Boxtown
Neighborhood in Memphis, TennesseeWikipedia
30
MENTIONS
22
EPISODES
19
PODCASTS
Search complete. 30 mentions across 22 episodes found for "Boxtown".
Oct 16, 2026
Naomi KleinGUEST
... eight million homes.
Naomi KleinGUEST
Um, so it is like a mega city just for fueling AI, and he sited it in a part of Memphis, um, adjacent to a community called Boxtown, which is a majority Black, um, working class area that was founded by formerly enslaved people who already have dealt with a huge amount of environmental racism, and he's poisoning the air.
Naomi KleinGUEST
So how...
Naomi KleinGUEST
You know, it feels like racism because it is racism.
Micah LoewingerHOST
Yeah.
Micah LoewingerHOST
You're referring to the chapter in your book about a neighborhood near Memphis called Boxtown, where Elon Musk has chosen to build his supercomputer that he's dubbed Colossus.
Micah LoewingerHOST
It's a primarily Black and low-income area where his data center, called X AI, was using enough methane turbines to power two hundred and eighty thousand Memphis homes and spewed unprecedented amounts of nitrogen oxide and formaldehyde into the air.
Micah LoewingerHOST
The leader of a local environmental justice organization called Boxtown a sacrifice zone.
Astra TaylorGUEST
People there are calling attention to the fact that AI does not have to be super intelligent to cause massive harms.
Astra TaylorGUEST
Elon Musk has said that the future of humanity is in space, which is essentially saying, in the future, everywhere will be a sacrifice zone.
Justin PearsonSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And the idea was that we were just supposed to accept that and the little bit of dollars in taxes that we receive and be silent about the harm of formaldehyde, the harm of nitrogen oxide, the illegal gas turbines that he's operated in Memphis.
Justin PearsonSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
And now he has 59 illegal gas turbines in North Mississippi that are polluting the air of people in Memphis and Whitehaven and Westwood and Boxtown.
Justin PearsonSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
But across the 15 counties that I've traveled, I have yet to meet anyone, including folks who are Republicans who are voting for us, who want data centers.
Justin PearsonSOUNDBITE_SPEAKER
It's the clearest example of the billionaire class versus the rest of us and exploiting our natural resources so they can make more profit.
Amy GoodmanHOST
But in Memphis, what are you up against?
Justin PearsonGUEST
Listen, Elon Musk built the world's largest data center three miles away from our home, and the idea was that we were just supposed to accept that and the little bit of dollars in taxes that we receive and be silent about the harm of formaldehyde, the harm of nitrogen oxide, the illegal gas turbines that he's operated in Memphis, and now he has 59 illegal gas turbines in North Mississippi that are polluting the air of people in Memphis and Whitehaven and Westwood and Boxtown.
Justin PearsonGUEST
But across the 15 counties that I've traveled, I have yet to meet anyone, including folks who are Republicans who are voting for us, who want data centers.
Justin PearsonGUEST
It's the clearest example of the billionaire class versus the rest of us in exploiting our natural resources so they can make more profit.
Justin PearsonGUEST
And the idea was that we were just supposed to accept that and the little bit of dollars in taxes that we receive and be silent about the harm of formaldehyde, the harm of nitrogen oxide, the illegal gas turbines that he's operated in Memphis.
Justin PearsonGUEST
And now he has 59 illegal gas turbines in North Mississippi that are polluting the air of people in Memphis and Whitehaven and Westwood and Boxtown.
Justin PearsonGUEST
But across the 15 counties that I've traveled, I have yet to meet anyone, including folks who are Republicans who are voting for us, who want data centers.
Justin PearsonGUEST
It's the clearest example of the billionaire class versus the rest of us and exploiting our natural resources so they can make more profit.
Chuck CorraHOST
they basically, um, circumvented most local permitting, um, EPA rules.
Chuck CorraHOST
And it was placed in, in a historically Black neighborhood, l- like, extremely historic, Boxtown, which was, like, the first, um, community for, for, um, formerly enslaved people after the Civil War.
Sarah LoveGUEST
Yeah.
Chuck CorraHOST
Like, it has huge historic significance.
Amy GoodmanHOST
But in Memphis, what are you up against?
Justin PearsonGUEST
Listen, Elon Musk built the world's largest data center three miles away from our home, and the idea was that we were just supposed to accept that and the little bit of dollars in taxes that we receive and be silent about the harm of formaldehyde, the harm of nitrogen oxide, the illegal gas turbines that he's operated in Memphis, and now he has 59 illegal gas turbines in North Mississippi that are polluting the air of people in Memphis and Whitehaven, in Westwood, in Boxtown.
Justin PearsonGUEST
But across the 15 counties that I've traveled, I have yet to meet anyone, including folks who are Republicans who are voting for us, who want data centers.
Justin PearsonGUEST
It's the clearest example of the billionaire class versus the rest of us in exploiting our natural resources so they can make more profit.
Amy GoodmanHOST
But in Memphis, what are you up against?
Justin PearsonGUEST
Listen, Elon Musk built the world's largest data center three miles away from our home, and the idea was that we were just supposed to accept that and the little bit of dollars in taxes that we receive and be silent about the harm of formaldehyde, the harm of nitrogen oxide, the illegal gas turbines that he's operated in Memphis, and now he has 59 illegal gas turbines in North Mississippi that are polluting the air of people in Memphis and Whitehaven, in Westwood, in Boxtown.
Justin PearsonGUEST
But across the 15 counties that I've traveled, I have yet to meet anyone, including folks who are Republicans who are voting for us, who want data centers.
Justin PearsonGUEST
It's the clearest example of the billionaire class versus the rest of us in exploiting our natural resources so they can make more profit.
Justin PearsonGUEST
And the idea was that we were just supposed to accept that and the little bit of dollars in taxes that we receive and be silent about the harm of formaldehyde, the harm of nitrogen oxide, the illegal gas turbines that he's operated in Memphis.
Justin PearsonGUEST
And now he has 59 illegal gas turbines in North Mississippi that are polluting the air of people in Memphis and Whitehaven and Westwood and Boxtown.
Justin PearsonGUEST
But across the 15 counties that I've traveled, I have yet to meet anyone, including folks who are Republicans who are voting for us, who want data centers.
Justin PearsonGUEST
It's the clearest example of the billionaire class versus the rest of us and exploiting our natural resources so they can make more profit.
Yosef RobeleGUEST
And to do that, they're using diesel generators, which are less efficient and more polluting than more traditional means of getting electricity.
Yosef RobeleGUEST
So, I mean, the infamous example is definitely what we see in Box Town in Memphis, where XAI deployed, I believe, 69 diesel generators, highly polluting from, you know, I also do transportation.
Yosef RobeleGUEST
So, you know, diesel exhaust is classified as a class one carcinogen.
Yosef RobeleGUEST
And that means it's in the most likely group of substances that can cause cancer.
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