The War on Cars

The War on Cars, LLC
  • 4.8 (917)
  • SOCIETY & CULTURE

The War on Cars brings you news, commentary and stories about the worldwide battle to undo a century's worth of damage wrought by the automobile.

  1. 2D AGO

    Superbowl Roundup with Ian Chillag

    Super Bowl LX had everything, from ads for weight loss drugs and male grooming products to spots touting tax prep services and calming fears about our AI overlords. It also had one outstanding halftime performance from Bad Bunny. But what the game didn't have was a whole lot of car ads. (Or a whole lot of touchdowns, but that's a different story.) Why, after dominating the broadcast for decades, has the automobile industry gone cool on one of broadcasting's biggest nights? And what did the few cars ads that did run say about the state of the nation and American culture at this particularly fraught moment in time? Ian Chillag—creator and host of the award-winning Radiotopia podcast "Everything is Alive," the co-host of NPR's "How to Do Everything," and a senior producer of "Wait Wait… Don't Tell Me"—joins us to break it all down. Join The War on Cars on Patreon and listen to exclusive ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! Watch all of the Super Bowl ads. (NY Times) Listen to Ian Chillag's podcasts How to Do Everything and Everything is Alive. Order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Find us on tour and get tickets at lifeaftercars.com. Thanks to Cleverhood for sponsoring this episode. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get the best rain gear for walking and cycling. The War on Cars is produced with support from the Helen and William Mazer Foundation. www.thewaroncars.org

    1h 11m

  2. JAN 27

    PREVIEW: Women Changing Cities with Melissa and Chris Bruntlett

    ***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, presale tickets to live shows, and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.*** When it comes to transforming cities and reclaiming space from the automobile, some of the best and boldest leaders are women. There's Mayor Anne Hidalgo in Paris and former Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante, just to name two. Why is that so? That's the question explored by our guests, urban mobility experts Melissa and Chris Bruntlett, in their new book: Women Changing Cities: Global Stories of Urban Transformation. The Bruntletts discuss the qualities that have allowed these leaders—along with women planners, advocates, and policymakers—to reshape their cities to benefit people, not cars. When women lead, cities thrive. This bonus episode was recorded live at the Actors' Playhouse at the Miracle Theatre in Coral Gables, Florida. Thanks to Transit Alliance Miami for hosting this epic teamup. Join The War on Cars on Patreon and listen to exclusive ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! Order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Find us on tour and get tickets at lifeaftercars.com. thewaroncars.org

    10 min

  3. JAN 20

    The Importance of Livable Streets with Bruce Appleyard

    We talked with Dr. Bruce Appleyard, who has spent a lifetime thinking about what we mean when we talk about liveable streets—and why it is so important that we build our cities with human beings in mind, first and foremost. Bruce's research makes an appearance in Life After Cars, and his father, Donald Appleyard, was a legend in this field for his work that led to the indispensable book Livable Streets, published in 1981. In 2020 Bruce published Livable Streets 2.0, which brings his father's book up to date while preserving its core principles and teachings. We talked with him about how streets can foster (or erode) social ties in our communities, how car-centric infrastructure harms children's ability to navigate, and how we can fulfill what his father called "the promise of our streets." Join The War on Cars on Patreon and listen to exclusive ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! Order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Find us on tour and get tickets at lifeaftercars.com. Thanks to Cleverhood for sponsoring this episode. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get the best rain gear for walking and cycling. www.thewaroncars.org

    53 min

  4. JAN 6

    The Creation of America's Car Culture, Part 2

    Signed into law by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, The Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956, otherwise known as the National Interstate and Defense Highways Act, ushered in an unprecedented era of roadbuilding in the United States, becoming the largest public works project in the country's history. Designed to spread freedom and prosperity — and, as the name implies, provide for the national defense — these highways tore through urban neighborhoods, destroying once-thriving communities and displacing countless citizens, many of them people of color. In this special report, we examine just what inspired this massive project and the effects it had on two communities, one in New Orleans and one in Syracuse. This episode was produced with the generous support of the Helen & William Mazer Foundation. Join The War on Cars on Patreon and listen to exclusive ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! Order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Find us on tour and get tickets at lifeaftercars.com. Thanks to Cleverhood for sponsoring this episode. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get the best rain gear for walking and cycling. www.thewaroncars.org

