The War on Cars

EPISODE 103: Why Does Hollywood Hate Bikes?

Added 2023-04-11 10:01:01 +0000 UTC

Hello, supporters of The War on Cars!

Winning the war on cars isn't merely a matter of changing policies or installing a few bikes lanes — it's also about winning hearts and minds. But doing that is made a heckuva lot more difficult when movies and TV shows use riding a bicycle as shorthand for being a complete loser, totally immature, or an utter failure.

This is an episode we've wanted to do pretty much since the podcast began as there are lots of pop culture artifacts that use this trope, including such obvious examples as The 40-Year-Old Virgin, Pee-Wee's Big Adventure, and Arrested Development.

The opportunity finally arose thanks to a few recent shows like Ted Lasso and Flatbush Misdemeanors that have found interesting ways to use bikes in their storytelling that don't equate riding them with being a weirdo. Sure, these shows and others still use cars and bikes to signify status in good ways and bad, but we get into that in the episode.

We were joined by journalist Nitish Pahwa of Slate, who wrote a great article on this very subject. Sarah was away for this one and we really missed her.

Enjoy the episode and please help us spread the word about the podcast by rating us and leaving a review on Apple podcasts or by sharing on social media. It really does help us grow our audience and the movement for better cities and safer streets.

Thanks as always for your support!

- Doug

P.S. We recently mentioned our special offer for 20% off tickets to Micromobility Europe in Amsterdam, June 8-9, 2023. That offer is ongoing but you can now also get 20% off tickets to the U.S. version of this conference, Micromobility America in San Francisco, October 19-20, 2023. Both are bound to offer great opportunities for industry professionals, planners, journalists and other folks with an interest in the future of mobility. One of us might be at Micromobility America, so we hope to meet some of you there.

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