PREVIEW: We Know What We Read Last Summer

PREVIEW: We Know What We Read Last Summer

Author: The War on Cars, LLC July 29, 2025 Duration: 6:14

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.

While we were researching and writing "Life After Cars" last year, we read and pulled information from dozens upon dozens of books. There were also a handful of books that caught our attention but that, try as we might, didn't quite warrant inclusion in our own. In this Patreon exclusive, we talk about two of these books: "Road Safety: How to Reduce Accidents" by T.S. Skillman (1965) and an anthology called "He Rides Beside You" (1957). For very different reasons, both are fascinating examples of the mindset of people who knew a life before cars and, more than halfway into the 20th century, were grappling with the reality of life during cars.

Become a Patreon supporter of the podcast for access to the entire episode.

Pre-order our new book, Life After Cars: Freeing Ourselves from the Tyranny of the Automobile, coming in October from Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. And catch us on tour this fall and beyond. Tickets for live shows are on sale now!


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: 100

The War on Cars
Podcast Episodes
Back to School with the Bike Bus [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 20:54
If you've never heard of a bike bus—or a bicibús, as it's known in the Catalonian capital of Barcelona—it's a beautifully simple idea. Kids and parents ride their bikes to school along a pre-planned route, picking up cla…
Inclusive Transportation with Veronica O. Davis [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 44:30
In her new book, Inclusive Transportation: A Manifesto for Repairing Divided Communities, Veronica O. Davis — the Director of Transportation and Drainage Operations for the city of Houston, Texas — takes a hard look at t…
TEASER: Chaos in the Bike Lane with Aaron Gordon [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 10:49
The rising problem of mopeds and motorcycles in New York City bike lanes is impossible to ignore but the solutions are anything but simple. Recently, journalist and friend of the podcast Aaron Gordon wrote an essay for h…
EXTRA: Inside Automotive Journalism with Bob Sorokanich [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:54
***This is a bonus episode that was previously only available to Patreon supporters of The War on Cars. If you want to hear more bonus episodes like this, please enlist today! We'll taking a very short summer break and w…
TEASER: Live from New York! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:58
This special episode of The War on Cars was recorded live before a sold-out audience at Caveat on the Lower East Side of Manhattan and was styled after a community board meeting... except instead of people yelling at eac…
Traffication with Paul Donald [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 40:29
In his groundbreaking book, Traffication: How Cars Destroy Nature and What We Can Do About It, scientist and researcher Paul Donald synthesizes dozens of studies to help us understand what cars and roads do to living thi…
SPECIAL: Freeway Exit [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 26:37
This is a special presentation of the first episode of Freeway Exit, a six-part series produced by award-winning reporter Andrew Bowen of KPBS Public Media in San Diego, California. Freeway Exit reveals the mostly forgot…
Is It Worth It To Confront Drivers? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 45:25
Have you ever been walking across the street when a driver turned into your path and almost hit you? Or riding your bike when a hostile horn-honker laid into you for delaying them to the next red light by a few seconds?…
TEASER: Inside Automotive Journalism with Bob Sorokanich [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:07
Have you ever wondered what the reporters who cover the auto industry think about oversized SUVs and pickups and whether the fever for these gas-guzzling, space-hogging, planet-heating and people-killing monstrosities wi…

«1...678910