A podcast about the unseen world of data centers

Where the Internet Lives is a Webby Award–winning podcast about the fascinating world of data centers. Join us as we venture into places that very few people ever see firsthand – and learn about the technology, people, and places that make the internet run.

Episode 1

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You Use Data Centers

Nearly 5 billion people use the internet, but how many could tell you where it lives? In our first episode, we explore what data centers are – and how they keep the internet going, even when events like COVID-19 trigger historic surges in traffic.

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Episode 2

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Inside the Walls

Data centers are some of the most secure buildings on the planet. In this episode, we invite you to step inside and take a tour with one of Google’s top engineers. As we venture into computer systems that connect the world, we meet the people who keep these warehouse-scale facilities running. Plus, a little-known story about the scrappy origins of Google’s first computers.

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Episode 3

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When the Data Center Came to Town

How do data centers intersect with the communities they call home? What kinds of jobs do they create and what do residents think of having a big computer in their backyard? In this episode, we hear what happens when the digital economy meets the industrial economy in rural Alabama.

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Episode 4

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A Quest for 24/7 Clean Energy

What would it take to run data centers on clean electricity, everywhere, every hour of the day? In this episode, we look at the evolution of data center energy use in a world confronting the threat of climate change – and explore promising ideas that could fuel a carbon-free future.

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Episode 5

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What If?

Power outages? Hurricanes? Wildfires? Zombies? Google’s data centers have to keep operating in even the most unexpected of circumstances. In this episode, we meet the security and operations experts responsible for the multi-layered systems that keep the internet secure.

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Episode 6

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The Future

For fifty years, computer performance has improved exponentially while the cost of computing has plummeted – but this phenomenal “Moore’s Law” trend has begun to slow down. What does it mean for data centers and what lies ahead? In our final episode, we peer into the future of technology – from machine learning to quantum computing – and explore the next chapter in the story of the physical internet.

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Episode 1

“Little Pieces of a Big Puzzle”

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Episode 1

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“Little Pieces of a Big Puzzle”

Data centers aren't just warehouses full of computers. They also contain complex arrangements of power equipment, water treatment facilities, and cooling systems that keep computers operating smoothly around the clock.

Understanding how all these pieces fit together requires seeing the details and the big picture at the same time – something that Damian Diaz has done all his life, ever since he was a teenager fixing handheld radios in Cuba.

Damian fled Cuba to seek political asylum. His journey brought him across the ocean and desert, and pushed him to the verge of homelessness. Today, he’s a facilities technician at Google’s data center in New Albany, Ohio – where he helps keep internet services up and running worldwide.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 2

“I Feel Like I’ve Seen It All”

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Episode 2

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“I Feel Like I’ve Seen It All”

Modern data centers are like small cities filled with warehouse-scale computers, bundles of cables and pipes, and colossal equipment to keep everything running.

Kenny “KP” Philpot is an environmental health and safety program manager at Google's Douglas County data center outside Atlanta.

Before running around the floors of data centers, KP was running around the football field, playing for the Detroit Lions. And before playing professional football, he learned hard lessons while growing up on the South Side of Chicago.

Today, he helps make sure that vast pieces of data center infrastructure – and the technicians, electricians, and mechanical engineers who manage them – are safe and sound.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 3

“We Know Who’s Here and Why”

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Episode 3

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“We Know Who’s Here and Why”

People and information are two of the most valuable things inside data centers. Libby Davis helps protect both.

Libby manages security at Google's data centers in Iowa. She runs a large team that monitors every movement inside the facilities – from the outer walls, to the inner sanctum where the servers sit.

Libby melded her background in law enforcement, engineering, and organizational psychology to secure one of Google’s largest pieces of computing infrastructure: a data center.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 4

“I Never Thought It Would Be Possible”

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Episode 4

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“I Never Thought It Would Be Possible”

A hyperscale data center can house hundreds of thousands of servers. All that digital infrastructure requires a vast and intricate set of mechanical systems to keep machines running optimally.

Juliana Conroy-Hoey is a mechanical engineer for Google data centers in Europe.

