Humane Streets with Anil Dash
The War on Cars
The War on Cars, LLC
4.9 • 937 Ratings
🗓️ 13 January 2021
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
In a sense, cars are a bit like the internet comments section of the real world. Driving, like leaving a reply on a message board or posting something on Twitter, can be done anonymously, dividing people from their fellow human beings and even leading to aggressive behavior… if not the complete corrosion of polite society. With custom details and bumper stickers promoting political ideologies and pithy slogans, cars are also outward expressions of personal identity… just like one's social media presence. To unpack the similarities between the sprawling systems of online communication and personal transportation, Doug talks to Anil Dash, the tech entrepreneur and pioneering blogger who's served as a sharp and thoughtful critic of the industry in which he has spent most of his career. Is a better, more humane internet possible? If so, what lessons can be learned for people who want safer, more humane streets? And what would Prince think?
SHOW NOTES:
Learn more about Anil Dash, including his love of bike sharing and his belief that, as a New Yorker, "there's never been a better time to walk down the street."
Follow Anil on Twitter: @anildash
"New York City Fit How I Thought The World Should Work." (TransAlt)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, this is Aaron here to let you know that this episode of the War on Cars is sponsored by |
| 0:06.8 | Cleverhood. Cleverhood makes raincapes designed specifically for people who bike and walk. I've been wearing clever hoods for years. |
| 0:15.2 | I'm a huge fan. If I am biking or walking the dog and it is raining, I am wearing a clever hood. |
| 0:27.3 | And you can too, starting today and for a limited time only, the listeners of the war on cars will receive a 20% discount on every product in the Cleverhood store. To get that discount, go to |
| 0:36.9 | Cleverhood.com slash war on cars and when you check out, enter coupon code, war on cars, one word. |
| 0:46.0 | Again, for 20% off on some really nice rain gear, go to cleverhood.com slash war on cars enter coupon code war on cars when you |
| 0:57.0 | check out stay safe and dry when you walk and bike wear a cleverhood. Thanks for listening and enjoy the episode. This is the War on Cars. I'm Doug Gordon. On previous episodes of the podcast I've said that |
| 1:26.2 | cars are the internet common section of the real world. When you're driving you can |
| 1:30.5 | remain more or less anonymous if you want to. |
| 1:33.0 | Maybe you behave in ways you never would face to face. |
| 1:36.0 | And long before people were posting memes on Twitter, |
| 1:40.0 | they were communicating everything from jokes |
| 1:42.0 | to their political beliefs, to the fact that their kid made the honor |
| 1:45.3 | role at a local high school on bumper stickers. |
| 1:48.9 | So in that sense, just like your Facebook page is an extension of your identity and often the first or maybe |
| 1:54.7 | only impression other people have of it your car is sort of the same thing. |
| 1:59.2 | But the similarities between the internet and driving don't end there. |
| 2:03.0 | And it was with this in mind that I wanted to talk to one of my favorite people on the internet, |
| 2:07.0 | Anil Dash. |
| 2:09.0 | Anil is well known in tech circles. |
| 2:11.0 | He is a blogging pioneer, and I remember reading him way back in the early 2000s. You might |
| 2:15.6 | know him from his presence on Twitter, where he is at Anil Dash, or from his writing in Wired magazine. |
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