PLAY PODCASTS
When America Built Big Things

When America Built Big Things

History As It Happens · Martin Di Caro

January 25, 202237m 41s

Audio is streamed directly from the publisher (dts.podtrac.com) as published in their RSS feed. Play Podcasts does not host this file. Rights-holders can request removal through the copyright & takedown page.

Show Notes

From the Erie Canal to the intercontinental railroad, from rural electrification projects to the interstate highway system, Americans built the massive infrastructure befitting a modern, wealthy nation. The benefits are undeniable, although dams and highways have complicated legacies of environmental degradation and urban displacement. Moreover, over the past several decades the old infrastructure has absorbed enormous sums just to maintain it, and the nation's new infrastructure plans have shrunk. In this episode, transportation historian Jonathan English discusses why it has become so difficult for American to build big anymore.