She determines how to lay out the pipes and ductwork inside data centers for maximum efficiency and sustainability – the scale of which still gives her a sense of awe.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 5

“Challenges Are Expected”

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Episode 5

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“Challenges Are Expected”

Mamoudou “D” Diallo's life path has taken him from being a curious youngster in Guinea-Conakry, to an engineering student in Ukraine, to a technology executive in the financial industry, to his role today as a site manager for Google’s data center in New Albany, Ohio. In that role, he addresses the staffing needs of a data center, which are as complex and diverse as the technology itself. Each facility needs the right mix of server technicians, mechanical engineers, networking experts, security staff, and many other specialists.

Calling on his experiences from a variety of occupations, "D" pulls together the right folks to make things work, building a team that devises simple solutions to complicated challenges inside data centers.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 6

“The Most Important Things Are Invisible”

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Episode 6

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“The Most Important Things Are Invisible”

Each individual server stacked high inside a data center is powerful in its own right. But without a way of linking them together, they aren't much use to anyone.

It takes a vast collection of switches, cables, and software control systems to create a well-functioning global network. It is Bikash Koley’s job to connect Google’s fleet of data centers – and make that connection seamless and invisible to users.

Growing up in India, Bikash first used a computer in high school. It didn’t take him long to get hooked on the concept of networking.

Today, as VP and head of global networking, he directs a team of architects who design and build a network that can withstand traffic surges, natural disasters, and a global pandemic. He and his team work at the forefront of networking technologies that keep the internet humming.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 7

“Scale Beyond Our Imagination”

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Episode 7

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“Scale Beyond Our Imagination”

Over the years, Majd Bakar has overseen several critical consumer tech advancements inside Google: Chromecast, GoogleTV, Google Nest Wifi, and the cloud gaming platform Stadia. All of them are directly linked to the growth of data centers.

From the moment Majd played with his first computer as a kid growing up in Syria, he has pursued a mission of making tech intuitive and accessible.

Today, Majd uses his design expertise and biomedical engineering background to focus on personal health at Fitbit – and data centers are more important than ever to his work.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 8

“A Big Step In Our Journey”

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Episode 8

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“A Big Step In Our Journey”

Storing photos, taking video calls, or streaming podcasts creates heat. To keep servers cool, many data centers utilize water running through pipes and along server racks.

Teams across Google have been working intensively for more than a decade to use water as responsibly as possible. And in September 2021, Google unveiled a comprehensive plan to replenish 120% of the water it consumes, and improve the quality of water ecosystems in the places where it operates.

Tara Varghese’s job is to make sure Google hits that target.

Water conservation was an important part of Tara’s upbringing from an early age. Today, she leads Google’s corporate water stewardship efforts, and helps shape the company’s strategy for siting data centers and office buildings around the world.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 9

“Holy Cow, This Is What You Are Building?”

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Episode 9

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“Holy Cow, This Is What You Are Building?”

Building a data center can be as complex as the machines inside. It requires teams of construction experts who are constantly solving football field-sized puzzles – people like Sarah Godbehere.

For Sarah, construction is a family affair. Growing up, she watched her father build schools, car washes, and office buildings.

After getting her engineering degree, Sarah realized that she wanted to work on projects with immediate and tangible outcomes. And that led her to oversee construction of Google's data centers in Northern Virginia. As a program manager, she literally helps build new data centers from the ground up.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 10

“It Gets My Heart Beating”

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Episode 10

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“It Gets My Heart Beating”

Few people are ever allowed on a data center floor. Andreas van der Linden is one of those people.

Andreas is a data center technician and the maintenance lead at Google's Eemshaven data center in the Netherlands. Every day, he and his team weave through aisles of server racks, making sure all the computers are running optimally.

To become an expert at fixing computers, Andreas first had to become an expert at taking them apart.

Today, Andreas leads a team that makes sure data center maintenance gets done on time and up to quality standards. But he never loses sight of his inner kid – and a passion for cracking open a computer himself to see what needs fixing.

Learn more about building your career at a data center.

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Episode 1

Data Center on the Prairie

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Episode 1

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Data Center on the Prairie

In Tennessee, the digital future is merging with the ecological past.

Clarksville, where Google has a data center, is home to a fragile ecosystem that has vanished across America: grasslands. What if we could use large campuses like data centers to transform land back into long-lost prairies – restoring ecological diversity and an important piece of American history? Dwayne Estes of the Southeastern Grasslands Institute is dedicating his life to making that a reality.

