Tech Won't Save Us - Data Vampires: Opposing Data Centers (Episode 2)

As hyperscale data centers move into communities, they come with significant water and energy demands that some are not willing to put up with. We go to Ireland, Spain, and Chile to learn about the effects of data centers on the ground and why some communities are fighting back. They’re asking whether the tradeoffs they’re being expected to make are really necessary. This is episode 2 of Data Vampires, a special four-part series from Tech Won’t Save Us.

Tech Won’t Save Us offers a critical perspective on tech, its worldview, and wider society with the goal of inspiring people to demand better tech and a better world. Support the show on Patreon.

The show is hosted by Paris Marx. Production is by Eric Wickham. Transcripts are by Brigitte Pawliw-Fry.

Also mentioned in this episode:

  • People Before Profit TD Brid Smith, Tu Nube Seca Mi Río organizer Aurora Gomez Delgado, and King’s College London lecturer Sebastian Lehuede were interviewed for this episode.
  • Some pieces by Dara Kerr in NPR, Sarah Emerson and Emily Baker-White in Forbes, and Hannah Daly in The Irish Times were cited.
  • A full transcript can be found on the show’s official website.

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What Next | Daily News and Analysis - An Extremely Online Hurricane Season

Misinformation in the wake of disasters isn’t new, but the media environment today—rife with A.I. images, light on moderation, and eager to point fingers—seems more vulnerable to it than ever.


Guest: Will Oremus, technology writer for the Washington Post.


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Podcast production by Elena Schwartz, Paige Osburn, Anna Phillips, Madeline Ducharme and Rob Gunther.

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Short Wave - Why Traditional Plant Knowledge Is Not A Quick Fix

Host Regina G. Barber talks with Rosalyn LaPier about ethnobotany--what it is and how traditional plant knowledge is frequently misunderstood in the era of COVID and psychedelics. And, how it's relevant and important for reproductive health today. (encore)

Have a topic you want us to cover on a future episode? Email us at shortwave@npr.org!

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It Could Happen Here - Hurricane Conspiracy Theories

Do Democrats control the weather? Will FEMA raid your home? Garrison and Mia discuss why the misinformation ecosystem is getting worse and how fact-checking may not fix it. 

Sources:

https://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2024/10/hurricane-milton-conspiracies-misinformation/680221/
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2024/10/09/hurricane-helene-fema-funding-response-fact-check/75587360007/
https://www.fema.gov/disaster/current/hurricane-helene/rumor-response
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/hurricane-milton-helene-fact-checking-conspiracies-rumors-2024-10-09/
https://x.com/atrupar/status/1844070899160359052
https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/columnist/2024/10/08/hurricane-milton-helene-recovery-trump-lies/75557458007/
https://www.news-journalonline.com/story/news/hurricane/2024/10/10/after-milton-desantis-denounces-online-hurricane-conspiracy-theories/75576038007/
https://x.com/SULLY10X/status/1843348003203232104
https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/amazon-alexa-error-sparking-conspiracy-theories-about-hurricane-milton-tiktok
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-news/ai-girl-maga-hurricane-helene-1235125285/
https://x.com/KandissTaylor/status/1843080488115658942
https://x.com/RpsAgainstTrump/status/1844405108685275179
https://x.com/MollyJongFast/status/1844412719476379746
https://www.isdglobal.org/digital_dispatches/hurricane-helene-brews-up-storm-of-online-falsehoods-and-threats/#
https://www.theverge.com/2024/10/10/24266848/violent-threats-against-fema-swirl-on-social-media 
https://www.mediamatters.org/tiktok/tiktok-misinformation-about-hurricane-helene-has-spurred-calls-violence-against-fema
https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/hurricane-milton-misinformation-meteorlogist-death-threats-1235130352/

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Good Bad Billionaire - Yvon Chouinard: A $3 billion giveaway

The story of how Yvon Chouinard, a reluctant billionaire who only wanted to climb and surf, harnessed his passions to create outdoor apparel brand Patagonia - before giving it all away to fight climate change. BBC business editor Simon Jack and journalist Zing Tsjeng discover how the self-proclaimed "existential dirtbag" went from jumping freight trains and eating cat food to leading the charge for businesses to commit to environmental causes.

Simon and Zing track the life of a man who claims that calling himself a businessman is as difficult for him as it for others to admit to being an alcoholic or a lawyer. Then they decide if they think Yvon Chouinard is good, bad, or just another billionaire.

We’d love to hear your feedback. Email goodbadbillionaire@bbc.com or drop us a text or WhatsApp to +1 (917) 686-1176.

To find out more about the show and read our privacy notice, visit www.bbcworldservice.com/goodbadbillionaire

The Economics of Everyday Things - 66. Stradivarius Violins

Why are these 300-year-old instruments still coveted by violinists today? And how do working musicians get their hands on multimillion-dollar antiques? Zachary Crockett is not fiddling around.

 

 

 

Consider This from NPR - Deep inside a Norwegian fjord, a dream of farming salmon sustainably

If you eat salmon, there's a good chance that it comes from a salmon farm in Norway. The country has been farming salmon for over 50 years.

The industry is touted as a key producer of sustainable, low carbon footprint protein. But there are still negative environmental impacts. Each year, an average of 200,000 farmed salmon escape from their open net pens and breed with wild salmon.

Interbreeding with these escaped salmon passes on significant genetic changes to wild salmon, changes that make them less likely to survive in the wild.

NPR's Rob Schmitz traveled the country's west coast, visiting fishing villages and fish farms to see how the growth of salmon farming is affecting the wild population.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

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Consider This from NPR - Deep inside a Norwegian fjord, a dream of farming salmon sustainably

If you eat salmon, there's a good chance that it comes from a salmon farm in Norway. The country has been farming salmon for over 50 years.

The industry is touted as a key producer of sustainable, low carbon footprint protein. But there are still negative environmental impacts. Each year, an average of 200,000 farmed salmon escape from their open net pens and breed with wild salmon.

Interbreeding with these escaped salmon passes on significant genetic changes to wild salmon, changes that make them less likely to survive in the wild.

NPR's Rob Schmitz traveled the country's west coast, visiting fishing villages and fish farms to see how the growth of salmon farming is affecting the wild population.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy

Consider This from NPR - Deep inside a Norwegian fjord, a dream of farming salmon sustainably

If you eat salmon, there's a good chance that it comes from a salmon farm in Norway. The country has been farming salmon for over 50 years.

The industry is touted as a key producer of sustainable, low carbon footprint protein. But there are still negative environmental impacts. Each year, an average of 200,000 farmed salmon escape from their open net pens and breed with wild salmon.

Interbreeding with these escaped salmon passes on significant genetic changes to wild salmon, changes that make them less likely to survive in the wild.

NPR's Rob Schmitz traveled the country's west coast, visiting fishing villages and fish farms to see how the growth of salmon farming is affecting the wild population.

For sponsor-free episodes of Consider This, sign up for Consider This+ via Apple Podcasts or at plus.npr.org.

Email us at considerthis@npr.org.

Learn more about sponsor message choices: podcastchoices.com/adchoices

NPR Privacy Policy