Bigfoot vs. the Server Farm: Who Pays for the AI Boom?

Bigfoot vs. the Server Farm: Who Pays for the AI Boom?

Everybody says AI lives in "the cloud." But the cloud is not weightless. In this episode of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave talks with Danny Caine of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance about the data center boom powering AI, Big Tech, and the next major infrastructure fight. These massive server farms need land, water, electricity, tax breaks, zoning approvals, and public tolerance — but too often, communities are the last to know what is being negotiated in their own backyard. Dave and Danny dig into why AI is driving a rapid data center buildout, how shell companies and secrecy keep showing up in these deals, why local residents are pushing back, and whether ordinary ratepayers could end up subsidizing Big Tech's power needs. This is not an anti-technology conversation. It is a pro-democracy conversation. Bigfoot may be hiding in the woods, but the server farms are hiding in plain sight. Links: ILSR — The Data Centers Are Coming: https://ilsr.org/building-local-power/the-data-centers-are-coming/ [https://ilsr.org/building-local-power/the-data-centers-are-coming/] Inequality.org — I Stood in Data Center Alley: https://inequality.org/article/i-stood-in-data-center-alley/ [https://inequality.org/article/i-stood-in-data-center-alley/] ILSR — The Policies Communities Need to Meet the AI Moment: https://ilsr.org/articles/the-policies-communities-need-to-meet-the-ai-moment/ [https://ilsr.org/articles/the-policies-communities-need-to-meet-the-ai-moment/] The Bigfoot Manifesto Merch: https://bigfootmanifesto-shop.fourthwall.com/ [https://bigfootmanifesto-shop.fourthwall.com/] Subscribe, share, and follow The Bigfoot Manifesto for more conversations about corporate monsters, progressive politics, labor, democracy, inequality, and the cryptids hiding in America's broken systems.

Bigfoot vs. The Union-Busting Machine

The real monster isn't hiding in the warehouse. It's in the scanner, the algorithm, the productivity metric, the union-busting meeting, the legal delay, and the idea that workers should be grateful just to survive. In Episode 27 of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave Pederson talks with Derrick Palmer, co-founder of the Amazon Labor Union, one of the worker-organizers behind the historic JFK8 victory on Staten Island, and author of Handbook for the Revolution: Building a More Perfect Union for the Twenty-First Century. Derrick also appeared in Dave's film Americonned, and this conversation brings that story into the present: the warehouse economy, corporate power, worker dignity, organizing from inside the machine, and what happens after workers win a union election but still have to fight for a contract. Dave and Derrick dig into Amazon's metric-driven workplace, surveillance, fear, worker burnout, the pandemic breaking point, how private anger becomes collective strength, and why Derrick wrote a handbook instead of just a memoir. They also talk about what workers should do first when they think their workplace needs a union, how to build trust inside a workplace, why winning the union vote is not the finish line, and how corporations use delay as a weapon against worker power. Bigfoot may leave footprints. Amazon leaves time-off-task reports. But Derrick Palmer and the workers at JFK8 proved that even one of the most powerful corporations on Earth can be challenged when workers stop accepting the story they've been sold and start building power together. Guest: Derrick Palmer Co-founder, Amazon Labor Union Author, Handbook for the Revolution Buy Derrick Palmer's book: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250455338/handbookfortherevolution/ [https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250455338/handbookfortherevolution/] Amazon Labor Union-IBT Local 1: https://www.amazonlaborunion.org/ [https://www.amazonlaborunion.org/] Contact Amazon Labor Union-IBT Local 1: https://www.amazonlaborunion.org/contact [https://www.amazonlaborunion.org/contact] Organize with Teamsters Amazon Division: https://teamster.org/divisions/amazon-division/ [https://teamster.org/divisions/amazon-division/] Know your rights during union organizing: https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/employees/your-rights-during-union-organizing [https://www.nlrb.gov/about-nlrb/rights-we-protect/the-law/employees/your-rights-during-union-organizing] Watch Americonned on Gathr: https://gathr.com/vod/c1a0e0ba [https://gathr.com/vod/c1a0e0ba] The Bigfoot Manifesto: https://bigfootmanifesto.com/ [https://bigfootmanifesto.com/]

