Political Courage with Brad Lander

Political Courage with Brad Lander

Author: The War on Cars, LLC September 9, 2025 Duration: 1:07:51

Brad Lander has been a fixture in New York's progressive political scene for nearly two decades now, and has earned a reputation as a strong advocate for bike lanes, bike share, driver accountability, and congestion pricing. This year, though, he's become known in a new way. As a candidate in a crowded Democratic mayoral primary, Brad cross-endorsed Zohran Mamdani, who eventually won the race with a margin that shocked the Democratic establishment. And in June, mere days before the primary ended, Brad was escorting a man named out of an immigration hearing when he was arrested by federal agents. Brad joins us to explain how his defense of the Prospect Park West bike lane as a then-new member of the New York City Council became a formative experience in his political career and why the courage and coalition building it takes to stand up for safe streets are also the same tools it takes to fight fascism.

Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive ad-free versions of regular episodes, exclusive bonus content, Discord access, presale tickets for live events, merch discounts, and free stickers!

***Our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, will be published on October 21, 2025. Pre-order now.***

Purchase tickets for our Life After Cars publication party and live show at The Bell House in Brooklyn on October 28th. And find don't miss our events in San Francisco, Vancouver, Washington, DC, and more.

The War on Cars is produced with the generous support of the Helen & William Mazer Foundation.

This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood and Upway. Listen for the latest discount codes.

www.lifeaftercars.com


Imagine a world not built around traffic jams and parking lots, but shaped for people. The War on Cars is a dispatch from the front lines of that effort, a collective conversation questioning the automobile’s dominance over our cities, our environment, and our daily lives. Each episode digs into the real-world fight to reclaim public space, examining everything from the politics of a new bike lane to the history of how cars came to rule. You’ll hear from urban planners, activists, historians, and ordinary people pushing back, offering a mix of sharp analysis, on-the-ground reporting, and compelling narratives. This isn’t just about transportation; it’s about the culture and societal choices that have led us here, and the tangible, often inspiring work to create safer, quieter, and more connected communities. Tune in for a thoughtful and necessary critique of the status quo, a podcast dedicated to the idea that our streets can-and should-be for so much more.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 50

The War on Cars
Podcast Episodes
Fine, We're Doing a Helmet Episode [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:26:01
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 mayor for modeling go…
PREVIEW: What Bicycles Can Do for Cities, via Velo-city 2026 [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 11:43
***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, be…
Let's Get Political [Re-release] [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:20
***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 The War on Cars. We…
Human Transit with Jarrett Walker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 56:53
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 North America, Europe…
PREVIEW: Bike is Best with Adam Tranter [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:17
***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, bec…
Final Dispatches from Book Tour [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:10:55
Our final Life After Cars book tour roundup episode is here, with our reports from Atlanta, Memphis, Chicago, Montréal, Orlando, Portland, Maine, and many, many more great North American cities! We get into the good, the…
Sidewalk Nation [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:06:00
In most parts of the United States and elsewhere, sidewalks exist in a legal grey area. They are public spaces that, at least when it comes to things such as maintenance and snow removal, are largely the responsibility o…
PREVIEW: Urban Planning Pop with Pondless [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 3:05
***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, be…
Rethinking Criminal Consequences for Drivers Who Kill [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:01:47
What should happen to drivers who kill or injure someone with their car? Does a focus on punishment for "reckless" or "dangerous" drivers let everyone else off the hook and never force them to look at the larger harms of…
Changing Lanes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 58:45
What does it take to make a street safer for everyone? In the US, it typically requires a combination of tragedy, grassroots organizing, and political leadership. Even when these ingredients come together, success is nev…