Learn more about the Clarksville data center in Montgomery County, Tennessee.

After you listen to the episode, watch the documentary about grasslands restoration at Google’s data center.

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Episode 2

From Furniture to Fiber, a Town Changed

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Episode 2

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From Furniture to Fiber, a Town Changed

Lenoir, North Carolina, was once a global furniture manufacturing hub. For Rachel Scercy, the furniture industry was the center of her family life. And then the jobs vanished in the 1990s.

Today, communities like Lenoir are often seen as great sites for data centers because of their strong industrial histories. In 2007, Google built a $1.2 billion data center a mile outside of Lenoir, creating over a thousand jobs to date – hundreds in construction, and hundreds of permanent jobs in operations. Since then, the region has attracted more data centers from other top tech, retail, and entertainment companies.

Intimately experienced with the ups and downs of Lenoir's economic transformation, Rachel is part of Lenoir's new generation of workers who are employed at a data center rather than in the furniture industry.

Learn more about career opportunities and Google’s investments in communities like Lenoir.

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Episode 3

Data Centers Help Fuel the Solar-Energy Boom

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Episode 3

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Data Centers Help Fuel the Solar-Energy Boom

A solar-centric world is coming. Solar generates just over 3% of the world's electricity. By the middle of the century, it could make up nearly 40% of global electricity consumption.

That growth is made possible by sophisticated manufacturing, maturing business models, and fast-dropping costs. It’s also increasingly enabled by artificial intelligence – and the data centers that power it.

Samuel Adeyemo is the co-founder of Aurora Solar, a company using AI to quickly model and execute millions of rooftop solar projects. Aurora partners with Google’s Project Sunroof to integrate vast geospatial data sets into the software.

As the digital tools behind solar get more sophisticated, data centers have the potential to be the backbone of the clean energy economy.

Learn how Project Sunroof is enabling more solar. To discover how data centers are supporting clean energy around the globe, check out Google's 24/7 carbon-free energy mission.

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Episode 4

From Trauma to Triumph

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Episode 4

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From Trauma to Triumph

Note: This episode contains references to sexual assault. Please take care while listening.

Data centers are the latest in a long list of big projects that Dave Moody has tackled over three decades running a construction company. But as an aspiring Black architect, he didn’t know if he’d ever have the same opportunities as his white counterparts.

Racial disparities didn’t stop him. Dave started with a single $88,000 contract in the late 1980s and grew his company, C. D. Moody Construction, to build museums, stadiums, and airport terminals.

As his business expanded, Dave had to face a personal trauma head-on – reckoning with the memories of childhood sexual abuse – and learn to live his life as a healed person, not just a survivor. That allowed him to seize on new opportunities, like when Google came looking for help with data center construction in Georgia. It also allowed him to become a model and mentor for others.

Learn more about Google’s supplier diversity program.

After you listen to the episode, watch a short documentary film about Dave and his journey.

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Episode 5

The ‘Gaygler’ Fighting for Same-Sex Rights in Taiwan

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Episode 5

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The ‘Gaygler’ Fighting for Same-Sex Rights in Taiwan

Ian Yang knew he was gay at an early age. But it wasn’t until arriving at Google that he felt comfortable opening up about his sexuality – eventually lighting a spark that made him a positive force in the political discussion around LGBTQ+ rights in Taiwan.

Ian is an operations engineer at Google’s data center in Changhua County, Taiwan. He ensures that management and training processes run effectively inside the facility. He is also one of the coordinators of the largest Gay Pride parade in East Asia.

Over the last decade, Ian has witnessed – and influenced – dramatic change in the politics around same-sex rights in Taiwan.

Learn more about Google’s data center operations in Taiwan. Read about Google’s support of the LGBTQ+ community.

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Episode 6

A Creative Water Solution for a Dutch Data Center

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Episode 6

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A Creative Water Solution for a Dutch Data Center

The Netherlands has a unique relationship with water. One-third of the country lies below sea level, and almost 20% of the mainland is water – largely due to the 6,000 kilometers of waterways that support industry and recreation.

Pumping, diverting, and blocking water made the Netherlands possible, turning it into a vital European trading hub and top agricultural exporter. But now, the masters of controlling water are facing a new challenge: worsening drought.

