Ep. 3 - Nickel
This week, we talk about nickel: the silvery, stubborn, fifth-most-common element on Earth that somehow manages to be both everywhere and still a “near-critical” mineral. From bluegrass to boom-bap, we packed an hour with songs named Nickel, artists named Nickel, and even a redacted Rick Ross track (FCC, you're welcome).
We dug into why nickel matters: stainless steel, EV batteries, long-range cold-weather performance, and the mineral’s weirdly subjective “critical” status as decided by the Secretary of the Interior. We also wandered through deep-sea manganese nodules, Alaska's own nickel deposits near Nikolai, and why “clean energy” is never as clean as the marketing.
In the news: Alaska Native corporations are lining up behind Graphite One, Ambler Road is back in play, and critical mineral politics continue to reshape the state.
Mixed throughout: childhood mall-goth memories, Brazilian-sounding bops, mining history, and a love letter to KSUA’s student workers keeping the whole operation running
