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I tried out several options from
- studying whitepapers,
- reading newsletters,
- engaging on telegram and reddit to
- scanning news apps.
But I learned that podcasts are by far the best way to deeply understand what’s driving certain Blockchain projects or platforms and their creators.
Photo by Vincent van Zalinge found on Unsplash
The nice thing about podcasts is that you can consume them while commuting to work. That’s how I enrich my life with 1–2 hours of free education every single day.
But there are other advantages of podcasts: Done right, they offer deeper insights than classical written articles. Good hosts tend to ask challenging questions, so that we can look behind the scenes and get a glimpse of the true motivation of those guests and their projects.
But then: there are many podcasts! Which one to pick?
We all have limited time — so it is a good idea to check thoroughly how to invest our time — the most valuable of our resources. So, I thought it would be interesting to share which podcasts I prefer, why I like them and what to expect.
Here’s my TOP 5:
#5 — “OST LIVE”
OST project (Open Simple Token) itself is very focused on token economies and large scale adoption of token-based loyalty systems. If that sounds interesting then I’d suggest to watch this 10 min video with CEO Jason Goldberg to get their motivation. Apart from that they regularly invite very interesting guests onto their podcast. You can also find it on iTunes and YouTube. I usually skip the episodes “People of OST…” where members of the project team or community people get introduced. The other episodes have fantastic guests from all over the blockchain ecosystem. I especially liked a recent episode with Chris Coney about the Mimblewimble protocol and “Beam versus Grin” and the one about non-fungible tokens (NFTs) with Christian Kameir.
#4 — “Grey Mirror”
If you like the very big picture of crypto and its potential impact on society then you should listen to Rhys Lindmark and his Grey Mirror podcast. Rhys has a very interesting altruistic view onto the crypto world and joined MIT Media Lab and their digital currency initiative last year. But he started his podcast long ago with some excellent guests.
Rhys loves to think systemically and tries to imagine positive and negative implications of a tokenized future. I especially loved some of the early shows like #25 from 2017 with Trent McConaghy from Ocean Protocol or #45 with Lawrence Lundy-Bryan from Outlier Ventures.
#3 — “Decentralize This!”
“Decentralize This!” is Enigma’s podcast, driven by it’s Head of Growth, Tor Bair. Tor regularly invites an amazing line-up of influential guests. I especially like his way of asking deep questions and keeping a very neutral point of view — discussing very different angles of decentralization.
One of my favorite episodes was #14 with Glen Weyl about his ideas around Radical Markets or #22 with Loi Luu from Kyber Network about decentralized financial markets.
#2 — “Unchained”
Well — this pick shouldn’t be a surprise. Laura Shin is for sure one of the superstars in the American cryptosphere. She started her podcast “Unchained” in summer 2016 and interviews very famous guests like Vitalik Buterin in episode #112, which was done as an amazing live show.
Her own favorite seems to be show #84 with CZ from Binance. But there is more goodness like the two episodes with Rune Christensen on MakerDAO or the recent one about Cosmos. Every show is well prepared. Laura asks excellent questions — also very critical ones. That’s why we as listeners usually get amazing insights. The only thing that bothers me sometimes is her very US-focused point of view. Yes — there are amazing projects outside the US and regulators with a different point of view than the SEC (see also the very interesting discussion from CZ from Binance).
#1 — “The Blockchain and Us”
Manuel Stagars is my current favorite. “The Blockchain and Us” is a fantastic series of interviews with a diverse set of people. Manuel asks very intelligent questions. He goes very deep and is always in search for the true motivation of a project and its founders. Manuel always tries to get to the real world relevance.
I especially liked the episode with Preethi Kasireddy about TruStory to get back to truthful content in the web, as well as the one with Daniel Gasteiger from Procivis about decentralized identities and real-world solutions in this space. You can also watch Manuel’s Blockchain movie from 2017.
Summary
There is excellent content out there. Try out podcasts if you want to get an understanding of Blockchain projects from different angles. Podcasts with excellent hosts are a great way to keep up to date in this fast-paced field. They are a great way to gain a deeper understanding of the tech and its potential for society and our economy.
Always remember:
Excellent quote ;-) — photo by Mohammad Metri on Unsplash
Further reading: If you liked this story, you might also want to check out my earlier work about “My crypto crystal ball for 2019”, “Democratizing the digital markets” or my “Blockchain vNext series”.
You are also welcome to follow me on Twitter or get in touch via LinkedIn (but please add a note and tell me that you found me via Medium).
Five Blockchain Podcasts You Shouldn’t Miss was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not reflect the views of Bitcoin Insider. Every investment and trading move involves risk - this is especially true for cryptocurrencies given their volatility. We strongly advise our readers to conduct their own research when making a decision.