Chris Lay reads his classic essay “My hatred of the pedal pub is deep and true.”
Illustration from a photo by Cynthia Schuster.
The high for today is a balmy 68 degrees (so close!), which means winter is finally fully on its way the hell out the door. The other side of that coin, though, is the return of pedal pubs, scourge of Madison’s moderately respectable drinking establishments.
One of the most popular pieces we’ve ever run on Tone Madison is an essay about these horrors of modern mobility in which its author, Chris Lay, attempts to get to the bottom of why these things bother him so much and along the way ends up uncovering some broader truths about the cultural direction that Madison is heading in.
The essay initially ran in summer 2014 under the headline “My hatred of the pedal pub is deep and true.” It describes a transformation of downtown Madison—at the hands of the obnoxious, the affluent, and obnoxious affluent people—that has only become more apparent in the past four years. This week we’re bringing you that piece in audio form, read in its entirety by the author. Give it a listen below.
Right now these audio extras are being added to our regular podcast feed feed, but soon we’re going to transition the feature to being a bonus for anyone who supports the site at the $3 a month level, so please consider joining up and helping fund our work and we’ll reward you with some fresh local content for your earbuds.
