Electric Futures

Recorded live in USC’s Wallis Annenberg Hall in April 2026, this special episode focuses on the key issues surrounding data centers, the focus of Season 3. What exactly are data centers? Who benefits from their development? What are the drawbacks? Experts will answer those questions – and yours – alongside host Chip Zukoski, USC’s Robert E. Vivian Professor in Energy Resources and Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and Biomedical Engineering.  Featured panelists include:Shaolei Ren, Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering at the University of California, RiversideKelly Twomley Sanders, Professor, Sonny Astani Department of Civil and Environmental EngineeringSean Wilcock, Vice President of Business Development & Services at Imperial Valley Economic Development CorporationYou can follow us on Instagram at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@usc_electricfutures⁠⁠⁠⁠.Additional resources from USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication:⁠The Data Center Next Door, Key Considerations for Communities Navigating Data Center Development⁠⁠How to Create a Climate Podcast⁠-----Electric Futures is an original podcast from the University of Southern California, hosted by me, Charles Zukoski, the Vivian Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and the former USC Provost. This series was executive produced by Allison Agsten, the director of USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication.USC Annenberg professor Mallory Carra is our supervising producer. Natalie Lopez and Spencer Cline are our associate producers. Imperial Valley College student Tahjah Fortune is our production assistant. Our live episode was edited and sound designed by Spencer Cline.Technical supervision was provided by Sebastian Grubaugh, Tom Norris, Ray Barkley, Victor Figueroa and S-R Meredith. Video interviews were directed by Makayla Idelburg. Rhysea Argawal, Nadia Lozano Murphy, Anahita Mehra, Avidha Raha, and Lina Rehbein provided live event support.With special thanks to Leslie Berestein Rojas, Edward Lifson, Jim Yoder, and Pawan Ahuja.All music and sound effects are used with express permission under unlimited blanket license authority from Epidemic Sound. 

In our Season 3 finale, we explore what it is about data centers that has been creating animosity across the country. Is it the pushback against what powers artificial intelligence…or is it something else?You can follow us on Instagram at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@usc_electricfutures⁠⁠⁠⁠.Additional resources from USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication:⁠The Data Center Next Door, Key Considerations for Communities Navigating Data Center Development⁠⁠How to Create a Climate Podcast⁠-----Electric Futures is an original podcast from the University of Southern California, hosted by me, Charles Zukoski, the Vivian Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and the former USC Provost. This series was executive produced by Allison Agsten, the director of USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication.USC Annenberg professor Mallory Carra is our supervising producer. Natalie Lopez and Spencer Cline are our associate producers. Imperial Valley College student Tahjah Fortune is our production assistant. This episode was directed and story edited by Mallory Carra. It was edited and sound designed by Spencer Cline.Technical supervision was provided by Sebastian Grubaugh, Tom Norris, and S-R Meredith. Video interviews were directed by Makayla Idelburg. With special thanks to USC professors Leslie Berestein Rojas and Edward Lifson.Our cover art is by Kim Ly. All music and sound effects are used with express permission under unlimited blanket license authority from Epidemic Sound.

In this episode, we explore how communities think about jobs when a data center comes knocking. When a data center comes to town, will it bring high paying jobs to a community? Could this be the main benefit of hosting a data center in your community? You can follow us on Instagram at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@usc_electricfutures⁠⁠⁠⁠.Additional resources from USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication:⁠The Data Center Next Door, Key Considerations for Communities Navigating Data Center Development⁠⁠How to Create a Climate Podcast⁠-----Electric Futures is an original podcast from the University of Southern California, hosted by me, Charles Zukoski, the Vivian Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and the former USC Provost. This series was executive produced by Allison Agsten, the director of USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication.USC Annenberg professor Mallory Carra is our supervising producer. Natalie Lopez and Spencer Cline are our associate producers. Imperial Valley College student Tahjah Fortune is our production assistant. This episode was directed and story edited by Mallory Carra. It was edited and sound designed by Spencer Cline.Technical supervision was provided by Sebastian Grubaugh, Tom Norris, and S-R Meredith. Video interviews were directed by Makayla Idelburg. With special thanks to USC professors Leslie Berestein Rojas and Edward Lifson.Our cover art is by Kim Ly. All music and sound effects are used with express permission under unlimited blanket license authority from Epidemic Sound.

When a hyperscale data center comes to a place like Imperial Valley, communities have questions and concerns. Billions of dollars of investment — and profit – are at stake. Community members have questions. But rather than excitement, there’s community pushback. Why? We dive into the resistance in Imperial Valley and beyond.You can follow us on Instagram at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@usc_electricfutures⁠⁠⁠⁠.Additional resources from USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication:⁠The Data Center Next Door, Key Considerations for Communities Navigating Data Center Development⁠⁠How to Create a Climate Podcast⁠-----Electric Futures is an original podcast from the University of Southern California, hosted by me, Charles Zukoski, the Vivian Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and the former USC Provost. This series was executive produced by Allison Agsten, the director of USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication.USC Annenberg professor Mallory Carra is our supervising producer. Natalie Lopez and Spencer Cline are our associate producers. Imperial Valley College student Tahjah Fortune is our production assistant. This episode was directed and story edited by Mallory Carra. It was edited and sound designed by Spencer Cline.Technical supervision was provided by Sebastian Grubaugh, Tom Norris, and S-R Meredith. Video interviews were directed by Makayla Idelburg. With special thanks to USC professors Leslie Berestein Rojas and Edward Lifson.Our cover art is by Kim Ly. All music and sound effects are used with express permission under unlimited blanket license authority from Epidemic Sound.

In this episode, we look how the proposed data center in the Imperial Valley would use water, then explore similarities and differences with data centers around the nation. How much water is really needed for a data center — and why?You can follow us on Instagram at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠@usc_electricfutures⁠⁠⁠⁠.Additional resources from USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication:⁠The Data Center Next Door, Key Considerations for Communities Navigating Data Center Development⁠⁠How to Create a Climate Podcast⁠-----Electric Futures is an original podcast from the University of Southern California, hosted by me, Charles Zukoski, the Vivian Professor of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science and the former USC Provost. This series was executive produced by Allison Agsten, the director of USC’s Annenberg Center for Climate Journalism and Communication.USC Annenberg professor Mallory Carra is our supervising producer. Natalie Lopez and Spencer Cline are our associate producers. Imperial Valley College student Tahjah Fortune is our production assistant. This episode was directed by Mallory Carra and Natalie Lopez and story edited by Mallory Carra. It was edited and sound designed by Spencer Cline.Technical supervision was provided by Sebastian Grubaugh, Tom Norris, and S-R Meredith. Video interviews were directed by Makayla Idelburg. With special thanks to USC professors Leslie Berestein Rojas and Edward Lifson.Our cover art is by Kim Ly. All music and sound effects are used with express permission under unlimited blanket license authority from Epidemic Sound.