Don’t kid your selves, there is no cleaner source for low-cost, low carbon, electricity than Nuclear. In our interview not only was it a fun talk about hope, it was about abundant energy and jobs for the next generation!
We covered everything from nuclear fusion, fission, renewable, and a positive look for a balanced energy grid going forward. Grace’s journey is an excellent role model for everyone, and I even recommended her for Secretary of Energy! I would like to have a discussion with Grace and Meredith Angwin, author of “Shorting The Grid” to cover more grid-related topics. Grace and Meredith have the same passion for low-cost, clean energy and it shows.
Grace is a current student at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, She is pursuing a Bachelor of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering. And is the current Miss America 2023, traveling the nation to promote her social impact initiative “Clean Energy, Cleaner Future” and discuss the misconceptions surrounding nuclear energy. As a former co-op in Constellations’s Nuclear Fuels department, she gained work experience within core design and fuel enrichment.
Thank you Grace for stopping by the podcast, it was a blast! Stu
00:03 – Intro
01:05 – How do we get the next generation of engineers? How do we get the next generation in there?
03:01 – So what’s it like being the representative for Miss America?
04:45 – Now encouraging the next generation of engineers. What are you hearing from students out there?
06:54 – It was Colorado where a nuclear reactor is starting up, where you just saw that one. How was that experience?
08:32 – Grace Stanke appreciates the energy secretary position consideration but stresses the need for practical engineering experience before pursuing politics. She emphasizes the importance of politicians having relevant qualifications and field experience.
12:32 – Baseload power, comprising 70% of the grid, is vital for daily functions. Ensuring reliable power is crucial, as seen in the Texas freeze, where power outages had life-threatening consequences.
16:02 – Where do you see yourself going after the Miss America job that you have?
21:33 – Can you imagine having your own nuclear reactor? Having a basement.
23:08 – Her potential attendance at COP 28 in Dubai, expressing her interest in conversing with attendees, and highlighting the changing dynamics where big oil companies are shifting towards green initiatives,
27:09 – Are you interested in all forms of nuclear, whether it’s uranium, normal fission, thorium, do you care? What is your passion there?
29:08 – What was the toughest question you had in the Miss America competition when they were the judges were asking you questions?
32:34 – What are your last thoughts as we’re coming around the close here? Give us the world according to Grace.
34:35 – Outro
Connect and Follow Grace on her LinkedIn HERE: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grace-stanke-48700519b/
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– Get in Contact With The Show –
Stuart Turley [00:00:03] You know, the world’s in an energy crisis right now, and there’s only one way out of that crisis. It’s through the next generation of folks coming along to take care of the energy crisis. We’re here to visit with Grace Stanke. And I mean, this is going to be a phenomenal discussion. She is the reigning Miss America. And as a nuclear engineer, I have been following her all year as she’s been traveling around the world. This is a rare opportunity to get an insight for our next generation of energy elites. My name’s Stu Turley, president, CEO of the Sandstone Group, and welcome to the energy news beat. Welcome, Grace. Thank you for your time.
Grace Stanke [00:00:48] Thanks to. I’m so excited for this. It’s always a great time talking about energy, talking about nuclear, talking about all the awesome things.
Stuart Turley [00:00:56] Oh, I’ll tell you, there’s there’s so much going on. A, I love your your energy, your excitement. And the number one problem we have is [00:01:05]how do we get the next generation of engineers? How do we get the next generation in there? [6.2s] And you’re running around being the cheerleader for nuclear. How cool is that?
Grace Stanke [00:01:18] Yeah, I mean, it’s really awesome because for me personally, getting into nuclear was almost by accident. Like it was not I don’t have a good origin story as to how I got into nuclear, which we can get into that in a bit. But I think it’s really cool because nuclear science exists all around us in our everyday lives. We just don’t know it. You know, smoke detectors, exit signs, if you like, bananas and avocados, those are actually naturally a little bit radioactive. Any time you get on a plane, you’re getting exposed to a little bit more radiation than normal. Like nuclear science is literally everywhere in the more ways it affects our lives, you know? My dad’s a two time cancer survivor. He’s alive because of nuclear medicine. And there are so many applications in the medicine world. And then we have the power side of things creating clean, reliable electricity for 20% of America, which is an insane amount of electricity. At the end of the day.
