In this episode of We Are the Government, host Dipka Hesse sits down with energy policy expert Poonum Agrawal to explore one of the most critical—and least understood—issues facing the United States: electric grid reliability and transmission expansion.

From her early days as a Presidential Management Fellow in the George W. Bush administration to leading the Department of Energy’s groundbreaking National Interest Electric Transmission Corridors study, Agrawal shares what it takes to modernize America’s power grid under intense political, legal, and budgetary pressure.

The conversation covers grid congestion, energy affordability, microgrids, Puerto Rico’s grid insecurity, AI-driven electricity demand, and the real challenges of implementing energy policy inside the federal government.

This is a behind-the-scenes look at how federal workers navigate complexity, politics, and public scrutiny to strengthen America’s energy future.

This podcast is produced as a time capsule for America's 250th anniversary, preserving the stories and contributions of those who have helped build our Republic.

• Host: Dipka Hesse
• X: @DBHesse
• LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/dipkabhambhani⁠
• YouTube: @theenergyodyssey

Thank you to our great team who helped make this episode possible. A special thanks to Mathew John for his creative counsel and support, without which this wouldn’t be possible.

• Executive Producer: Richard Taliaferro (richard@richard.taliaferro.com)
• Graphic Artist: David Zerba (zebra.david@gmail.com)
• Editor: Axel Soderland (axelfromdc@gmail.com )

#EnergyPolicy #ElectricGrid #TransmissionExpansion #GridReliability #FederalGovernment #EnergySecurity #PublicService #Infrastructure #AIandEnergy #DOE

In this episode of We Are the Government, host Dipka Hesse speaks with Gabriel Sandler, former spokesperson at the State Department, about his odyssey through the federal government, starting as a Peace Corp. volunteer in the country of Madagascar.

Gabriel left Madagascar during the Covid pandemic only to slide right into federal service at the Department of Transportation which led him to the Department of Agriculture, and finally to the coveted position as a spokesperson for the U.S. State Department, in its now-eliminated Bureau of Energy Resources, where he worked on international energy communications.

Gabriel reflects on soft diplomacy, the role of civil servants across administrations, and why addressing baseline issues—such as food security, clean water, and reliable energy—creates the conditions for broader social and economic progress.

The conversation also explores how federal experience continues to shape work in the private sector and why public service remains foundational to American governance.

This podcast is produced as a time capsule for America's 250th anniversary, preserving the stories and contributions of those who have helped build our Republic.

• Host: Dipka Hesse

• X: @DBHesse

• LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/dipkabhambhani⁠

• YouTube: @theenergyodyssey

Thank you to our great team who helped make this episode possible. A special thanks to Mathew John for his creative counsel and support, without which this wouldn’t be possible.

• Executive Producer: Richard Taliaferro (richard@richard.taliaferro.com)

• Graphic Artist: David Zerba (zebra.david@gmail.com)

• Editor: Axel Soderland (axelfromdc@gmail.com )

#PublicServiceStories #FederalCareers #Diplomacy #ClimateAndEnergy #CivilServants #GovernmentLeadership #PolicyCareers #PublicImpact #WeAreTheGovernment

What do brownfield sites, zoning codes, school siting rules, and post-disaster rebuilding have in common?

According to Dr. Matthew Dalbey, former senior advisor to the Environmental Protection Agency and founder of Corner Shop Strategies, they’re all issues he had to confront to help protect the environment and inspire economic growth in communities across the country as land use decisions shape public health, economic opportunity, and long-term risk.

In this episode, Dalbey unpacks 20 years at the EPA. He talks about EPA’s “Smart Growth” work: helping communities redevelop underused sites, modernize zoning barriers, and design safer, more walkable places.

Our conversation also explores how interagency collaboration works in practice, including EPA–FEMA partnerships after recurring floods and storms—where “build back” can unintentionally rebuild vulnerability unless local planning aligns with mitigation.

Finally, Dalby offers an insider view of how shifting federal priorities across administrations can change what’s possible, and why certain climate-finance implementation choices created major operational challenges inside government.

This podcast is produced as a time capsule for America's 250th anniversary, preserving the stories and contributions of those who have helped build our Republic.

• Host: Dipka Hesse

• X: @DBHesse

• LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/dipkabhambhani⁠

• YouTube: @theenergyodyssey

Thank you to our great team who helped make this inaugural episode possible. A special thanks to David Padrusch and Mathew John for their support, without which this wouldn’t be possible.

• Executive Producer: Richard Taliaferro (richard@richard.taliaferro.com)

• Graphic Artist: David Zerba (zebra.david@gmail.com)

• Editor: Axel Soderland (axelfromdc@gmail.com )

#Brownfields #SmartGrowth #EPA #FEMA #DisasterRecovery #ClimateResilience #LandUsePlanning #ZoningReform #CommunityDevelopment #PublicHealth #EconomicDevelopment #InfrastructurePlanning #FederalPolicy #InteragencyCollaboration

In this episode of We Are the Government, host Dipka Hesse speaks with David Nemtzow, a longtime clean energy technology and energy efficiency expert whose leadership at the U.S. Department of Energy has left an indelible footprint in the American clean energy sector.

