AI is transforming everything—but what’s powering it? In this episode of The Deep, Erika Ahern uncovers the hidden costs of AI data centers: skyrocketing energy use, water consumption, rising utility bills, and growing local backlash. The cloud isn’t weightless—it’s industrial. And it might be coming to your backyard next.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: The AI data center explosion

1:59 How data centers have changed

4:07 Mapping U.S. data centers

5:40 Energy consumption

7:52 Residents pay the price

9:18 Water usage

11:11 Land grabs and noise

12:23 Tax incentives

13:23 Do data centers create jobs?

14:55 Encroachment on residential areas

15:37 What are we doing about it?

17:24 Conclusion: Is there any stopping it?

Watch The Deep on Zeale: https://zeale.co/podcasts/the-deep

Trump pauses strikes on Iran as troop deployments ramp up and Hormuz negotiations continue. Meanwhile, DHS shutdown chaos spreads to airports, causing long TSA wait times. And finally, are Catholic conversions rising nationwide? All this and more on the LOOPcast!

Get your FREE PHONE as a new Charity Mobile user with every new line — and FREE SHIPPING — with promo code LOOPCAST at https://bit.ly/LOOPcast-CharityMobile

00:00 Welcome to the LOOPcast

04:00 Iran War - Day 25

32:44 TSA/DHS Disaster

42:00 Good News

1:02:38 Culture Block

1:11:15 Church Corner

1:41:46 Twilight Zone

1:58:12 Closing Prayer

EMAIL US: loopcast@catholicvote.org

SUPPORT LOOPCAST: www.loopcast.org

Check us out on Zeale: https://zeale.co

Subscribe to the LOOP today!

https://catholicvote.org/getloop

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-loopcast/id1643967065

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/08jykZi86H7jKNFLbSesjk?si=ztBTHenFR-6VuegOlklE_w&nd=1&dlsi=bddf79da68c34744

FOLLOW LOOPCast:

https://x.com/the_LOOPcast

https://www.instagram.com/the_loopcast/

https://www.tiktok.com/@the_loopcast

https://www.facebook.com/LOOPcastPodcast

Tom: https://x.com/TPogasic

Erika: https://x.com/ErikaAhern2

Josh: https://x.com/joshuamercer

All opinions expressed on LOOPcast by the participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CatholicVote.

What would happen if euthanasia had a marketing department?

In Breakfast of Champions, director Andrew Shemin imagines a darkly satirical world where a cheerful sales representative walks into a neighborhood bar with an unusual proposal: partner with her company to promote assisted death to elderly patrons. What follows is a tense and unsettling conversation that explores dignity, persuasion, and the quiet pressures shaping end-of-life decisions today.

In this interview, Andrew Shemin explains the inspiration behind the film, how satire can reveal uncomfortable truths, and why stories like this matter right now.

Watch now on Zeale: https://zeale.co/video/breakfast-of-champions

They ripped out the altars. Whitewashed the saints. Built “churches” that look like airports. How did we get here? And why did Catholics go along with it? In this episode of The Deep, Erika exposes the shocking, anti-Catholic roots of the Church’s “wreckovation” era – and the modernist ideas that gutted sacred beauty. But it’s not over. Across America, parishes are rising from the ashes and restoring what was lost.

Timestamps:

0:00 Intro: How did we get here?

2:13 The history behind ugly churches

6:29 “Kitschy” Jesus

8:21 The modernist spirit

11:44 The role of Vatican II

13:37 Ugly church architecture on display

16:28 The way of beauty

17:36 Hopeful stories of renovation

Watch The Deep on Zeale! https://zeale.co/podcasts/the-deep

Top counterterrorism official Joe Kent resigns, claiming Iran posed “no imminent threat.” What does this mean for the war, and what comes next? Meanwhile, the author of The Population Bomb dies, and we revisit one of the most influential (and wrong) ideas of the last century. And finally, what is the real lesson of Saint Patrick? All this and more on the LOOPcast!

Get your FREE PHONE as a new Charity Mobile user with every new line — and FREE SHIPPING — with promo code LOOPCAST at https://bit.ly/LOOPcast-CharityMobile

00:00 Welcome to the LOOPcast

03:14 Updates on Iran War

36:15 Population Bomb Author Dies

49:05 Good News

56:00 Saint Patrick’s Day

1:02:00 Should you kick your kids out at 18?