Stuart Turley [00:02:12] It is. Now I’m sitting here thinking about how much I love avocados, especially during football season, and I’m now realizing why I glow when I walk down the hall now. I mean, it’s like holy smoke.
Grace Stanke [00:02:24] Not quite. Not quite. Why? Why avocados, specifically in football season? I’ve never heard that before.
Stuart Turley [00:02:30] Well, you got you got to have a dip. I mean.
Grace Stanke [00:02:33] Oh, just like a Glock. Like a gong. Yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:02:36] I mean.
Grace Stanke [00:02:36] Okay. Okay, that makes sense. That makes sense.
Stuart Turley [00:02:39] You know? Hey, I’m. I’m a cross between Texan and Oklahoman, so I do a little bit weird.
Grace Stanke [00:02:46] So. No, that’s okay. I love it. I love it. I love Glock. I just I have Mexican food year round. That’s my favorite favorite food, hands down.
Stuart Turley [00:02:53] So you’ve been on the road probably every day for this entire year. And I’ve seen some of your interviews and stuff. [00:03:01]So what’s it like being the representative for Miss America? [3.3s]
Grace Stanke [00:03:06] Yeah, Miss America is a full time job, which I think a lot of people don’t know. And when I say full time, I mean more than just 40 hours a week In the ten months that I’ve been Miss America. Coming up on 11 now, actually, what’s the day today? Yeah. So 11 months now, I I’ve traveled just under 200,000 miles across the country in the world. I’ve done 22 states and I have been to five countries so far. I think it is I’ll have a total of seven, I want to say internationally in this last month here. So it’s really incredible because as Miss America, I get to I get to do some really awesome things in addition to supporting my personal social impact initiative. So my personal social impact is talking all about nuclear energy. So 90 to 95% of my appearances relate to that in some way, whether it’s visiting schools and talking to kids about how cool nuclear science is, whether it’s talking to people already in the workforce to talk about how we can continue to be good mentors and advocate and develop our industry all the way to. You know, I spent Monday and Tuesday last week in D.C. talking to congressmen and senators about how we can away your energy. So that’s that side of it. The other side of it, I get to do some fun things. So like I’ve gone skydiving with the Army. I went to the Kentucky Derby. It’s really just some awesome things like that. Well, how.
Stuart Turley [00:04:27] Fun is that now? Yeah, I’m sure it’s great.
Grace Stanke [00:04:30] It’s great.
Stuart Turley [00:04:31] I barely got out of Oklahoma State University. I mean, my grade point average was terrible. I was not interested in school. I should have gone in the Army, speaking of Army rather than go there. But I covered it up with another degree later on. [00:04:45]Now encouraging the next generation of engineers. What are you hearing from students out there? [8.7s] Because I’m hearing that that’s number one problem we have for oil companies and natural gas and renewable. Companies, they can’t find help.