    31 min

  5. 12/30/2025

    PREVIEW: Hanging Out with Jonathan Maus of Bike Portland

    ***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, presale tickets to live shows, and more, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.*** We were out in Portland, Oregon, for our book tour in November, and spent a lot of great time hanging out with Jonathan Maus, the legendary founder of Bike Portland. We sat down with Jonathan in his backyard shed/studio and talked about how a great bike city can get even better, the importance of transit, and how media is an important part of the movement for more human cities. Order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile. And catch us on tour in 2026: Tickets for live shows are on sale now! www.thewaroncars.org

    6 min

  6. 12/23/2025

    Dispatches from Book Tour, Part 2

    We are back home in Brooklyn but we can't stop talking about everything we saw out on the road on our Life After Cars book tour. Listen for our takes on the second leg of our trip, which took us from Providence to Austin to Houston to Denver to Boulder…and then ended with a surprise diversion to an unexpected destination. We've seen so much along the way—like just how destructive freeway expansions can be. But also how cities can reclaim automobile infrastructure for humans! Plus, a shout-out to all the people who took such good care of us along the way.  Our book tour continues! Find out where we'll be next at lifeaftercars.com. Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! Order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Thanks to Cleverhood for sponsoring this episode. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get the best rain gear for walking and cycling. www.thewaroncars.org

    1h 18m

  7. 11/25/2025

    Dispatches from Book Tour

    The last few weeks have been a whirlwind as we hit the road (not in a car) to promote our new book, Life After Cars, in some of the greatest cities of North America including San Francisco, Washington, DC, Seattle, Vancouver, BC, Nanaimo, BC, Portland, OR, San Diego, and Los Angeles (as well as our home base of NYC, of course). Getting to visit all these cities in person, often walking and riding the streets accompanied by local advocates and elected officials, was a real joy and a privilege. We saw a lot! And maybe not surprisingly for a couple of podcasters, we had some thoughts about all of it—from excellent bike lanes and public spaces to transit service that left a lot to be desired and the horror that is Interstate 5.  Our tour continues! Find out where we'll be next at lifeaftercars.com.  Our upcoming schedule: Providence, RI: 12/2 Austin, TX: 12/4 and 12/5 Houston, TX: 12/10 Denver, CO: 12/12 Boulder, CO: 12/13  Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! Thanks to Cleverhood for sponsoring this episode. Listen to this episode for the latest discount code and get the best rain gear for walking and cycling. Order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

    1h 7m

  8. 11/11/2025

    The Creation of America's Car Culture

    This episode is part of a special series called "Changing American Car Culture" funded with the generous support of The Helen and William Mazer Foundation. As historian Peter Norton documents in his book, Fighting Traffic, the death and destruction caused by the introduction of automobiles into U.S. cities in the early part of the 20th century caused a lot of people to challenge the notion that such machines would ever become popular. In response, autmobile companies, car dealers, driving enthuisasts, and others went on the offense, creating the culture that gave rise to the mass adoption of cars and the phenomenon of forced car dependence. In this special episode, producer Ilana Strauss brings us a story that begins with the pushback against automobiles, the fight for speed governors, and the unlikely partnership between a Studebaker dealer and a young academic who manufactured the rules and norms that came to shape American streets at the expense of anyone who isn't in a car. Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers! ***Our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves From the Tyranny of the Automobile, is out now from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Pre-order now and find us on tour.***  This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood. Listen for the latest discount code. www.lifeaftercars.com

    30 min
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About

The War on Cars brings you news, commentary and stories about the worldwide battle to undo a century's worth of damage wrought by the automobile.

Information

  • Creator
    The War on Cars, LLC
  • Years Active
    2018 - 2026
  • Episodes
    232
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © The War on Cars, LLC
  • Show Website
    The War on Cars

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