Two everlasting symbols of California are the sequoia and redwood trees. People know the giants from popular culture and national parks but the trees, which are not the same species but related, should also be seen as examples of the ultimate in evolutionary sustainability. The earliest known sequoia fossil is from over 200 million years

A lot of news coverage rightfully on the fires in Los Angeles and a lot of different angles to discuss the issue from insurance to prevention. One thing I’ve been thinking about from an overall perspective that’s not just tied to this catastrophe but to climate change, housing, and transportation issues more generally is there’s

We’re Han Solo this week but have a lot to share from the end of December and the start of 2025.  As we get back into the new year we cover new ways to think about housing construction, transit expansion from Yonah Freemark, and worries about the brightness of headlights. Check out the show notes

This week on the Talking Headways podcast we’re joined by Ben Ross and Joe Cortright to discuss their article in Dissent Magazine discussing how modeling is being used to expand highways around the country. We chat about their critiques of highway modeling, politics, and some potential solutions to the problem. You can listen to this

I posted a piece in the New York Times that was shared by Shannon Mattern on Bluesky written by Jon Klassen about board books for babies. Jon is the author of one of my favorite books to read to my daughter “I Want My Hat Back”. We’ve read a lot of books thousands of times

This week we’re joined by Professor Sara Bronin to talk about her book Key to the City: How Zoning Shapes Our World. We chat about all the ways that land is regulated. And why zoning is an opportunity for people to reshape their communities. We also chat about food policy, connecting the street to property,

This week for our holiday break we’re going back in time to episode 108 which we recorded in Cambridge England with Daniele Quercia and Luca Aiello of Bell Labs. We chatted about using social media to map sensory experiences in cities including smells and soundscapes. +++ Follow us on Bluesky, Threads, Instagram, YouTube, Flickr …

This week on Talking Headways we’re joined by Austin Gibble, currently of Stantec but formerly of the City of Indianapolis and IndyGo. We chat about the history of planning for BRT in Indy, the Cultural Trail bike network, transit and infrastructure costs, and the interpersonal relationships that can make or break projects. Listen to this

This week we’re going back to 2021 to chat with Professor Andres Sevtsuk of MIT about his book Street Commerce: Creating Vibrant Urban Sidewalks.  I really liked this discussion and he just had an MIT News profile out yesterday about his work so I thought it might be of interest to folks.  We chat the

This week we’re back at the Mpact conference in Philadelphia and joined by Ruth Miller of Jawnt. Ruth shares her superhero origin story and how employer transit pass programs like SEPTA’s Key Advantage Program work to support employees, agencies, and the region overall. You can listen to this episode at Streetsblog USA or find it