Energy Technology Podcasts

New power plants are mostly still promises, and a long conversation with their builders is the nearest a listener gets to testing one. Tech. Cars. Machines. is hosted by Ali Tabibian, who introduces himself as a longtime technology investment banker and Stanford EE. A fusion series runs through its recent episodes. In 61. Conner Galloway, Founder, CEO, and Chief Science Officer; and Alexander Valys, Co-founder, President, and Chief Technology Officer, Xcimer, the founders take their laser system apart stage by stage while Tabibian translates. Fusion, he says, is about getting hydrogen atoms "to mate." The episode earns trust when a founder concedes that efficiency is "a common criticism" of their laser type. He then projects five to seven percent from wall plug to target, likely five for the first system.

"Age of Miracles" is hosted by Packy McCormick with an expert cohost each season. Its first season covered nuclear energy, and its founder episodes date from late 2023 and January 2024. Helion's David Kirtley offers the most surprising self-description: "In some way, Helion is more an electronics company than it is a fusion company." Tyler Bernstein of Zeno Power explains why radioisotope generators convert only about 5% of their heat to electricity. He sums up nuclear startup life as "we move fast and bend things." The enthusiasm is also the limitation. Kirtley's 2028 date for putting electrons on the grid is his company's plan. Near the end of the Antares conversation, a guest argues that economic metrics sit downstream of energy, and the reply is an "Amen." Bring your own counterargument.

Any new plant must connect to something, and another set of shows lives in that something. Energy Central publishes Power Perspectives. In Is geothermal finally happening? A DOE leader weighs in, host Kinsey Grant-Baker lists the knocks on geothermal, "perpetually five years away" among them. Her Department of Energy guest describes US capacity of about four gigawatts that has not grown significantly for decades. Late on, she asks him how to tell a hype cycle from something lasting.

Power Pulse is open about its position: it is Hitachi Energy's podcast, hosted by Barbara Freitas-Daniels, with script writers credited at the close. In Grid Automation is Essential in the Age of Electricity, Massimo Daniele describes software that forecasts grid load and electricity prices. He also warns of attacks "with potentially catastrophic consequences." In another episode, Andy Howell says the company thinks AI could cut the time to bring new generation and storage on board from five to seven years to one to two. An electric journey: How brilliant minds bring innovative tech has Marcus Heimbach on replacing SF6, which he calls the most potent greenhouse gas. The Artificial Intelligence page and the Cybersecurity page go deeper into those threads.

The Smart Energy International Podcast's latest listed episodes are from 2021. Episode #18: Cybersecurity and utilities - how to solve and prevent cyber attacks still lands: a guest recalls early smart-meter tenders that gave security three or four lines in maybe a thousand pages.

The fossil side of the dial sounds different, with more anecdote and more trade talk. Pipeliners Podcast, hosted weekly by Russel Treat, is the most orderly of these shows. In Episode 422: 2026 Pipeline Predictions with Mark LaCour, LaCour forecasts midstream growth closer to four trillion dollars and calls 2026 "a boom year." Those are his predictions. Episode 411: 50th Anniversary of the Alaska Pipeline with Dave Norton is warmer. It offers a story about caribou herds growing near the pipeline, followed by an honest "I don't know if that's true."

Oilfield 360 Podcast, hosted by David Rowe and Victoria Beard-Queen, is built on career stories. In #90. Neal Lux talks about going from Coil Tubing Startup to CEO-Level Leadership, Lux recalls shipping pipe to Siberia, then calling the customer: "don't use it. Here's your money back." #88. Deployable Nuclear, Offshore Power & Energy Innovation with Bobby Gallagher turns to a reactor that ships in a container. It also makes the claim that the company will be among the first to go critical before the 4th of July. Expect detours into television, skiing and cattle.

Oil and Gas Startups Podcast, with Jake Corley and Collin McLelland, is looser and franker. In Safety Radar, the conversation settles on "proactive" rather than "predictive" for what the data can do. Its latest episodes date from 2024.

Building Better with Brandon Bartneck approaches energy through manufacturing. In #269 – Quincy Lee | Electric Era - Resilience, Narrative, and the Systems Behind Enduring Companies, the EV-charging founder and host explore the "hard to kill" idea by way of premortems and automotive failure-mode analysis. He then plays a demo of a talking charger over screen share. In another episode, Ali Kashani of Serve Robotics sums up his sensor strategy: "it's easier to remove a LIDAR than add a LIDAR." The Engineering page suits listeners who want more of this.