The Big Dig podcast | Listen online for free

21 episodes

Highway Teardown Tour | 9. Philadelphia, PA
15/07/2026 | 42 mins.
Even as cities try to heal the damage of the interstate era, we are also continuing to expand our urban highways, continuing to turn parks and neighborhoods into new lanes and new off-ramps. So why is it so hard to stop?
Guests: Inga Saffron, Daniel Pearson, Leslie Richards
Recorded at The Pen & Pencil Club with support from Miles Bryan and Tom Grahsler
Highway Teardown Tour | 8. Baltimore, MD
08/07/2026 | 43 mins.
This episode is about a very different kind of teardown – one that came suddenly, tragically, and without warning. But within this utterly unique story there are some universal questions about how we build for the present and the future.
Guests: Johnny Olszewski, Samantha Biddle, Wambui Kamau, Arkia Wade, Klaus Philipsen
Recorded live with WYPR at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.
Highway Teardown Tour | 7. Louisville, KY
01/07/2026 | 31 mins.
In the stories we tell about public works, there is a constant bias towards the projects that actually happened, but it’s the apparently ‘failed’ projects that can often teach us the most.
Guests: Marcus Green, Tyler Allen, Ken Herndon
Recorded live with LPM at the LPM Performance Studio.
Highway Teardown Tour | 6. Portland, OR
24/06/2026 | 44 mins.
The anti-highway movement, like any movement, has always been a coalition. Different people with different backgrounds and different interests finding a common cause. But sometimes the coalition cracks.
Guests: Lillian Karabaic, Shawn Granton, Sharon Gary-Smith, Chris Smith
Recorded live with Oregon Public Broadcasting at Literary Arts in East Portland.
Highway Teardown Tour | 5. Seattle, WA
17/06/2026 | 34 mins.
There is exactly one other American city crazy enough to attempt anything like what Boston did with The Big Dig. That city is Seattle, and they are not done tearing down highways.
Guests: Joshua McNichols, Greg Nickels, Cayce James, José Manuel Vasquez
Recorded live with KUOW at the Seattle Public Library.
Archival audio courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives

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About The Big Dig

There is a cynicism that hangs over the topic of American infrastructure – whether it’s high-speed rail or off-shore wind – it feels like this country can’t build big things anymore. No one project embodies that cynicism quite like what Bostonians call ‘The Big Dig.’ Infamous for its ever-increasing price tag, this massive highway tunneling effort was once ridiculed as the Big Mess, the Big Hole, the Big Pig, the Big Lie. But now, decades later the story looks more complicated. So how did the narrative around this project go so horribly wrong? And what lessons can it offer for the ambitious projects of today?The nine episode series is produced by GBH News in partnership with PRX.

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