Despite a long period of relative stagnation, nuclear power has remained the quiet backbone of the United States’ clean energy supply for decades. Now, the Joe Biden administration wants more from the sector as the country hustles to meet ambitious emissions goals.
Jigar Shah, the director of the Energy Department’s Loan Programs Office, said nuclear energy will only become more critical as demand for electricity surges over the next 20 years.
On the show today, Shah makes us smart about how much the country relies on nuclear energy. We’ll also discuss lessons learned from building the first nuclear reactor from scratch in decades, and how the industry plans to win over Americans who are concerned about safety and toxic waste.
Then, we’ll get into the high stakes of today’s vote for speaker of the House of Representatives. And Elon Musk’s satellite internet company Starlink is part of geopolitical conversation yet again, this time in Israel.
Later, we’ll hear from a teacher about the expectations that educators pay for classroom supplies themselves. And this week’s answer to the Make Me Smart question comes from Kai Bird, co-author of “American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer.”
Here’s everything we talked about today:
We want to hear your answer to the Make Me Smart question. You can reach us at makemesmart@marketplace.org or leave us a voicemail at 508-U-B-SMART.
The long game of high interest rates
The growing troubles at OpenAI
A Trump-Musk bromance
How Big Food changed the way we eat
Biden doubling down on tariffs
How the Palestinian financial system is tied up in Israel
Private equity, endless shrimp and Red Lobster’s decline
Neoliberalism’s sleight of hand
Getting deep about deepfakes
The price tag on friendship
Whaddya wanna know about key inflation measures?
The great Bumble fumble
From “Million Bazillion”: What are labor unions?
The value of “third places”
What grocery aisle gossip can tell us about the economy
The lowdown on joint fundraising committees
A phantom debt menace
The power of college endowments
Private equity is coming for pet care
Europe’s new economic engines
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