Where the Internet Lives
An award-winning podcast from Google about the unseen world of data centers.
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Season 5: the dawn of a new era
<p>Artificial intelligence is reshaping every corner of the global economy — and none of it is possible without the invisible infrastructure powering it: data centers.</p><p>In Season 5 of Where the Internet Lives, host Stephanie Wong returns to guide listeners through the places, people, and breakthroughs defining this new era. </p><p>From drug discovery and food security to manufacturing and creative expression, AI is accelerating innovation at a pace the world has never seen.</p><p>Subscribe to Where the Internet Lives on Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you get your shows. </p><p>And this season, we’ll have m...
Chasing Arrows
<p>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. </p><p>Meanwhile, only 8% of plastic actually gets recycled, challenging our trust in the waste management system.</p><p>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.</p><p>In this e...
Invisible Threats
<p>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. </p><p>Cutting methane emissions is a critical step toward reducing the rise of global temperatures that climate change is spreading to communities.</p><p>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.</p><p>...
Growing a Better Food System
<p>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. </p><p>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. </p><p>In this episode, we ask how data-driven predictive tools are helping farmers use less water and improve yields. Plus, we look at how da...
Keeping the Lights On
<p>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. </p><p>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.</p><p>In this episode, we have three stories about how data centers are helping decarbonize the energy system – and how to...
Data on Fire
<p>According to NASA, nearly two-thirds of all Western wildfires recorded over the past 75 years occurred in just the last two decades. </p><p>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.</p><p>Now, major advances in AI are helping to predict wildfire behavior, and protect communities across the globe. </p><p>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...
A Preview of Season 4: Resilience
<p>Where the Internet Lives is back for a fourth season. </p><p>In past episodes, we’ve taken you on tours of data centers, talked to people who run the supercomputers that make up the internet, and showed you a world few people get to see.</p><p>This season, host Stephanie Wong explores how data center infrastructure is critical for making the world a more resilient place.</p><p>Over the next five episodes, you'll hear stories about people who are building data-driven solutions for some of the world’s biggest challenges – from the U.S. Forest Service using A...
Machine Learning Unlocks a New Era for Music
<p>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."</p><p>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?</p><p>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...
A Finnish Paper Town Becomes a Digital Hub
<p>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.</p><p>Over the years, Mikko has witnessed Finland's broader economic shift toward digital tech, which is now a top industry in the country. </p><p>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 eco...
From Despair to a Dream Job in the Trades
<p>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.</p><p>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.</p><p>Sarah...
