Header image that reads "Streetsblog USA" in white and black text, on a yellow background

The latest streets and transportation news from Streetsblog USA.

Class struggle. Infirm secondary superheroes. Suicidal sheep. And sex that literally knocks you into a different time zone. It’s all in Jonathan Lethem’s new collection of short stories, “A Different Kind of Tension” (Ecco).

But why would we, at Streetsblog, care about a writer who has bent literary genres for three-plus decades as he’s bounded between California and Brooklyn with nary a thought for the car culture against which we rage daily? Why would we care about the author of two acclaimed novels — “The Fortress of Solitude” and “Brooklyn Crime Novel” — that are among the greatest in American literature when they don’t even offer a morsel of a subplot about how cars ruined our cities and distorted land use across our nation?

Why? Because we’re just flat-out fans of the 61-year-old author. So when the new collection came out, we rushed to the library (come on, we’re fans, but paying for a book? We were born at night, but not last night!) and couldn’t believe our eyes: An entire short story, “Program’s Progress” (1990) devoted not just to car culture, but to the velvet handcuffs of autocracy, all in one delectable bon-bon.

So with permission from Ecco, an imprint of HarperCollins, we offer it (for free!) to our readers. But do us a favor: go out and buy the book (we promised Lethem the excerpt would move copies).

Read that at the link below, and take a gander at today’s news headlines before you go on to a restful holiday weekend:

  • The Forgotten History of ‘Bloody 66’ And How Public Memory Helps Perpetuate Traffic Violence
    by ren1
    May 25, 2026
    Centennial events downplay the violent history of one of America’s most “iconic” highways, and obscure how that violence persists to this day.
  • Friday’s Headlines Are in Decline
    by Blake Aued
    May 22, 2026
    The U.S. is becoming a dying petrostate, while China leads the world in renewable energy.
Donate to Streetsblog USA

Copyright © 2024 OpenPlans/Streetsblog & Streetfilms. All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email as a friend of Streetsblog USA.

Facebook Twitter Instagram
Our mailing address is:
OpenPlans/Streetsblog & Streetfilms PO Box 1009 New York, NY 10013
Manage Subscription Preferences
LiveIntent Logo AdChoices Logo