Power Play

Episodes

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  Overbuild 27.10.2026 27m

  Nobody’s AI has gone down for lack of electricity. So why are we rushing to build more? The chips keep getting more efficient, and the plans being announced may run well ahead of what gets built. If the demand doesn’t show up, households pay twice: first on their power bills, then again in their retirement savings. Jackie Snow makes the case for slowing down. CREDITS:  Power Play is a production by Quartz and The Capitalist Hippie.  Reported by Jackie Snow, Catherine Baab, and Joseph Zeballos-Roig.  Hosted by Marco Pimentel.  Produced by Simon Litt.  Edited by Georgina Kemp Walker.
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  Rulemakers 20.10.2026 33m

  Even if Microsoft's Three Mile Island reactor was ready in 2027, it wouldn’t generate power until 2031. The gap is the grid, and the rules for who pays to fix it. FERC's entire mandate is three words: just and reasonable. Its June 18 orders split the fight across six grid regions, each told to make large loads pay their own way. Joseph Zeballos-Roig follows the rulemaking that surrounds the bill. CREDITS:  Power Play is a production by Quartz and The Capitalist Hippie.  Reported by Jackie Snow, Catherine Baab, and Joseph Zeballos-Roig.  Hosted by Marco Pimentel.  Produced by Simon Litt.  Edited by Georgina Kemp Walker.
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  Solutions 29.09.2026 32m

  The cheapest fix for AI's power problem is America’s power grid. That is, the one that already exists. A Brattle study puts the savings from running it ten percent harder at more than $100 billion. The fixes chasing that number run from dynamic line ratings to a five gigawatt-hour heat battery in South Dakota. Jackie Snow and six grid experts explain what keeps us from tapping into these solutions. CREDITS:  Power Play is a production by Quartz and The Capitalist Hippie.  Reported by Jackie Snow, Catherine Baab, and Joseph Zeballos-Roig.  Hosted by Marco Pimentel.  Produced by Simon Litt.  Edited by Georgina Kemp Walker.
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  Balance 22.09.2026 30m

  Residents of Scioto County, Ohio, learned about their new $1 billion Google data center after the deal was done. The county gave up 75 percent of the property tax on it for 15 years. Historian John Reeves compares what’s happening today with what happened the last time America built at speed. Catherine Baab investigates the pledge signed by tech CEOs, which claims AI won't raise anyone's electricity bill. CREDITS:  Power Play is a production by Quartz and The Capitalist Hippie.  Reported by Jackie Snow, Catherine Baab, and Joseph Zeballos-Roig.  Hosted by Marco Pimentel.  Produced by Simon Litt.  Edited by Georgina Kemp Walker.
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  Gridlock 15.09.2026 31m

  America's grid runs at about half its capacity. AI needs more power. What’s the problem? Every new data center waits on a connection study, and the studies are still run by hand. The turbines and transmission lines that would add capacity take five years or more to arrive. Jackie Snow traces the wait through roughly three thousand utilities, each working the problem alone. CREDITS:  Power Play is a production by Quartz and The Capitalist Hippie.  Reported by Jackie Snow, Catherine Baab, and Joseph Zeballos-Roig.  Hosted by Marco Pimentel.  Produced by Simon Litt.  Edited by Georgina Kemp Walker.
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  AI wants your electricity 15.09.2026 37m

  America is rebuilding its power grid for AI before anyone can agree on how much power AI will need. In Ohio, one utility held 30 gigawatts of data center requests. When it asked developers for money upfront, requests dropped to 13 gigawatts. Jackie Snow follows the phantom demand clogging utility queues, the decisions already being made on numbers nobody trusts, and who pays if the guesses run high. CREDITS:  Power Play is a production by Quartz and The Capitalist Hippie.  Reported by Jackie Snow, Catherine Baab, and Joseph Zeballos-Roig.  Hosted by Marco Pimentel.  Produced by Simon Litt.  Edited by Georgina Kemp Walker.
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  Introducing Power Play 09.09.2026 3m

