Why We Drive
Toward a Philosophy of the Open Road
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Narrated by:
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Ron Butler
About this listen
A brilliant and defiant celebration of driving as a unique pathway of human freedom, by "one of the most influential thinkers of our time" (Sunday Times).
"A thoughtful, entertaining, and substantive work about the joys of driving." (Wall Street Journal)
"Why We Drive weaves philosophers, thinkers, and scientific research with shade-tree mechanics and racers to defend our right to independence, making the case that freedom of motion is essential to who we are as a species.... We hope you'll read it." (Road & Track)
Once we were drivers, the open road alive with autonomy, adventure, danger, trust, and speed. Today we are as likely to be in the back seat of an Uber as behind the wheel ourselves. Tech giants are hurling us toward a shiny, happy "self-driving" future, selling utopia but equally keen to advertise to a captive audience strapped into another expensive device. Are we destined, then, to become passengers, not drivers? Why We Drive reveals that much more may be at stake than we might think.
Ten years ago, in the New York Times best-selling Shop Class as Soulcraft, philosopher-mechanic Matthew B. Crawford - a University of Chicago PhD who owned his own motorcycle shop - made a revolutionary case for manual labor, one that ran headlong against the pretentions of white-collar office work. Now, using driving as a window through which to view the broader changes wrought by technology on all aspects of contemporary life, Crawford investigates the driver's seat as one of the few remaining domains of skill, exploration, play - and freedom. Blending philosophy and hands-on storytelling, Crawford grounds the narrative in his own experience in the garage and behind the wheel, recounting his decade-long restoration of a vintage Volkswagen as well as his journeys to thriving automotive subcultures across the country. Crawford leads us on an irreverent but deeply considered inquiry into the power of faceless bureaucracies, the importance of questioning mindless rules, and the battle for democratic self-determination against the surveillance capitalists.
A meditation on the competence of ordinary people, Why We Drive explores the genius of our everyday practices on the road, the rewards of "folk engineering", and the existential value of occasionally being scared shitless.
Witty and ingenious throughout, Why We Drive is a rebellious and daring celebration of the irrepressible human spirit.
©2020 Matthew B. Crawford (P)2020 HarperAudioListeners also enjoyed...
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By: Donald A. Norman
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Street Smart
- The Rise of Cities and the Fall of Cars
- By: Samuel I. Schwartz, William Rosen - contributor
- Narrated by: Don Hagen
- Length: 9 hrs and 12 mins
- Unabridged
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With wit and sharp insight, former Traffic Commissioner of New York City, Sam Schwartz a.k.a. "Gridlock Sam", one of the most respected transportation engineers in the world and consummate insider in NYC political circles, uncovers how American cities became so beholden to cars and why the current shift away from that trend will forever alter America's urban landscapes, marking nothing short of a revolution in how we get from place to place.
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Interesting, thought provoking, and hopeful
- By JKuster on 03-07-20
By: Samuel I. Schwartz, and others
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The 99% Invisible City
- A Field Guide to the Hidden World of Everyday Design
- By: Kurt Kohlstedt, Roman Mars
- Narrated by: Roman Mars
- Length: 10 hrs and 48 mins
- Unabridged
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99% Invisible is a big-ideas podcast about small-seeming things, revealing stories baked into the buildings we inhabit, the streets we drive, and the sidewalks we traverse. The show celebrates design and architecture in all of its functional glory and accidental absurdity, with intriguing tales of both designers and the people impacted by their designs.
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The 99% Invisible City
- By Louise Schraa on 01-09-21
By: Kurt Kohlstedt, and others
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AI 2041
- Ten Visions for Our Future
- By: Kai-Fu Lee, Chen Qiufan
- Narrated by: Feodor Chin, Justin Chien, Soneela Nankani, and others
- Length: 18 hrs and 4 mins
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AI will be the defining development of the 21st century. Within two decades, aspects of daily human life will be unrecognizable. AI will generate unprecedented wealth, revolutionize medicine and education through human-machine symbiosis, and create brand-new forms of communication and entertainment. In liberating us from routine work, however, AI will also challenge the organizing principles of our economic and social order.
