Spruce Pine, Global Chokepoints, and the Future of Manufacturing

The small mountain town of Spruce Pine provides nearly all of the ultra-pure quartz used to make the world’s semiconductors. When Hurricane Helene nearly wiped out the mines, it provided a stark wake-up call. Journalist Ed Conway joins Dylan to discuss what we can learn from this near-miss. Check out more of Ed Conway’s reporting and subscribe to his Substack here. To support disaster relief efforts in North Carolina, you can donate to vetted organizations here or here. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.