Driving isn’t freedom, but an ‘enormous prison,’ writes author of ‘Carmageddon’

Daniel Knowles lives in Chicago, where he rides his bike almost everywhere and the transit system almost everywhere else. Originally from the United Kingdom, Knowles has traveled the world as a reporter, so he’s seen how people across the globe get around town. His main takeaway: We need to lower our reliance on cars.“Thanks to the car, our cities are uglier and more dangerous,” Knowles writes in his book, “Carmageddon: How Cars Make Life Worse, and What to Do About It.” “Car manufacturers want us to believe driving is freedom, but in fact we are trapping ourselves in an enormous prison made up of moving metal cells.”From automobiles’ well-publicized drawbacks — car-related deaths and climate impact — to housing insecurity and racial inequities, Knowles says driving may be taking more from us than it gives. In this episode, we sit down with Knowles to discuss the history of the car, the large and small ways they impact us, and the options we have for a reprieve.This episode was originally published on June 12, 2023.