Putting the Trans in Transit with Katelyn Burns

The War on Cars

The War on Cars, LLC

Cars, Society & Culture, Culture, Bicycling, Politics, Urbanism, Walking, Transportation, Cities, Transit, News Commentary, News

4.9 • 937 Ratings

🗓️ 22 April 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“Why are so many trans people into urban planning?” That’s the question independent journalist and co-host of the Cancel Me, Daddy podcast Katelyn Burns asked her Bluesky followers, and she got an overwhelming response. Katelyn wrote up some of those answers in a recent piece on The Flytrap, the feminist media outlet she recently co-founded and launched. It’s a thought-provoking read. We talked with Katelyn about the safety that trans people can find in dense cities, the “trans on trains” meme, and what the game Cities: Skylines has to do with all of this. And she discusses how the trans perspective can illuminate problems and solutions within urban systems.

Our new book, Life After Cars, will be published on October 21, 2025 by Thesis, an imprint of Penguin Random House. Pre-order now.

Support The War on Cars on Patreon and receive exclusive access to ad-free versions of regular episodes, Patreon-only bonus content, Discord access, invitations to live events, merch discounts and free stickers!

This episode was produced with the generous support of the Helen & William Mazer Foundation.

This episode was also supported by Cleverhood. Listen to the episode for the latest discount on the best and most stylish rain gear for walking and cycling.

Save 15% on the amazing Arclight Pedals and everything from Redshift Sports with code WARONCARS at checkout.

LINKS:

Read and subscribe to The Flytrap.

Check out Katelyn’s piece on how you can tell that cities are designed for (and by) men.

Find Katelyn Burns on Bluesky.

Listen to the Cancel Me Daddy podcast.

thewaroncars.org / lifeaftercars.com

Transcript

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0:00.0	If you're a fan of this podcast, you know there are a lot of problems with cars, and one of the biggies is what they do to the environment.
0:08.9	And with all the climate misinformation out there, it could be really hard to know what to believe or even what to do.
0:15.2	Luckily, there's an excellent podcast that's all about this very issue.
0:19.8	It's called The Climate Deniers Playbook, and it's hosted by
0:23.0	our friends, Raleigh Williams and Nicole Conlin. I happen to have Nicole right here.
0:28.5	I happen to be here with you, Doug. Hi. Hey, what a coincidence. I'm a huge fan of your podcast,
0:34.0	but since I have you right here, let me hit you with a hypothetical. Let's say I am sitting
0:39.5	next to you on an airplane and I'm one of those annoying guys who ignores that you have your
0:44.5	headphones on and you clearly want to zone out and I start asking you, what do you do?
0:50.5	What would you tell me the climate deniers playbook is all about?
0:53.4	Well, first thing I'd wonder is why we weren't taking a train, but then I'd tell you that my co-host, Raleigh and I are both comedians with master's degrees.
1:00.8	Mine's in urban planning and Raleys is in climate and society.
1:04.0	And in each episode of the podcast, we take on a major climate denial talking point and deconstruct it so that listeners are better equipped
1:11.2	to fight back against misinformation campaigns.
1:13.7	Like the idea that more carbon is good for plants or offshore wind turbines are killing whales.
1:20.0	Exactly. And we've even done episodes on why electric cars won't save us and the absolutely
1:24.9	wild conspiracy theories about 15-minute cities.
1:27.8	I love it, and I know our listeners will too.
1:31.1	You can find the Climate Deniers Playbook wherever you listen to podcasts, so go check it out
1:35.9	and download a bunch of episodes for your next long plane ride.
1:39.3	Train ride.
1:40.1	Right, train ride.
	...

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