The Outfall Podcast

Should Doc Brown drive an F-150?

You want to know right? Should Doc Brown drive an F-150 Lightning, Ford's new all-electric truck?  We have got the answer in this water short. 

Visit the show notes here.

Building in a Volatile World

Building our infrastructure in regular times is hard. But, in this new volatile world, it's like the heat is on, stakes are higher, and conflicts are easier. Our guests include:

• Phillip Sexton, Capital Projects Director, with North Charleston Sewer District
• Mack Harmon is with Ferguson Waterworks
• Justin Jones is a Preconstruction Engineer with Harper General Construction

Learn more in our show notes here.

Season 4 Update and Blue Ghosts

As a quick update, we have been working hard on our new season of The Outfall. Season 4. Thank you for your continued support. The first episode drops on May 13. In the meantime, we thought we would share one of our first water shorts since it is blue ghost hunting season. 

The Blue Ghost Firefly is found nowhere else in the world but in the Southern Appalachians, and the largest population is in Western North Carolina. While all other species of firefly blink on and off as a mating ritual, the Blue Ghost emits a steady glow lasting from 30 seconds to a whole minute with a glow intensity so bright that they illuminate a circular patch of light on the ground beneath them. 

 

Learn more about Blue Ghosts here. 

 

 

Old Sparky & The Epic Fires: Part 2

This episode concludes our conversation with Tim Cash about his adventures operating a fire tower for the US Forest Service this past year. We shift gears from talking about the lookout itself to the elements- fire, smoke, and lightning. One of the fires he experienced burned close to a million acres, which is bigger than the state of Rhode Island. To see more pictures go to the show notes here.

 

Since 2019, The Outfall podcast has been sharing the backstories of our water world and infrastructure worldwide. We thank you for listening and continuing to support us.

 

 

The Heart of the Lookout: Part I

We go on the front lines of a drought from a unique vantage point—a fire tower. Tim Cash, a retired career public servant with the Georgia Environmental Protection Division, shares his eye-opening adventures of operating a fire tower for the US Forest Service this past year. So how do you get to spend a summer out west in a tower? For Tim, it only took him over forty years.

Check out the show notes to see his wonderful pictures of the fire tower.

Our next episode will conclude our conversation with Tim Cash, shifting gears from talking about the lookout itself to the elements. We are talking fire, smoke, and lightning. Since 2019, The Outfall podcast has been sharing the backstories of our water world and infrastructure worldwide. We thank you for listening and continuing to support us.

The Fight with Flushable Wipes

In this episode, we continue the flushable wipes story originating deep under the streets of Charleston from our first season. We talk with Paul Calamita with Aqualaw about Charleston Water System’s lawsuit against seven manufacturers and retailers of wipe products.

Paul and Charleston Water System have been climbing a mountain without an established trail. How were they going to win where so many had fallen off the side of the mountain?

Visit the show notes here.

A Deep Dive

Earlier this year, we talked to a commercial diving firm, Global Diving & Salvage, Inc., to learn more about what they did. Here are five things we learned that we think you may enjoy too. The clock is ticking for this five-minute water short. 

Check out the show notes.

Cascading Failures, Unbelievable Circumstances, and the Road Recovery

This is a story about people and a utility rising up in unbelievable circumstances where failure was not an option. We go behind the scenes and learn how the CIty of Columbia responded to cascading catastrophic failures throughout their infrastructure, and the lessons learned in the past six years. We want to thank Clint Shealy and Joey Jaco for sharing their stories.

Learn more in the show notes.

Finding Einstein on the Enoree

This episode is a tale about an abandoned one-of-a-kind facility recently discovered in a middle of a South Carolina river, a famous sediment transport researcher and Albert Einstein.  Yes, Albert Einstein. 

Check out the show notes to pictures of the lab and Albert Einstein.

2021 Book Club Pick

We have talked about starting a book club since we began the podcast. Well, we finally did it. We are excited to read together as a community Cynthia Barnett’s new book, The Sound of the Sea: Seashells and the Fate of the Oceans.

We caught up with Cynthia to learn more about the origins of the book. Now, this is the cool part. Cynthia will join us in October to help us dig deeper into her book. We will chat with her taking thoughts and questions from you. We are excited to offer this opportunity. You can attend in person if you are in the Clemson area or virtually via Zoom. If you are interested, please sign up here.