The longest escalator in the United States is at Wheaton station on Washington, DC's Metro subway system. It takes about three minutes to travel from top to bottom. The tunnel's visual inspiration came from a team of architects led by a man named Harry Weis back in the 1960s. 99 P.I.'s intern, Olivia Green lives in D.C., and she'll tell you about this escalator and some of the lore surrounding it.
The whole conceit of this show is that if look at the world in the right way, you’ll see stories everywhere. Some of the stories are epic power struggles chronicling the construction of a famous skyscraper or the founding of a city; but other stories are more modest, smaller in scope and scale. We call those mini-stories and they're part of an ongoing, end-of-the-year tradition in which 99pi producers and friends of the show talk to host Roman Mars about something cool and fun that you can tell your friends or family about during a holiday get together.
You’ll hear about a very, very long escalator! Beavers dropping from the sky! We’ll hear from Janet, Miss Jackson if you’re nasty! Plus a visit from the queen!
Mini-Stories 15: Volume 15