Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

Latest Episodes:

Episode 185: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Getting Delivery Dominance Feb 10, 2026

Show notes

This week on Mondays at The Overhead Wire we're Han Solo, but got some great and interesting news for all the sickos out there. We talk about the legacy of Hope VI, tracking Amazon packages, trash can politics, and the silliness of letting protestors kill something before they've even protested for real.

MAIN ITEMS

USDOT wants AI to write rules - ProPublica

EVs make air cleaner - Autopian

LAMetro Board opposes SB79 - LA Streetsblog

Rankings are bunk - Jeff-alytics

Trash cans are expensive - The Hustle

Hope VI wins - Harvard Gazette

Amazon package routes - Urban Omnibus

Energy star not dead - NPR

BONUS ITEMS

LA Metro Supulveda Pass - Daily Bruin

EPA to stop considering lives lost - New York Times

Medical debt linked to housing insecurity - Consumer Affairs

New Jersey e-bike regulations - GovTech

Data center emissions - Bloomberg

Richmond DOT - Commonwealth Times

Homeless youth universal basic income - Oregonian

Cambridge inclusionary zoning case - WBUR

Bill for transit ambassadors - Berkeleyside

DOT Beautification council - Fast Company

PUPPIES AND BUTTERFLIES

Superbowl halftime designs - NYT

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Episode 565: Ed Roberts - An Independent Man Feb 05, 2026

Show notes

This week we're joined by Professor Scot Danforth of Chapman University to discuss his book An Independent Man: Ed Roberts and the Fight for Disability Rights. We chat about Ed's life, the origins of the disability movement, and creating access for all.

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Episode 564: One Year of Congestion Pricing Jan 29, 2026

Show notes

This week on the Talking Headways podcast I'm joined by Danny Pearlstein of the Riders Alliance to Talk About the One Year Anniversary of Congestion Pricing in New York City. We chat about the history of the idea, the mobilization of activists to turn the cameras on, and sour grapes from New Jersey and USDOT.

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Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube!

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

And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 184: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - The Oldest Transit with Kate Gasparro Jan 27, 2026

Show notes

This week on Mondays at The Overhead Wire we're joined by Kate Gasparro, host of the Building Better Cities podcast! We talk about the first transit system invented by mathematician Blaise Pascal, whether design is making the housing shortage worse, LA Metro's new Care Based Services Division, and whether Chicago should have taken back it's parking meters from private equity.

Below are the items we discussed in greater detail:

The first transit system - France Today

LA Metro's new Care Based Services Division - Los Angeles Sentinel

Ugly buildings and the design shortage - Vox

Mayor Johnson won't try to buy back parking meters - Chicago Tribune

Denmark's red lights - Daily Galaxy | Frank Markowitz and Leni Schwendinger's Lighting Episode 379

Puppies and Butterflies

Star Wars Maul Trailer

The Pitt is an example of "Competancy Porn" - Washington Post

Many thanks to Bob Nanna for our music.

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Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!

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And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 563: Week Without Driving Jan 22, 2026

Show notes

This week Talking Headways is being hosted by our friend Anna Zivarts who guides a panel of elected officials and advocates to talk about the impacts of the Week Without Driving. They look back at 2025's activities and look forward to this year's version.

Featured guests include:

Arizona State Senator Analise Ortiz (Referenced Videos on TikTok and Instagram)

Rochester MN City Council Member Nick Miller

Alice Hilton and Quinn Mulholland Living Streets Lexington

Kai Hall of Greater Greater Washington

Ruth Rosas of Nondrivers Alliance

Listen to Anna speak previously on Episodes 366 & 488

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

And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Episode 562: The Lost Subways of North America Jan 15, 2026

Show notes

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by Jake Berman to talk about his book, The Lost Subways of North America: A Cartographic Guide to the Past, Present, and What Might Have Been. We discuss transit histories through the lens of racial dynamics, monopolies, ballot measures, and overlooked cities.

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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

Episode 183: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Changing Social Identities Jan 13, 2026

Show notes

We're back for a new year of Mondays at The Overhead Wire! This week we're chatting about faster transit, cable cars in the Paris region, congestion pricing and more!

Below you'll find links to the items we discuss during the show...

