Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 175: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - The City That Lost Its Zoning Jul 15, 2025

Show notes

This week we're Han Solo but we've got some great items to discuss with you all. We talk about how Salt Lake lost its street design, how Charlottesville lost its zoning code, and the importance of transit to the justice system.

Post Items

Stop building highways - Bloomberg CityLab

No zoning in Charlottesville - Charlottesville Tomorrow

How Utah took away SLC's streets - Building Salt Lake

Transit essential to the justice system - City and State PA

Wildlife evolution - LA Times

Bonus Items

Building credit - Brooklyn Reader

Cities not built for mothers - Architectural Digest

Dutch kids happier - CNN

Texas outlaws dealer paper plates - Jalopnik

Chinatown rent strike works - LA Public Press

Cutting shipping emissions - Anthropocene Magazine

Bike commuter benefits gone - Politico Pro

Tax deduction on car interest - Kiplinger

Hawaii launches road user charges - Citti Magazine

Fig trees turn CO2 to stone - Discover Magazine

Teens taking Waymos now - Wired Magazine

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Episode 540: Localities Subsidize the State DOT Jul 10, 2025

Show notes

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by Adie Tomer of Brookings to discuss a paper he and his team wrote about the idea of regional block grants. He discusses the local subsidies going to state DOTs and how more local funding could mean more regional collaboration on infrastructure.

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Flashback: Fixing Mobility as a Service Jul 03, 2025

Show notes

This week we're joined by David Hencher, Director of the Institute of Transport and Logistics Studies at the University of Sydney. David chats about how to fix Mobility as a Service, why transportation providers aren't home base for these services, and proposes a new way to reduce travel and emissions called Mobility as a Feature.

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Support the show on Patreon

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Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!

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Episode 174: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - A Bike Share Triathlon Jul 01, 2025

Show notes

This week we're Han Solo again, but we discuss lead pollution and serial killers, PM 1 micro-pollution, and how ICE raids are reducing transit ridership in Los Angeles.

Below is a full linked article list:

Main Items

ICE raids lead to low LA ridership - LA Times

Tinier particles data finally collected - Washington University St. Louis

Reversible architecture - ArchDaily

TTC congestion management - blogTO

Bonus Items

KC wants to pay for block parties - Kansas City Star

Disasters impact baby brains - Gizmodo

Full of lead - The Overhead Wire

Oakland block tries to quit fossil fuels - KQED

End of Energy Star? - Smart Cities Dive

China's high speed rail debate - Asia Times

Arizona to vote on VMT charges - Ballotpedia

How government can finance low cost homes - Nonprofit Quarterly

Florida restricts bus lanes to ridership quotas - Tampa Bay Times

New motor could change e-bikes - Electrek

Toronto bike lane gets more traffic - Carbon Upfront!

Oregon housing bonds surpassed expectations - Governing

Puppies and Butterflies:

Michelin Restaurants on LA Transit

Bike share triathlon

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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 539: Testing Universal Basic Mobility Jun 26, 2025

Show notes

This week we're joined by Madeline Brozen of the UCLA Lewis Center for Regional Policy Studies. We talk about universal basic mobility and research her team has done on the LA Mobility Wallet Pilot Program.

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Support the show on Patreon

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Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!

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And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 538: Small Scale Manufacturing in Cities Jun 19, 2025

Show notes

This week we're joined by Ilana Preuss of Recast City to talk about small scale manufacturing in cities. We discuss the commercial side of economic development, the types of jobs we are creating, and how to build community wealth in left behind places. We also talk about hot planning topics such as jobs housing balance, economic multipliers, and spreading the retail peanut butter too thin.

Get Illana's book Recast City.

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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 173: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Is This Podcast a Third Place? Jun 17, 2025

Show notes

This week on the podcast, we're Han Solo but there's still a lot of news to share! We talk about research that shows how active transportation can reduce emissions even more than before, the ever growing fueling station, the "dark roof" lobby, and what is a third place really?

Below are the show notes with the items we discussed.

Show Notes

Gas stations growing - New York Times

Emissions reductions from active transport - Transportation Research Part D

Traffic academy expands - News from the States

Dark roof lobby - The Guardian

What is a third place? - Eater

Supreme court permitting revolution - Heatmap

Commuter rail ridership is urban - Pedestrian Observations

Santa Monica airport over people - Fast Company

Bonus Items

LA gentrification lowers transit ridership - CalMatters

Ending race, gender DBE contracting by USDOT - Reuters

Chinese trucks switch to electric - Transport Topics

Housing costs delay medical treatment - Wisconsin Public Radio

Poll says residents want Metromover - Miami Herald

Bologna's mobility strategy - Eurocities

Miami to monitor home temps - WLRN

Using mushrooms as building materials - Ideastream Public Radio

Limiting car dimensions - Transport and Environment

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Get the show ad free on Patreon!

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 537: Creating Positive Soundscapes in Cities Jun 12, 2025

Show notes

This week we're joined by Chris Berdik to talk about his book Clamor: How Noise Took Over the World and How We Can Take it Back. We discuss the impacts of road noise on health and wellbeing, how our brains process sound, and creating positive urban soundscapes. We also talk about the problems with open offices and the incomplete story of the decibel.

Bonus link: Designing the sounds of TfL's buses in London - YouTube

Find Chris at ChrisBerdik.com

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Get the show ad free on Patreon!

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 536: Keys to San Francisco's Future Jun 05, 2025

Show notes

This week we're joined by Sujata Srivastava, Chief Policy Officer at SPUR, to discuss a recent policy brief entitled The Next 100 Days: An urbanist decision-making framework for San Francisco's new mayor. We discuss reforming the city's governance structure, what's needed for downtown recovery, transit policy and climate resilience.

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Get the show ad free on Patreon!

Support the show on Patreon

http://patreon.com/theoverheadwire

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 172: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Charge Them More for Zombie Miles Jun 03, 2025

Show notes

This week on Mondays at The Overhead Wire we're Han Solo, but we've got some really interesting pieces for everyone including on federal transportation funding, EPA trying to kill climate protections, and a group of Seattle friends build a home together.

Main News

Highway trust fund dead since 2008 - T4America

EPA wants to kill GHG regs for power plants - New York Times

Washington State woonerfs - The Urbanist

US government built social housing - The Conversation

The 50% AV problem - Changing Lanes

Group of friends live together - Fast Company

Front range rail line - Colorado Newsline

Maui neighborhood built fast - Fast Company

Valencia's ceramic paving - Euronews

Seattle's new subway - City Observatory

Regional Block Grants - Brookings