The podcast is finally here!
The only podcast about the pressures, perils, and yes, pleasures of car-free and car-lite living in pathologically car-brained Los Angeles. Co-hosts Kyle Rebar and Eric Brightwell chat with guests about their transit journeys and where they are now.
I’ll post new episodes here with links as we publish them.
Episode No. 1 — Introducing “Nobody Drives in LA: A Car Free Los Angeles Podcast”
In which our podcast’s two co-hosts, Kyle Rebar and Eric Brightwell, introduce themselves — both to listeners and one another. Their conversation touches upon their journeys from car-dependent small cities toward liberation from cars in Los Angeles.
The discussion turns to how the podcast came about and potential future episode topics including the proposed Dodger Stadium Gondola, Lyft’s bid for Metro Bike Share, and waiting for hypothetical gadgetbahns instead of investing in proven transit technologies.
Episode No. 2 — Ellis Raskin
Kyle and Eric sit down with Ellis Raskin at the Santa Monica Public Library. Raskin is an environmental attorney and city planning commissioner running for Santa Monica City Council. The conversation touches upon bike lanes, rent control, the famous Third Street Promenade, and Santa Monica’s role as an incubator for future mobility experiments.
Episode No. 3 — Barry Snell
Kyle and Eric sit down for a chat at Santa Monica’s Pico Branch Library with Santa Monica City Council candidate, Barry Snell. Topics include Snell’s roots in New Jersey; background in education; and passion for community, inclusivity, and cycling.
Episode No. 4 — John Yi and Phoebe Chiu
In this episode, Kyle and Eric sit down for a chat with two guests, John Yi and Phoebe Chiu, at the Octavia Butler Lab. Yi is a Koreatown native and former Executive Director of Los Angeles Walks who is running to represent California Assembly District 54 — which includes the urban core of Los Angeles. Chiu is a car-free San Francisco Bay Area native and co-manager of Yi’s campaign for California Assembly. She’s also a Research Analyst & Events Coordinator at the UCLA Institute of Transportation Studies.
Episode No. 5 — Katie Chan (陳靄淇)
Kyle and Eric sit down in an LAPL study room with Alhambra City Council District 4 candidate, Katie Chan (陳靄淇). Chan (陳) is an Alhambra native and their discussion touches upon Alhambra Community Transit (ACT), green space, walkability, her journey to politics, and Alhrambra’s role as a progressive example within the San Gabriel Valley.
Episode No. 6 — Maylin Tu
Guest Maylin Tu joined the podcast at the Koreatown Media Lab. Tu is a car-free freelance reporter who lives in Palms and comes up with many of her story ideas whilst cycling in Los Angeles. Tu grew up in Maine and was introduced to car-free living in Beijing. She discusses the under appreciated joy of being car-free, managing safety concerns, and dreaming of creating the ultimate multi-modal journey across Los Angeles.
Episode No. 7 — Jane Shirley
In this episode, we’re joined by Jane Ashley at the Octavia Lab. Ashley is a social media content manager at Metro and the co-founder of the Mixed Race — a women-led speed cycling group. Ashley discusses her journey from being a car-dependent resident of the Santa Monica Mountains to discovering the joy of cycling in Chengdu, Metro’s Night Owl Transit, the Dorothy Peyton Gray Transportation Library and Archive, taking public transit to the beach, MOVE Culver City, Kenny Uong, and more.
Episode No. 8 — Michael Schneider
In this episode, Kyle and Eric sit down in the Koreatown Media Lab with Michael Schneider of Streets for All. The discussion touches upon the city’s unrealized Mobility Plan 2035, Measure HLA, biking to LAX, e-cargo bike as an alternative to SUVs, street design — and how individuals can become engaged in civics, activism, and policy making.
Episode No. 9 — Bubba Fish
In this episode, Kyle and Eric sit down with newly-elected City of Culver City… City Council member, Bubba Fish. Their discussion begins with Fish’s journey to activism and turns to his efforts to keep Culver City sustainable, thriving, and livable.
Episode No. 10 — Cozi Orlen
Eric and Kyle “do some scenes” with car-free underground improv and sketch comedy organizer Cozi Orlen! We go deep in this one—be ready to explore the nature of fear, safety on mass transit, and deconstructing toxic cultural expectations. It’s truly a blast.
Episode No. 11 — Ask Us Anything: Part 1
Eric & Kyle answer listener questions from Reddit, Instagram, Bluesky, and beyond!
Episode No. 12 — Ask Us Anything Part 2: Busstop Bugaloo
You’ve got more questions, we’ve got more answers!
Episode No. 13 — Danny Vega
Listen as we tear up the hills of Echo Park with special guest Danny Vega! Danny hosts AITApod and recently kicked his car. We touch on all things Onewheel, car-free dating, and seeing through the Car Matrix.
