In an effort to assess the effects of speed on our lives and our economy, Marketplace is sprinting cross-country June 25-29 to provide listeners a sense of the pace of America. Along the way, we hope to illuminate truths about our culture, our economy, and ourselves.

Our guide for Speed will be social psychologist Robert Levine, who explored the pace of life in the US and around the world in his book The Geography of Time. Using measures such as walking speed, talking speed, and the length of time for an average transaction at the bank, Levine concluded that some regions of the country are faster than others. Speed begins its week of live broadcasts in Boston, the city Levine determined to have the fasted pace, and will travel to Houston, Indianapolis, and the SIlicon Valley before settling in the slowest city - Los Angeles. Along the way, we're capturing a range of expert opinions about speed, including those of John Smith, coach for Olympic champion Maurice Greene; John Rennie, Editor-in-Chief of Scientific American; Adam Lashinsky from TheStreet.com; and James Gleick, author of Faster - The Acceleration of Just About Everything.

Speed will stop by some of America's fastest places, including the Stanford Linear Accelerator and Nasa, whose new scramjet will travel faster than 5000 miles per hour. And, we'll hear from the man who has "outspeeded" all others - astronaut Jerry Linenger, who traveled at an average speed of 18,000 miles per hour during his five-month stay aboard Russian space station Mir.