Aug 11, 2026 · 49 min · 9 segments
Communities are blocking $130 billion in AI data centers while the entry-level jobs that used to train the next generation of engineers quietly disappear. Chapters: 00:00: The Backlash: 800…
Fran BermanGuestJustin BealsHostSpeaking about the book a little bit, in your prologue, you write a phrase that technology is not a religion.
And that we really should treat the tech we depend on the way we treat food or water, something held to a real standard that may be an ethical standard or an operational standard and not just a product we buy.
And in addition to being a professor, I've run a national supercomputer center and I've co-founded an international organization on data infrastructure and a bunch of different things.
And all of those things embedded technology in the real world for the people who need to get the most out of it.
And I think as I've always been worried about the outcome of tech and the consequences of the decisions we've made, and now as a person in the real world where tech is so advanced and so useful and used in everything, it seems to me that a lot of times this tech puts us at risk.
We're used to being, I don't know how many times, I mean, you can give me a rough count for you, but I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a letter that says there's been a data breach.
Or just recently, there was $13,000 in my bank card for hotels I've never been to.
We can't think about living a modern life without using so many different kinds of technologies.
If you think about our roads and our bridges and our financial system and our health system and nuclear power plants and the Internet, All of those are governed in a way that is supposed to be good for the public.
Speaking about the book a little bit, in your prologue, you write a phrase that technology is not a religion.
And that we really should treat the tech we depend on the way we treat food or water, something held to a real standard that may be an ethical standard or an operational standard and not just a product we buy.
And in addition to being a professor, I've run a national supercomputer center and I've co-founded an international organization on data infrastructure and a bunch of different things.
And all of those things embedded technology in the real world for the people who need to get the most out of it.
And I think as I've always been worried about the outcome of tech and the consequences of the decisions we've made, and now as a person in the real world where tech is so advanced and so useful and used in everything, it seems to me that a lot of times this tech puts us at risk.
We're used to being, I don't know how many times, I mean, you can give me a rough count for you, but I can't tell you how many times I've gotten a letter that says there's been a data breach.
Or just recently, there was $13,000 in my bank card for hotels I've never been to.
We can't think about living a modern life without using so many different kinds of technologies.
If you think about our roads and our bridges and our financial system and our health system and nuclear power plants and the Internet, All of those are governed in a way that is supposed to be good for the public.
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