Factually! with Adam Conover

America is Addicted to Cars, with Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon

18 snips
Oct 22, 2025
Join Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon, journalists and co-hosts of the War on Cars podcast, as they delve into America's dangerous love affair with cars. They reveal the true costs and harms of car-centric infrastructure, how urban design perpetuates car dependency, and the societal normalization of traffic fatalities. They explore successful transformations in cities and advocate for walkable communities. With insights on public transit's potential, they challenge perceptions of class and stigma around car ownership and transit use.
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INSIGHT

Cars Are Over-Deployed And Harmful

  • Cars are objectively costly, dangerous, and inefficient compared with transit and active modes.
  • Doug and Sarah argue cars are over-deployed and should be treated as one tool among many.
ANECDOTE

From Manhattan To Rural Maine Shifted Perspective

  • Sarah recounts moving from Manhattan to rural Maine and suddenly needing a car for everything.
  • She found driving expensive, isolating, and learned people she met regularly had lost loved ones to crashes.
ANECDOTE

Suburban Upbringing Led To City Appreciation

  • Doug describes growing up in a cul-de-sac suburb with no sidewalks and driving into Boston to walk around.
  • That experience made him prefer walkable urban life and influenced his later moves.
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