Into the Great Wide Open

Into the Great Wide Open

People are heading outdoors this summer. Transportation services—from airlines to rental car companies to public transit agencies—are offering deals and prizes to woo travelers onto their platforms after many long months of sagging business. But they also have to figure out how to handle the surge in demand, especially after being forced to make major cutbacks during the pandemic, when ridership numbers plummeted.

This week on Gadget Lab, we talk with WIRED transportation writer Aarian Marshall about mass transit and how to travel—both close to home and far from it—during your hot vax summer.

Show Notes:

Read reporting about Uber Pool and Lyft Line from Business Insider and Buzzfeed. Follow all of WIRED’s transportation coverage here.

Recommendations:

Aarian recommends a collapsible tea kettle. Mike recommends the book Bicycle Diaries by musician David Byrne. Lauren recommends Lindberg Snider porterhouse & roast seasoning.

Aarian Marshall can be found on Twitter @AarianMarshall. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.

If you have feedback about the show, or just want to enter to win a $50 gift card, take our brief listener survey here.

Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Jaksot(429)

The Generation Gap

The Generation Gap

As the number of coronavirus-caused quarantines has spiked across the globe, people are being driven into isolation en masse. In some countries, social distancing measures have been helping, but they ...

20 Maalis 202023min

Socially Distanced

Socially Distanced

As COVID-19 sweeps across the world, it has prompted thousands of people to isolate themselves to avoid spreading the virus. This week on Gadget Lab, we look at what happens when schools and universit...

13 Maalis 202035min

Is Facebook Forever?

Is Facebook Forever?

Facebook started in 2004 as a simple network for connecting students at Harvard University. At the time, nobody could have predicted that it would grow to become the largest social network in the worl...

6 Maalis 202038min

There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

There’s No Such Thing as a Free Lunch

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer and former show host Arielle Pardes drops by to talk about how Silicon Valley has ruined work culture. Then WIRED senior writer Lily Hay Newman comes on fo...

28 Helmi 202032min

The Anti-Bias Bot

The Anti-Bias Bot

Many companies say they want to diversify their workforce. Far fewer have actually succeeded in doing so, even if they're earnestly trying. And one of the first hurdles can come before any candidates ...

21 Helmi 202033min

Smartphone Launch Events Are Silly

Smartphone Launch Events Are Silly

On Tuesday of this week Samsung held its annual Galaxy Unpacked event in San Francisco. It did what most tech companies set out to do when they host a big event: Announce shiny new products (Galaxy S2...

14 Helmi 202029min

The Virus and the Vote

The Virus and the Vote

This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED digital director Brian Barrett joins us to talk about the app that derailed the Iowa caucus—and what it means for elections to come. Then, a conversation with WIRED staf...

7 Helmi 202026min

Everything Old Is New Again

Everything Old Is New Again

It doesn’t take much to make people nostalgic anymore. With the rapid pace of technological advancement, folks get whimsical for even their clunky cell phones from 2005, or a defunct video service fro...

31 Tammi 202026min