Grace Stanke [00:05:05] So honestly, everywhere. This isn’t just an energy sector problem. I mean, anywhere and everywhere needs employees. And honestly, that’s just a generational thing. One of my mentors, as she was talking about how, you know, we’ve got the boomers that are aging out of the workforce. Well, that was one of your biggest generations to ever exist. So you have one of your largest workforces and now we have Gen Z sort of stepping into this role where we just literally don’t have as many people. So that’s one issue in and of itself. But second of all, we have a lot of different development in terms of soft skills and a lot of those skills that we learned through college. And obviously the pandemic affected a lot of young people today. Right. Honestly, most people are more than excited. They want mentorship opportunities. It’s learning about how to step outside of the box and try something new and ask for help. I think that’s one thing, that it’s not always a welcoming environment to say, Hey, listen, I really admire what you do and your job as as a podcast host or in the oil industry or in nuclear. And that’s a scary thing, you know? And then to ask, how can I follow in your path? Can I shadow you for a day? Can what advice do you have? You know, that’s something that’s scary. So honestly, a lot of it comes down to really sort of, I want to say, like nurturing that inner curiosity that so many kids have because everybody has that. I don’t care who you are. There’s a place for everybody in this world. It’s just feeling confident enough to take your place in the world. Right? So I do a lot of work with helping kids find their passions. And then let’s find a place for your passion within the energy industry, because obviously I’m biased towards the energy industry.
Stuart Turley [00:06:43] But it’s a place where you’re always going to have a job manifold and an energy. You’re going to have it now. I did see that you were out there to see the I believe [00:06:54]it was Colorado where a nuclear reactor starting up, where you just saw that one. How was that experience? [5.7s]
Grace Stanke [00:07:01] So that was that was Vogel in Georgia. So, yeah, it’s a golf fan. If you know the Masters Golf tournament, it’s only about 20 or 30 minutes away from where the Masters Golf tournament is. Great, Augusta. So not too far away from there so people know where it is. VOGEL Unit three is the first new construction nuclear reactor to come online in America in 30 years, which is a huge, huge, huge achievement. It was really cool. I spent my 21st birthday there, actually. That’s where I was this year, and I was in the control room when they hit 75% power on that reactor for the first time. And since then it’s been entering commercial operation. It provides clean, reliable electricity to 500,000 homes and businesses in Georgia. They have a fourth unit coming online, this in early 2024 as well, which is going to be exciting. So that’s going to be another 500,000 homes and businesses powered, which we need more energy, We need reliable energy and we need accessible energy. And nuclear is all of those things.
Stuart Turley [00:08:04] Okay. Right now, I’m going to put in in the show notes here. I would love to throw your name in the hat for energy secretary. I think that you and AB absolutely hit it out of the park. I’m going to call you. I’m going to call Trump. I’m going to call whoever is on the Republican and also on the Democrat and go, I think we need and I don’t care what party is elected. I think we need you as an energy secretary.
Grace Stanke [00:08:32] Oh, well, thank you. BIDEN I’ve met Secretary Granholm, the current secretary of energy, and she’s a wonderful, wonderful woman. We’ll see. But right now, let me let me start my career a little bit. Let me work on a nuclear power plant for a little bit longer, and maybe I’ll do politics later on down the line. So call in like four years, five years, Maybe I can be convinced to do it then. But right now I think I want to do engineering for a bit because so this is not to not to go on this tangent. You can edit it out if you want. But one of my biggest pet peeves is politicians voting on issues that they have zero experience. And I would never want to be a politician that’s in the energy relations area when all I have is a degree, which is a great achievement. But I want to get work experience. I want to be somebody who is in the power plants helping out outages. I want to help design the cause. I want to have that experience. So that’s really, really crucial for me. And as you know, something to keep in mind for voters to this is what I talk about with young kids. Know who you’re voting for, do your research, find politicians that are qualified. We need that now more than ever. And I honestly think young people are going to be the generation to really change the trajectory of politics because of that.
Stuart Turley [00:09:44] Wow. I’ll get.
Grace Stanke [00:09:46] Off my soapbox now on.
Stuart Turley [00:09:48] This. You just validated my comment now, Grace, for my podcast listeners. I just love every one of our podcast listeners. We’re in 150 countries now. And we’re rock solid and growing every day. But for my podcast listeners, grace your eyes and your body language change. You’re excited when you’re talking about talking about mentorship and kids. But as soon as I said nuclear reactor, your eyes changed and you got your physical arms. You are you know, this is you started talking with your hands. You got emotional. Your passion is both. However, your real passion is energy. I love that.
