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.

Before each live episode of Michigan: We Need to Talk, we’ll post the show’s opening reported segment here in the podcast feed, giving you time to hear the story, think about the issue, and get ready to join the conversation when the phone lines open.

This week, Stephen Henderson starts in Dowagiac, Michigan, where residents say the noise from a nearby data center has changed daily life in their neighborhood. It’s a story about artificial intelligence, economic development, public safety, local control, and what happens when a community feels like decisions about its future were made without any input.

The live call-in show airs Thursday at 7 p.m. on Michigan Public. After the broadcast, we’ll post the call-in portions of the conversation here on demand.

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Data centers provide opportunities for large corporate investment in Michigan, but many residents don't want them in their backyard. There's also a growing frustration among data center opponents that public officials are ignoring their concerns. How should Michigan make decisions when the benefits of a project are spread broadly, but the costs are concentrated in one community?

In this opening segment, Stephen Henderson introduces the first conversation on Michigan: We Need to Talk: the debate over data centers in Michigan, and what one southwest Michigan community can teach us about the tradeoffs behind new technology and economic development.

The question at the heart of the episode:

When a project promises progress, who gets to decide what that progress costs and who has to live with it?

Listen to this segment before the live broadcast, then join the conversation Thursday at 7 p.m. on Michigan Public.

You can email the show at MIweneedtotalk@gmail.com.

Subscribe to the Building the Conversation newsletter here:
https://building-the-conversation.beehiiv.com/p/building-the-conversation-issue-zero-19d8a9682ef142b9

Welcome to Michigan: We Need to Talk, a new weekly call-in show from Michigan Public hosted by Stephen Henderson.

This show is built around a simple idea: Michigan needs more spaces where people talk with each other, not just at each other, past each other, or about each other.

Each week, Stephen will take up one issue that matters to people across the state: politics, schools, housing, roads, public health, the economy, trust, fear, community, and the decisions that shape how we live together.

And the podcast feed is not just a place to hear the radio show later. It’s part of how the conversation works.

Most weeks, the broadcast show will begin with a reported, pre-taped segment. That segment will be posted here in the podcast feed a day before the show airs, giving listeners time to hear the story, think about the issue, and consider what they might want to say when the phones open the next day.

After the broadcast, the call-in portions of the show will also be posted here, so listeners can hear the full conversation on demand. The feed will also feature extra interviews, additional reporting, and special podcast-only content for listeners who want to go deeper.

Subscribe to the newsletter

You can subscribe to Building the Conversation here:
https://building-the-conversation.beehiiv.com/p/building-the-conversation-issue-zero-19d8a9682ef142b9

Have a thought, question, story, or idea for a future episode?

Email us: MIweneedtotalk@gmail.com

When the show is live, the phones will be open.

Listen live Thursdays at 7 p.m. on Michigan Public: 91.7 FM in Detroit, Ann Arbor and Southeast Michigan; 104.1 FM in Grand Rapids, Kalamazoo and West Michigan; 91.1 FM in Flint; 89.7 FM in Lansing; and 91.3 FM in Port Huron. You can also stream live at MichiganPublic.org, through the Michigan Public app, or by asking your smart speaker to “play Michigan Public.”