Home Podcasts Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast
Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

Talking Headways: A Streetsblog Podcast

The Overhead Wire 799 Episodes Oct 8, 2026

A weekly podcast about the intersection between sustainable transportation, urban planning, and economic development. Hosted by Jeff Wood of The Overhead Wire.

Episodes

Episode 596: Towards a Palpable Sense of Progress
Episode 596: Towards a Palpable Sense of Progress Oct 8, 2026 41:56 This week on Talking Headways we are sharing Part 1 of a conversation with Reece Martin of The Transit Brief in Toronto at the Mpact Transit + Community Conference. We discuss the politics and impacts of fare policy, construction costs around the globe, the US' existential crisis, and the material benefits of progress.  This episode was recorded at the Mpact Transit + Community conference this yea
Episode 199: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - New Ways to Think About Transport
Episode 199: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - New Ways to Think About Transport Oct 6, 2026 39:45 This week we're back and Han Solo but we're covering lots of things including the thinking differently about our transportation investments around the country, the sillyness of cutting property taxes in states, and thinking more about tenant investment vehicles.  Much more of course! Stay tuned. News Items Philly green corridors - Architect's Newspaper More trains - Grist Future transport policy
Episode 595: Architecture's Role in Population Decline
Episode 595: Architecture's Role in Population Decline Oct 1, 2026 57:03 This week we're joined by the director of UNC Charlotte's school of Architecture Blaine Brownell. We talk about the role architecture and urbanism play in population decline, the need for permeability in walkable neighborhoods, and a revolution in building materials. Blaine's upcoming book. Street Permeability: Architect Magazine Architecture's role in population collapse: Architect Magazine +++ G
Episode 594: People Based Accessibility
Episode 594: People Based Accessibility Sep 24, 2026 32:55 This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by recent USC PhD graduate Wendy Zhou to discuss her dissertation, which focuses on dynamic accessibility. We talk about how static maps without a time based dimension don't tell the whole story on access and the idea of a people based accessibility. +++ Get the show ad free on Patreon! Find out about our newsletter and archive on YouTube! Fo
Mondays Flashback: Outdoor Lighting for Pedestrians
Mondays Flashback: Outdoor Lighting for Pedestrians Sep 22, 2026 50:53 This week we're flashing back to Talking Headways episode 379 in which we were joined by Frank Markowitz and Leni Schwendinger to talk about the book Outdoor Lighting for Pedestrians. We chatted about creating legible nighttime spaces, what planners should focus on when programming lighted spaces, and the future of lighting and transportation. +++ Many thanks to Bob Nanna for our intro/outro musi
Flashback: Episode 542: Measuring Transportation System Success
Flashback: Episode 542: Measuring Transportation System Success Sep 17, 2026 57:21 This week we're away at a conference, but we're flashing back to episode 542 where we're joined once again by professor Karel Martens. We learn about how transportation engineering is good at measuring only one problem and ignoring others and a new tool to determine the success of transportation systems. Fair Transport Lab Website A scale for describing people's mobility status - Findings Press ++
Episode 593: Carspreading
Episode 593: Carspreading Sep 10, 2026 54:41 This week we're joined by Sofia Navas and James Nix of the NGO Transport & Environment to talk about their recent report: Ever Bigger? Car Size at a Crossroads. We discuss the increasing size of vehicles and why they keep growing. The safety issues that are tied to vehicle size increases, and the amount of parking and public space that could be lost. +++ Get the show ad free on Patreon! Find out a
Episode 198: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Creating Systemic Change
Episode 198: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Creating Systemic Change Sep 8, 2026 41:34 This week we're Han Solo, but that won't stop us from sharing some interesting news including daylighting urban streams, why we shouldn't put everything on transit, Barcelona's e-bike subsidy, and Charlotte's value created.  News Items Two ways to daylight streams - The Conversation Transit scope creep - Works in Progress Barcelona e-bike - City of Barcelona The Carbon Wave - MIT Press Reader
Episode 592: New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies
Episode 592: New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies Sep 3, 2026 56:09 This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by Joshua Schank to talk about his book New Tricks for Old Bureaucracies: Improving Policy Outcomes in the Public Sector. Joshua talks about the inner workings of LA Metro, benefits of openness and transparency as well as strategic planning.  We also share frustrations about meetings, transit board structures, and agency fiefdoms. +++ Get the
Episode 591: The Urban Pulse
Episode 591: The Urban Pulse Aug 27, 2026 40:49 This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're joined by Yale's Karen Seto and University of Connecticut's Zhe Zhu to talk about their study: The Urban Pulse. We talk about using frequent time series satellite data to measure change in cities and the processes of urbanization. The Urban Pulse - Yale School for the Environment The Urban Pulse: Diagnosing the urbanization process as spiky, cyclica
Episode 197: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Change Orders!
Episode 197: Mondays at The Overhead Wire - Change Orders! Aug 25, 2026 46:29 This week on the Mondays Show we are Han Solo again, but have a lot of interesting news to share.  We talk about LA's people mover change orders, a poll that finds lots of people want urbanism, and a trip along the coast of West Africa. Today's Items People mover change orders - The Hollywood Reporter Voter attitudes towards green urbanism - Data for Progress Overperforming downtowns - Patrick
Episode 590: Coulda Built 36 Paris Metros
Episode 590: Coulda Built 36 Paris Metros Aug 20, 2026 43:27 This week on the Talking Headways podcast we're chatting with Dallas Developer, DART Board Member, and urban designer Patrick Kennedy about his recent publication, An Atlas of Intercity Highway Impacts (Available Here). We discuss the tax base removed from cities by highways, what we could have done for cities with federal transportation funding, and the long term value lost. +++ Get the show ad f

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