Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 598: A More Humanized Experience in Honolulu Oct 22, 2026

Show notes

This week on the Talking Headways podcast, we're joined by Jon Nouchi, Director of Transit at the City and County of Honolulu. At the Mpact conference in Toronto, we discussed the idea of iconic transit systems, time as a performance metric, humanizing transit systems, and the Skyline rail line.

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Episode 200: Mondays at the Overhead Wire - What is Our Future? Oct 20, 2026

Show notes

This week on Mondays at The Overhead Wire, Tracy McMillan and Chrissy Mancini-Nichols join the show for episode 200!!! We talk about a mobility idea that's like cap and trade, the idea of time, nostalgia and an imagined future for ourselves, measuring the GDP outcomes of our transportation investments, and the big questions about auto dependence. Lots of great discussion and fun ideas like maybe we should start a book club or a book segment! Let us know what you think.

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Many thanks to Bob Nanna for our intro/outro music.

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Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube!

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And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 597: The Gap Between Talent and Passion Oct 15, 2026

Show notes

This week on Talking Headways is Part 2 of our discussion with Reece Martin in Toronto at the Mpact Transit + Community Conference. We discuss projects getting picked apart in the media, The gap between talent and passion in transit agencies, high speed rail, and the threat of AVs to bad transit.

The Transit Brief

RM Transit on YouTube

This episode was recorded at the Mpact Transit + Community conference this year in Toronto. A big thanks to Mpact for always providing us with a space to record to have such great discussions. For more information about next year's conference in Kansas City visit mpactmobility.org

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Episode 596: Towards a Palpable Sense of Progress Oct 08, 2026

Show notes

This week on Talking Headways we are sharing Part 1 of a conversation with Reece Martin of The Transit Brief in Toronto at the Mpact Transit + Community Conference. We discuss the politics and impacts of fare policy, construction costs around the globe, the US' existential crisis, and the material benefits of progress.

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And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 199: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - New Ways to Think About Transport Oct 06, 2026

Show notes

This week we're back and Han Solo but we're covering lots of things including the thinking differently about our transportation investments around the country, the sillyness of cutting property taxes in states, and thinking more about tenant investment vehicles. Much more of course! Stay tuned.

News Items

Philly green corridors - Architect's Newspaper

More trains - Grist

Future transport policy - Brookings

The Future is HSR - The Transit Brief

High speed metro is something new - The Transit Brief

City hospice in Florida - Florida Politics

Zurich taking space from cars - Swissinfo.ch

Congestion pricing wins - EDF

Housing as a human right - Dame Magazine

Great american tax freakout - SSRN

Rental investment vehicles - Stanford Social Innovation Review

Plug in hybrids caught emitting more - Transport and Environment

Transit increases GDP - Global News

Bonus Items

Highways and chain stores - Strong Towns

Disbanding public utilities? - Texas Tribune

Childcare takes income - Marketplace

Childcare in New Mexico - The 74

A railroad infrastructure bank - Progressive Railroading

Wastewater recycling in Reno - Governing

Bike sharing can reduce emissions - Simon Frasier University

Electrification could cut Mexican oil use - Mexico Business News

87 year old's eviction in Spain - The Guardian

China opens more HSR - China Daily

Calgary Edmonton HSR - CBC News

Pattern books in housing bill - Bipartisan Policy Center

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Many thanks to Bob Nanna for our intro/outro music.

Get the show ad free on Patreon!

Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube!

Support the show on Patreon

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Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!

And get our Cars are Cholesterol shirt at Tee-Public!

And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 595: Architecture's Role in Population Decline Oct 01, 2026

Show notes

This week we're joined by the director of UNC Charlotte's school of Architecture Blaine Brownell. We talk about the role architecture and urbanism play in population decline, the need for permeability in walkable neighborhoods, and a revolution in building materials.

Blaine's upcoming book.

Street Permeability: Architect Magazine

Architecture's role in population collapse: Architect Magazine

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And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 594: People Based Accessibility Sep 24, 2026

Show notes

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by recent USC PhD graduate Wendy Zhou to discuss her dissertation, which focuses on dynamic accessibility. We talk about how static maps without a time based dimension don't tell the whole story on access and the idea of a people based accessibility.

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Mondays Flashback: Outdoor Lighting for Pedestrians Sep 22, 2026

Show notes

This week we're flashing back to Talking Headways episode 379 in which we were joined by Frank Markowitz and Leni Schwendinger to talk about the book Outdoor Lighting for Pedestrians. We chatted about creating legible nighttime spaces, what planners should focus on when programming lighted spaces, and the future of lighting and transportation.

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Many thanks to Bob Nanna for our intro/outro music.

Get the show ad free on Patreon!

Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube!

Support the show on Patreon

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Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!

And get our Cars are Cholesterol shirt at Tee-Public!

And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Flashback: Episode 542: Measuring Transportation System Success Sep 17, 2026

Show notes

This week we're away at a conference, but we're flashing back to episode 542 where we're joined once again by professor Karel Martens. We learn about how transportation engineering is good at measuring only one problem and ignoring others and a new tool to determine the success of transportation systems.

Fair Transport Lab Website

A scale for describing people's mobility status - Findings Press

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Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube!

Support the show on Patreon

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And get our Cars are Cholesterol shirt at Tee-Public!

And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 593: Carspreading Sep 10, 2026

Show notes

This week we're joined by Sofia Navas and James Nix of the NGO Transport & Environment to talk about their recent report: Ever Bigger? Car Size at a Crossroads. We discuss the increasing size of vehicles and why they keep growing. The safety issues that are tied to vehicle size increases, and the amount of parking and public space that could be lost.

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Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube!

Support the show on Patreon

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Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!

And get our Cars are Cholesterol shirt at Tee-Public!

And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com