Route 66 and the quest to connect America
Podcast: ThroughlinePublished On: Thu Jul 16 2026
Description: Route 66 turns 100 this year. It's considered America’s most nostalgic road trip. With wide open road, sunsets that fill the whole sky, dirt-kissed Chevy trucks, and revving motorcycles. But Route 66 started out as a muddy road to nowhere. Today on the show, we’ll meet a league of gilded-age bicyclists, a ragtag gang of cross-country runners, and the very stubborn highway commissioner who turned it into the “Main Street of America.”Guests:Susan Croce Kelly, author of Father of Route 66 and Route 66: the Highway and its PeopleCORRECTION: In a previous version of this episode, we incorrectly said the government ran out of funding for a road improvement project in the 1940s. That happened in the 1840s.Support shows like Throughline with NPR+. Sign up today at plus.npr.org.See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.NPR Privacy Policy
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