Economist Podcasts

Watts the problem: Texas’s energy failings

Feb 18, 2021

Join Alexandra Sewage Bass, a Dallas-based correspondent, as she unpacks Texas's energy crisis, revealing how issues like forecasting errors and equipment failures, not just renewable sources, contributed to massive blackouts. Alec Jha, a science correspondent, discusses the latest Mars rover missions, which are pushing the boundaries in the search for extraterrestrial life. Together, they explore the implications of Texas's energy failures for future policies while tapping into the excitement surrounding new discoveries beyond our planet.

23:30

Creator website

Episode guests

Alec Jha

Alexandra Sewage-Bass

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Intro

2min

Texas Energy Crisis: Causes and Consequences

6min

Lessons from Texas: Energy Policy and Mars Exploration

4min

The Quest for Exoplanets and Extraterrestrial Life

7min

The Challenges of Vaccine Rollout and the Resurgence of Soft Rock

2min

The Resurgence of Soft Rock

4min

The Evolution of Soft Rock: From Bland to Meaningful

2min

Crippling blackouts can be explained in part by the state’s unique energy market, but the disaster exposes wider failures that must be confronted amid a changing climate. Today’s landing of another Mars rover broadens the hunt for evidence of extraterrestrial life—an effort that is expanding faster and farther than ever before. And soft rock shakes off its milquetoast manner.

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