Shift: A podcast about mobility

Episode 2 of Season 1 of “Futurismo,” Automotive News’ new podcast series about the next quarter century in the auto industry, introduces some of the foot soldiers in the mobility revolution — the founders and CEOs of transportation start-ups. They aren’t necessarily the people you’d expect. There’s a mother who was inspired to start a business as she ferried her kids around town; a former eBay executive whose service allows anyone with a car to post it on his website for others to use; and a San Francisco entrepreneur who works with local leaders in the Bay Area to test out ideas that encourage car-pooling.And there is the story of an Iraq War veteran who set up an app that churns through all transportation options — buses, trains, car-and-bike-sharing, whatever — to plot the best route to a destination. The app soon caught the attention of one of the world’s largest automakers.

Episode 1 of Season 1 of our new podcast, “Futurismo,” we set out to find people around the country who are living without the burden and convenience of car ownership. Naturally, they are all 20-somethings living in big urban areas where it’s easy to go without a car, right? Actually, no. We discovered busy people in rural regions and in large sprawling metropolitan areas with precious little public transportation who are doing quite nicely without a vehicle. We found car fanatics and truck drivers and people of all ages who have gone off the car-ownership grid. Meet the converts to the cult of car-sharing.

More than 70 years ago, a car company enlisted a theater set-piece designer to imagine what the cities of tomorrow would look like. His work quickly shaped how people envisioned the world of tomorrow. In our preview for Futurismo, we talk about the inspiration behind Automotive News' first podcast, announce the theme of season one and discuss how the future of cars may not be about cars at all.