Where the Internet Lives

Where the Internet Lives is back.In our second season, host Stephanie Wong explores data centers alongside the folks who actually design, build, and operate them. We’ll hear stories of people who’ve transformed their careers, overcome obstacles, and found inspiration working in the places where the internet lives.Subscribe to Where the Internet Lives on Google podcasts, Apple, Spotify, or anywhere you get your shows.

For fifty years, computer performance has improved exponentially while the cost of computing has plummeted – but this phenomenal “Moore’s Law” trend has begun to slow down. What does this mean for data centers and what lies ahead? In our final episode, we peer into the future of technology – from machine learning to quantum computing – and explore the next chapter in the story of the physical internet.

 We’ll cover the mind-boggling “what-if” scenarios that security experts inside data centers prepare for — all to protect user data and keep the internet running. And we'll learn about the multi-layered systems that keep warehouse computers secure.

John Kumi, an independent researcher and former Stanford educator, dives into the urgent need for sustainable energy solutions within the data center industry. He discusses the alarming rise in energy demands and how major tech companies are setting ambitious goals for carbon-free energy. Kumi highlights groundbreaking innovations, like AI-driven cooling technologies and advanced energy management that optimize performance. He emphasizes the critical path toward achieving 24/7 clean energy, showcasing collaborative efforts to mitigate climate change.

Karen Ridley, a Zumba instructor and data technician at Google, and Thomas Gamble, facilities manager at Google with a rich background in hydropower, discuss the surprising integration of data centers in rural communities. They explore how the arrival of a major data center in Bridgeport, Alabama, has reshaped local economies and created new job opportunities. The guests share personal stories about resilience amidst industrial decline and the community's evolving relationship with technology, highlighting the transition from traditional coal energy to a greener, digital future.

Data centers are some of the most secure buildings on the planet. In this episode, we invite you to step inside and take a tour with one of Google’s top engineers. As we venture into computer systems that connect the world, we meet the people who keep these warehouse-scale facilities running. Plus, a little-known story about the scrappy origins of Google’s first computers.

In our first episode, we explore what data centers are – and how they keep the internet going, even when events like COVID-19 trigger historic surges in traffic.

"Where the Internet Lives" is a new podcast about the unseen world of data centers. In this series, we’ll go inside a data center and learn how the machines actually work. We’ll hear about the early days of Google’s first data center designs — and how they set the stage for today’s hyper-scale facilities. We’ll learn about how data centers are becoming a backbone of the clean energy economy. And we’ll explore how quantum computing, the end of Moore’s law, and new uses of the Cloud are changing the way we build the physical internet.