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Connected Nation
This is Connected Nation – an award-winning podcast focused on all things broadband. From closing the Digital Divide to simply improving your internet speeds, we talk technology topics that impact all of us, our families, and our communities.
The podcast was honored in 2024 with an Award of Excellence for Podcast Series - Technology. This is the highest honor given by the Communicator Awards. More recently, the podcast received an Award of Distinction in 2025. It received the same honor in 2023 and 2022.
Learn more about the national nonprofit behind this podcast at connectednation.org.
Episodes
221 episodes
Google partners to set industry standards for data center infrastructure
On this episode of Connected Nation, we sit down with Google's Head of Global Quality and Commissioning to discuss how industry leaders are coming together to set standards for data center infrastructure. Find out how your c...
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Season 6
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Episode 58
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11:35
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How Connected Nation is evolving digital skills training to help you understand and use AI
On this episode of Connected Nation, we examine digital skills training and what it takes to evolve from the basics - like learning to use email and the internet - to really mastering emerging trends like AI.Related links:
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Season 6
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Episode 57
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22:17
The new blueprint for building broadband networks
On this special episode of Connected Nation, we talk to leadership from the broadband program office at Cisco Systems. Learn about the new blueprint they're taking for building the networks that power your connectivity. Plus, we tal...
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Season 6
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Episode 56
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20:37
Mapping Joy: How Connected Nation is building a more connected, inclusive, and joyful future
On this episode of Connected Nation, we have a special guest - Chairman and CEO of our national nonprofit, Tom Ferree. We'll discuss what it means to map joy in the workplace AND find out how Connected Nation can help broadband lead...
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Season 6
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Episode 55
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33:46
From the badlands to the prairies: Montana’s Broadband Director shares her approach to connecting Big Sky Country
On this episode of Connected Nation, we're taking you to Big Sky Country for a conversation with the Montana State Broadband Director. We ask her how she and her team are implementing the ConnectMT Broadband Program in a place that attracts peo...
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Season 6
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Episode 54
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31:55
Now or never: How one industry veteran is building a people-first future in broadband
On this episode on Connected Nation, we continue our coverage from Calix ConneXions 2025, taking place in Las Vegas Nevada. We talk with one man who just struck out on his own in the telecom and broadband industry. Find out how he's...
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Season 6
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Episode 53
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25:10
New game. New rules. The show broadband providers don't want to miss
On this episode on Connected Nation, we continue our coverage from rom Calix ConneXions 2025, which took place in Las Vegas in mid-October. We sat down with the Corporate VP of Marketing for Calix to discuss innovating custome...
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Season 6
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Episode 52
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25:00
Investing in connection: How Mac Mountain helps businesses build better broadband
On this episode of Connected Nation, we talk with leadership from Mac Mountain. A recently launched company that's taking a unique approach to expanding broadband by helping other businesses grow. Listen and find out how th...
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Season 6
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Episode 51
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45:16
Connecting the land of 10,000 lakes
On this episode of Connected Nation, we talk with Bree Maki, Executive Director, Office of Broadband Development, Minnesota. She explains why the state was already well on its way to connecting everyone *before* BEAD. Plus, w...
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Season 6
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Episode 50
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27:03
From Alabama to the Navajo Nation: The company that's putting rural communities first
On this episode of Connected Nation, we begin our coverage from Calix ConneXions 2025, taking place in Las Vegas Nevada. We talk with Jacob Smithee, the Director of IT from a Co-op in Alabama, about the challenges of bringing high s...
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Season 6
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Episode 49
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16:28
What a decade of digging into the Digital Divide and meeting those impacted by it has taught one researcher
On this episode of Connected Nation, we're joined by a special guest who has spent nearly a decade researching the Digital Divide and meeting many of those who are directly impacted by it.Find out what Dr. Christopher Ali is workin...
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Season 6
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Episode 48
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16:30
The father and son duo focused on helping telecom manufacturers deliver their products
On this episode of Connected Nation, we talk to a father and son team who rep a host of manufacturers in the broadband space. Find out how their model fills the needs of a wide range of companies, programs, and projects.Recommended li...
