For decades, Dalton, Georgia, proudly called itself the "Carpet Capital of the World" — until the costs of relying on a single industry became impossible to ignore. As the town continues to reckon with the long‑term impacts tied to its carpet boom today, city officials have also been searching for what comes next. Enter Core Scientific, a massive tech company that arrived as a bitcoin miner, went bankrupt, and is now pivoting to AI and data center infrastructure. Local leaders see opportunity, while many residents worry about risk, accountability and what history might repeat. This episode of "Curiosities of the South" explores a major manufacturing city in northwest Georgia caught between its past and a high‑stakes future. Chapters: 00:00 - Dalton, Georgia: The Carpet Capital of the World 01:07 - Challenges in the Carpet Capital 03:51 - AI Data Centers Are Expanding Across Rural Georgia 05:15 - Locals Didn’t Know this AI Data Center Was Being Built 06:49 - Core Scientific: From B...