Annie comes from a family of electricians, three generations deep. So, when the 2003 Northeast Blackout knocked out power for 50 million people, she started asking questions. She turned to her own personal expert on the matter, her dad.

This episode is the answer to how electricity actually gets to your home, why the power grid is basically the biggest machine humans have ever built, and what its age and vulnerabilities mean for us in an era of climate change.

It starts with knowing how it works, so we can be a little less at the mercy of it all.

Mentioned in this episode:

Come What Mayday Emergency Essentials

Joint U.S.-Canada Power System Outage Task Force Report (April 2004)

Practical Engineering - YouTube channel by Grady Hillhouse

Tell me your six year-old self could have resisted sneaking pieces of this beautiful, colorful electrical tape if tempted day after day? If you can say that honestly, you're stronger than me.

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Music courtesy of www.epidemicsound.com

John Runefelt feat. Easton / You've Got It

DEX 1200 / The Lost Forest

Martin Gauffin / Permittivity

Hampus Naeselius / My Moon and Your Stars

Blue Steel / VOLTAGE

Rachel Sandy / The Art of Being