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Season 6
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Episode 47
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16:16
What a Danish company now manufacturing in the US can do to help improve broadband buildouts
On this episode of Connected Nation, we ask what the Danish can do to help build out broadband in America? I talk to a rep with Lynddahl Telecom about the product they're now manufacturing in the US to do just that. Recommended l...
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Season 6
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Episode 46
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15:33
Special edition: Why Wichita is about to stake its claim in the AI revolution
On this special edition of Connected Nation, we head back to Wichita, Kansas one last time for the AI Interconnection Summit, which took place on Thursday, September 11th. This time we talk with leadership from Stevens Fiber Group a...
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Season 6
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Episode 45
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27:40
Special edition: Two visionaries behind Kansas' digital leap
On this special edition of Connected Nation, we head BACK to Wichita, Kansas for an AI Interconnection Summit.This time, we talk with the woman many credit with greenlighting the FIRST EVER Internet Exchange Point in Kansas and wit...
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Season 6
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Episode 44
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22:22
From metaverse to AI: what’s next for broadband?
On this episode of Connected Nation, we continue our coverage from Mountain Connect 2025 as we sit down with broadband entrepreneur Scott Sampson, CEO of Blueprint Broadband and founder of Light Craft and Mac Mountain to talk about the fast-cha...
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Season 6
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Episode 43
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27:40
Special edition: DE-CIX CEO talks AI, internet infrastructure, and innovation from Wichita
On this special edition of Connected Nation, we head to Wichita, Kansas for a first-of-its-kind event – an AI Interconnection Summit.We begin our coverage with Ivo Ivanov - the CEO of DE-CIX - one of the world’s biggest names when it com...
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Season 6
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Episode 42
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21:04
Can rural America lead the next innovation boom? The Range is showing us how it can be done
On this episode of Connected Nation, we are joined by the leadership at the Range, which is short for regional accelerator and new growth engine. Learn how the organization is focusing on creating incredible innovation for everythin...
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Season 6
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Episode 41
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36:03
What makes the best ISP? We talk to leadership at one of CNET’s top picks for 2024 AND 2025
What makes Fort Collins’ community-owned internet one of the best ISPs in the nation? Find out from their Broadband Executive Director on this latest episode of the Connected Nation podcast. Join us as we sit down with Chad Crager t...
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Season 6
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Episode 40
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25:02
Attention hyperscalers, political leaders, and decision-makers: This project can help America win the AI race
On this episode of Connected Nation, we continue our coverage from Mountain Connect 2025 as we sit down with Connected Nation's very own Brent Legg, Executive Vice President, Government Affairs. We discuss the one-of-a-kind Connected Nation Int...
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Season 6
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Episode 39
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25:30
How a company with a century of experience in infrastructure is helping improve broadband
On this episode of Connected Nation, host Jessica Denson talks with Mike Miller, Broadband Practice Leader at HDR—a 107-year-old company that recently entered the broadband space.Discover how HDR is leveraging its Matrix model to tackle ...
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Season 6
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Episode 38
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23:49
How one company delivers on the promise of "frictionless" support for heavy hitters like Google and Verizon to small providers
On this episode of Connected Nation, recorded live at Mountain Connect 2025 in Denver, Colorado, host Jessica Denson sits down with Osmo’s Troy Cross, Vice President of Sales, and Sadie Conley, Demand Generation Specialist.Osmo powers “f...
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Season 6
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Episode 37
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15:34
Inside the NDIA with Executive Director Angela Siefer
On this episode of Connected Nation, we continue our coverage from Mountain Connect 2025 as we sit down with Angela Siefer, Executive Director of the National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA). We discuss the origins and mission of NDIA, the ev...
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Season 6
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Episode 36
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17:31
From veterans to senior citizens: This is how Colorado State University Pueblo is tackling the need for digital literacy
On this episode of Connected Nation, we continue our coverage from Mountain Connect 2025 with two women from Colorado State University Pueblo—Dana Lambert, Director of Digital Equity, and Juliann Sandoval, Digital Navigator.Their program...
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Season 6
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Episode 35
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15:40
The unique approach a New Mexico county is taking to developing an open access network
On this episode of Connected Nation, we kick off our Mountain Connect 2025 coverage from Denver, Colorado. Jessica Denson sits down with Jerry Smith, Broadband Manager for Los Alamos County, New Mexico. The conversation dives into h...
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Season 6
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Episode 34
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19:09