David left the DOE in April 2025 after a decade in the federal government. During his tenure as a career civil servant, he managed the Virtual Power Plant program in the Department’s Loan Program Office and ran the Department’s Building Technologies Office, which aimed to make U.S. buildings more energy efficient.

David discusses how energy efficiency and clean energy policy move from ideas to execution inside the government. He shares his experience as a civil servant and the delicate dance that is working with political appointees from the Obama, Biden and Trump administrations.

David discusses his experience leading the Alliance to Save Energy in a much more cordial Washington of the 1990s, and he brings a twist of color to the conversation sharing his experience as a political appointee in Australia. Spoiler alert: America and Australia’s federal system work very differently.

#WeAreTheGovernment #EnergyPolicy #CleanEnergy #EnergyEfficiency #PolicyImplementation #PublicService #GovernmentInnovation

This podcast is produced as a time capsule for America's 250th anniversary, preserving the stories and contributions of those who have helped build our Republic.

• Host: Dipka Hesse
• X: @DBHesse
• LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/dipkabhambhani⁠
• YouTube: @theenergyodyssey

Thank you to our great team who helped make this inaugural episode possible. A special thanks to David Padrusch and Mathew John for their support, without which this wouldn’t be possible.

• Executive Producer: Richard Taliaferro (richard@richard.taliaferro.com)
• Graphic Artist: David Zerba (zebra.david@gmail.com)
• Editor: Axel Soderland (axelfromdc@gmail.com )

In this second episode of We Are The Government, host Dipka Hesse sits down with Clarence Edwards, a D.C. insider who served as a political appointee in the Clinton administration before he joined the U.S. Energy Department years later as a career civil servant.

Clarence’s experience, knowledge and unshakeable nature powered his ascent into his current role as Executive Director of the U.S. office of E3G, an international think tank that operates at the intersection of environmental issues, geopolitics and international economics.

Clarence is optimistic with a uniquely bipartisan posture as he reflects on how his early political work, international interests, and unexpected opportunities led him into public service—and how those experiences continue to shape his perspective on policymaking.

Clarence shares stories from his time as a special assistant at the U.S. Information Agency and the U.S. State Department during the Clinton administration when the White House was shrinking the federal workforce through a plan called Reinventing Government.

Clarence returned to the federal government years later as a career civil servant at the Department of Energy.

With three decades in Washington, Clarence shares insight into the appropriations process, its evolution, the inner workings of federal budgeting and the relationship between political appointees and career civil servants.

Clarence speaks to the value of staying nonpartisan and why he remains cautiously optimistic about America’s democratic future despite the current climate of political polarity on steroids.

This podcast is produced as a time capsule for America's 250th anniversary, preserving the stories and contributions of those who have helped build our Republic.

• Host: Dipka Hesse
• X: @DBHesse
• LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/dipkabhambhani⁠
• YouTube: @theenergyodyssey

Thank you to our great team who helped make this inaugural episode possible. A special thanks to David Padrusch and Mathew John for their support, without which this wouldn’t be possible.

• Executive Producer: Richard Taliaferro (richard@richard.taliaferro.com)
• Graphic Artist: David Zerba (zebra.david@gmail.com)

Join host Dipka Hesse for the premiere episode of We Are the Government, a podcast celebrating federal workers and their contributions to America's 250-year history.

In this episode, we sit down with Howie Simanoff, an auditor for the U.S. Capitol Police in its Office of the Inspector General. Howie shares what led him into the federal government after a 25-year career as an auditor for U.S. accounting giant KPMG where he was also a federal contractor for 15 years. In a twist, Howie was laid off from KPMG just before he could collect his pension. He delves into his empathy toward many long-time civil servants now forced to leave their posts as the federal government shrinks.

Howie discusses what it's like to be a "cop" looking for waste, fraud and abuse but also efficiencies and effectiveness inside the operations of the Capitol Police long before the development of the Department of Government Efficiency.

Topics Covered: Federal workforce reductions, Capitol Police careers, Inspector General audits, KPMG contractor experience, government efficiency, financial statement audits, federal hiring process, Washington DC government jobs, DOGE impact on federal workers, career transitions from private sector to government, the life of a civil servants

About your host: Dipka Bhambhani Hesse is an award-winning Washington, DC-based reporter who distills global energy policy and illustrates its impact on the business of energy and innovation. She has been writing for Forbes since 2018. Dipka started her energy career as a daily reporter 20 years ago where she covered the federal government. That work invited global opportunities in energy public affairs, advance operations and executive support, including as a speechwriter for the Administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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This podcast is produced as a time capsule for America's 250th anniversary, preserving the stories and contributions of those who have helped build our Republic.

• Host: Dipka Hesse
• X: @DBHesse
• LinkedIn: ⁠linkedin.com/dipkabhambhani⁠
• YouTube: @theenergyodyssey

Thank you to our great team who helped make this inaugural episode possible. A special thanks to David Padrusch and Mathew John for their support, without which this wouldn’t be possible.

• Guest: Howie Simanoff, Auditor, U.S. Capitol Police, Office of the Inspector General
• Executive Producer: Richard Taliaferro (⁠https://www.richardtaliaferro.com⁠)
• Graphic Artist: David Zerba (⁠zerba.david@gmail.com⁠)