Brad Weed
@bradweed.mastodon.social.ap.brid.gy
Geography writer at interplace.io. Sustainable transportation + land use advocate. Pragmatic Interactionist.
Former thirty-year Microsoft Interaction Design […]
[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@bradweed on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
Former thirty-year Microsoft Interaction Design […]
[bridged from https://mastodon.social/@bradweed on the fediverse by https://fed.brid.gy/ ]
If the U.S. really wants high-speed rail, it needs more than trainsets. It needs new rules for land, value, and movement. Spain offers clues. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 20, 2025 at 5:14 PM
If the U.S. really wants high-speed rail, it needs more than trainsets. It needs new rules for land, value, and movement. Spain offers clues. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Fast trains, slow change: Spain shows that better infrastructure alone will not save us from car dependence. But it can reshape the odds. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 20, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Fast trains, slow change: Spain shows that better infrastructure alone will not save us from car dependence. But it can reshape the odds. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Chicago’s vanished interurbans and Spain’s HSR belong to the same family tree. One led to highways, the other to rail revival. Here’s why that matters. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 19, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Chicago’s vanished interurbans and Spain’s HSR belong to the same family tree. One led to highways, the other to rail revival. Here’s why that matters. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
“Why can’t we have nice things?” is the wrong question. This essay asks what kind of growth HSR actually locks in—and who benefits. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 18, 2025 at 5:14 PM
“Why can’t we have nice things?” is the wrong question. This essay asks what kind of growth HSR actually locks in—and who benefits. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
From interurbans to interstates, America rebuilt its geography around cars. Spain doubled down on trains. The results are not as simple as they look. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 18, 2025 at 12:08 PM
From interurbans to interstates, America rebuilt its geography around cars. Spain doubled down on trains. The results are not as simple as they look. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
High-speed rail does not kill the car; it reorganizes growth. Spain shows both the promise and the paradox. The U.S. should pay attention. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 17, 2025 at 5:14 PM
High-speed rail does not kill the car; it reorganizes growth. Spain shows both the promise and the paradox. The U.S. should pay attention. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Madrid–Barcelona in 2.5 hours; Chicago–St. Louis in nearly 5. Same distance, different choices. How did we get here, and can we change course? @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 17, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Madrid–Barcelona in 2.5 hours; Chicago–St. Louis in nearly 5. Same distance, different choices. How did we get here, and can we change course? @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
The U.S. once had “nice things”: dense rail, walkable suburbs, fast interurbans. Spain’s HSR shows what we gained and what we lost. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 16, 2025 at 5:15 PM
The U.S. once had “nice things”: dense rail, walkable suburbs, fast interurbans. Spain’s HSR shows what we gained and what we lost. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Spain’s high-speed trains feel like the future. But they also sit on top of rising car use and familiar sprawl. What does that mean for U.S. rail dreams? @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Trains, Planes, and Paved-Over Promises
Why Spain gets smooth speed and America stays stuck
interplace.io
December 16, 2025 at 12:08 PM
Spain’s high-speed trains feel like the future. But they also sit on top of rising car use and familiar sprawl. What does that mean for U.S. rail dreams? @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
https://interplace.io/p/trains-planes-and-paved-over-promises
Next time you're following your phone through unfamiliar streets, notice: which city are you seeing — the one that exists, or the one the algorithm wants you to see? And which one are you helping to create? @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 27, 2025 at 5:15 PM
Next time you're following your phone through unfamiliar streets, notice: which city are you seeing — the one that exists, or the one the algorithm wants you to see? And which one are you helping to create? @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
30 years ago UCSB, we were democratizing cartography with GIS. The critical questions — about what maps might do *to* us and our cities — were less discussed. Now we're living those questions. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 27, 2025 at 12:08 PM
30 years ago UCSB, we were democratizing cartography with GIS. The critical questions — about what maps might do *to* us and our cities — were less discussed. Now we're living those questions. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Watched locals navigate their Lisbon while tourists followed algorithmic recommendations to the next Instagrammable spot. Same streets, different maps. Platform algorithms don't just show the city. They actively produce it. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 26, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Watched locals navigate their Lisbon while tourists followed algorithmic recommendations to the next Instagrammable spot. Same streets, different maps. Platform algorithms don't just show the city. They actively produce it. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
There's something dizzying about studying a system from within its grasp. Like trying to map a maze while still lost inside it. On critically existing inside the platforms we use and critique. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 26, 2025 at 12:08 PM