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Good concept, poor execution
- By Amazon Customer on 12-08-21
By: Kai-Fu Lee, and others
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Let’s Ride
- Sonny Barger’s Guide to Motorcycling How to Ride the Right Way - for Life
- By: Sonny Barger, Darwin Holmstrom - contributor
- Narrated by: John McLain
- Length: 6 hrs and 43 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed as the new essential resource for bikers, Let's Ride is today's most entertaining and authoritative guide to mastering the art of motorcycling. From choosing the right bike and keeping it finely maintained to sharpening riding techniques and achieving top performance, legendary biker icon Sonny Barger mines his lifetime of experience to provide advice, wisdom, wit, and never-before-told stories that will help fellow riders - new and veteran alike - survive the challenges of the road.
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Forrest Gump narrator
- By guillermo on 03-09-22
By: Sonny Barger, and others
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Wanting
- The Power of Mimetic Desire in Everyday Life
- By: Luke Burgis
- Narrated by: Luke Burgis, Sean Patrick Hopkins
- Length: 8 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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Gravity affects every aspect of our physical being, but there’s a psychological force just as powerful - yet almost nobody has heard of it. It’s responsible for bringing groups of people together and pulling them apart, making certain goals attractive to some and not to others, and fueling cycles of anxiety and conflict. In Wanting, Luke Burgis draws on the work of French polymath René Girard to bring this hidden force to light and reveals how it shapes our lives and societies.
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One of the most important books you'll ever read
- By chris boutte on 06-14-21
By: Luke Burgis
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Ingenious
- A True Story of Invention, Automotive Daring, and the Race to Revive America
- By: Jason Fagone
- Narrated by: Adam Verner
- Length: 12 hrs and 6 mins
- Unabridged
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In 2007, the X Prize Foundation announced that it would give $10 million to anyone who could build a safe, mass-producible car that could travel one hundred miles on the energy equivalent of a gallon of gas. The challenge attracted more than one hundred teams from all over the world, including dozens of amateurs. Many designed their cars entirely from scratch, rejecting decades of thinking about what a car should look like.
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Here’s to the crazy ones. The misfits. The rebels.
- By Shamu from New York on 12-07-13
By: Jason Fagone
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In Pursuit of Elegance
- Why the Best Ideas Have Something Missing
- By: Matthew E. May
- Narrated by: Malcolm Hillgartner
- Length: 5 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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In this thought-provoking exploration, Matthew May defines elegance as the elusive combination of unusual simplicity and surprising power, and pinpoints the four key elements that characterize it: seduction, subtraction, symmetry, and sustainability. In a story-driven narrative that sheds light on the need for elegance in design, engineering, physics, art, urban planning, sports, and work, May offers a surprising array of stories that illustrate why what's "not there" often matters more than what is.
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I love elegance, but this book isn't elegant
- By Oliver Nielsen on 06-26-11
By: Matthew E. May
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The Department of Mad Scientists
- Inside DARPA, the Path-Breaking Government Agency You've Never Heard Of
- By: Michael Belfiore
- Narrated by: Michael Belfiore
- Length: 10 hrs and 12 mins
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The first-ever inside look at DARPA - the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency - the maverick and controversial group whose futuristic work has had amazing civilian and military applications, from the Internet to GPS to driverless cars
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meh
- By Patrick on 12-22-09
By: Michael Belfiore
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Walkable City
- How Downtown Can Save America, One Step at a Time
- By: Jeff Speck
- Narrated by: Jeff Speck
- Length: 6 hrs and 45 mins
- Unabridged
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Jeff Speck has dedicated his career to determining what makes cities thrive. And he has boiled it down to one key factor: walkability. The very idea of a modern metropolis evokes visions of bustling sidewalks, vital mass transit, and a vibrant, pedestrian-friendly urban core. But in the typical American city, the car is still king, and downtown is a place that’s easy to drive to but often not worth arriving at. Making walkability happen is relatively easy and cheap; seeing exactly what needs to be done is the trick.