1:10:55 Listener Question

1:19:54 Twilight Zone

1:51:17 Closing Prayer

EMAIL US: loopcast@catholicvote.org

SUPPORT LOOPCAST: www.loopcast.org

Check us out on Zeale: https://zeale.co

Subscribe to the LOOP today!

https://catholicvote.org/getloop

Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-loopcast/id1643967065

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/08jykZi86H7jKNFLbSesjk?si=ztBTHenFR-6VuegOlklE_w&nd=1&dlsi=bddf79da68c34744

FOLLOW LOOPCast:

https://x.com/the_LOOPcast

https://www.instagram.com/the_loopcast/

https://www.tiktok.com/@the_loopcast

https://www.facebook.com/LOOPcastPodcast

Tom: https://x.com/TPogasic

Erika: https://x.com/ErikaAhern2

Josh: https://x.com/joshuamercer

All opinions expressed on LOOPcast by the participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CatholicVote.

Dominican friar and Godsplaining podcast host Fr. Gregory Pine, OP joins Erika to discuss his new book, Training the Tongue: Growing Beyond the Sins of Speech. In an age of hot takes and endless commentary, how do we learn to speak truthfully, charitably, and even humorously? A conversation about disciplining our speech – and reclaiming real human conversation.

Check out Fr. Pine's new book: "Training the Tongue and Growing Beyond Sins of Speech" https://stpaulcenter.com/store/training-the-tongue-and-growing-beyond-sins-of-speech

Watch The Deep on Zeale: https://zeale.co/podcasts/the-deep

Trump demands Iran’s “unconditional surrender” as the war intensifies. We analyze the strategy, the risks, and what comes next. Meanwhile, Kristi Noem is out as DHS secretary. And finally, we answer your questions live. All this and more live on the LOOPcast!

Get your FREE PHONE as a new Charity Mobile user with every new line — and FREE SHIPPING — with promo code LOOPCAST at https://bit.ly/LOOPcast-CharityMobile

00:00 Welcome to the LOOPcast

02:30 Updates on the Iran War

39:55 Kristi Noem is OUT

1:07:15 Good News

1:17:40 Q&A

1:37:23 Twilight Zone

1:57:20 Closing Prayer

EMAIL US: loopcast@catholicvote.org

SUPPORT LOOPCAST: www.loopcast.org

Check us out on Zeale: https://zeale.co

Subscribe to the LOOP today! https://catholicvote.org/getloop

FOLLOW LOOPCast:

https://x.com/the_LOOPcast

https://www.instagram.com/the_loopcast/

https://www.tiktok.com/@the_loopcast

https://www.facebook.com/LOOPcastPodcast

Subscribe to Tom Across America: https://www.youtube.com/@TomAcrossAmerica250

Watch Tom Across America on Zeale: https://zeale.co/shows/tom-across-america

Tom: https://x.com/TPogasic

Erika: https://x.com/ErikaAhern2

Josh: https://x.com/joshuamercer

Daily Prayer for America 250

By Raymond Leo Cardinal Burke

O Sacred Heart of Jesus, King of Heaven and Earth, I place today my nation, the United States of America, into Your Heart pierced for love of us. On the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, I acknowledge that true liberty is Your gift, and that our lasting homeland is the eternal Kingdom of God. Under the mantle of Our Lady of Guadalupe, Patroness of the Americas, and through the intercession of her Immaculate Heart, bless my homeland anew, purify her from sin, and guide her leaders in truth, justice, and peace, so that she may safeguard all human life, respect the integrity of marriage and the family, and honor the practice of religion. Reign in my home and in my nation. Draw every heart into communion with You, that Your truth, love, justice, mercy, and peace may triumph in America and throughout the world.

Amen.

All opinions expressed on LOOPcast by the participants are their own and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of CatholicVote.

For over a century, the College Board has shaped who gets into college – and what “success” even means to American kids. In this episode of The Deep, Erika traces how a nonprofit testing company became a billion-dollar gatekeeper, why standards have quietly shifted, and why elite universities are now scrambling back to testing after going test-optional. Is the system ensuring merit – or masking its own decline? Let’s look at the data.

Timestamps:
0:00 - College Board: The gatekeeper of American education
1:06 - College Board’s unsettling origin
4:35 - College Board takes over universities
6:47 - “Aptitude” controversy
8:49 - College Board cashes in (big time)
10:00 - Becoming the gatekeeper
12:24 - How do we escape the College Board matrix?

Watch The Deep on Zeale: https://zeale.co/podcasts/the-deep