Neal Larson and Julie Mason spent the morning digging into two fast-moving topics that hit close to home: the push for new data centers in Idaho and the realities (and risks) of everyday AI. The show’s big “learn something” interview was with Ali Khan, CEO of Moat I.T. in Pocatello, who walked through how modern data centers can be designed—especially around the hot-button concerns of water use, power draw, and local impact. He argued that newer closed-loop cooling systems can drastically reduce ongoing water needs compared to older evaporative setups, and he made the case that Idaho needs to ask better project-by-project questions rather than defaulting to fear or blanket opposition.
The conversation widened into politics and culture—J.D. Vance’s media blitz (including a tense stop on *The View*), a quick look ahead to 2028 Republican jockeying (Rubio vs. Vance), and why Neal thinks America can’t afford to fall behind in the computing/AI race. In the back half, the tone turned more playful and surprisingly revealing: Neal and Julie shared examples of AI “seeing” more than people realize, debated job displacement vs. productivity gains, and even demoed voice cloning/parody work (including Neal’s “third yard sale” bit). Listener texts and calls drove the pace, from surveillance concerns to real-world AI use in trucking logistics.
## 2. Highlights
– Ollie Khan (Moat I.T.) explains closed-loop cooling and why many newer data centers may use far less water than older evaporative designs.
– Neal and Julie argue the U.S. can’t opt out of the data/AI race without serious geopolitical consequences—“keep up or fall behind.”
– A candid moment on AI privacy: Julie describes AI referencing a name (“Jay”) she’d only typed in her Word script, not in the prompt.
– Neal demos AI audio/voice tools, including the parody “Pocatello’s underbelly… the third yard sale,” and compares AI’s “radio host” output to real personality.
– Listener call from a trucker: using AI to build an app and handle routing/logistics—“it won’t drive my truck, but it impacts me every day.”
– Window talk with Advanced Window Products: major one-day offer plus a technical breakdown of argon gas, spacers, efficiency, and the lifetime warranty.
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