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Interesting topic and thoughtful insight, subpar recording.
- By Andrew Nicks on 05-12-18
By: Jeff Speck
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Driving Honda
- Inside the World’s Most Innovative Car Company
- By: Jeffrey Rothfeder
- Narrated by: Mel Foster
- Length: 10 hrs and 46 mins
- Unabridged
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For decades there have been two iconic Japanese auto companies. One has been endlessly studied and written about. The other has been generally underappreciated and misunderstood. Until now. Since its birth as a motorcycle company in 1949, Honda has steadily grown into the world’s fifth largest automaker and top engine manufacturer, as well as one of the most beloved, most profitable, and most consistently innovative multinational corporations.
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it was ok.
- By chris p on 11-16-18
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Drive!
- Henry Ford, George Selden, and the Race to Invent the Auto Age
- By: Lawrence Goldstone
- Narrated by: Christopher Price
- Length: 13 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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From the acclaimed author of Birdmen comes a revelatory new history of the birth of the automobile - an illuminating and entertaining true tale of invention, competition, and the visionaries, hustlers, and swindlers who came together to transform the world. With a narrative as propulsive as its subject, Drive! plunges us headlong into a time unlike any in history, when manic innovation and consumerist zeal coalesced to forever change the way people got from one place to another.
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Ford Detractor.
- By Eric Johnston on 08-15-22
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Glimmer
- How Design Can Transform Your Life and Maybe Even the World
- By: Warren Berger
- Narrated by: Ax Norman
- Length: 10 hrs and 14 mins
- Unabridged
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The first book to reveal how thinking like a designer can help solve the greatest challenges we face in business, society, and our daily lives. What can we learn from the ways great designers think-and how can it improve our world? In this highly original book by journalist Warren Berger, in collaboration with celebrated designer Bruce Mau, ten groundbreaking principles of design are shown in action-addressing business, social, and personal challenges and improving the way we think, work, and live.
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not for those who know about design thinking...
- By Pierre on 09-06-10
By: Warren Berger
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A gripping narrative history of the 1889 Johnstown Flood - the deadliest flood in US history - from New York Times best-selling author, NBC host, and legendary weather authority Al Roker. May 1889: After a deluge of rainfall swelled the Little Conemaugh River, panicked engineers watched helplessly as swiftly rising waters threatened to breach the South Fork Dam in central Pennsylvania. Though they telegraphed neighboring towns, warning of the impending danger, residents, used to false alarms, remained in their homes. At 3:10 p.m., the dam gave way....
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Mispronunciation bothers me
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The size of a clenched fist and the shape of a light bulb—with no less power and potential. Every person on Earth began inside a uterus, but how much do we really understand about the womb? Bringing together medical history, scientific discoveries, and journalistic exploration, Leah Hazard embarks on a journey in search of answers about the body’s most miraculous and contentious organ.
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A must read
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Francesca Gino has been studying rebels in life and in the workplace for more than 15 years. She has discovered that rebels - those who practice "positive deviance" at work - are harder to manage, but they are good for the bottom line: their passion, drive, curiosity, and creativity raise the entire organization to a new level. And she has found that at home, rebels are more engaged partners, parents, and friends. Packed with strategies for embracing rebellion at work and in life, Rebel Talent encourages all of us to rebel against what’s comfortable, so that we can thrive.
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Empowering!
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How to Write a Sentence
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Like a seasoned sportscaster, Fish marvels at the adeptness of finely crafted sentences and breaks them down into digestible morsels, giving listeners an instant play-by-play. Drawing on a wide range of great writers, from Philip Roth to Antonin Scalia to Jane Austen, How to Write a Sentence is much more than a writing manual—it is a spirited love letter to the written word, and a key to understanding how great writing works. It is a book that will stand the test of time.
