The imminent arrival of the driverless car has forced us to reevaluate the place of the automobile in our lives. The plain, old-fashioned, driven-by-human car built our economy, won our wars, and shaped our democratic creed as it moved us about. Driver’s ed made teenagers into citizens; auto repair made boys into men. What will become of us when the robots take the wheel?

Join historian and car critic Dan Albert as he combines historical scholarship and personal narrative to trace the history of the automobile as the history of America. He will take us from muddy tracks to superhighways, and from horseless buggies to driverless electric vehicles. It is a road trip through American history as seen from the driver’s seat.

His book Are We There Yet?: The American Automobile Past, Present, and Driverless (WW Norton) is available for sale and signing.