Door to Door: The Magnificent, Maddening, Mysterious World of Transportation
Written by Edward Humes
Narrated by Marc Cashman
4/5
()
About this audiobook
The Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of Garbology explores the hidden and costly wonders of our buy-it-now, get-it-today world of transportation, revealing the surprising truths, mounting challenges, and logistical magic behind every trip we take and every click we make.
Transportation dominates our daily existence. Thousands, even millions, of miles are embedded in everything we do and touch. We live in a door-to-door universe that works so well most Americans are scarcely aware of it. The grand ballet in which we move ourselves and our stuff is equivalent to building the Great Pyramid, the Hoover Dam, and the Empire State Building all in a day. Every day. And yet, in the one highly visible part of the transportation world—the part we drive—we suffer grinding commutes, a violent death every fifteen minutes, a dire injury every twelve seconds, and crumbling infrastructure.
Now, the way we move ourselves and our stuff is on the brink of great change, as a new mobility revolution upends the car culture that, for better and worse, built modern America. This unfolding revolution will disrupt lives and global trade, transforming our commutes, our vehicles, our cities, our jobs, and every aspect of culture, commerce, and the environment. We are, quite literally, at a fork in the road, though whether it will lead us to Carmageddon or Carmaheaven has yet to be determined.
Using interviews, data and deep exploration of the hidden world of ports, traffic control centers, and the research labs defining our transportation future, acclaimed journalist Edward Humes breaks down the complex movements of humans, goods, and machines as never before, from increasingly car-less citizens to the distance UPS goes to deliver a leopard-printed phone case. Tracking one day in the life of his family in Southern California, Humes uses their commutes, traffic jams, grocery stops, and online shopping excursions as a springboard to explore the paradoxes and challenges inherent in our system. He ultimately makes clear that transportation is one of the few big things we can change—our personal choices do have a profound impact, and that fork in the road is coming up fast.
Door to Door is a fascinating detective story, investigating the worldwide cast of supporting characters and technologies that have enabled us to move from here to there—past, present, and future.
Edward Humes
Edward Humes is the author of ten critically acclaimed nonfiction books, including Eco Barons, Monkey Girl, Over Here, School of Dreams, Baby E.R., Mean Justice, No Matter How Loud I Shout, and the bestseller Mississippi Mud. He has received the Pulitzer Prize for his journalism and numerous awards for his books. He has written for the New York Times, the Los Angeles Times, Los Angeles Magazine, and Sierra. He lives in California.
More audiobooks from Edward Humes
Garbology: Our Dirty Love Affair with Trash Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Monkey Girl: Evolution, Education, Religion, and the Battle for America's Soul Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5
Related to Door to Door
Related audiobooks
Triumph of the City: How Our Greatest Invention Makes Us Richer, Smarter, Greener, Healthier, and Happier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5A Brief History of Motion: From the Wheel, to the Car, to What Comes Next Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Happy City: Transforming Our Lives Through Urban Design Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Driven: The Race to Create the Autonomous Car Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5A World Without Work: Technology, Automation, and How We Should Respond Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Autonomy: The Quest to Build the Driverless Car-And How It Will Reshape Our World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Superpower: One Man's Quest to Transform American Energy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Green Metropolis: What the City Can Teach the Country About True Sustainability Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Car Wars: The Rise, the Fall, and the Resurgence of the Electric Car Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Arriving Today: From Factory to Front Door -- Why Everything Has Changed About How and What We Buy Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Ghost Road: Beyond the Driverless Car Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsRust: The Longest War Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Street Smart: The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Life After Carbon: The Next Global Transformation of Cities Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Geography of Nowhere: The Rise and Decline of America's Man-made Landscape Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Radical Technologies: The Design of Everyday Life Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Streetfight: Handbook for an Urban Revolution Rating: 0 out of 5 stars0 ratingsThe Industries of the Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Building the Cycling City: The Dutch Blueprint for Urban Vitality Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Longest Line on the Map: The United States, the Pan-American Highway, and the Quest to Link the Americas Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Extreme Cities: The Peril and Promise of Urban Life in the Age of Climate Change Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Why We Drive: Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Glass Cage: Automation and Us Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Troublemakers: Silicon Valley's Coming of Age Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Fins: Harley Earl, the Rise of General Motors, and the Glory Days of Detroit Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Dawn of Innovation: The First American Industrial Revolution Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Rise of the Robots: Technology and the Threat of a Jobless Future Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Source: How Rivers Made America and America Remade Its Rivers Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Industries For You
All The Beauty in the World: The Metropolitan Museum of Art and Me Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The War Below: Lithium, Copper, and the Global Battle to Power Our Lives Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Be Our Guest: Perfecting the Art of Customer Service Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Burn Book: A Tech Love Story Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Mind Your Mindset: The Science That Shows Success Starts with Your Thinking Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Kingdom of Prep: The Inside Story of the Rise and (Near) Fall of J.Crew Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5AI Superpowers: China, Silicon Valley, and the New World Order Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Sam Walton: Made in America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ringmaster: Vince McMahon and the Unmaking of America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Franchise: The Golden Arches in Black America Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Network of Lies: The Epic Saga of Fox News, Donald Trump, and the Battle for American Democracy Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Setting the Table Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Build: An Unorthodox Guide to Making Things Worth Making Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Overdressed: The Shockingly High Cost of Cheap Fashion Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Glossy: Ambition, Beauty, and the Inside Story of Emily Weiss's Glossier Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Presto!: How I Made Over 100 Pounds Disappear and Other Magical Tales Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5The Moral Case for Fossil Fuels Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Secret Formula: The Inside Story of How Coca-Cola Became the Best-Known Brand in the World Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5To Pixar and Beyond: My Unlikely Journey with Steve Jobs to Make Entertainment History Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Grinding It Out: The Making of McDonald's Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Ladies Who Punch: The Explosive Inside Story of "The View" Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Strip Tees: A Memoir of Millennial Los Angeles Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Hoax: Donald Trump, Fox News, and the Dangerous Distortion of Truth Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Women's Work: The First 20,000 Years: Women, Cloth, and Society in Early Times Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Lego Story: How a Little Toy Sparked the World’s Imagination Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5The Toyota Way: 14 Management Principles from the World's Greatest Manufacturer Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5
Reviews for Door to Door
20 ratings1 review
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5Book about the USA, not about transportation.