About this podcast
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.
Episodes
The newest 20 of 23 episodes
- Highway Teardown Tour | 11. Boston, MA · 41 min · Season 1 Episode 21The final chapter of the Big Dig story is what happened to the land after the highway was gone. Like the rest of the project, it was messy, and other cities would be wise to…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 10. Providence, RI · 38 min · Season 1 Episode 20The Big Dig in Boston was a fluke, a unicorn, something we may never see again. But there are simpler and cheaper ways to rethink our urban highways – Providence, RI tried one…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 9. Philadelphia, PA · 43 min · Season 1 Episode 19Even 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…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 8. Baltimore, MD · 43 min · Season 1 Episode 18This 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…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 7. Louisville, KY · 31 min · Season 1 Episode 17In 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…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 6. Portland, OR · 45 min · Season 1 Episode 16The anti-highway movement, like any movement, has always been a coalition. Different people with different backgrounds and different interests finding a common cause. But…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 5. Seattle, WA · 35 min · Season 1 Episode 15There 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…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 4. Austin, TX · 33 min · Season 1 Episode 14How did the Austin City Council find themselves locked in a ‘death match’ over what to do about Interstate 35? Two councilors and two journalists talk through the fraught…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 3. Rochester, NY · 41 min · Season 1 Episode 13Once the highway is gone, can the divisions these structures created actually be healed? Can the people on either side become neighbors again? Rochester, NY is trying to answer…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 2. Syracuse, NY · 48 min · Season 1 Episode 12Is it possible to re-write the Interstate map and send highways around cities instead of through them? Syracuse, NY is doing just that. Guests: Marie Therese Dominguez, Lanessa…
- Highway Teardown Tour | 1. New York, NY · 52 min · Season 1 Episode 11What to do with the BQE? It’s a one of a kind highway in desperate need of repair, but no one can agree how to fix it. Guests: Polly Trottenberg, Lara Birnback, Stephen Nessen…
- Highway Teardown Tour | Enter Here · 7 min · Season 1 Episode 10Every American city is divided by crumbling old highways. Every city is trying to figure out what to do with them. But even if the problems with these structures are obvious, the…
- BONUS: A note from the team · 3 min · Season 1Just dropping in to share some news about the show, and what's coming next.
- The Big Dig | 9. Hearts and Minds · 38 min · Season 1 Episode 9Part 9: It’s been fifty years since the Big Dig was first conceived, thirty years since construction began, more than a dozen years since it was completed – and the final twist…
- The Big Dig | 8. I Want Justice for What Happened · 57 min · Season 1 Episode 8Part 8: Just as the project turns the corner towards completion, its entire legacy becomes clouded. The tunnels are leaking, concrete suppliers are being arrested, and everyday…
- The Big Dig | 7. The Turnpike Revolt · 57 min · Season 1 Episode 7Part 7: By the year 2000, the Big Dig has passed through many hands, but in its final years a power struggle spills into public view – over who will determine the project’s fate…
- The Big Dig | 6. The Up Down Charts · 50 min · Season 1 Episode 6Part 6: As work progresses through the 1990s and the tunnels take shape, the true cost of the Big Dig remains unknown to the public, until a series of revelations pulls down the…
- The Big Dig | 5. Hatchet Man vs. the 800 Pound Gorilla · 54 min · Season 1 Episode 5Part 5: In 1991, the Big Dig is handed off to a new leader – the brash, aggressive, hatchet-toting Jim Kerasiotes – who makes it clear he plans to shake things up. The one thing…
- The Big Dig | 4. The Double Cross · 56 min · Season 1 Episode 4Part 4: The project faces an unexpected challenge on the home front: resistance from local environmentalists and residents – the very people the Big Dig was intended to please…
- The Big Dig | 3. All Politics is Local · 54 min · Season 1 Episode 3Part 3: The Big Dig needs federal funding. House Speaker Tip O’Neill is determined to get it; President Ronald Reagan is determined to stop it – setting up a final showdown in…
