Yonder Radio Special Report – Power Dynamics: The Rural Data Center Boom

The Daily Yonder's new program, Yonder Radio, launches with a special report on data centers, citing Pew Research Center figures that two-thirds of new facilities are being built in rural areas even as those communities report little of AI's promised economic benefit. The episode features economist Michael J. Hicks weighing promised development against reality, an organizer describing growing grassroots opposition, and attorneys from the Southern Environmental Law Center on how developers might work with rather than against communities.

The show's producers note it launches as public media absorbed a $1.1 billion cut from Congress, which they say falls hardest on rural broadcasters already squeezed by consolidation and shrinking local newsrooms.

The full dispatch is available from the source below.