This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, pre-sale tickets to live shows, and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

You’ve probably heard us talking about how we have written a book that will be coming out this fall. We are super excited to share more about that very soon. We’ve spent a lot of the last year in the research and writing process. And what became apparent very soon was that there were a lot of things that we weren’t going to be able to fit into the book, no matter how hard we tried.

So we put together a little bonus episode for you on one of the fascinating things we found that just didn’t make the final draft.  It’s a book called The Romance of the Automobile Industry: Being the Story of Its Development—Its Contribution to Health and Prosperity—Its Influence on Eugenics—Its Effect on Personal Efficiency—and Its Service and Mission to Humanity as the Latest and Greatest Phase of Transportation. 

Published in 1916, it’s essentially a 460-page ad, lavishly illustrated with pictures of bewhiskered white men and their inventions. And even after all the time we’ve spent thinking about cars, this book still had some surprises. (And yes, you read that right…he talks about eugenics. We’ll explain.)

Subscribe on Patreon for access to the whole bonus episode!

President Joe Biden in 2023 at the Falls Road Amtrak maintenance building in Baltimore. (Official White House Photo by Adam Schultz)

As the new Trump regime begins, we talked with Dani Simons—who until recently led the Office of Public Affairs for the federal Department of Transportation—about the Biden administration’s legacy on transportation. What are the stakes as we go from Amtrak Joe and DOT Secretary Pete Buttigieg to an administration made up of oil barrels disguised as people? What are the last four years’ biggest achievements on the transportation front? How do we communicate better about federal investments in active transportation? And how do we hold onto the hard-fought policies aimed at pedestrian safety and mitigating the climate crisis?

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

This episode was recorded at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio by Justin Fernandez. It was edited by Ali Lemer. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to bonus content, ad-free versions of regular episodes, free stickers, merch discounts, early access to live shows, and more. *** 

Purchase tickets to our April 24th live show in Minneapolis, presented by Our Streets.

LINKS:

• The Wall Street Journal’s Dorothy Rabinowitz and the Citibike moral panic (original video here)
• Eliot Spitzer at the Mayflower Hotel
• New York City’s Open Streets program and Michael Bloomberg’s PlaNYC
• And if you were wondering what Dani meant when she said “NHTSA,” that’s the National Highway Transportation Safety Administration.

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Smooth traffic entering the toll zone at Fifth Avenue and 60th Street in Manhattan. Photo: Sarah Goodyear

At last, New York City started its congestion pricing program on January 5.

We knew that the local mainstream press would be out in force interviewing drivers and elevating the voices of those who were against the toll. We knew that because the New York press corps has a long history of putting the people who commute by car in New York above those who don’t.

So we went out on congestion pricing’s first weekday morning and talked to some people who weren’t driving. Some of the people we talked with were random New Yorkers, but mostly we heard from advocates who knew we would be there and showed up in the freezing cold to talk about why they were so excited about the launch of this historic program.

Thank you to all the people who spared some of their time on a cold morning to talk to us, especially Samir Lavingia, Charlie Todd, Chris Sanders, Alex Duncan, Rich Miller, Noel Hidalgo, Seth Solomonow, Kirby Kersels, Paul Krikler and Steve from Peekskill.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to bonus content, ad-free versions of regular episodes, free stickers, merch discounts, early access to live shows, and more. *** 

LINKS:

• The MTA’s FAQ page answers all your questions about congestion pricing.
• Check out this congestion pricing traffic tracker for collected data showing the program’s impact.

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How do dense, walkable cities influence what people wear? Derek Guy has some thoughts. Otherwise known as The Menswear Guy, Derek rose to fame on social media for his takes on men’s fashion. But he also dips his toes into urbanism from time to time, arguing that the ecosystems that support quality craftsmanship and expert tailoring are strongest in places where it’s easy to get around without a car.

Derek joins us to talk about what the great fashion capitals of the world have in common, why Tokyo is a hotbed of fashion enthusiasts, how the housing crisis is affecting style, and more. 

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to bonus content, ad-free versions of regular episodes, free stickers, merch discounts, early access to live shows, and more. *** 

Become a Patreon supporter to get pre-sale tickets to our live show on April 24th in Minneapolis, presented by Our Streets.

This episode was produced with support from Cleverhood. Listen for the latest discount on the best and most stylish rain gear for walking and cycling.

LINKS: 

Follow Derek Guy on Bluesky, Instagram, and other social media sites.

Read more from Derek Guy at Die, Workwear.

Read Ametora: How Japan Saved American Style and Status and Culture: How Our Desire for Social Rank Creates Taste, Identity, Art, Fashion, and Constant Change, both by W. David Marx

Pick up merch in our store.

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This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, pre-sale tickets to live shows, and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

For our year-end bonus episode, we asked our Patreon supporters to tell us the best things that happened to them or in their communities in 2024. We heard from listeners around the globe about the many victories, from the political to the personal, that stood out to them in the past year and that give them hope for the future. There was a lot to celebrate, including lower speed limits, new bike commutes, and a string of victories at the local level that mean progress in The War on Cars.

Why do people behave so badly behind the wheel of a car? Why do reporters and the police use passive language to describe automobile crashes and traffic violence? How do the words we use make a difference in street safety? Dr. Tara Goddard, one of the top scholars studying what cars do to our brains and the way we treat each other in the world, has some thoughts—and she’s done the research.

