The War on Cars

Episode 36: Live in Denver!

For our first live episode, The War on Cars heads to Denver, Colorado to check in on the Mile High City's battle against automobile dominance. From the announcement that the Denver Department of Transportation and Infrastructure will install 125 miles of bike lanes by 2023 to the recent closure of B-cycle, the city's bicycle sharing system, it's been a year of good news and bad for Denverites. ...

The War on Cars - Live at the National Bike Summit

Hello, fellow foot soldiers in The War on Cars!

We'll be at the National Bike Summit in Washington, DC for a live recording of the podcast on Monday, March 16th, 2020. Please note that individual tickets are not available for the show and is only open to Summit registrants. That being said, if you can attend the National Bike Summit, please do. It's a great chance to learn from and connec...

Episode 35: Suburbans in the City

The Chevrolet Suburban is one of General Motors’ most enduring triumphs — the longest-running nameplate in automotive history, to use the industry jargon, and the original SUV. In production since 1935, it’s grown from an all-American family vehicle, perfect for loading up the kids and heading out into the country, into an 18-foot-long status symbol for VIPs — including titans of financ...

Episode 34: Department of Bikeland Security

Making change happen in a big, complex, bureaucratic city is really hard. One guy who knows all about that is Shabazz Stuart, the Chief Executive Officer of Oonee, a Brooklyn-based startup company that is developing secure bike-parking kiosks at major transit hubs in and around New York City. For this episode, Shabazz joins The W...

Episode 33: WCAR Drive Time Radio

Is the Hyperloop for real or are easily duped elected officials the only people it will take for a ride? Do e-bikes have the power to transform the suburbs? Why should politicians and the press say “crash” instead of “accident”? What’s the best way to convince people to live a car-free life? ...

Episode 32: Kara Swisher Says Car Ownership is Finished

Last March, renowned tech journalist and prognosticator Kara Swisher wrote a New York Times opinion piece with the headline, “Owning a car will soon be as quaint as owning a horse.” In it, she declared she would sell her own car and vowed she would never again own an automobile. “...

Episode 31: You Get a Car!

It’s one of the most famous moments in daytime TV history, but what really happened when Oprah Winfrey gave a brand new Pontiac G6 to every member of her studio audience? Leave it to The War on Cars to take that memorable (and very meme-able) moment and connect it to larger questions about mobility, access to economic opportunity and even the perverse way in which Americans pay for healthcare...

T-shirt size survey!

Hello, fellow foot soldiers in The War on Cars!

Patreon supporters who contribute at the $15/month and up level get one official TWOC t-shirt as thanks. To help us get you the right shirt size, please click on the link and fill out the Google form with the required information. As This will help us streamline the process for getting shirts to supporters from here on out.<...

Episode 30: The Automotive Police State

For a century, the automobile has been sold to Americans as the ultimate freedom machine. In her groundbreaking new book, “Policing the Open Road,” historian and legal scholar Sarah Seo explodes that myth. Seo shows how modern policing evolved in lockstep with the development of the car. And that rather than giving Americans greater freedom, the massive body of traffic law required to facil...

The Problem With Public Meetings, Part 2

In Part 1 of “The Problem With Public Meetings” we took you inside a frustrating community meeting in Fort Greene, Brooklyn and urged compassion and understanding for neighbors who aren’t quite yet on board with The War on Cars. Here in Part 2, we’re taking you to yet another community meeting, this time, in Park Slope, Brooklyn where diplomacy fails, the action gets kinetic and a TWOC ...

Episode 27: The Problem With Public Meetings, Part 1

In the battle to make cities better for walking, biking and transit, there’s no more important front line than local community meetings. So when a flyer advertising a town-hall forum about the New York City Department of Transportation’s alleged “war on cars” began appearing in Brooklyn neighborhoods, we knew we had to attend. On this episode, we discuss what happens when regular citize...

T-shirts!

Hello, War on Cars foot soldiers! (Or bike soldiers or whatever.)

Thanks to everyone who messaged us with their t-shirt size over the summer. We just mailed out a small batch of t-shirts from our last printing, so some of those should have arrived to supporters already. If you have not received yours, it's coming soon! We had to order a reprint with the new women's sizes and those just sh...

TWOC BONUS: Barcelona’s Superblocks with David Roberts of Vox.

Troops:

Here's one more special early episode release just for you, our Patreon supporters. Thanks again for your backing. We really appreciate it. As always, let us know what you think here in the comment section, via email or on Twitter.

-- Aaron, Sarah & Doug

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Barcelona, Spain is testing out a powerful new weapon in the war on cars. It’s called the ...

Summer T-shirt sizes!

Hello all!

Thanks for your support of The War on Cars.

If you just became a supporter in June, July or August and have not already sent us your T-shirt size, please do. 

Here are what CustomInk calls "standard" sizes:

https://www.customink.com/items/...

TWOC BONUS: Adam Conover Ruins The War on Cars

Greetings, fellow foot soldiers in The War On Cars!

Here's an early exclusive for our Patreon supporters, released before it goes live to the general public. We hope you enjoy it! Please let us know what you think in the comments or send us an email.

And thanks as always for your ongoing contributions. Your support truly does make the podcast possible.

More to come...

- ...

Next round of t-shirts!

Hello fellow foot soldiers in the War on Cars!

