Streetcars Part 2: The GM Conspiracy

The history of public transit in 20th century America was hugely impacted by the General Motors streetcar conspiracy, but was it solely responsible for the death of trolley networks, or were other forces at work? Has “real communism” really been tried? How is building communism like fixing your car? Is the Miata the most UwU car ever? We attempt to answer these questions and more in this week’s episode, as well as a brief digression on Australian burnout competitions.

Main topic starts at 37:30

Sources/Links:

Nurburgring in the 70s (VW swingaxles at 2:25) https://vimeo.com/50711165 //

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/General_Motors_streetcar_conspiracy //

https://www.vox.com/2015/5/7/8562007/streetcar-history-demise //

Taken For A Ride: https://youtu.be/p-I8GDklsN4 //

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeepney //

https://denverurbanism.com/2017/08/the-history-of-denvers-streetcars-and-their-routes.html //

https://denverite.com/2017/08/12/denvers-cute-commercial-districts-common-streetcars-according-map/ //

Donoteat01 Cities: Skylines | Power, Politics, & Planning: Episode 2: Urban Freeways

https://youtu.be/rseaKBPkRPU //

Ghost Train By Nathaniel Minor https://www.cpr.org/podcast/ghost-train/ //

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Levittown //

https://la.curbed.com/2017/9/20/16340038/los-angeles-streetcar-conspiracy-theory-general-motors //

Bianco, Martha (1998). "Kennedy, 60 Minutes, and Roger Rabbit: Understanding Conspiracy-Theory Explanations of The Decline of Urban Mass Transit" (PDF) //

Slater, Cliff (1997). "General Motors and the Demise of Streetcars" (PDF). Transportation Quarterly //

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Music from the free album Polygondwanaland by King Gizzard & the Lizard Wizard: kinggizzardandthelizardwizard.com/polygondwanaland