#289 - Breaking the Ice
This week, we travel to the edge of the map with Aleksandr Surtcev, an engineer who has crewed Russian nuclear icebreakers along the Northern Sea Route. We explore how Russia’s Arctic fleet keeps this...
12 Aug 202553min
The State of the Atom (2025)
This week, Mark Nelson joins us to deliver his second annual “State of the Atom” address. The nuclear power landscape has transformed in the last two years. Russia continues its nuclear export dominan...
28 Jul 20251h 16min
Sun, Silicon, and Xinjiang
This week, we talk solar power—a long overdue topic on Decouple. In the past, guests have often been critical of the value of renewables on grids without extensive storage, and of the quality of jobs ...
8 Jul 20251h 11min
Small Reactor, Big Price
We have an unusual episode today. One, because of its length (1 hour 40 minutes), and two, because I’m the guest. Joined by Aidan Morrison as acting host, I talk about a topic of intense interest to m...
2 Jul 20251h 40min
Is Wright's Law Wrong?
This week, we return to nuclear power. Specifically, nuclear construction and “learning curves.” It is intuitive that doing something over and over makes you better at it. In industry, this means driv...
25 Jun 20251h 4min
Is America Making Itself Irrelevant?
This week, I’m joined by Kyle Chan, author of the recent NYTimes Op-Ed titled "In the Future, China Will Be Dominant. The U.S. Will Be Irrelevant." Exploring the intense competitive pressures of Chine...
17 Jun 20251h 6min
Tim Cook, Nation-Builder
This week, I’m joined by Patrick McGee, a journalist and author of Apple in China: The Capture of the World’s Greatest Company. I recommended this book on LinkedIn as a MUST READ, and stand by it.Appl...
3 Jun 20251h 1min
