Superbowl Roundup with Ian Chillag

Superbowl Roundup with Ian Chillag

Author: The War on Cars, LLC February 10, 2026 Duration: 1:10:56

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

 


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
Should the Bus Be Free? With Yonah Freemark [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:39
Should the bus be free? That's the question everyone following the New York City mayoral race is asking, with Democratic primary winner Zohran Mamdani promising to focus on fast, free buses if he's elected to City Hall.…
PREVIEW: We Know What We Read Last Summer [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

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, becom…
BUILDING SOLIDARITY WITH BICYCLES AT VELO-CITY [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 54:10
At this year's Velo-city conference in Gdansk, the theme was "Energizing Solidarity," in honor of the city's history as the cradle of the Solidarity labor movement that helped bring down Communism in Poland. Velo-city is…
PREVIEW: Are Cyclists Too Mean Online? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 6:21
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, becom…
What Makes a City a Cycling City? [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:00:20
Why have some cities become places where it's easy to hop on a bike for daily transportation needs while others have languished or even been left behind? Is there some sort of magical combination of forces that separate…
John Mulaney, Natasha Lyonne and the Battle of the Bike Lanes [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:33
Recently, on an episode of the Netflix show Everybody's Live with John Mulaney, the subject turned to bike lanes. Or rather, the subject was turned to bike lanes by Natasha Lyonne. The actress, writer, director and produ…
TEASER: Live from Minneapolis! [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 5:19
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, becom…
Overcoming the Threat to Black Movement with Charles T. Brown [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 51:24
Charles T. Brown is a longtime friend of the podcast who was last with us in 2023. We welcomed him back to talk about his important new book, Arrested Mobility: Overcoming the Threat to Black Movement, out now from Islan…
Putting the Trans in Transit with Katelyn Burns [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 52:37
"Why are so many trans people into urban planning?" That's the question independent journalist and co-host of the Cancel Me, Daddy podcast Katelyn Burns asked her Bluesky followers, and she got an overwhelming response.…