Bigfoot vs. the Right-Wing Media Machine: What MAGA Reads When We're Not Looking

Howard Polskin of TheRighting joins Dave Pederson to track the headlines, podcasts, traffic charts, and outrage narratives shaping MAGA media. What happens when millions of Americans are living inside a completely different media weather system? In Episode 26 of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave Pederson talks with Howard Polskin, founder and chief curator of TheRighting, a media company that tracks conservative news outlets, right-wing headlines, podcast rankings, traffic data, and the broader media ecosystem shaping MAGA politics. Howard began following right-wing media after the 2016 election, asking the same question many liberals asked: How did this happen? What he found was not just a few fringe websites, but an alternate information universe powered by grievance, fear, anti-woke panic, celebrity pundits, Trump loyalty tests, and headlines designed to make every political disagreement feel like the end of civilization. This episode digs into how right-wing media works, why outrage is a business model, how fringe narratives move into mainstream politics, why podcasts build such deep loyalty, and what progressives need to understand without simply amplifying every bad-faith frame. Bigfoot may be folklore. But the outrage ecosystem is measurable. It has headlines, traffic reports, subscriber charts, podcast rankings, algorithms, donor networks, celebrity pundits, and a business model that turns fear into loyalty. Guest: Howard Polskin Founder & Chief Curator, TheRighting Website: https://therighting.com/ [https://therighting.com/] The Bigfoot Manifesto: https://bigfootmanifesto.com/ [https://bigfootmanifesto.com/]

Bigfoot vs. the Healthcare Desert: Why America Can't Heal Its Kids

In this episode of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave talks with Victoria Casavecchia, founder of Empowered Victories Wellness, a Registered Nurse and Board-Certified Nurse Coach with nearly 30 years of experience in pediatric nursing. Victoria joins the show to talk about the youth mental health crisis, the rise in anxiety, depression, burnout, and disconnection among kids and teens, and why America's healthcare system often waits until families are in crisis before offering real help. The conversation covers how anxiety can show up physically, why parents are overwhelmed too, the role of sleep, food, movement, mindfulness, and connection, and where nurse coaching fits in the "missing middle" between toughing it out and emergency care. This isn't just about individual wellness. It's about a healthcare system that asks families to solve a public health crisis one private coping skill at a time. Because Bigfoot may be hard to find — but try finding affordable mental healthcare when your kid needs help right now. Guest: Victoria Casavecchia, RN, NC-BC Empowered Victories Wellness: https://www.empoweredvictorieswellness.com/ [https://www.empoweredvictorieswellness.com/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Helpful Links: 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: https://988lifeline.org/ [https://988lifeline.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Find mental health or substance use treatment: https://findtreatment.gov/ [https://findtreatment.gov/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] NAMI resources for kids, teens, and families: https://www.nami.org/kids-teens-and-young-adults/ [https://www.nami.org/kids-teens-and-young-adults/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] SAMHSA National Helpline: https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/helplines/national-helpline [https://www.samhsa.gov/find-help/helplines/national-helpline?utm_source=chatgpt.com]

Bigfoot vs. the Monopoly Machine: Amazon, Dollar Stores, and the Fight for Local Power

What if the real monster eating Main Street isn't hiding in the woods — it's hiding in the checkout button, the delivery truck, the dollar store, the grocery aisle, and the corporate boardroom? In this episode of The Bigfoot Manifesto, Dave Pederson talks with Stacy Mitchell, co-executive director of the Institute for Local Self-Reliance, about monopoly power, Amazon, dollar stores, grocery consolidation, and the fight to rebuild local economies. Stacy explains how corporate concentration didn't just happen naturally. It was built through policy, protected by ideology, and sold to the public as convenience, efficiency, and low prices. But behind that story are small businesses getting squeezed, communities losing control, independent grocers disappearing, and towns being reshaped by corporate chains that extract wealth instead of building local prosperity. Dave and Stacy dig into Amazon's platform power, why small businesses are trapped by fees and logistics, what breaking up Amazon could actually look like, how grocery stores became a monopoly story, why the Robinson-Patman Act matters, and how dollar stores hollow out rural towns and urban neighborhoods. Because Bigfoot may be hard to find. But monopoly power? That thing has a storefront on every corner. Stacy Mitchell's Book: Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses Official book page: https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/ [https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Beacon Press: https://www.beacon.org/Big-Box-Swindle-P671.aspx [https://www.beacon.org/Big-Box-Swindle-P671.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b [https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-box-swindle-stacy-mitchell/1100550462 [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-box-swindle-stacy-mitchell/1100550462?utm_source=chatgpt.com] For the full Libsyn description, replace the guest block with: Guest: Stacy Mitchell Organization: Institute for Local Self-Reliance Learn more: https://ilsr.org/ [https://ilsr.org/] Stacy Mitchell's Book: Big-Box Swindle: The True Cost of Mega-Retailers and the Fight for America's Independent Businesses Official book page: https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/ [https://stacymitchell.com/front-page/?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Beacon Press: https://www.beacon.org/Big-Box-Swindle-P671.aspx [https://www.beacon.org/Big-Box-Swindle-P671.aspx?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Bookshop.org: https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b [https://bookshop.org/p/books/big-box-swindle-the-true-cost-of-mega-retailers-and-the-fight-for-america-s-independent-businesses-stacy-mitchell/321e5d8e3bf1e87b?utm_source=chatgpt.com] Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-box-swindle-stacy-mitchell/1100550462 [https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/big-box-swindle-stacy-mitchell/1100550462?utm_source=chatgpt.com]