Riley and Casey explore technology and society in rural communities. Today's focus: Resilient Rural Futures.

NEWS ROUNDUP: We break down [XDA Developers] Please stop relying on the Internet for your smart home devices and [XDA Developers] I blocked all cloud access from my smart home for a week to see what still works, plus 1 more stories, and explore what these developments mean for communities like ours.

RURAL CONNECTIONS: Deep dive on Resilient Rural Futures Topics include: broadband, fiber, telemedicine, solar, AI.

Hosts: Riley (Tech optimist with an engineering background) and Casey (Community-first skeptic of tech promises).

Sources discussed:

• XDA Developers: [XDA Developers] Please stop relying on the Internet for you...
• XDA Developers: [XDA Developers] I blocked all cloud access from my smart ho...
• Williams Lake Tribune: [Williams Lake Tribune] Feds commit $70.4M for worker traini...
• U.S. News & World Report: [U.S. News & World Report] Telemedicine Not Closing the Ment...

Additional sources provided:

• XDA Developers: [XDA Developers] I self-hosted everything for a year, and th...
• 100 Mile Free Press: [100 Mile Free Press] EDITOR: Alternative available for Yell...
• The Tyee: [The Tyee] What Can You Do with Used Plastic and 3D Printers...
• NYT Top Stories: [NYT Top Stories] TerraPower Nuclear Reactor in Wyoming Gets...
• The Globe and Mail: [The Globe and Mail] Tumbler Ridge shooting highlights rural...
• How-To Geek: [How-To Geek] 6 things I've learned after a decade of using ...

Credits
Theme Song: Cariboo Signals by Sumo AI
Content Curation & Script: Claude (Anthropic)
TTS Voices: OpenAI TTS API
Cover Art: ChatGPT (OpenAI)
Podcast Coordination: Erich Zirnhelt
© 2026 Erich Zirnhelt. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.