That’s why Google partnered with North Water, a Dutch water treatment company, to harness water from a network of canals to cool its data center.

The €‎45 million project featured construction of a pipeline that can carry 10 million cubic meters of water each year to the data center. It also required a new treatment plant to treat and filter the water. The project illustrates the creative, sustainable methods for cooling data centers that Google is deploying around the world.

Learn more about Google’s water sustainability commitments.

After you listen to the episode, watch a short documentary film featuring Inge talking about the North Water partnership and her concerns about and hopes for the future of the Netherlands.

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Episode 7

From Despair to a Dream Job in the Trades

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Episode 7

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From Despair to a Dream Job in the Trades

Sarah Hess is one of a million union workers in the U.S. construction industry. But she’s a rare woman in the field. About 90% of the construction workforce is male – a number that hasn't changed much over the past three decades.

Oregon Tradeswomen is an organization devoted to helping women like Sarah build careers in construction, manufacturing, mechanical, and utility trades. In 2022, Google gave $150,000 to the organization to support diversifying these industries. It's part of a multi-state effort at Google to support programs that elevate tradeswomen – some of whom will eventually build data centers.

Sarah has faced many obstacles in her life: homelessness, drug addiction, and a life-threatening tumor. Her new career in the construction trade has helped her overcome many of those difficulties.

Learn more about career opportunities and Google’s investments in states like Oregon.

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Episode 8

A Finnish Paper Town Becomes a Digital Hub

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Episode 8

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A Finnish Paper Town Becomes a Digital Hub

Mikko Green is an operations manager at Google's data center in Hamina, Finland. In 2012, when Mikko applied to work at the facility, he was excited about the prospect of moving back to the country where his mother was born.

Over the years, Mikko has witnessed Finland's broader economic shift toward digital tech, which is now a top industry in the country.

Finland is a top global producer of paper. But every year, paper demand falls – putting pressure on the industry. Faced with challenges in the pulp and paper industry, Finland is pursuing new forms of economic development. Data centers are one opportunity.

For over a decade, Google has been operating a data center in Hamina, Finland, at an abandoned paper mill. The company has invested €2 billion in the Hamina data center and related network infrastructure – and hired workers who were formerly employed in paper production.

Learn more about Google's investments in communities like Hamina.

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Episode 9

Machine Learning Unlocks a New Era for Music

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Episode 9

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Machine Learning Unlocks a New Era for Music

Hanoi Hantrakul is a musician and research scientist who works on audio and artificial intelligence. He is a former AI resident at Google working on creative applications of machine learning for music. His musical nom de plume is "Yaboi Hanoi."

Project Magenta is a research group inside Google that started with a simple question: Can we use machine learning to create compelling art and enhance creative expression?

As an AI expert and musician, Hanoi has worked on many different tools that expand the possibilities of musical composition. And thanks to the underlying technical innovations inside data centers, these tools are getting much better – opening the doors for musicians and non-musicians alike.

Hanoi also won an international AI song contest with his composition titled “Enter Demons and Gods,” which mashed together AI instruments with musical influences from Southeast Asia.

Learn more about Google's Project Magenta.

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Episode 1

Data on Fire

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Episode 1

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Data on Fire

According to NASA, nearly two-thirds of all Western wildfires recorded over the past 75 years occurred in just the last two decades.

Firefighters and fire researchers are seeing this trend first hand. As wildfires grow more destructive and more unpredictable, fire experts need better ways to account for extreme variability.

Now, major advances in AI are helping to predict wildfire behavior, and protect communities across the globe.

In this episode, we examine how data centers enable researchers, policymakers, and NGOs to mitigate climate threats like forest fires, reduce emissions, and enable a wide range of decarbonization solutions.

Guests:

Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at Google
Olivia Gagliardi, smokejumper, Missoula, Mont.
Matt Hancher, director of engineering, Geo for Environment team at Google
LaWen Hollingsworth, fire behavior specialist, Fire Modeling Institute
Kit O'Connor, research ecologist, U.S. Forest Service
Prem Ramaswami, head of Data Commons at Google
Jorge Rivera, director of data, ONE Campaign

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Episode 2

Keeping the Lights On

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Episode 2

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Keeping the Lights On

In January 2024, winter storm Gerri swept across the Midwest, bringing subzero temperatures with it. In Omaha, Nebraska, just as everyone was turning up the heat, the city’s four thermal power plants went offline.

