In this conversation, we go deep with Crystal Street — Naropa Institute graduate, journalist, photographer, and bridge-builder between the frontline of crypto and the ethics we desperately need in tech. From whistleblowing in corporate Web2 to building decentralized communities in Web3, Crystal brings lived experience, clarity, and a healthy dose of "enough is enough" to our exploration of how technology can serve people, not extract from them.

We talk endings and beginnings:

• Ending: extractive systems that consume our time, attention, and sovereignty.
• Beginning: a return to open, transparent, community-led tech — the promise of Web1 reborn through Web3.

Along the way, we dig into:

• Why Web2's top-down hierarchies break inside blockchain's organic ecosystems.
• Hyperlocal currencies and cooperative governance as lifelines when old systems fail.
• Smart contracts — why lawyers side-eye them, and when they're worth fighting for.
• How DAOs like JournalDAO are reimagining journalism from the "basement of the casino."
• What voting on-chain could mean for real democracy.
• The quiet crisis of Gen X in the job market, and why bridges between generations matter now more than ever.

Crystal also shares a raw look at the current labor reality — the silent suffering behind the job hunt, the collapse of safety nets, and why reinvention is both a necessity and a skill set we cannot afford to lose.

This episode is for anyone who:

• Wants to understand Web3 without the crypto bro haze.
• Feels the strain of extractive work systems.
• Wonder how local communities can take back power from centralized platforms.
• Believes transparency and participation should be baked into the systems that shape our lives.

Find Crystal:

Twitter/X: @CrystalDStreet

Podcast: The Human Layer

Brought to you by:

• Humma — Empathetic AI™ made by and for the community.
• Bast.ai — Building the trust layer for our AI infrastructure.

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