The Outfall Podcast

Making Infrastructure Relevant to Millions: Meet Grady

In this episode, we talk to a YouTube superstar, Grady Hillhouse. Grady has over two million subscribers to his video channel called Practical Engineering. We learn the remarkable tale about how he started and how he has evolved. Grady also reveals for the first time a new project. Grady is leading the way and exposing others to our built world.

 

Learn more about Grady in our show notes.

Construction is Booming, But Where are the Pipes?

It seems nothing we buy today is immune to supply constraints in this crazy connected world, including new water Infrastructure. For example, pipes sometimes can be hard to find depending on the size and material, and costs are increasing daily. This episode swims upstream in the pipe supply chain to find out why. 

Show notes can be found here.

Building a Southern Oasis: Passion and Obsession with a little Mini-Golf

John Woodruff spent six years building an oasis. He made it without blueprints but had a vision of a water-filled oasis with plants and trees of all varieties, fish, and a mini-golf course carved through solid canyon walls eons ago. We hear about his remarkable journey, learn about how he uses water, and we even learn about the mini-golf craze of 1931.

Check out the show notes here for pictures of his course.

Rediscovering the Wonder of Water

On this episode:

• We talk to artist Mary Edna Fraser, an internationally renowned artist. She has done some largest batik works to date by one artist.
• Also, we were able to talk with her good friend Marjorie Wentworth, NYT best-selling author and former SC poet laureate.

Sometimes, in looking so closely at what we do, we can miss the beauty and power that water has.

Read more in the show notes.

Buried Secrets: The Untold History Underneath Charleston

The wonderful Christina Rae Butler, author of the recently published book titled Lowcountry at High Tide: A History of Flooding, Drainage, and Reclamation in Charleston, South Carolina joins us. She spent close to a decade writing this first-ever book about the topographic evolution of Charleston.

 

In this episode of The Outfall, Christina explains how compacted material or fill physically transformed the peninsula. Wild stories and history hide under the streets and buildings of Charleston.

 

For more information see the show notes here.

Subscribe to our newsletter here.

Season 3 Time to Explore More

It’s that time of year again. We have been working hard and next week we’re bringing you a brand new season of The Outfall. Season 3. We will explore more and laugh more. Thank you for your continued support. The first episode drops next Friday, April 9th.

 

 

What is the Future of Aquaponics?

Aquaponics is the union of hydroponics (growing plants without soil) and aquaculture (farming fish or other aquatic organisms). This combination produces both plant and fish crops from a minimal footprint. This is a perfect solution. Right?

In this five-minute water short, we try to answer why we don’t see more of these aquaponic systems.

Learn more and see some pictures from our visit here.

Afterglow: The Birth of Phosphorus

Who better to talk about the birth of Phosphorus than Phosphorus himself. Right? We gave this show over to Phosphorus to tell this crazy tale.

The story begins on a cold night in Hamburg; a German physician Hennig Brandt is attempting to create gold by boiling down thousands of gallons of urine.

Learn more here in the show notes.

Hidden World of Tunnels

We go underground on this show to hear first hand from the people who help design tunnels and the equipment that make it possible. We hear some stories from an underground profession ruled by geology, massive machines, and above all, passion.

See all our pictures here.

The Turkey Aroma Mystery

David brings us a 5-minute water short about a wastewater treatment plant that smelled like turkey. Was it for real or was it a myth?

 

Let us know what you think and drop us a note.

Listen to more of our bite-size water shorts here.