This episode is part of a larger series where I’m sharing my books here on the podcast, not as a detour, but as context. If we want to understand what’s happening in Canada today, we need to understand how we got here.

Driven Wealth: The Rise and Fall and Future of the North American Auto Dream is the first in that series.

New book episodes drop Tuesdays and Fridays at 10 a.m., while regular episodes of The Canadianist continue throughout the week, woven in alongside this series.

In Part II, we move into the post-war era and follow the expansion, peak, and eventual strain on the system. Covering Chapters 4, 5, and 6, this section explores the height of middle-class prosperity, the pressures that began to build beneath it, and the early signs of the shift that would reshape the industry.

The system is now in motion.