Direct Current - An Energy.gov Podcast

70 years ago, President Dwight D. Eisenhower went before the United Nations and delivered a speech unlike anything the world had ever heard. Join us on a trip through nuclear history, from "Atoms for Peace" to today.

While intense storms have splashed across headlines throughout history, the frequency seems to be increasing. Interviews help us explain how climate modeling is helping scientists predict what may lie ahead. 

Season 4 of Direct Current opens with a race against the clock, as the Department of Energy joins industry and international partners to send emergency electrical grid components to Ukraine — before Russian attacks plunge the nation into darkness.

"Quantum" is everywhere these days — in the news, on TV, in the titles of blockbuster action films — but who really cares? We talked to National Lab quantum scientists Anna Grassellino and David Awschalom about their research and its potential impacts.

AlexAnna Salmon is a fierce advocate for her home, a remote Alaskan town called Igiugig. As village council president, she's working to preserve her tribe's traditional way of life amid a warming climate and a shift from fossil fuels to clean energy.

In the latest episode of "People Powered," our new series on clean energy careers, wind technician Michael Flores shares what it's like to travel the country and scale 300-foot wind turbines for a living — and why he's sticking with wind for the long run.

Presenting "People Powered," a new series on clean energy careers! There are millions of good-paying jobs in energy, and we'll be introducing you to the folks who do them — starting with Kaly Moore, construction manager at a Washington, DC, solar company.

Stretching nearly two miles under a freeway in Palo Alto, CA, the Linac Coherent Light Source (LCLS) is a huge X-ray laser with the power to capture images of molecules in motion. Now, a big upgrade is taking this SLAC Lab facility to the next level.

NASA's Mars Perseverance Rover is loaded with technology developed by the Department of Energy, including a nuclear battery fueled by plutonium-238. Listen as we follow the rover’s power source on its 7-year, 5,000-mile journey from lab to launch pad.

For hundreds of Indian tribes and native communities across the United States, energy represents many things: a lifeline, a source of income, a path to sovereignty. Learn how the Office of Indian Energy helps tribes take control of their energy destinies.