Particle accelerators are invaluable tools in science and industry. As a potential alternative to traditional accelerators, laser plasma accelerators (LPA) support higher acceleration gradients by orders of magnitude. After decades of development, LPAs now provide promising compact sources of high energy electrons with application to free electron lasers and to future compact colliders. To achieve electron energy gain above multiple GeV, efficient use of laser energy requires a plasma channel or waveguide to counteract laser diffraction. I will first discuss the generation, measurement, and modeling of meter-scale plasma waveguides as a building block for laser plasma accelerators. I will then discuss the recent implementation of plasma waveguides at petawatt laser facilities, which delivered high brightness multi-GeV electron beams using only laser beams and gas jets. I will conclude with a discussion of new laser plasma research projects enabled by emerging laser technologies.