 It's our annual Super Bowl roundup, where we analyze the car ads that ran during the Big Game and ask what they say about driving and, more importantly, U.S. culture. This year's ads included Will Ferrell cruising through a post-zombie-apocalyptic Las Vegas in a shiny GMC EV, a heroic "Binky Dad" who drives a KIA Telluride like no one would ever drive one in real life, and a parody ad that we thought won the night — and said a lot about how male fragility and big trucks are interconnected.   ***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive, ad-free bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.***   

TEASER: Super Bowl Roundup

The War on Cars is a podcast about car culture, mobility and the future of cities. We bring you news, commentary and stories about the worldwide battle to undo a century's worth of damage wrought by the automobile. The War on Cars is waged by three leading voices of the livable streets movement, Doug Gordon, Sarah Goodyear and Aaron Naparstek. Liberate your city. Enlist today in The War on Cars.

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The United States has built a transportation system centered around automobiles. But one-third of the nation’s population can’t drive, whether because of disability, age, financial hardship, immigration status, or any of a host of other factors. Those tens of millions of people are often invisible to planners and elected officials, and that’s why Anna Letitia Zivarts, herself a low-vision nondriver and a longtime activist for better transportation choices, has written a new book titled When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency (Island Press). We talked with Anna about how, by designing our transportation future for those who can’t or don’t feel comfortable driving, we could build a system that works better for everyone and that would be more equitable, safer, and more environmentally sustainable. *** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, exclusive bonus content and stickers. *** This episode was sponsored by Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest discount code. LINKS: Buy Anna Zivarts’s book, When Driving Is Not an Option: Steering Away from Car Dependency, at The War On Cars Bookshop store or from your local bookseller. You can follow Anna on X. Buy t-shirts, stickers, hats and more in The War on Cars merch store. It's Bike Month so save 10% with code BIKEMONTH. Find us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram, Facebook and Threads. Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us! This episode was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. It was edited by Ali Lemer. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.  TheWarOnCars.org

When Driving Is Not an Option with Anna Zivarts

***This is a preview of a Patreon-exclusive bonus episode. For complete access to this and all of our bonus content, become a Patreon supporter of The War on Cars.*** We were getting ready to record our "Cybertrash" episode with Ed Niedermeyer last month when Ed happened to bring to our attention to this "deeply weird" ten minute-long extended car ad. It's a promotional video for Dodge's new, "Next-Gen Charger," the electric-powered version of the very same "muscle cars" that Doug confronted at the New York International Auto Show in Episode 85 and Aaron rode along with back in Episodes 92 and 96. The move from gas-guzzling, window-rattling, V8 engines to electric motors has clearly plunged Dodge into an identity crisis. They spent decades building their brand on obnoxiously loud and dangerously sociopathic gas guzzlers. How will they ever convince their loutish loyal customers to switch over to (supposedly) clean, quiet, big government-mandated electric cars? In this video we get an answer to that question. Dodge CEO Tim Kuniskis is going to try to sell his muscle e-cars with rightwing dog whistles and a Make Dodge Great Again pitch. But he barely even sounds like he has convinced himself. A lot like Elon Musk's Cybertruck marketing, the Dodge promo video is simultaneously super weird and extremely revealing about what American car culture is really all about. We had some extra time with Ed in the studio so we had to talk about it with him. And we put that together for as a Patreon bonus. If you aren't yet a Patreon subscriber of The War on Cars, maybe now is the time! Subscribe for $3, $5, or $10 per month. We’ll send you stickers and you’ll have access to ad-free episodes and bonus conversations like this one. We really appreciate the support. We couldn’t produce the podcast without you. 

