The DeVone Holt Show

Never-before-heard content: Before Saturday's live data center debate, DeVone sat down with community watchdog Jeff Cavalcanti, who's spent months tracking Metro Council's handling of data center proposals. Jeff lays out the concerns that didn't make it into the broadcast — the low-frequency noise hum from hyperscale facilities, discharge water carrying heavy metals into a sewer system already under a consent decree, and a projected electricity draw equivalent to nearly 400,000 homes, roughly the size of Louisville itself. Jeff also makes the case for why he believes Jefferson County, given its density, may not be the right place for these facilities at all — and what he'd want to see if it moves forward anyway.

This bonus episode also includes a raw Community Voice Hotline message from a listener named Nancy, who shares her own environmental and economic concerns about data centers moving in near her home in Kentucky. Her concerns range from "forever chemicals" in discharge water to the impact on local wildlife and pollinators.

This is exclusive, first-time-public content straight from the Community Voice Hotline, sponsored by Harper Slade Advisors.

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Before Stacy Griggs joined DeVone in the studio alongside Ken Shapero for Saturday's on-air data center debate, the two did an extended one-on-one telephone interview — and there was too much good material to leave on the cutting room floor. 

In this bonus episode, Stacy (Louisville entrepreneur, co-founder of El Toro and AboutBit, and a 20-year veteran of building and operating data centers) walks DeVone through his "fear vs. fact" case for hyperscale data centers in Louisville. 

He also explains:

• Why he says water consumption concerns are based on outdated studies
• How closed-loop cooling actually works
• What happened to property values and power rates in data-center hubs like Ashburn, Virginia and Racine, Wisconsin
• Why he believes two hyperscale facilities could generate roughly $120 million a year in JCPS tax revenue — enough to meaningfully close the district's budget deficit. 

The two also dig into jobs, bandwidth infrastructure and why Stacy believes sitting this one out isn't really an option.

This is the extended, unedited version of the conversation that shaped Saturday's studio debate.

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On this episode of The DeVone Holt Show, we tackle the topic dividing Louisville and many other communities: data centers. 

In the studio, entrepreneur Stacy Griggs makes the economic case of jobs, tax revenue, and why he believes fears are outweighing the facts, while Ken Shapero of the Louisville Climate Action Network lays out the real gaps in oversight that got us here in the first place. 

Also, this week: Tawanda Owsley named the new head of the Community Foundation of Louisville, Stephen A. Smith's fallout with the National Association of Black Journalists, a voting precinct scandal out of the Jefferson County Clerk's office, and a new Kentucky law aimed at treatment over incarceration.

📞 Community Voice Hotline (sponsored by Harper Slade): 502-800-5432 

🔗 More at DeVoneHolt.com 

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This week: "The Cost of Polite Racism." DeVone sits down with Dr. Nikki Lanier, President and CEO of Harper Slade Advisors and former Federal Reserve economist, to talk about 2045 — the year the U.S. becomes a majority-minority nation. Dr. Lanier makes the case that racism isn't just a moral failing, it's an economic one, pointing to trillions in lost GDP tied to discrimination and warning that Kentucky still isn't ready for what's coming. Her verdict on Louisville specifically: shame on Black Louisville for letting the city fall this far behind other markets. It's a candid, no-punches-pulled conversation about what "polite racism" actually costs us.

📞 Community Voice Hotline: Listeners weigh in on this week's question — what does Louisville need to do to become a city of the future? Call in at 502-800-5432.

📰 News of the week: Louisville's data center moratorium, Governor Beshear's standoff with the White House over a $100 billion data center deal, ICE's controversial new gear, and two unresolved stories out of Mississippi.

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In this debut-episode conversation with DeVone Holt, the U.S. Senate candidate breaks his silence on the Mitch McConnell mystery, questioning whether the incumbent can even return to office and demanding transparency Kentuckians deserve. Booker opens up about building his "Hood to the Holler" coalition in the same rooms where Confederate flags fly, gets vulnerable about watching his mother cry at a Walgreens counter because she couldn't afford his insulin, and lays out why this race could flip not just a Senate seat but the entire chamber. He also gets personal — reflecting on fatherhood, sending his oldest daughter off to college, and why three girls are the real reason he's running. Raw, urgent, and unfiltered — this is the conversation that kicks off the DeVone Holt Show.

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Welcome to the debut episode of the DeVone Holt Show podcast. Listen as DeVone introduces himself and shares his plan for using the show to deliver a weekly dose of encouragement, enlightenment, and empowerment to help listeners live their best lives. His guest on this debut episode is Charles Booker, U.S. Senate candidate who is campaigning to replace Mitch McConnell.

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