Closing labor force gap - Los Angeles Times

Congestion pricing air pollution - Phys.org

Congestion pricing benefits - NYT

Leaving DART is hard - D Magazine

Paris cable car - Metro

Speed matters - Italian (urban) letters

Quiet sells - Wall Street Journal

Road salt remains - WHYY

California speeding penalties - Los Angeles Times

Pusing green can backfire - Grist

Misinformation - Volts

Bonus Items

Carmakers and operators liable in China - Cleantechnica

Euro cities clamp down on big cars - AS

Eileen Higgins wins Miami Mayorship - Talking Headways episode

LA Streamlining - Los Angeles Times

Oldes social housing - Deutsche Welle

Dutch answer to water - Inside Climate News

Atlanta's housing progress - Rough Draft Atlanta

Where the prarie remains - Noema

Kotek calls for new transport bill - Bike Portland

Houston residents spend on transport - Houston Public Media

Santa Fe links minimum wage to cost of housing - KRWG

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Buy books on our Bookshop.org Affiliate site!

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Episode 561: Mpact Poster Sessions Jan 08, 2026

Show notes

This week we're back at the Mpact Transit + Community Conference in Portland Oregon at the Mpact Innovators Poster Sessions. We talk with young professionals about the transportation implementation and policy work they've been doing in the field including designing new transportation hubs, rethinking parking, and improving bus service.

This week we're at the 2025 Mpact Transit + Community Conference in Portland Oregon and we're chatting with young professionals about their work that they presented at the Mpact Innovators poster session. The Innovators is an all-volunteer national networking group that organizes events and networking at the conference each year. Each of the interviews is about five minutes and we have a link to the posters in the show notes in case you want to follow along with the visuals. I will note that the poster sessions occurred during one of the evening gatherings so you may hear a bit of background noise. But there are some pretty cool ideas in here so hopefully you all stick around to check all 8 of them out.

Cameron Thompson - Sisters East Portal Transportation Hub

Veronica Mandasari - Reimagining Mill Avenue: What Tempe can Learn from Portland's Walkable Street Design

Emily D'Antonio - TriMet Better Bus: Improving Reliability at Greeley and Going

Eric Gasper - Bridgeless to Better Burnside

Daniel Lambert - Pathways Transit Assistance Team (PTAT): A Trauma-Informed Alternative to Object-Oriented Security on Transit Systems

Ryan Martyn - Wasted Space: Using Parking Lots to Improve Neighborhood Completeness

Jules Plotts - Employer-Centered Accessibility Model to Non-Dayshift Work

Maddy Belden - Development & Datasets

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Replay: In a Bad State Jan 01, 2026

Show notes

Hey everybody! I want to wish everyone a happy new year! We're doing our second replay episode at the end of the year featuring one of my favorite discussions over the last few years with David Schleicher about his book In a Bad State. This is one of the foundational ideas for me of late because of how we fund transportation infrastructure with bonds but also how those bonds are backed up! I think about the Tri-lemma often and how many of the fiscal issues with climate change and transportation can be traced back to the topics in this discussion. Anyways, I hope you all enjoy hopping back to 2023 and Episode 439.

This week we're joined by Yale Law professor David Schleicher to talk about his new book, In a Bad State: Responding to State and Local Budget Crises. We chat about how historic fiscal crisis shape similar responses today and how infrastructure funding plays out in the United States.

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

And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com

Replay: Sustainable Infrastructure for Cities and Societies Dec 25, 2025

Show notes

We're joined by Professor Michael Neuman to talk about his book Sustainable Infrastructure for Cities and Societies. We chat about why trees are important models for infrastructure development, the important lessons of Barcelona for the world, and why infrastructure is lately seen as a monetary asset instead of a public good.

This week we're going back in time to Episode 392 from July of 2022. I really loved this book and hope that more people would read it. It's an academic title but Professor Neuman really shared a lot of new ideas and thoughts in here. And I love the discussion about trees as beings way wiser than us humans…. Also I want to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. We might have something for you next week but I'm not going to guarantee it. We do have some AMAZING things coming next year so stay tuned!

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Support the show on Patreon

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And everything else at http://theoverheadwire.com