Data centers fight back
Today, Explained

Data centers fight back

B2Upper-intermediateOctober 14, 202625 min
  • Technology

Data centers have maybe the worst image in America right now. Enter the public relations professionals. This episode was produced by Dustin DeSoto, edited by Jolie Myers, fact-checked by Gabriel Dunatov, engineered by David Tatasciore and Bridger Dunnagan, and hosted by Sean Rameswaram. The sun rises on Microsoft's Project Ginger West and a nearby farmhouse in West Des Moines, Iowa. Photo by Liz Rymarev, Post-Dispatch via Getty Images. Listen to Today, Explained ad-free by becoming a Vox Member: vox.com/members. New Vox members get $20 off their membership right now. Transcript at ⁠⁠vox.com...

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It's hard to tell where the ruthless businessman shtick ends and the human begins.

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40,000 acres worth.

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B2 · Upper-intermediate

Comfortable if you already follow TV news

A1 31%A2 30%B1 23%B2 15%C1 1%
  • 84% of the words are B1 or easier.
  • 172 words a minute: natural, fairly fast speech.
  • 118 harder words (B2 and up) in the whole episode.

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0:00

You know, Mr. Wonderful from Shark Tank, Kevin O'Leary? You've got a real business, but you're a pig. You're greedy. It's hard to tell where the ruthless businessman shtick ends and the human begins.

0:13

Not helping matters, his recent efforts to build the mother of all data centers in Utah, 40,000 acres worth. He called it Wonder Valley. There's a valley.

0:25

A valley where technology and nature will come together in perfect harmony, where the future will pulse at every turn. The people of Utah said no thanks and the project seems to have tanked. Amazon Google met a Microsoft Oracle and the rest of Big Data want to spend something like

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