The War on Cars28 Jan 2025

TEASER: The Romance of the Automobile

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!

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(255)

Running the Chicago Transit Authority with Nora Leerhsen

Since 2025, Nora Leerhsen has served as the acting president of the Chicago Transit Authority, the second-largest transit system in the United States and an indelible icon of the city. She is the firs...

6 Okt 55min

PREVIEW: Ashik Jain, the Bicycle Mayor of One of India's Fastest Growing Cities

***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...

29 Sep 10min

Fighting for Federal Transportation Dollars with Mike McGinn

How will the United States spend $580 billion in federal funds for transportation over the next five years? That's the question facing Congress right now, as it's time once again for the transportatio...

22 Sep 46min

Fine, We're Doing a Helmet Episode

After New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani posted a social media video showing him listening to concerned citizens and deciding to wear a bicycle helmet, social media exploded. Some people praised the m...

8 Sep 1h 26min

PREVIEW: What Bicycles Can Do for Cities, via Velo-city 2026

25 Aug 11min

Let's Get Political [Re-release]

***We're taking a quick summer break this week so we're releasing this recent Patreon bonus episode into the general feed. We hope you enjoy it as a taste of what you can get if you sign up to support...

18 Aug 1h 6min

Human Transit with Jarrett Walker

Jarrett Walker's career has been dedicated to improving the quality of public transit in the United States and beyond. A specialist in bus network design, he has led transit planning projects around N...

4 Aug 56min