Is U.S. Passenger Rail Having a Big Moment? (Jim Mathews)
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
Release Date: 08/11/2025
Transportation Reform and the Fight Against ICE Violence in Minneapolis
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
Protests are raging in the streets of Minneapolis and across the country as Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents accelerate their campaign to deport migrants — with increasingly violent and deadly results, particularly in the transportation realm. But what is the transportation reform advocate's role in that fight? And can the battle to remake our violent transportation system help support the goal of making the entire country less susceptible to violent governments? We're sitting with those difficult questions on today's episode of the Brake, as well as the deaths of , , , and...
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Five 'Supercool' Transportation Founders to Watch in 2026
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
How can transportation start-ups help fight climate change, and who are the leaders pushing them forward? We sat down with Josh Dorfman, host of the podcast 'Supercool', to talk about what he's learned from interviewing the founders behind companies like , , , , and . And along the way, he unpacks why it's critical to harness 'market momentum' in the battle to decarbonize our cities and make them more livable for everyone — especially as Washington gears up to rewrite our federal transportation laws in 2026.
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How to Be a Better Transportation Advocate (Carter Lavin)
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
There's a big difference between knowing what is best of your city’s transportation system, and knowing how to fight the often fierce political battles you need to win in order to make it real. Fortunately, one author has written a manual to help transit advocates across America do exactly that, from picking campaigns out of the tangle of interlocking transportation challenges that ensnare our cities, to winning over the skeptical — and everything in between. On this episode of The Brake, we're joined by Carter Lavin’s to discuss his new book "If You Want to Win,...
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Is a 'Life After Cars' Really Possible? (Sarah Goodyear)
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
What will it take to wake more of the world up to the dangers of mass automobility — and could a book be help Americans imagine a future beyond car dominance? That's what Sarah Goodyear and her co-authors are hoping as they release their new book Along with Doug Gordon and Aaron Naperstek, with whom she co-founded the legendary "War on Cars" podcast, she's bringing the conversation about transportation reform to a new audience, and hoping to give even veteran advocates new tools to talk about why we need to radically rethink our streets. We sat down with Goodyear at the Vision...
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The Shocking Untold Story of America's Rail-Trail Movement (Peter Harnik)
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
Hey everyone, it’s Kea; welcome the brake. If you’ve ever taken a stroll on New York’s High Line or ridden along Missouri’s Katy Trail, you might assume that it was a no-brainer for communities across the U.S. to rip up the old abandoned train tracks that used to run there and build a sanctuary for people outside cars. In actuality, though, the story of the rails-to-trails movement is one of the most epic, controversial, and still ongoing tales in the history of American advocacy — and now, it's finally getting a film that's worthy of that epic narrative. On October...
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Our Streets Look Like War Zones — But What if They Were 'Sites of Peacebuilding'? (Ashton Rohmer)
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
Car culture has a higher body count than both world wars . So why don't we think of automobility in the same way we think about the bloody and destructive global conflicts that dominate the news — and what would it take to transform our streets into a tool to make our whole society more peaceful, rather than more violent? Today on the Brake, we sat down with PhD candidate Ashton Rohmer to talk about her fascinating that looks at our transportation culture through a "peace and conflict studies" lens — and why car domination is a kind of warfare unto itself, even if claims of a...
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The War on ... Walking and Biking? (Tepi McLaughlin)
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
Active transportation advocates constantly get accused of waging a "war on cars." But when you look around our communities, it sure looks more like we’re in the middle of a war on walking and biking — and the wrong side is winning. In today’s episode of The Brake, we sat down with Dr. Tepi McLaughlin, who co-authored of a provocative that argues it’s time to name the “enemies of physical activity” and dismantle policies they push, rather than just focusing on the additive benefits of building more sidewalks and bike lanes. And along the way, we talk about some of the hidden...
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Is U.S. Passenger Rail Having a Big Moment? (Jim Mathews)
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
Secretary Sean Duffy for America’s first high speed rail line. Congress surprisingly showing up for Amtrak in its annual budget. Elon Musk . A surprisingly strong showing for trains in the Senate's , and advocates who have even It seems like every time you turn on the news, there's an explosive new headline about passenger rail in America — but what's really driving them all? On this episode of the Brake, we sat down with the most plugged-in rail advocate we know, Jim Mathews of the National Rail Passengers Association, to break down some of the biggest rail stories of the day and give...
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What Will It Take To Give Victims and Advocates a Voice at USDOT? (Marianne Karth)
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
USDOT is about what it should propose for the next surface transportation reauthorization bill — and one advocate is hoping that legislation will finally give victims a voice at USDOT. Today on the Brake, we're talking to Marianne Karth of AnnaLeah and Mary for Truck Safety, who's pushing for the creation of a new, non-partisan "National Roadway Safety Advocate" position, which will give victims, survivors, and advocates against traffic violence a champion at the nation's highest transportaiton advocacy. Already the subject of , Karth calls the job the "missing piece" in our roadway...
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America's Kids Deserve More than Waymo Subscriptions
The Brake: A Streetsblog Podcast
Autonomous vehicle giant Waymo is starting to with subscription packages for teens — including those too young to drive. But as America's kids gain high-tech motorized independence, what will they lose in exchange? Today on the Brake, host Kea Wilson is going solo for an informal chat about the debate over driverless cars as a youth mobility solution, how autonomous vehicles could even further isolate young people from their communities, and the dangers of relying on corporations for our basic human needs. And along the way, she touches on teen driving safety, the concept of...
info_outlineSecretary Sean Duffy withholding grants for America’s first high speed rail line. Congress surprisingly showing up for Amtrak in its annual budget. Elon Musk pushing for privatization. A surprisingly strong showing for trains in the Senate's budget proposal, and advocates who have even bigger hopes for the future. It seems like every time you turn on the news, there's an explosive new headline about passenger rail in America — but what's really driving them all?
On this episode of the Brake, we sat down with the most plugged-in rail advocate we know, Jim Mathews of the National Rail Passengers Association, to break down some of the biggest rail stories of the day and give us a sense of where the State of the Union stands for this critical mode. And along the way, we dig into some stories you might have missed, like the massive freight merger that should make Amtrak passengers nervous, and more.