“I’m in this fight because I love technology”

“I’m in this fight because I love technology”

Kate Brennan of the AI Now Institute is a leading national expert on the rapid development of AI and data centers and a vocal advocate for regular people to have a say in emerging technology. She talks about her journey as a technology loving Google employee, the policy toolkit she wrote for local officials, and what you can do to fight data centers near you.   Message us on Instagram @thehumpod [http://instagram.com/thehumpod] to get connected to organizers in your state or country.  Learn more about Kate and her team’s work at ainowinstitute.org [http://ainowinstitute.org] and check out their toolkit [https://datacenters.ainowinstitute.org/], training series [https://datacenters.ainowinstitute.org/trainings/], and the Site Fight Guide [https://docs.google.com/document/d/143tA8XVh7de9MD2GBiKQ3BcMFqeonlqx7EsoIy_olfQ/edit?tab=t.0] of the Data Center Working Group. Read Saul’s recent Op Ed on data center resistance [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/08/ai-datacenters-democracy] with Astra Taylor in the Guardian. And listen to Chenjerai Kumanyika’s interview with Saul and Astra on Unruly Subjects [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/from-detention-centers-to-data-centers-why-the-fight/id1849696769?i=1000769969231]. Coverage of The Hum in El Diario [https://www.eldiario.es/internacional/cronicas-desde-trumplandia/facil-abrir-centro-datos-ia-tamano-manhattan-cafeteria-lucha-tecnoligarcas-crece-eeuu_132_13215744.html], Spain’s biggest newspaper and a story about data center fights in Harper’s Magazine [https://harpers.org/archive/2026/06/the-data-center-divide-andrew-cockburn-artificial-intelligence/]. The Hum is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions [https://rowhomeproductions.com/].

They’ll Pave Paradise Just to Put Up a Data Center

Emily Waldron is a social worker and farmer who harvests trees to become telephone poles in the Willamette Valley of Oregon. In our discussion, we explore the home she loves and the reasons she and her neighbors of all ages have banded together to organize tractor parades, town halls, and community meetings to protect the rich soils that fuel their way of life from Silicon Valley tech companies.  Message us on Instagram @thehumpod [http://instagram.com/thehumpod] to get connected to organizers in your state or country.  Read Saul’s recent Op Ed on data center resistance [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/08/ai-datacenters-democracy] with Astra Taylor in the Guardian. Coverage of The Hum in El Diario [https://www.eldiario.es/internacional/cronicas-desde-trumplandia/facil-abrir-centro-datos-ia-tamano-manhattan-cafeteria-lucha-tecnoligarcas-crece-eeuu_132_13215744.html], Spain’s biggest newspaper. The Hum is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions [https://rowhomeproductions.com/].

The People vs AI

This is the first episode of The Hum! Journalist Andrew Chow’s TIME cover story included conversations with people fighting data centers and AI all over the US. In our discussion, we dig deep into why people are rising up, who they’re up against and what they’re fighting for. The overview provides a foundation for the interviews with activists and researchers to come.   Message us on Instagram @thehumpod [http://instagram.com/thehumpod] to get connected to organizers in your state or country.  Read Andrew’s story “The People vs. AI” [https://time.com/7377579/ai-data-centers-people-movement-cover/] Read Saul’s recent Op Ed on data center resistance [https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2026/may/08/ai-datacenters-democracy] with Astra Taylor in the Guardian. Coverage of The Hum in El Diario [https://www.eldiario.es/internacional/cronicas-desde-trumplandia/facil-abrir-centro-datos-ia-tamano-manhattan-cafeteria-lucha-tecnoligarcas-crece-eeuu_132_13215744.html], Spain’s biggest newspaper The Hum is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions [https://rowhomeproductions.com/].

Introducing The Hum

The Hum is a podcast about who controls the future - interviews with people fighting the rapid expansion of AI and data centers for the profits of a few. Weekly episode of The Hum are coming in May 2026. Subscribe now and tell everyone you know about the show.  The Hum is produced in partnership with Rowhome Productions. [https://rowhomeproductions.com/]