Strange Bedfellows: When Trump, Abbott, and AOC All Have a Point

Duration: 38:46 | Recorded on August 9, 2026 S3E31 – Kent and Kyle dig into the AI data center boom reshaping Texas and the political fight over who pays for it. They debate the collision between Donald Trump's push for data center growth and Governor Greg Abbott's concerns over the Texas power grid, discovering a rare moment where AOC, Bernie Sanders, and Texas Republicans arrive at similar objections from opposite directions. Their conversation explores the return of nuclear power as an "environmentalist choice," a generational split in who trusts AI outreach and who doesn't, and why the Founding Fathers designed a system that relies on us actually talking to one another. Featured Spirits Old Fitzgerald 7-Year  (https://oldfitzgeraldbourbon.com/old-...) Barbancourt (https://barbancourt.com/en) Show Notes / The 400+ Gigawatt Problem: The brothers deconstruct the tension between Donald Trump and Greg Abbott regarding Texas data centers. Kyle lays out the scale, an amount of power so large it rivals virtually every other future construction project in the state, and notes the proposed footprint would cover roughly 200,000 acres, about three times the land area of Dallas. / The Nuclear Recommission: Kent shares a "sea change" observation: a decommissioned nuclear plant near his home is being turned back on specifically to power new data centers. They debate the merits of nuclear power, with Kent arguing it is the true "environmentalist choice" when compared to the guaranteed, ongoing harms of coal. / Speculation vs. Efficiency: Are we overbuilding? Kent questions whether the current data center boom is sized for speculative training needs rather than long-term operational efficiency, noting that AI models tend to get smaller and cheaper to run the more sophisticated they become. / AI's Economic Engine (or lack thereof): The hosts challenge the "factory" mindset of new construction. A massive data center might occupy hundreds of acres but employ only a dozen people.  / Who Trusts the Robot? Kent recounts a debate in his industry over AI agents reaching out to customers directly, and the surprising generational split: younger people spot an AI immediately and shut it down, while older users often prefer it, especially for its endless patience.  / Tribalism and the Founders' Feature: The episode closes on "strange bedfellows," Abbott's coalition objects to data centers on cost-shifting-to-ratepayers grounds, while Bernie Sanders and AOC object on subsidy and environmental-justice grounds. Different reasoning, same conclusion. The brothers recognize the Founding Fathers viewed ambitious, disagreeing perspectives as a "feature, not a bug," a marketplace of ideas, not an echo chamber. References Trump calls Texas’ data center opposition a “mistake” (https://www.texastribune.org/2026/08/...) (www.texastribune.org) Bernie Sanders Takes on Data Centers (https://www.newyorker.com/culture/the...) (www.newyorker.com) NEWS: Sanders, Ocasio-Cortez Announce AI Data Center Moratorium Act (https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-...) (www.sanders.senate.gov)  The U.S.'s Largest Reservoir Just Fell to Its Lowest Water Level (https://time.com/article/2026/08/10/l...) (time.com)