Tim McAreavey is the VP of Customer Service at Omaha Public Power District. As the freeze gripped Nebraska, Tim and his team began an all-out effort to enlist the help of their biggest customers to reduce energy demand – including a Google data center.

In this episode, we have three stories about how data centers are helping decarbonize the energy system – and how to manage the growing energy needs of AI. Plus we learn about Tapestry's mission to make everything on the grid visible by using data science and AI to plan, predict, and monitor assets across the network.

And we ask how data centers and the tools they enable are helping communities accelerate clean energy while making the electric grid more resilient, literally keeping the lights on for homeowners, businesses, schools, and hospitals.

Guests:

Page Crahan, Tapestry team lead at X, the moonshot factory
Savannah Goodman, data and software climate solutions lead at Google
Urs Hölze, Google fellow and former senior VP for engineering at Google
Alexina Jackson, vice president of strategic development, AES
Tim McAreavey, vice president of customer service, Omaha Public Power District
Astro Teller, captain of moonshots at X, the moonshot factory

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Episode 3

Growing a Better Food System

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Episode 3

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Growing a Better Food System

Dwane Roth is a fourth-generation farmer growing corn, wheat, sorghum, and sunflower in southwestern Kansas. Back in 2016, the state of Kansas launched a three-year pilot designed to test the latest water conservation technologies on three working farms. Dwane’s farm was one of them.

Seeing the benefits, Dwane became an outspoken advocate for high-tech approaches to water conservation – approaches that could help restore the critical Ogallala Aquifer running underneath most of western Kansas.

In this episode, we ask how data-driven predictive tools are helping farmers use less water and improve yields. Plus, we look at how data and AI are getting excess food to those who need it most. And we confront the paradox of hunger and food waste existing at the same time, in the same places.

Guests:

Emily Ma, head of special projects in REWS sustainability at Google
Prem Ramaswami, head of Data Commons at Google
Stephanie Zidek, vice president of data and analytics, Feeding America
Dwane Roth, farmer and water conservation advocate in Kansas
Astro Teller, captain of moonshots at X, the moonshot factory

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Episode 4

Invisible Threats

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Episode 4

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Invisible Threats

Last March, SpaceX launched a Falcon 9 rocket into space from the Vandenberg Space Force Base in California. It carried more than 40 payloads on board, including a satellite called MethaneSAT, which was designed to track methane emissions around the globe.

Cutting methane emissions is a critical step toward reducing the rise of global temperatures that climate change is spreading to communities.

In this episode, we have two stories about how data centers – and the AI they enable – are helping to mitigate the invisible threats of heat and air pollution around the world, particularly for vulnerable populations.

From satellites to tree canopies, we ask how AI can help protect human health, reduce air pollution, and temper the urban heat island effect in our cities.

Guests:

Mansi Kansal, climate AI product manager at Google Research
Dr. Monica Bharel, clinical lead for public sector health at Google
Karin Tuxen-Bettman, Google Earth outreach manager
Millie Chu Baird, VP, Office of Chief Scientist, Environmental Defense Fund
Fatima Luna, chief resilience officer, City of Tucson

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Episode 5

Chasing Arrows

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Episode 5

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Chasing Arrows

Plastics production has doubled in the last two decades, clogging up our oceans and showing up in our organs. The massive growth in plastics production is also increasing CO₂ output and driving up fossil fuel demand.

Meanwhile, only 8% of plastic actually gets recycled, challenging our trust in the waste management system.

But a new set of tools driven by AI, robotics, and material science are helping recycle plastics, steel, textiles, and just about everything else. And a new generation of entrepreneurs, scientists, and engineers are devoting themselves to launching those tools.

In this episode, we examine technology advances that are helping recyclers convert hard-to-recycle waste into a valuable feedstock – and what it means for building a circular economy with a singular goal of radically reducing global waste.

Guests:

Kate Brandt, chief sustainability officer at Google
Astro Teller, captain of moonshots, at X, the moonshot factory
Rey Banatao, project lead at X, the moonshot factory
Julia Mangin, head of sustainability, Recology
Emma Lingle, project manager at X, the moonshot factory

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