Grace Stanke [00:10:44] Yeah. And it’s such a weird thing. And I feel like it’s funny because, like, people find it so strange. They’re like a miss America that, like, likes energy and electricity, like, what is going on. But I think it’s fun. I have like on my Instagram bio, I put like nuclear nerd and everything, and I think it’s just something that is going to become a more and more pressing issue, especially here in America, that we got to start the conversation now. You know, I tell everyone, start your family Thanksgiving fight this year. You know, I want you to ask your crazy aunt Linda, where does she get her power from? Does she even know? Do you know where your power comes from? You know, all of those things are really important things to know.
Stuart Turley [00:11:19] They are. And my belief is that we need to deliver the lowest kilowatt per hour to all citizens out of the planet so that we can eliminate energy poverty and one element, elevate humanity all the way out of poverty. There’s several billion billion people out there that are still cooking over dung and and everything else. And so my next question is they’re one of our national treasures is Meredith Angwin. She wrote the book Shorting the Grid and I love her. And now your next challenge is going to be nuclear provides such a great baseload. And when you throw in renewables into that mix, it man the balancing authorities just want to shoot themselves in the foot. I mean, it’s like an air traffic controller. All of a sudden something is going on and they’re having to go, give me another load over here. And that understanding that is going to be probably another big challenge for unless you’ve already got the grid down to a science.
Grace Stanke [00:12:32] Well, and that’s that’s exactly kind of what I talk about with especially people who are already in that voting demographic. Right. Right. Do people know what baseload power is? And, you know, typically not that’s not a common piece of knowledge and understandably so. Honestly, I had no idea what baseload power is up until honestly, I went into the power industry overall. And for those of you that are listening that don’t know, it’s about the 70% of our electricity grid that we always need accessible. We need it day and night so we can plug in our phones at night, have our houses cooled, turn on our stoves, just have those living functions right, Which honestly, I’ll say it as a 21 year old right now, I could not survive without power. I never did Girl Scouts. I could survive for a little bit. But, you know, I always say when the apocalypse happens, the first thing I’m grabbing is chapstick, which I think is the most Miss America thing about me, in all honesty, because I’m like, Listen, I’m going to be so upset if I don’t have Chapstick with me. And so, yeah, that’s that’s where we’re at. So power is essential. That baseload power is really, really essential for people to survive. You know, you’re from Texas and Oklahoma. I think Texas really saw that hit home when they had that deep freeze a couple of years ago. 200 people died during that incident. And that’s what’s not really talked about, is without without that power, without that electricity, without that, you just aren’t capable of surviving on their own. That’s because of innovation and technology. We love it. It’s great, but we haven’t had to worry about that. So we need that power. We need it accessible and we need it always available.
Stuart Turley [00:14:10] See, and that’s where I’m a little different is my son was an Eagle Scout and I got more fun out of helping him. But with my daughter and my son, we’re down here in what we call Bear country because it takes an hour for the police to get here. And we have an overpopulation of bears here. So it’s kind of fun to make sure you’re always keeping your. And we could survive with no grid.
Grace Stanke [00:14:37] Now all the power to you. I come back because I love backpacking in the national parks. But the thing is, is like I’m preparing for that scenario. I’m preparing for, you know, no electricity, sleeping on a tent, like all of that good stuff. I’ll do that for weeks at a time. But, you know, it’s different when it’s something that you’re preparing for and ready for versus, you know, you come home and you expect to have power and it’s not there after an eight hour. Our workday and you’re tired. And it was a bad day at work or whatever it might be. Right. So in that scenario, I I’ll admit it, I’m I’m calling you and noted. I’m calling you first. Oh, I’m from Wisconsin down to Texas.
Stuart Turley [00:15:17] Oh, absolutely. But I’ll tell you, you know, and that’s one of the things that the Americans are spoiled And, you know, and we talk about Pakistan and we talk about all the other country. They’re used to 4 hours on and 12 hours and then 3 hours on and, you know, and everything else. If that happens in the U.S., we’re toast.