  AI needs more power, faster than America has ever built it. Power Play is a six-part investigation from Quartz into the bottlenecks, the fixes, and the economics at the core of AI development. All six episodes are out now.
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  Sleep: The dreamiest new industry 23.07.2024 41m

  There’s a lot of money to be made in the business of sleep. Take sunrise alarm clocks, fancy mattresses, REM-tracking wearables, and monthly deliveries of melatonin. But should we really be investing this much in hopes of catching a few more Z’s? In the final episode of season 8, we consult a bonafide sleep doctor on the matter and get a physician’s POV on a few questions keeping us up at night: Why is there such a large market for catching some Z’s? Can any of these products actually help us find rest?  Why do we need to sleep? What’s happening in our brains and bodies while we dream? The Quartz Obsession is produced by Podcast Fast Track, with additional support from Jason Russum, Amy Perry, Liliana Zapata, Juan Palacios, and Lorena Caro. Our theme music is by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Suguira. This episode was recorded at G/O Media headquarters in New York.
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  Strollers: Pushing the limits of childrearing cache 16.07.2024 30m

  There are contactless thermometers, the Nose Frieda, co-sleeping. Trends in parenting gear and childrearing practices seem to evolve at faster rates than other sectors, a speed exemplified by a single product: strollers.  While we’ve been engineering ways to wheel children around for centuries, stroller manufacturers can’t seem to stop iterating on their models. Strollers have become a status identifier, a repository for parenting anxiety, and an emblem of consumerism run amok. As doctors and experts gather new research and best practices in childcare, strollers exemplify how quickly it’s all changing. Strap into episode 5 and get the latest about this new movement in industrial design. The Quartz Obsession is produced by Podcast Fast Track, with additional support from Jason Russum, Amy Perry, Liliana Zapata, Juan Palacios, and Lorena Caro. Our theme music is by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Suguira. This episode was recorded at G/O Media headquarters in New York.
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  Airline credit cards: the high-flying loyalty game 09.07.2024 38m

  From Dubai to Dublin to Dallas and back, air carriers are cashing in on a big business: credit cards.  In fact, analysts note that growth in the sector “significantly outpaces the overall credit card industry.” One carrier alone can profit billions from its cards in a calendar year and, in tandem, build loyalty by tying them up in frequent flier programs.  Why did airlines build out a business line through these little scraps of plastic?  What’s the history of these co-branded cards?  How did credit rewards come to make sky-high profits?  Fasten your seatbelts and put away your tray tables as the fourth episode of season 8 takes off, with a co-pilot who’s made a business of this business: The Points Guy himself.
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  F1: The global race to the future 02.07.2024 30m

  As the highest class of international racing for open-wheel, single-seater cars, F1 is worth more than $18B and stands to accelerate even more as a bonafide entertainment business as the Euro-born sport becomes more popular in China, the United States, and other global heavyweights. But F1 also faces its challenges, from new driving tech to adopt to new electrification pressures to confront.  In this episode our Jalopnik colleague Ryan King guest-stars to navigate a few high-speed laps around the past, present, and future of Formula One racing. The Quartz Obsession is produced by Podcast Fast Track, with additional support from Jason Russum, Amy Perry, Liliana Zapata, Juan Palacios, and Lorena Caro. Our theme music is by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Suguira. This episode was recorded at G/O Media headquarters in New York.
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  EV chargers: The geographic forces driving electric vehicle adoption 25.06.2024 19m

  Powering an electric car or truck is designed for people with private garages or who live in a major city with lots of accessible charging stations. Rural and suburban apartment-dwellers can’t just run cords out their three-story windows to juice up their rides through a 140-volt outlet. That would take days.  If we want any shot at transitioning to greener vehicles, how can we turbo-charge access to EVs for everyone? Get all the answers in our second episode of season 8. The Quartz Obsession is produced by Podcast Fast Track, with additional support from Jason Russum, Amy Perry, Liliana Zapata, Juan Palacios, and Lorena Caro. Our theme music is by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Suguira. This episode was recorded at G/O Media headquarters in New York.
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  Drug names: The machinations behind the monikers 18.06.2024 17m