Tara is an associate professor in the Department of Landscape Architecture and Urban Planning at Texas A&M University. Her work focuses on creating a just transportation system through safe roadway design and inclusive transportation planning.

We talked with her about “motonormativity,” how race influences how drivers treat pedestrians, and why language matters if we want to change the conversation about whom streets are for.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to bonus content, ad-free versions of regular episodes, free stickers, merch discounts, early access to live shows, and more. *** 

This episode was produced with support from Cleverhood and Sheyd Bags. Listen for the latest discount codes.

Buy tickets to our show with CityNerd on January 31, 2025, at Hunter College in New York City.

LINKS:

Follow Tara on Bluesky.

Read More

From mockumentaries to dramas to situation comedies, Ed Begley Jr. has done it all. His truly one-of-a-kind acting career has seen him work with some of the biggest names in Hollywood, including Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, and more. But beyond his impressive resume, Ed Begley Jr. is also known for his environmental activism. He’s probably the most famous person to have owned some version of an electric vehicle for a lot longer than most people have even been aware of EVs. Ed has been been committed to environmental conservation since at least the 1970s, and he’s designed his life so that it’s as free of fossil fuels as possible, with solar panels on the roof, an e-bike in the garage, and a house chosen for its proximity to transit. Notably, he’s taken the LA Metro to the Academy Awards, making a statement in an industry and a city where fancy cars and conspicuous consumption are signs of success. In this fun conversation, Ed Begley Jr. invites us into his home to talk about his work, his activism, and his life philosophy.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

*** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, special bonus content, stickers, merch discounts, and more. Plus, get pre-sale access to our upcoming live show in New York with CityNerd! ***

This episode was produced with the generous support of the Helen & William Mazer Foundation.

Check out the latest offerings from our friends at Cleverhood and Sheyd Bags. 

LINKS:

Buy Ed Begley Jr.’s memoir, To the Temple of Tranquility…and Step on It!

Hayden Begley documented her dad’s trip to the Oscars via LA Metro on TikTok.

The Actor Who Who Rides the Subway to the Oscars (NY Times)

Support Streets For All in Los Angeles by becoming a member.

This episode was edited by Doug Gordon. It was recorded by Avishay Artsy. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

TheWarOnCars.org

This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, plus ad-free versions of regular episodes, merch discounts, pre-sale tickets to live shows, and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.

Back in 2010, the notoriously pugnacious Toronto mayor Rob Ford declared that “the war on the car is over,” and vowed to halt the city’s expansion of bike lanes, transit, and anything that inconvenienced motorists even slightly. Fourteen years later, his brother — Ontario Premier Doug Ford — has continued the family crusade against bike lanes. The Ford government is pushing a bill that would require provincial approval of all bike lanes that repurpose car lanes. If it succeeds, it will have a chilling effect on the ability of cities and towns of all sizes to manage their streets and keep people safe. Plus, a handful of existing bike lanes could be ripped out.

Journalist Sabrina Nanji, a veteran of the Queen’s Park Press Gallery and the founder of the Queens Park Observer joins us to talk about the politics behind Doug Ford’s war on bikes.

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San Francisco’s Great Highway will be permanently open to people, not cars

We’re not going to sugarcoat it. That election was tough. But there are some points of hope that can help us make our way forward. We got together in the studio to look at victories around the country for transit and safe streets, and to discuss how we can all hang in there together and continue making positive change in our communities.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

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

SHOW NOTES:

The good news from Nashville (Nashville Scene)

The good news from Seattle (The Urbanist)

Alexis Mercedes Rinck wins Seattle City Council seat

The good news from San Francisco (SF Standard)

New York legalizes jaywalking (The New York Times)

Alameda County election results

Pick up merch in our official store

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.

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Adam McKay is the Academy Award–winning screenwriter, director, and producer behind such movies as Don’t Look Up, The Big Short, Vice, Anchorman, Talladega Nights, and more. He is also the founder of Yellow Dot Studios, a nonprofit production studio that raises awareness and mobilizes action on the climate emergency. Adam joins us to discuss his career and the existential anxiety that led him to write and direct the star-studded Don’t Look Up, one of the most successful Netflix movies of all time. We also hear about the books, films, and music that inspired him, and why humor is a useful tool for tackling serious subjects. Plus: Adam’s relationship with driving, the power of visual storytelling, and why he thinks the age of the car is already over… even if most people don’t know it yet.

You can find the full transcript of this episode here.

Thank you to Sheyd Bags and Cleverhood for their support. For the latest discount codes, listen to the episode.

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

SHOW NOTES:

Check out Car Commercial 419 and all the excellent work from Yellow Dot Studios. (Donate here!)

Books, movies, and music mentioned in this episode:

Generation Dread by Britt Wray; Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neal Postman; A Paradise Built in Hell by Rebecca Solnit; and The Vortex by Scott Carney & Jason Miklian

The Bridge on the River Kwai (1957); Dr. Strangelove (1964); and Dogtooth (2009)

Public Enemy; LL Cool J; Kurtis Blow; Run-DMC; and Eric B. & Rakim

*****

Pick up official podcast merch in our store. Purchase books from podcast guests and support independent booksellers at our Bookshop.org page.

This episode was edited by Ali Lemer. It was recorded by Kaden Pryor at Third Wheel Podcast Studio in Los Angeles. Transcriptions are by Russell Gragg. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. Sound effects from the BBC Sound Effects Archives © 2024 BBC. 

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