Grace Stanke [00:15:38] Yeah, Yeah, you’re right. You’re right.
Stuart Turley [00:15:41] Now, I don’t think the Miss America pageant has too many people out there in the Sierras. If you’re out hiking around in the woods, it’s kind of hard to do. The pope wave, you know, at bears, cause that’s not who’s boat. You know, that’s not an impact to what they’re trying to do. Where do you see yourself going after the Miss America job that you have?
Grace Stanke [00:16:09] Yeah. So I wrap up Miss America in January of 2024. So mid-January I’m done. Then after that, I’m taking a little vacation. I’m actually going to go to Africa. I’m going to spend a week backpacking in the mountains. I’m going to go climb Mount Kilimanjaro, all the good stuff. So I start working out in Pennsylvania in March, though. So I’ll be working for the nation’s largest provider of nuclear power. They own and operate 12 different nuclear power plants across the country. No way relation. And I’m I’m super excited because 60% of my job will be core design engineering and you know, doing that nitty gritty work that I talked about at the beginning of this episode and then the remaining portion of it is going to be continuing the advocacy, the education, the outreach. I have found this year. I didn’t expect to want to necessarily continue this as much as I do, but I’ve realized, one, it is so important to have a young person at the table with all of these climate discussions because we have all of these climate discussions and zero carbon discussions and all of this stuff going on for 2050, and it’s all being made by people that if I’m going to be completely straight up with you, they’re going to be dead by 2050. Like I’m sitting there and I’m like, What is going on here? I’m going to say very directly, Sorry, do I say it like it is? I’m a brutally honest person.
Stuart Turley [00:17:28] How fun.
Grace Stanke [00:17:29] So yeah, so I find it very important to have a young person who is going to be working at these plants, working on this electricity grid by that time involved in these discussions. And additionally, I have found it to be really important to have a woman representing nuclear as well. I’m a person that I never really particularly was probably like. I never saw it as a massive problem because I never I was very blessed where I never felt restrictions going into nuclear. I never felt like it was an impossible opportunity for me to be a woman. But as I’ve been growing up, you know, I’m not. Everyone is in the same situation and I will always be everybody’s biggest cheerleader. When I walk into a classroom, I work with every single little kid. If the passion is there, if the excitement is there, I don’t care who you are. We need everybody on board. We need different people, different opinions, different backgrounds, different socioeconomic status. It’s literally just different people because different people are what make the best teams. And there’s nothing that you can say that will change my mind from that. You know, we need that.
Stuart Turley [00:18:32] Your excitement is just way too cool. And I’ll tell you, I think what’s the name of the organization that has your your upcoming March engagement for your job?
Grace Stanke [00:18:48] Yeah, I’ll be working for Constellation Constellation.
Stuart Turley [00:18:52] So they have just scored a home run by having you on their staff. And I could see that if they were smart, they would have you on. Also, part of your job duties is being on the PR staff, like Megan Lappe is an advocate for the fisheries and the whales and things for the oceanography. And she testifies in front of Congress and all that. And I could see that that would be a very nice thing. So I’m going to call them up and see if they’ll put.
Grace Stanke [00:19:26] You in a I’ll send you my boss’s number. Don’t worry. Don’t worry.
Stuart Turley [00:19:31] Because I think you would be fabulous. Like Alex Epstein, I’ve had the pleasure of interviewing Alex Epstein twice and and he is a phenomenal resource as well, too. I think that you would if you added that to your bailiwick, you know, you know, not trying to say that, but you would be Energizer Bunny enough that I think that it would make a difference.
Grace Stanke [00:19:54] Oh, well, thank you. I appreciate it. I appreciate it. We’ve been trying to drop hints to the the political office was. It’s that we do as well. We’re like, Hey, if you ever need somebody to come right to Congress, give me a call. So yeah.