Episode No. 14 — Ivy Kwok
Kyle and Eric sit down in the Koreatown Media with mass transit enthusiast, Ivy Kwok. s a PhD Student in Environmental Engineering and member of the Society of Women Engineers. Their conversation touches upon riding Metrolink to dates, pogo-sticking, and her upcoming trip to Hong Kong and Macau.
Episode No. 15 — Alex Denney
You know that one friend who’s not car-free, but is abnormally willing to go along with all of your ridiculous transit schemes? That’s Alex Denney, our guest today. Alex is an actor and musician—who you may have seen on Pam & Tommy and who you will see in the upcoming live-action Lilo & Stitch—who was car free in Hawaii and Los Angeles for a while. Alex talks about his experiences busking car-free, what prompts him to take the train to auditions, and what could tempt him to take transit more often. We close this episode with our first ever bus(k) stop performance where Alex plays his new song “Books, Bicycles, and Trains” in the Koreatown Pio Pico Library’s media lab.
Episode No. 16 — Rogelio Pardo
Kyle and Eric sit down with City Council District 13‘s Senior Transportation & Infrastructure Deputy, Rogelio Pardo. The conversation touches upon activism, Al Fresco dining, Access to Hollywood, the Department of Transportation, and much more. Plus, Rogelio answers listener questions.
Episode No. 17 — Stop the Gondola
Kyle and Eric sit down in the Koreatown Media Lab with Phyllis Ling and Eric Adams — two activists from the Stop the Gondola campaign. They talk about why the Aerial Rapid Transit Technology (ARTT) isn’t the mass transit solution it’s being pitched as but, upon examination, an enormously costly gadgetbahn and, frankly, more of a Shelbyville idea.
Episode No. 18 — Everybody Protest (Safely) [mini-episode]
In this special mini-episode, we sit down with labor activist Anne Marie, and transit activist Shelby, for a discussion about the dos and don’ts of protesting during the current regime’s war on public space and the public itself.
Episode No. 19 — Be a Socialist, Share a Bike, Stop Lyft
Listen as we get our socialism on with transit advocates Anne Marie & Shelby—Lyft is trying to muscle its way in to Metro‘s bikeshare program and our guests tell us why that’s a terrible idea. We touch on Zohran Mamdani‘s primary victory, bike maintenance, and how to get involved with leftist causes in Los Angeles.
Episode No. 20 — Kyle’s Multi-Modal Commuting Adventures
Kyle’s been getting around: Koreatown, Atwater, Anaheim. Not just via the beloved E Line, mind you. We’re talking bike, bus, Metrolink, and motor scooter.
Support Eric Brightwell on Patreon
Eric Brightwell is an adventurer, essayist, rambler, explorer, cartographer, and guerrilla gardener who is always seeking paid writing, speaking, traveling, and art opportunities. He is not interested in generating advertorials, cranking out clickbait, or laboring away in a listicle mill “for exposure.”
Brightwell has written for Angels Walk LA, Amoeblog, Boom: A Journal of California, diaCRITICS, Hey Freelancer!, Hidden Los Angeles, and KCET Departures. His art has been featured by the American Institute of Architects, the Architecture & Design Museum, the Craft Contemporary, Form Follows Function, the Los Angeles County Store, Sidewalking: Coming to Terms With Los Angeles, Skid Row Housing Trust, the 1650 Gallery, and Abundant Housing LA.
Brightwell has been featured as subject and/or guest in The Los Angeles Times, VICE, Huffington Post, Los Angeles Magazine, LAist, CurbedLA, LA Times 404, Marketplace, In a Minute With Evan Lovett, Office Hours Live, L.A. Untangled, Spectrum News, Eastsider LA, Boing Boing, Los Angeles, I’m Yours, Notebook on Cities and Culture, the Silver Lake History Collective, KCRW‘s Which Way, LA?, All Valley Everything, Hear in LA, KPCC‘s How to LA, at Emerson College, and at the University of Southern California. He is the co-host of the podcast, Nobody Drives in LA.
Brightwell has written a haiku-inspired guidebook, Los Angeles Neighborhoods — From Academy Hill to Zamperini Field and All Points Between, that he hopes to have published. If you’re a literary agent or publisher, please contact him.
You can follow him on:
Bluesky, Duolingo, Facebook, Goodreads, iNaturalist, Instagram, Letterboxd, Medium, Mubi, Threads, and TikTok.
Eric Brightwell 
The podcast “Nobody Drives in LA” offers a refreshing exploration of navigating Los Angeles without a car, emphasizing the city’s evolving public transportation, cycling infrastructure, and pedestrian-friendly initiatives. It provides insightful commentary on the cultural shift away from car dependency in a city often synonymous with traffic and freeways, making it a thought-provoking listen for those curious about urban transformation and sustainability.
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