• The Big Dig

  • By: GBH
  • Podcast
The Big Dig By cover art

The Big Dig

By: GBH
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  • Summary

  • 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.

    ———

    Credits:

    Host and scriptwriter: Ian Coss

    Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

    Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss

    Editor: Lacy Roberts

    Editorial Advisor: Stephanie Leydon

    Fact Checker: Lisa Wardle

    Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss

    Project Manager: Meiqian He
    ©2023 WGBH Educational Foundation
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Episodes
  • Introducing The Big Dig

    Introducing The Big Dig
    Sep 13 2023

    Can America still do big things? Can we build the ambitious projects we will need to survive climate change and improve our cities? This 9-part series looks for clues in the story of the Big Dig – one of the most notoriously troubled infrastructure projects in American history.

    The nine episode series is produced by GBH News.

    Credits:

    Host and scriptwriter: Ian Coss

    Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

    Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss

    Editor: Lacy Roberts

    Editorial Advisor: Stephanie Leydon

    Fact Checker: Lisa Wardle

    Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss

    Project Manager: Meiqian He
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    5 mins
  • Part 1: We Were Wrong

    Part 1: We Were Wrong
    Sep 27 2023

    There is a strange irony behind the Big Dig: the most expensive highway project ever built in America began with a man who hated highways. This is the story of Fred Salvucci’s journey into activism, during what is perhaps the most transformative anti-highway movement in the nation’s history.

    Credits:

    Host and scriptwriter: Ian Coss

    Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

    Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss

    Editor: Lacy Roberts

    Editorial Advisor: Stephanie Leydon

    Fact Checker: Lisa Wardle

    Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss

    Project Manager: Meiqian He
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    54 mins
  • Part 2: Unholy Alliance

    Part 2: Unholy Alliance
    Sep 27 2023

    In the early 1970s a radical idea took shape: tearing down Boston’s elevated downtown highway, and rebuilding it underground. But making it happen will require a grand bargain between two competing tunnel projects, and between bitter enemies.

    Credits:

    Host and scriptwriter: Ian Coss

    Executive Producer: Devin Maverick Robins

    Producers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian Coss

    Editor: Lacy Roberts

    Editorial Advisor: Stephanie Leydon

    Fact Checker: Lisa Wardle

    Scoring and Music Supervision: Ian Coss

    Project Manager: Meiqian He
    Show more Show less
    52 mins
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