History

The Big Dig

There is a cynicism that hangs over the topic of American infrastructure – whether it’s high-speed rail or off-shore wind – it feels like this country can’t build big things anymore. No one project embodies that cynicism quite like what Bostonians call ‘The Big Dig.’ Infamous for its ever-increasing price tag, this massive highway tunneling effort was once ridiculed as the Big Mess, the Big Hole, the Big Pig, the Big Lie. But now, decades later the story looks more complicated. So how did the narrative around this project go so horribly wrong? And what lessons can it offer for the ambitious projects of today?

The nine episode series is produced by GBH News in partnership with PRX.

Latest Episodes:

Highway Teardown Tour | 10. Providence, RI Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

The Big Dig in Boston was a fluke, a unicorn, something we may never see again. But there are simpler and cheaper ways to rethink our urban highways – Providence, RI tried one.

Guests: Edward Fitzpatrick, Zack Cunha, Mike Lewis

Recorded live with Globe Rhode Island at CIC Providence

Hear the full Washington Bridge Blues playlist here

Highway Teardown Tour | 11. Boston, MA Jul 22, 2026

Show notes

The final chapter of the Big Dig story is what happened to the land after the highway was gone. Like the rest of the project, it was messy, and other cities would be wise to learn from it.

Guests: Stephanie Pollack, Chris Cook

Recorded live at the MIT Museum

Highway Teardown Tour | 9. Philadelphia, PA Jul 15, 2026

Show notes

Even as cities try to heal the damage of the interstate era, we are also continuing to expand our urban highways, continuing to turn parks and neighborhoods into new lanes and new off-ramps. So why is it so hard to stop?

Guests: Inga Saffron, Daniel Pearson, Leslie Richards

Recorded at The Pen & Pencil Club with support from Miles Bryan and Tom Grahsler

Highway Teardown Tour | 8. Baltimore, MD Jul 08, 2026

Show notes

This episode is about a very different kind of teardown – one that came suddenly, tragically, and without warning. But within this utterly unique story there are some universal questions about how we build for the present and the future.

Guests: Johnny Olszewski, Samantha Biddle, Wambui Kamau, Arkia Wade, Klaus Philipsen

Recorded live with WYPR at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

Highway Teardown Tour | 7. Louisville, KY Jul 01, 2026

Show notes

In the stories we tell about public works, there is a constant bias towards the projects that actually happened, but it’s the apparently ‘failed’ projects that can often teach us the most.

Guests: Marcus Green, Tyler Allen, Ken Herndon

Recorded live with LPM at the LPM Performance Studio.

Highway Teardown Tour | 6. Portland, OR Jun 24, 2026

Show notes

The anti-highway movement, like any movement, has always been a coalition. Different people with different backgrounds and different interests finding a common cause. But sometimes the coalition cracks.

Guests: Lillian Karabaic, Shawn Granton, Sharon Gary-Smith, Chris Smith

Recorded live with Oregon Public Broadcasting at Literary Arts in East Portland.

Highway Teardown Tour | 5. Seattle, WA Jun 17, 2026

Show notes

There is exactly one other American city crazy enough to attempt anything like what Boston did with The Big Dig. That city is Seattle, and they are not done tearing down highways.

Guests: Joshua McNichols, Greg Nickels, Cayce James, José Manuel Vasquez

Recorded live with KUOW at the Seattle Public Library.

Archival audio courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives

Highway Teardown Tour | 4. Austin, TX Jun 10, 2026

Show notes

How did the Austin City Council find themselves locked in a ‘death match’ over what to do about Interstate 35? Two councilors and two journalists talk through the fraught politics of so-called highway caps.

Guests: Megan Kimble, Nathan Bernier, José “Chito” Vela, Mike Siegel

Recorded live at the KUT Festival in Austin, TX.

Highway Teardown Tour | 3. Rochester, NY Jun 03, 2026

Show notes

Once the highway is gone, can the divisions these structures created actually be healed? Can the people on either side become neighbors again? Rochester, NY is trying to answer that question.

Guests: Erik Frisch, Brian Sharp, Shawn Dunwoody, Suzanne Mayer

Recorded live at the WXXI studios in Rochester, NY.

Highway Teardown Tour | 2. Syracuse, NY May 27, 2026

Show notes

Is it possible to re-write the Interstate map and send highways around cities instead of through them? Syracuse, NY is doing just that.

Guests: Marie Therese Dominguez, Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Joe Driscoll

Recorded live in partnership with WRVO and the Syracuse Museum of Science and Technology.