Self-Driving Kids
The War on Cars
The War on Cars, LLC
4.9 • 937 Ratings
🗓️ 26 June 2019
⏱️ 32 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
Autonomous cars? Who needs ‘em. If you want to improve your city then design it so that children have more autonomy. In this episode we hit the playground with architecture critic Alexandra Lange, the author of “The Design of Childhood.” To grow up into healthy, functional adults, kids need opportunities to experience freedom and independence. Alexandra argues that car-dominated streets make that more difficult. A city designed for cars is a city that’s lousy for families -- and pretty much everyone else. Plus: The surprising history of playgrounds.
In celebration of our twentieth episode, the first twenty people who enlist in The War on Cars Patreon campaign after this episode drops will receive a bonus #BanCars sticker.
Buy a War on Cars t-shirt at Cotton Bureau.
Rate and review the war effort on iTunes.
Show Notes:
Visit Alexandra Lange’s web site and follow her on Twitter and Instagram.
Buy a copy of her book, “The Design of Childhood: How the Material World Shapes Independent Kids.”
How children lost the right to roam in four generations. (Daily Mail)
Peter Norton’s “Fighting Traffic” is a mind-boggling (and scholarly!) historical account of the bloody battle for city streets at the dawn of the motor age in the American city.
This episode was produced by Matt Cutler.
Find us onTwitter @TheWarOnCars, Aaron Naparstek @Naparstek, Sarah Goodyear @buttermilk1 and Doug Gordon @BrooklynSpoke.
Email us: [email protected]
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Hey, could I ask you a quick question for a podcast while you guys are playing? |
| 0:04.1 | Can I ask you a quick question? |
| 0:06.1 | Okay, if you could change anything about New York City to make it better for kids, what would it be? |
| 0:12.2 | Have a giant armist robot thing that could just go everywhere |
| 0:15.5 | and pick up trash. More parks, more like homeless shelters and stuff like that. |
| 0:24.0 | I'm doing a podcast. My name is Aaron. |
| 0:27.0 | Tell me your name and how you would change New York State. |
| 0:30.0 | What would you say? Sorry and free candy that's everywhere stuck to the ground. |
| 0:35.0 | Stuck to the ground. |
| 0:36.6 | Would you just like eat it off the ground? |
| 0:39.6 | No, and it's a gum ground. |
| 0:41.9 | The ground is made of gum. |
| 0:45.0 | Get more buses that carry wheelchair people or people with disabilities. |
| 0:53.6 | I really want more playgrounds. |
| 0:56.6 | I want more pools. |
| 0:58.6 | Well, I would make this sidewalks and bike lanes bigger because a lot of times you'll see a person biking on the sidewalk because there isn't a bike lane on that street. |
| 1:10.0 | So I would add more bike lanes and make the bike lanes bigger. |
| 1:17.0 | That last kid sounds a little too good to be true. |
| 1:21.0 | Did we have a ringer in there? I got to admit that last child who was speaking was my daughter, age nine, and yes, I have brainwashed her thoroughly. She is a full recruit into the War on Cars. Hello and welcome to the War on Cars, the podcast that wants free candy everywhere, |
| 1:39.7 | stuck to the ground. |
| 1:41.4 | I am Aaron Napersack and I'm here with my co-hosts, Sarah Goodyear and Doug Gordon. |
| 1:46.2 | And in addition to my daughter, those thoughtful, creative, and extremely cute voices you heard |
... |
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