  Ever heard of Viagra, Rogaine, or Ozempic?  The process for turning a chemical compound into a household name is both a science and an art. In fact, naming a prescription drug can take a manufacturer up to four years, as a set of three monikers per medicine must run the gauntlet of several regulatory agencies. It all starts with determining a drug’s chemical and generic names — both of which involve established rules. After those are settled, the rest is marketing.  So how do some drugs become memorable? What global trends dominate drug naming? And what happens when a company gets it wrong? Get all the answers in our season 8 opener. The Quartz Obsession is produced by Podcast Fast Track, with additional support from Jason Russum, Amy Perry, Liliana Zapata, Juan Palacios, and Lorena Caro. Our theme music is by Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Suguira. This episode was recorded at G/O Media headquarters in New York.
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  The algorithm: Letters of recommendation 23.04.2024 25m

  Bought something you don’t need from an ad? Blame it on the algorithm. Disappointing singles on your dating app? Blame it on the algorithm. Come across a post that hits too close to home? Yep, it’s the algorithm. But what exactly is the algorithm, and when did it start shaping how we live digitally? We track the making of the algorithm — starting with ancient Babylonians and Greek mathematicians — to understand the forces filtering what we stream, shop, and see online today.
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  Video game remakes: Revival of the fittest 16.04.2024 28m

  Love a game, buy a game. Really love a game, buy a new, improved version of that game. The video game industry knows that you don’t even have to be a die hard gamer to get out your wallet for a chance to recapture the thrill of killing that zombie or discovering that master sword. Plus, there are new technologies to consider — new graphics to enjoy, new storylines to flesh out, the possibilities are endless, and the piles of gold coins keep growing.
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  Green steel: Structural change 09.04.2024 25m

  Think of the world’s dirtiest industries and you’re probably thinking along the lines of oil or meat… but the buildings we live in, the bridges we drive on, the cars we drive in, those all involve something pretty nasty. Steel. Traditional steelmaking is a famously dirty process, but we’re here to tell you that there’s a greener way to make the thing that makes all the things.
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  VR headsets: We're practically there 02.04.2024 26m

  We’ve long associated virtual reality with escaping to someplace more exciting, but the technology has never quite caught up with science fiction’s promise. But VR headsets’ emerging practical applications are a different kind of thrilling — training workers, helping in healthcare, making the workplace less stressful. All of these are reasons to celebrate, and show that VR headsets actually do have a place in every home and office, without being a means to escape them.
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  Smart rings: Digital digits 26.03.2024 26m

  Smart rings have been around for years. And according to some tech experts (and a lot of consumers), they might outlast the smartwatch. These sleeker, less bulky wearables collect more accurate data, often at a lower price point. And the technology has come a long way. But do we really want or need all this information about our bodies? And does having all that information at our, well, fingertips actually help us in any practical way? Presented by Deloitte Episode art by Vicky Leta
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  Tail lights: Smart signals 19.03.2024 27m

  You’ve seen the endless sea of red when you’re stuck in traffic. But chances are, you haven’t given the simple tail light much thought. Car designers past and present have, though — and so has Jason Torchinsky, co-founder of auto news blog The Autopian. These signals, which include the lights that indicate a car’s existence on the road, brake lights, and turn indicators, have traveled from oil lamp to bespoke brand signature over the years. All so we can show each other where we are and where we’re going. This episode is guaranteed to change how you think about any road-based journey (and it might involve a little tail light fan fiction, too). Presented by Deloitte Episode art by Vicky Leta
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  Trailer: Season 7 07.03.2024 3m

  The Quartz Obsession is back for season 7, and this time, host Gabriela Riccardi will talk to guests obsessed with taillights, green steel, virtual reality headsets, and more. Join us on March 19 for a whole new set of topics you won't be able to stop thinking about.