Glass Fibers and Gunboats: The Internet's Ocean Floor

600 submarine cables lie unprotected on the ocean floor, carrying 99% of intercontinental data and $10 trillion in daily transactions through fibers thinner than human hair. From Cyrus Westfield's catastrophic 1858 telegraph cable to modern cable-cutting incidents and nation-state wars over digital infrastructure, we explore the fragile geology of global connectivity and why fishing trawlers—or worse—represent an existential threat to civilization. 0:00 - Hook: Your TikTok's 4-mile underwater journey 2:45 - The 99% stat: 600 cables, satellites are scraps 5:15 - Historical disaster: Wildman White House and the telegraph 8:30 - Modern cables: Who owns the internet infrastructure? 11:00 - Cable cutting as geopolitical warfare 13:15 - Why undersea dominance matters This podcast episode was fully generated by AI — research, script, voices, and production. Built with Claude, Piper TTS, and automated pipeline tooling.