Welcome to What’s Outside the Window?

What’s outside the window when you’re driving down the highway?

Sometimes it’s obvious: a town, a bridge, a river, a landmark.

Sometimes it looks like absolutely nothing.

But hidden along the roads we travel every day are forgotten places, strange events, disasters, old transportation routes, vanished industries, local legends, and stories you would never know were there just by passing through.

That’s what What’s Outside the Window? is about.

Hosted by Ric Wayland, the podcast begins with real highway drives documented by RealRoads.tv. Each drive becomes a Series, and each individual story discovered along that corridor becomes a Chapter.

You don’t need to watch the corresponding RealRoads video to enjoy the podcast. But when an episode discusses a specific location, the episode page includes a timestamped link so you can see exactly what the area looks like today.

Our first Series follows I-71 from Cincinnati to Louisville, with stories ranging from a familiar northern Kentucky landmark to forgotten transportation disasters, one of the most devastating highway crashes in American history, and a cemetery relocated to make way for the Interstate.

This short introductory episode explains what the show is, how it works, and what you can expect as we start looking a little more closely at the history sitting just beyond the windshield.

Subscribe to What’s Outside the Window? wherever you get your podcasts, and follow the Series, episode sources, companion road footage, and more here at whatsoutsidethewindow.com.