On our first live episode of Michigan: We Need to Talk, Stephen Henderson continues the conversation on data centers in Michigan with callers from across the state and guest Ben Green, assistant professor of information and public policy at the University of Michigan’s Ford School.

Listeners respond to questions raised by our reporting in Dowagiac, where residents say noise from a nearby data center has changed daily life in their neighborhood. The conversation widens from there: What happens when large technology projects come to Michigan communities? Who benefits? Who pays? How much voice should residents have before these projects are approved? And should ordinary ratepayers absorb infrastructure costs tied to AI and cloud computing?

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This is the call-in portion of our first live broadcast of Michigan: We Need to Talk.

Stephen is joined by Ben Green, assistant professor of information and public policy at the University of Michigan’s Ford School and author of the 2025 report What Happens When Data Centers Come to Town?

Together with callers, Stephen and Ben discuss:

• What data centers can mean for the communities where they are built
• Noise complaints and quality-of-life concerns in Dowagiac
• Michigan’s growing role in the national race to build AI and cloud infrastructure
• The promise — and limits — of data centers as economic development
• Tax incentives, local control and public transparency
• Energy use, water demand and who pays for new infrastructure
• Whether Michigan can welcome investment without making local communities feel ignored

Each Wednesday, we post the show’s opening reported segment in this podcast feed before the live broadcast. After the show airs, we post the call-in conversation here so you can listen on demand.

Subscribe to the Building the Conversation newsletter in the show notes, and send us your thoughts, questions, stories and ideas at MIweneedtotalk@gmail.com.