The Shocking Untold Story of America's Rail-Trail Movement (Peter Harnik)

About this episode

The episode features an interview with Peter Harnik discussing the history and impact of America's rail-trail movement.

Hey everyone, it's Kea; welcome the brake. If you've ever taken a stroll on New York's High Line or ridden along Missouri's Katy Trail, you might assume that it was a no-brainer for communities across the U.S. to rip up the old abandoned train tracks that used to run there and build a sanctuary for people outside cars. In actuality, though, the story of the rails-to-trails movement is one of the most epic, controversial, and still ongoing tales in the history of American advocacy — and now, it's finally getting a film that's worthy of that epic narrative. On October 15th PBS.org and member stations near you will air a new documentary called From Rails to Trails , which "captures the 60-year struggle — and transformative triumph — of one of America's most unlikely grassroots movements." It's a star-studded affair featuring narration by academy award nominee Edward Norton and cameos from folks like Pete Buttigieg, but one of its highlights are interviews with author, activist, and now, executive producer Peter Harnik, who literally wrote the book on the history of the rail-trail movement and its role in challenging car dependency. On this episode of the Brake, we sat down with…

People in this episode

Host: Kea

Guest: Peter Harnik

Topics covered

• rail-trail movement
• public space
• advocacy
• documentary
• car dependency
• Supreme Court
• trail funding

Keywords

• rail-trail
• public space
• advocacy
• documentary
• Peter Harnik
• PBS
• High Line
• Katy Trail
• car dependency

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: PBS, StreetsblogUSA

Places: New York, Missouri, Katy Trail, High Line

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