There's something dizzying about studying a system from within its grasp. Like trying to map a maze while still lost inside it. On critically existing inside the platforms we use and critique. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Who decides what gets mapped? Whose reality does the map represent? What work does the map do in the world? These questions question my geography undergrad...especially as I follow blue dots through ancient streets. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 25, 2025 at 5:14 PM
Who decides what gets mapped? Whose reality does the map represent? What work does the map do in the world? These questions question my geography undergrad...especially as I follow blue dots through ancient streets. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Got lost in Lisbon following Apple Maps while attending a digital geography conference. The irony? We were there to critique the very platforms reshaping the city beneath our feet. On complicity, maps, and the worlds we create. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
November 25, 2025 at 12:09 PM
Got lost in Lisbon following Apple Maps while attending a digital geography conference. The irony? We were there to critique the very platforms reshaping the city beneath our feet. On complicity, maps, and the worlds we create. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Systems reproduce through relationships that shape identities. New piece on how capitalism locks in—and how alternatives from land trusts to buffalo restoration interrupt the spirals. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 9, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Systems reproduce through relationships that shape identities. New piece on how capitalism locks in—and how alternatives from land trusts to buffalo restoration interrupt the spirals. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
How does theft become structure? How does violence become normal? New essay traces feedback loops from enclosure to contemporary debt extraction. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 9, 2025 at 11:09 AM
How does theft become structure? How does violence become normal? New essay traces feedback loops from enclosure to contemporary debt extraction. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Path dependencies aren't neutral—they're maintained by those who benefit. New essay on how geographic hierarchies persist through active enforcement, not inertia. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 8, 2025 at 4:16 PM
Path dependencies aren't neutral—they're maintained by those who benefit. New essay on how geographic hierarchies persist through active enforcement, not inertia. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Capitalism spreads by destroying alternatives. What got displaced? English commons, indigenous economies, African land systems. New essay on geographies of dispossession. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 8, 2025 at 11:08 AM
Capitalism spreads by destroying alternatives. What got displaced? English commons, indigenous economies, African land systems. New essay on geographies of dispossession. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
How did English commons destruction become global extraction? New piece on capitalism's geographic origins—violence as emergent property, not externality. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 7, 2025 at 4:16 PM
How did English commons destruction become global extraction? New piece on capitalism's geographic origins—violence as emergent property, not externality. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
New essay: capitalism emerged through centuries of accumulated violence creating self-reinforcing patterns. Traces enclosure → plantations → global lock-in using complexity geography. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Spirals of Enclosure
How Capitalism Locked In
interplace.io
October 7, 2025 at 11:08 AM
New essay: capitalism emerged through centuries of accumulated violence creating self-reinforcing patterns. Traces enclosure → plantations → global lock-in using complexity geography. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/spirals-of-enclosure
Complexity will continue, with or without us. The wager is no longer whether to master the wave. It is whether we can learn to inhabit it without denying the unequal costs it exacts. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/masters-of-mess-making-and-meaning
Masters of Mess Making and Meaning
The human wager in the age of turbulence
interplace.io
August 28, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Complexity will continue, with or without us. The wager is no longer whether to master the wave. It is whether we can learn to inhabit it without denying the unequal costs it exacts. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/masters-of-mess-making-and-meaning
Nazaré’s canyon turns swells into monsters. Some ride them, others drown. So too with the Anthropocene: complexity persists, but justice demands asking whose lives are lifted, and whose are pulled under. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Original post on mastodon.social
mastodon.social
August 28, 2025 at 11:10 AM
Nazaré’s canyon turns swells into monsters. Some ride them, others drown. So too with the Anthropocene: complexity persists, but justice demands asking whose lives are lifted, and whose are pulled under. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial […]
Speculative realism reminds us the world is indifferent. Metamodernism asks us to oscillate—between cosmic order and human mess, between despair and tragic optimism. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/masters-of-mess-making-and-meaning
Masters of Mess Making and Meaning
The human wager in the age of turbulence
interplace.io
August 27, 2025 at 4:14 PM
Speculative realism reminds us the world is indifferent. Metamodernism asks us to oscillate—between cosmic order and human mess, between despair and tragic optimism. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/masters-of-mess-making-and-meaning
The Holocene’s “safe operating space” is behind us. Talk of looming risks obscures reality: destabilization is already here, and its costs are unevenly borne. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/masters-of-mess-making-and-meaning
Masters of Mess Making and Meaning
The human wager in the age of turbulence
interplace.io
August 27, 2025 at 11:08 AM
The Holocene’s “safe operating space” is behind us. Talk of looming risks obscures reality: destabilization is already here, and its costs are unevenly borne. @geography @DialoguesHG @Geopolitics @geospatial https://interplace.io/p/masters-of-mess-making-and-meaning