We're sending out a new batch of t-shirts to people who became Patreon supporters at the $15 level. If you haven't already, please send us a private message with your size. We now offer men's and women's sizes, so specific which type you want. Women's sizes are being printed and should arrive in Brooklyn soon, but that means they'll take a li...

Episode 21: WCAR - Easy Listening, Tough Questions

Hello, fellow soldiers in the War on Cars!

Our new episode is available wherever you get your podcasts.

No, you’ve not tuned into late-night Lite FM radio. In this special mailbag episode, Sarah and Doug hear from listeners around the world, taking your questions and comments on everything from disabled cyclists, how to make bike lanes as common as sidewalks, when to take the car ...

We need you for an upcoming episode!

We hope you enjoyed our latest episode on the converging crises of housing and transportation in California with special guest Alissa Walker of Curbed. We were back in the studio this morning recording a new episode, to be released early next week.

Here's where you come in!

We had a lot of fun late last year doing our mailbag episode and want to close out spring/kick off summer with...

Thanks! (And a quick note about Patreon)

Thanks so much to everyone who has supported The War on Cars either from the beginning, along the way or just for the past month. We sincerely could not produce the podcast without your contributions and are so very grateful for your enthusiasm and listenership. We have some big episodes planned and want to keep things growing.

One quick note for new(ish) supporters about how Patreon work...

Episode 18: Breaking the Law

It’s the most controversial question in all of urban biking: Why do cyclists run red lights, ride on sidewalks and go the wrong way down one-way streets? In this episode, Aaron, Sarah and Doug talk to New York City cyclists about why they behave the way they do. Plus, we seek out a higher authority for an interpretation of the legal and ethical dilemmas people on bikes confront while moving t...

Inside the Situation Room: The Making of the War on Cars

Our friend Clarence Eckerson, Jr. of Streetfilms sat in on the recording of our most recent episode and shot this exclusive behind-the-scenes movie about the making of The War on Cars. We hope you enjoy it! Of course, we had to mention how great it is to have the support and listenership of people all over the world so thank you to everyone who contributes to the production of the podcast. We g...

T-shirts!

Hello, Captains!

If you are supporting us at the $15 level, thank you! We appreciate all of our supporters and depend on your contributions to make this podcast possible. We're plowing every dollar we get back into the production, so thanks so much.

If you are a new supporter at the $15 level and haven't already done so, please send us a message with your t-shirt size. 

S...

Episode 17: Infiltrating the Auto Show

Once a year, the world descends on Manhattan for the New York International Auto Show, an extravagant, multimillion-dollar celebration of all things car. From the most “sinister” Dodge Challenger to a Kia that can sense a driver’s mood and adjust the vehicle’s interior accordingly, the Auto Show isn’t just a showcase for new products, it’s a vision of the future of the North America...

BrooklynSpoke v. Josh Marshall

After Josh Marshall of TalkingPointsMemo.com made a comment on Twitter that made cycling advocates upset, our very own Doug Gordon went on his podcast to discuss cycling in the city, why it's not okay to dehumanize people who bikes, and the general state of affairs when it comes to making cities safer for people who aren't in cars. We hope you enjoy it.

The War on Cars: Production/Release Update

Footsoldiers in the War on Cars!

We wanted to give you an update on our production schedule and where we stand with the release of our latest episode. As some of you may know from our Twitter feed, we recently put out the call for a new producer. We received a lot of good responses and are narrowing down the search as we speak, but it has delayed our next episode by a bit. We'll be back i...

Official t-shirts for Patreon supporters are on their way!

Fellow footsoldiers in the War on Cars,

The first batch of t-shirts for Patreon supporters who contributed $15 or more are on their way! Thanks so much for your patience. When you get yours, send us a picture or @ us on Twitter. We'd love to see all the places they'll go. Bonus points to anyone who wears them to a community or civic meeting about bike lanes or transit.

If you are du...

The latest news in the War on Cars

Hello patrons!

A few updates:

- We're hard at work on the next episode. It will be a little different from our typical fare to date, and we hope you find it interesting and informative. Look for it hopefully by the end of this week.

- We have a good slate of episodes lined up for the spring and early summer, but also want to hear from you about episode ideas. What are we missi...

The War on Cars Meets Car Talk: The Full Interview

Here it is, folks! Doug's full interview with Ray Magliozzi of Car Talk fame. Recorded last month at WBUR in Boston, Massachusetts, the conversation covers everything from SUVs to Ray's thoughts on bike lanes. (He even admits to going through the occasional red light while on his bike.)

Enjoy it and please let us know what you think. And thanks for your patience waiting for this Patreon s...

Episode 15: Can the Millennials Win the War on Cars?

A new generation of urban leaders is rising to power and they’re kicking butt and challenging long-standing assumptions about the role of the car in the city. Among them is Corey Johnson, New York City’s new City Council Speaker. At 37 years old, Corey is the first bonafide, avocado toast–eating Millennial to hold citywide elected office. We ride the subway with Corey to learn more about ...

BONUS: Our full interview with Ray Magliozzi of Car Talk

Here's our full interview with Ray Magliozzi of "Car Talk," recorded at the WBUR studios in Boston. What does one half of the famous Tappet Brothers think about all the changes happening on city streets? Find out in this bonus episode where Doug and Ray talk about everything from SUVs and bike lanes to running red lights on a bicycle and how to share the road.

Currently available to Patre...