Stuart Turley [00:20:09] I call my people.
Grace Stanke [00:20:10] Yeah, yeah, we’ll see it. We’ll see what happens. You know, I’m I’m really excited because I think that, you know, getting involved at all levels is so, so important. I, I realize that especially with nuclear, it can’t just be people from the top down saying, hey, we’re building a nuclear power plant in your community, whether you like it or because it doesn’t work. It doesn’t work. You need support from both ends where you need to have the local communities welcoming this and excited about it and saying, yes, we want this to be built here. But you also need the top down support too for in terms of funding and in terms of policy logistics and just like, you know, politics. Right. So that’s something that’s so important is to be working with people from sort of both ends there where it’s local communities and just the people growing up and moving and then also working with the politicians that are the ones that can enable these things to happen.
Stuart Turley [00:21:02] You know, the number one problem we’re having and I can’t wait to get into the you know, as the modular nuclear reactors come online and they start rolling. I love the idea of smaller grid associations with the small modular nuclear reactors. The number one problem seems to be and then we have the new technology with the molded molten salt coming online over at Abilene Christian University. They already have it running down in their basement, and that’s a basement I would love to have. Can you imagine having your own nuclear reactor? Having a basement.
Grace Stanke [00:21:38] Honestly. Okay. Not to not to interject. Most college campuses have like if they’ve got a nuclear program, most college campuses have nuclear reactors onsite that students learn how to operate, like I did that at UW Madison. And it’s just so cool. I think a lot of people don’t really realize how prevalent nuclear is and how common reactors are overall.
Stuart Turley [00:21:59] Oh, I think it’s wonderful. Now, regulatory issues seem to be the number one issue. And I mean, there’s a couple things. It’s funny that Diablo Canyon in California has been extended again, because that’s a base load of, I think, ballpark, you know, 9 to 10% of California energy out there.
Grace Stanke [00:22:25] I think it’s 14%, which is like a lot for California. And California’s already got energy problems. You know, we don’t need to dive into that.
Stuart Turley [00:22:33] But yeah, and that’s from an improper balancing of renewables versus baseload. Yep. And when you sit back and kind of go, hmm, now Germany, oh my goodness, they, they shut you shut down their remaining nuclear reactors and then they start they, they had Greta you would make I would love to see a debate with you and Greta about carbon net zero and nuclear. I bet that would just that would be a hoot.
Grace Stanke [00:23:08] Well, I think I may I may actually have. I’m headed to cop 28 in Dubai this year. Oh, it will probably be there. So I don’t know. I don’t think debate will be organized, but I’m hoping to have a conversation with her at one point or another. We’ll see.
Stuart Turley [00:23:24] Well, the invitation. Grace, I would love to interview you from Dubai and get us an update on what’s going on there. And I think it’s going to be a hoot at COP 28 this year. Oh, yeah. I want to know what you see with boots on the ground. And the reason why is we have the prince of Saudi Arabia, the head of Saudi Aramco coming, which are big oil. There’s big oil companies going on. And then we have like big oil companies went like total energy. That’s the Texas Oklahoma way to say total. You know, it’s the best I can do.
Grace Stanke [00:24:05] Is that thing Wait. Okay. I’m sorry. Like total, you guys say total.
Stuart Turley [00:24:11] I’d be in a smart like.
Grace Stanke [00:24:12] Oh, I was like, I was like, wait, is this serious, though? Okay, I love it. You know.
Stuart Turley [00:24:18] I’m a dork. But Total Energies, which is a French company, they went totally green and they said, we’re getting out of our original oil and gas shell was going 100% green. And then BP, British Petroleum changed their name to Beyond Petroleum, and they were going green while the U.S., Chevron and all the others said, we’re going to stay with no, but we’re also going to do other things. Well, guess what? Total energy is bonehead from Oklahoma State University would say is they’re buying enough natural gas plants in. The unit in Texas, there would be the same amount of power as two nuclear reactors. So it’s amazing. Big oil is now flipping over. And now now that I squirreling around on this, when you go to Dubai, it would be fun for you to take a look and see the new relationship between net zero nuclear and big oil. I think that would be fun.
