Bookshop.org page.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer and recorded by Josh Wilcox of the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Our logo was designed by Dani Finkel of Crucial D Designs. 

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Parking is at the heart of every fight about how we build our cities and towns, with effects that go far beyond transportation. Minimum parking requirements  — laws that dictate how many parking spaces are required for various types of buildings and businesses — make housing more expensive, raise the price of goods and services and exacerbate sprawl, making congestion and the climate crisis much, much worse. Thankfully, a movement is afoot to end parking minimums, inspired by the work of Donald Shoup.

Shoup, the Distinguished Research Professor at UCLA’s Department of Urban Planning, is the author of the 2005 book The High Cost of Free Parking. It’s an invaluable resource for anyone who wants to understand the problems with parking. Professor Shoup — aka the Shoup Dogg — joins us for a spirited conversation about how to win what he calls “the war on parking subsidies.”

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

This episode is sponsored by Cleverhood. Receive 15% off anything in the Cleverhood store using the special coupon code in this episode. Good for a limited time only! 

Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of all new episodes, Patreon-only bonus content and free stickers!

Buy The War on Cars merch in our store.

LINKS:

Learn all about Donald Shoup at ShoupDogg.com.

Read The High Cost of Free Parking.

Join The Parking Reform Network and end parking requirements where you live.

Donald Shoup gets animated on Adam Ruins Everything.

This episode was produced by Doug Gordon, edited by Ali Lemer, and recorded by Josh Wilcox of the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Our logo was designed by Dani Finkel of Crucial D Designs. 

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In Part 1, Welcome to Muscle Car City, we met Denys da Menace, a young New York City guy who does “donuts” and “burnouts” in a souped-up Dodge Charger as part of the Brooklyn Hemi Boyz car club. Then in Part 2, We Are in the Movie, we rode along in what was supposed to be the biggest, loudest, craziest car meet of the summer. Now Sarah, Doug, and Aaron are going to break it down and talk about it. Why did muscle-car culture become so big during the first two years of the pandemic? How do car club members afford to keep their expensive hobby going? And why are we allowing automakers to put these products on public streets while encouraging young men to use them as dangerously as possible? In Part 3, we’re Deconstructing Muscle Car City.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

* * * * * * * *

This episode is sponsored by Cleverhood. Receive 15% off anything in the Cleverhood store using the special coupon code in this episode. Good for a limited time only! 

Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free bonus content and we’ll send you stickers too.

LINKS:

‘Menacing’ Dodge Charger Hellcat Redeye goes 203 mph, will start at $80K (Detroit Free Press) 

Dodge’s idiotic Chief Donut Maker reality TV-style marketing campaign featuring professional wrestler, Bill Goldberg (Dodge)

Welcome to the Royal Posh Auto Spa, where Aaron interviewed muscle car owner, Carlos. 

2022 Hess Flatbed Truck with Hot Rods! (YouTube)

This episode was produced by Aaron Naparstek, edited by Ali Lemer, and recorded by Josh Wilcox of the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Our logo was designed by Dani Finkel of Crucial D Designs. 

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***Happy holidays! This is a rerelease of our interview with Jessie Singer, the author of There Are No Accidents, which originally came out in February 2022 as Episode 80. It’s one of our favorite episodes from 2022. We’ll be back with new episodes in January.***

What do we mean when we say something is an “accident”? When a motorist kills a pedestrian or cyclist it is often described in the press and the criminal justice system as a “car accident” — even when there is a clear cause such as a driver who was drunk, distracted or speeding. According to a new book by journalist Jessie Singer, events that most people describe as accidents are anything but. Singer argues that who lives and dies by accident in America is not random but utterly predictable. Using the word, she says, protects the powerful and leads to “the prevention of prevention.”

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

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