Episode Summary:

Will lays out a bold prediction: AI and data centers are about to become America's next partisan flashpoint, and he and Brandt spend the episode stress-testing it, untangling water-usage myths, nuclear-power FUD, and a Texas gas-turbine site making neighbors sick with infrasound. They land on Jevons Paradox to explain why efficiency won't shrink data center demand, sketch out a mainframe-to-local-compute future for AI, then close with a vertical USB-C cable stand and Brandt's new favorite TSA-proof gun case lock.

Discussions Include:

• Will's prediction: AI and data centers becoming the next big partisan flashpoint in the US
• Untangling the data center water-usage debate — golf courses, evaporative cooling, and a contested Georgia well-water case
• Nuclear power as a cautionary parallel for FUD and outdated public perception
• Infrasound from gas-turbine-powered data centers making nearby residents sick
• Jevons Paradox, and why more efficient AI won't shrink data center demand, it'll grow it
• The mainframe-to-personal-computer analogy for where local vs. cloud AI compute is headed

Quotable Quotes (Should you choose to share):

"I believe that AI, and specifically data centers, are gonna be the next partisan issue in the United States that will divide down party lines." - Will Curran

"The technology and the plans for modern nuclear reactors, by all indications, are incredibly safe. But nobody cares." - Brandt Krueger

"We know gas turbines are bad for the environment, but have you heard about infrasound?" - Will Curran

"As we got more and more efficient at how we burned coal, it was supposed to bring down the coal use - and it didn't go down, it went up." - Brandt Krueger

Thing of the Episode (TOTE):

Brandt: Cedar Mill TSA-approved gun case lock - https://www.amazon.com/Cut-Resistant-MonoShaft-lock-gun-case-padlock/dp/B0CNBKXH4B
Will: Vertical USB-C cable stand - I couldn't find it, and Will never sent it - BK ;)