Grace Stanke [00:25:29] And honestly, I already think it’s having tremendous changes. I think people are seeing more than ever that renewables, unfortunately, can’t be the only answer in terms of transitioning to a zero carbon portfolio. And nuclear is you know, previously it was it was honestly the nuclear renaissance in the seventies and eighties when these were all being constructed. It was shut down because oil and gas was scared of it. Like that is honestly it. I highly, highly recommend watching Nuclear Now by Oliver Stone. It’s a new document that came out. It kind of goes into that side of it of what happened back in the seventies and eighties is and as to why America isn’t powered by 80% of nuclear power. Nuclear power today. Right. Why isn’t it now all of a sudden the script is changing where oil and gas saying, wait, this might be our friends here? And it’s really an interesting discussion because I think more than ever people are open as well. People are excited to learn. People are curious. It’s just all about fostering that curiosity and providing them the opportunity to ask questions and provide unbiased answers and just on judgmental answers to how fun.
Stuart Turley [00:26:40] I had the pleasure of interviewing Thomas Jam from Copenhagen Atomics not too long ago, and he has got the thorium reactors and the thorium reactors. They’re building the small new modular nukes. They’re going to put out 300 a year. And that’s think about that. You could drop those bad dogs on any coal plant and then fire them up and you’re off and running. Now, that is kind of cool. Are you interested in all forms of nuclear, whether it’s uranium, normal fission, thorium, do you care? What is your passion there?
Grace Stanke [00:27:20] So I support all of it. Know I am of the opinion any and all types of nuclear science that makes sense, that makes logical sense both economically and from the energy grid standpoint. Right now in America specifically, I don’t think thorium is a great option to pursue for the immediate solutions right now. Same with fusion energy. You know, I worked in a fusion research lab. I think fusion truly is the answer to nuclear science and like energy problems overall. But what we have for a solution right now to get us from point A to point B where we can build fusion at a cost effective point at a reliable point, and at a point that we know for sure works. You know, we got to have something in between here still. And to me that is still working with vision plants right now. I think it is going to be some hours. I think some hours are going to be the future of nuclear here in America. And the struggle with nuclear is making the capital investment and Mars help reduce that cost and help make it more accessible to companies and to individuals, not necessarily individuals, but co-ops to get become a part of, which is really exciting. We’re seeing that more and more of American smart companies as well. A lot of really exciting technology and innovation all across the entire globe. But it’s going to be an exciting next probably decade because we’ll start seeing the options of which us on Mars make it through that that intense regulatory license approval process which you brought up earlier and which ones don’t because some of them might not, some of them will. And we’ll see which ones kind of come out to the top.
Stuart Turley [00:28:55] There you are such a class act and this is so cool. You’re so hopeful for the next generation and everything else. Grace What was the toughest question you had in the Miss America competition when they were the judges were asking you questions? I know that’s kind of I’m always wondering, you know, what’s the toughest question?