TEASER: Dodge’s “Deeply Weird” Pitch for Electric Muscle Cars

Elon Musk’s gigantic, stainless steel, 1980s sci fi movie–inspired Cybertruck is starting to show up on city streets. Perhaps you’ve had the misfortune of seeing one rolling through your neighborhood. If not, you’ve almost certainly seen some of the vehicle’s many truly epic fails on the Internet. The Cybertruck might not work very well, but it still appears to be wildly popular. More than two million people have deposited $250 to get in line for the opportunity to buy one. Journalist Ed Niedermeyer is the author of “Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors.” In this episode, Ed joins us to analyze the Cybertruck as a cultural text and also just to revel in its overwhelming absurdity. What is the Cybertruck? And what does its apparent popularity say about who we are and where we are headed collectively? This is the Cybertruck launch event we’ve all been waiting for.   This episode was sponsored by Sheyd Bags and Cleverhood.  *** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, exclusive bonus content and stickers. *** LINKS: Buy Edward Niedermeyer’s book,  Ludicrous: The Unvarnished Story of Tesla Motors from your friendly neighborhood bookshop. You can follow Ed Niedermeyer on Bluesky and Threads. The Cybertruck fails are being collected and shared on r/CyberStuck on Reddit. This week’s big one? Cybertruck accelerator pedals are falling off. This, by journalist Victoria Scott is a good read:  A Cultural Critique of the Tesla Cybertruck in Road & Track. If the audio clips in this episode weren’t enough, you can watch Elon Musk’s bizarre performance at the New York Times DealBook Summit. Buy t-shirts, stickers, hats and more in The War on Cars merch store. Find us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram, Facebook and Threads. Leave us a review on  Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us! This episode was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. It was edited by Yessenia Moreno. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. TheWarOnCars.org  

Tesla Cybertrash with Ed Niedermeyer

In the 20th century, planners and policymakers smashed Interstate highways through the middle of every major city in the United States. In the 21st century, we understand the many ways that urban freeways were economic, environmental, and racial justice disasters. And yet, incredibly, the State of Texas is planning to spend over $64 billion in the next few years to widen highways through the middle of its three largest cities, Houston, Dallas and Austin. Journalist Megan Kimble has been reporting on the Texas freeway fight for years now. Her new book -- published today -- is   City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways. In it, she tells the stories of the communities in the path of TxDOT’s bulldozers and the brave Texans fighting against long odds to save their homes, neighborhoods, and cities from a seemingly implacable foe. What if, instead of expanding the aging and outmoded urban freeways dividing our cities, we tore them down?  *** Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, exclusive bonus content and stickers. *** LINKS: Megan Kimble’s new book is  City Limits: Infrastructure, Inequality, and the Future of America's Highways. It is excellent! Find it in  The War on Cars store on Bookshop.org or get it from your neighborhood bookseller.  Buy t-shirts, stickers, hats and more in The War on Cars merch store. Find us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram, Facebook and Threads. Leave us a review on  Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us! This episode was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. It was produced and edited by Aaron Naparstek. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear. TheWarOnCars.org

The Texas Freeway Fight with Megan Kimble

It has never been more expensive to insure a car in the United States. Today, the average annual premium for full coverage is more than $2,500, up from more than $1,700 just a few years ago. There are a lot of reasons for this—including the high price of cars, supply chain issues, and the rising frequency and severity of crashes—but no matter how you add it up it’s a huge problem in a country where driving is a ticket to full participation in society.  Despite this, what if we told you that car insurance is still way too cheap? That’s something most people don’t understand until they or someone they love is directly affected by traffic violence. Today, mandatory state minimum coverage requirements have not kept up with the rising cost of car crashes, something all of us subsidize whether we drive or not—and that crash victims often pay for with life and limb. ***Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive access to ad-free versions of all our episodes, exclusive bonus content and stickers.*** LINKS: Learn more about Michelle DuBarry and her  advocacy for a Made Whole Doctrine in Oregon.  Why Car Insurance in America is Actually Too Cheap, by Daniel Knowles in The Economist. Buy a copy of Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse and What To Do About It by Daniel Knowles and get  books by previous podcast guests at our official Bookshop.org page. Steve Vaccaro: “New York City’s best-known lawyer advocate for bicyclist and pedestrian rights.”  Auto Insurance Spike Hampers the Inflation Fight (New York Times) NHTSA:  Traffic Crashes Cost American $340 Billion in 2019 Buy t-shirts, stickers, hats and more in The War on Cars merch store.  Find us on Bluesky, Mastodon, Instagram, Facebook and Threads. Leave us a review on  Apple Podcasts. It helps people find us! This episode was recorded by Josh Wilcox at the Brooklyn Podcasting Studio. It was written, produced and edited by Doug Gordon. Our theme music is by Nathaniel Goodyear.   TheWarOnCars.org  

TEASER: Super Bowl Roundup

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