Episode Details

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.