Grace Stanke [00:29:21] Yeah, You know, honestly, it’s not really the questions themselves that are difficult because by the time you get to Miss America, honestly, you’re ready for anything. Like you can answer any and all questions. The most difficult part of the interview process for me is at Miss America. You know, you’ve got 10 minutes to sit down with five people in a room and tell them, you know, they ask you questions. You have to convince them, one, you’re right for the job and two, they have to get to know you in some way, shape or form. So because of that, you get a big variety of questions. And the biggest difficulty that I had, which my interview is somewhere on the Internet, I found out so you can watch it. Oh, as we were talking about, you know, there was more of like a fluff question. Is what I would say, where it’s about trying to get to know me and who I am. And they ask me, you know, okay, well, how did you spend Thanksgiving this year? And at the time, you know, like about nuclear with my family. Well, no. Well, no. So. So my grandma was in the hospital, actually, and she really wasn’t doing well over Thanksgiving. So we went to the gas station and it’s a very Wisconsin gas station. QuikTrip spelled k k k k k, far, far superior, Wisconsin, QuikTrip gas stations. I love them. I love them. They’re amazing. And we got like these gas station Thanksgiving meals. And we went to the hospital and we spent Thanksgiving with my grandma, who was just, you know, really not in a good place. And like, I’m talking about this in my interview, like literally the emotional equivalent of like taking my heart out and laying it on the table. It had happened like two weeks prior. It was still very fresh because my grandma was supposed to be out at Miss America. She didn’t make it like she’s she’s alive today. She’s happy and healthy now. She made it through that whole process, but it just was a scary time there. So that was very emotional. You know, I’m sitting there like, okay, guys, keep it together here. And then all of a sudden I finish my answer and there’s like a two second pause because they’re like, Oh, crap. Like, what do we ask now? And this one guy goes, Okay, okay, tell me about what we can do to help make reparations towards racism in America. And I’m like, All right, we’re doing a 180. So honestly, that’s the most difficult part of of interviews, is you’re going from what might be a very, very vulnerable question. Right. But okay, how do we solve world peace? Quite literally, like, you know, the world peace stuff is a joke in the Miss America world and like the pageant world overall, I think. But at the same time, I no doubt that these women are literally going to solve world peace, like because we’re ready for that. And we have thought about it. We’re educated, we’re prepared, we’re confident. And that’s something that I think we need a little bit more from leadership in America. I’m just going to drop that in there. But that’s okay.
Stuart Turley [00:31:59] You know, Grace, I think of all the folks and young ladies that are out there and men, I think that you could solve world peace. And people go to war over food and energy. And I believe you have the passion and the knowledge to solve world peace. So we got about two more minutes now that I’m over here, being one of your biggest cheerleaders out here.
Grace Stanke [00:32:26] Yeah, I will. Thanks do. I appreciate it.
Stuart Turley [00:32:29] And I can’t wait to get this. Have the production team roll this one out. What are your last thoughts as we’re coming around the close here? Give us the world according to Grace.
Grace Stanke [00:32:43] Yeah. You know, I think after having this discussion about world peace and everything, but I think one thing that I talked about a lot during the competition and something I still live by to this day, 11 months later, after this life changing experience, I’m not out here trying to change the entire world. I’m out here just trying to make the one connection that might be right. And I think that there’s a lot of power in treating every human as a human. And like this is the biggest thing that I just want every listener to take away. You don’t know what somebody else is going through when you have these conversations, whether it’s about energy, whether it’s about whatever it might be, you know, all it takes is just treating people with kindness and respect and sincerity and giving them the time of day. And that’s something that I have learned is such a valuable skill as Miss America is. Sometimes the best thing I can do is just shut up and listen. Right? Because that’s sometimes what people need. Wow. So, honestly, you know, my my two sense of 21 year old wisdom go forth, conquer the world people, and treat others with respect.
Stuart Turley [00:33:45] Grace, thank you so much for your time. And I’m going to give a shout out to your person helping you with the scheduling and everything else, because she is doing a phenomenal job. And I would love to make sure I’m going to shoot her now because if you do get the chance, I have several other really fun people that I’m connecting with and not. I’ve already gotten signups for events and live and going on those things from Dubai, and I’d love to have you in there as well as being able to push that out as well too. So that offer is there. Dubai is, I think, 12 hours ahead or so, and I do all times of night. So I don’t care if there’s a certain time that’s best for you. I don’t sleep anymore. So life is good. So. Me neither.
Grace Stanke [00:34:35] That’s okay. I came back from Japan and my time zones are still all screwed up right now. But seriously, thank you. Thank you so much. I really do appreciate it.