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Excellent book for writers
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What About Men?
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Like anyone who discusses the problems of girls and women in public, Caitlin Moran has often been confronted with the question: “But what about men?” And at first, tbh, she dgaf. Boys, and men, are fine, right? Feminism doesn’t need to worry about them. However, around the time she heard an angry young man saying he was “boycotting” International Women’ Day because “It's easier to be a woman than a man these days,” she started to wonder: are unhappy boys, and men, also making unhappy women?
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The book I'm going to recommend to my friends
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The Far Traveler
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Five hundred years before Columbus, a Viking woman named Gudrid sailed off the edge of the known world. She landed in the New World and lived there for three years, giving birth to a baby before sailing home. Or so the Icelandic sagas say.
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About Gudrid Thorbjarnardóttir Viking Explorer
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What listeners say about Why We Drive
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- C. Smith
- 11-16-23
An absolute masterpiece!
Why We Drive covers the importance of maintaining our freedom and humanity and not giving over our free will to big tech. In this book we see the infantile effects of AI technology and how it intrudes upon us in order to “idiot proof” our lives. This book is a must read.
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- johnson
- 08-19-20
Another masterpiece by Crawford.
This book touches on many of the themes that Crawford explored in his two previous excellent books, Shop Class as Soulcraft and The World Beyond Your Head. He studies the growth of human agency through the development of skill with ones own hands and with machines as extensions of consciousness. In this book he focuses on the collective threat that we face of having these opportunities to develop as more complex beings taken from us by the ever advancing techno-capitalist class in Silicon Valley and by their enablers and sycophants in DC.
What appears on the surface to be a banal exploration of that classic American hobbyist/fetish - the automobile - turns out to be a deep exploration of what it means to be a human being in this time and place. I highly recommend reading this book and the other two I mentioned before. You will come out the other end of these three books with a far richer technical and humanistic understanding of the human species and where it is headed in the near future.
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- Christopher Marks
- 12-27-22
Surprisingly relevant to a non-Gearhead
I am not mechanically savvy, or a connoisseur of automobiles, and I discovered that you don’t need to be to appreciate this book.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Lukasz Siewior
- 07-23-20
Book about being a free man
Even though the author writes about driving experience, the real story is about how our current world limits our freedoms and turns us into source of data and clueless creatures. Worth reading and listening over and over again.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Gary
- 12-04-22
Google is Evil, Go Drive your car while you can!
A desperate plea to be human in a day and age or tech companies are in slaving us all willingly
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1 person found this helpful
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- Chip Beck
- 06-19-21
Really liked it.
This book wasn’t so much about why we drive as it is about why driving our own cars is important, the current and inevitable threats to driving, and what we are going to lose when that happens. I give the book 4 stars because the story is somewhat disjointed and goes off on tangents that don’t flow from the previous chapter. Well worth the read though.
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- Kindle Customer
- 11-01-20
Absolute masterpiece!
I am a racecar driver, tinkerer, Libertarian, pragmatist, with Asperger's. Nothing has ever tied these elements of who I am together, until this book was written. Every sentence was seemingly taken from my own mind. What a pleasure.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Tami B.
- 06-12-20
Smart cars should never happen
Great research, compelling narrative, damning indictment of the tech gods that would strip you of your humanity in their perverse quest to enslave us all
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2 people found this helpful
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- Jami E. Champagne
- 07-22-20
Get ready to think
I was thinking this was just about the romance of the road. Crawford covers that but brings in big data and a host of other thought-provoking factors to inspire us to exert our human independence through, among other things, driving.
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5 people found this helpful
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- HL Atkins
- 07-31-20
Great philosophical book!
A nice look at freedom and liberty on the open road. And a great look at what we might lose in the future if we give up the sovereignty of the individual for the convenience of the digital age.
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3 people found this helpful