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 Web3 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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