President William Ruto of Kenya has launched his Hustler Fund to alleviate poverty, which he says over a million Kenyans have signed up for.
Also, Zimbabweans are trying to get to grips with the worst power shortages in years, but the Government is blaming former President Mugabe.
Plus, Moroccans are still basking in the glory of making it through to the semi-finals of the World Cup. So what is the secret of their success? We hear from Casablanca.
And we speak to Zambian artist Sampa the Great, whose name is a true reflection of her achievements so far. She shares her story, musical style, and love of African futurism and sci-fi.
A Russian recruit, mobilized for the war in Ukraine, is fighting to serve his country in a different way: alternative service as a conscientious objector.
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A Russian recruit, mobilized for the war in Ukraine, is fighting to serve his country in a different way: alternative service as a conscientious objector.
Matt Kalish joins the podcast this week to talk about how bullish he is on Web3 and NFTs, going so far as to updating his LinkedIn picture to a BAYC PFP.
In this episode, we touch on brands entering the World Cup conversation with their own digital collectibles, and a potential hot take on how Apple is missing the mark when it comes to the blockchain. Matt Kalish, president of DraftKings North America, joins the podcast to share insights on how DraftKings meets its consumers where they are through fantasy sports and digital collectibles. A key takeaway being that audience market fit is as important as product market fit.
Join the most important conversation in crypto and Web3 at Consensus 2023, happening April 26–28 in Austin, Texas. Come and immerse yourself in all that Web3, crypto, blockchain and the metaverse have to offer. Use code GENC to get 15% off your pass. Visit coindesk.com/consensus
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"Gen C" features hosts Sam Ewen and Avery Akkineni, with editing by Jonas Huck. Executive produced by Jared Schwartz and produced by Adrian Blust, Uyen Truong and Eleanor Pahl. Our theme music is "1882” by omgkirby x Channel Tres with editing by Doc Blust. Artwork by Nicole Marie Rincon.
OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(07:13) – Corruption
(40:55) – Cartels
(56:16) – El Chapo
(1:13:27) – Weapons
(1:25:33) – Assassinations
(1:34:20) – Counter-ambush teams
(1:57:46) – PTSD and alcohol
(2:20:25) – Improvised weapons
(2:23:57) – Street fights
(2:52:54) – Kidnapping
(2:57:10) – Escaping restraints
(3:06:38) – Imitation
(3:15:06) – Narco cults
(3:28:01) – Adolfo Constanzo
(3:32:29) – Fentanyl
(3:49:14) – Immigration
(4:00:34) – Advice for young people
(4:09:06) – Mortality
They’re winsome and soft and so fun to cuddle/ With one of Ty’s Beanie Babies, you could never go wrong/ But they were all born from a toxic puddle/ It really was capitalism all along.
This week, Jamie Loftus tells us the story of the greatest toy fad of the 90s, and liberates us from our tiny plastic boxes.
There has been a breakthrough in the development of sustainable fusion-generated power. Will this be a welcome development, or will there be a backlash? Also, Twitter’s weekend information dump confirms the persecutory nature of content moderation in the Trump years. Source
In a story that sounds straight out of a comic book, German authorities announce the arrest of more than twenty people who were apparently on the cusp of attempting to overthrow the government. The FBI raises public concern that China may have secret police stations -- not just in the United States... but in countries across the world. All this and more in this week's Strange News with Ben and Matt. They don’t want you to read our book.
Around the world, billions of people can sell their wares online, in part thanks to solutions that handle the complexities of securely and reliably managing transactions. Businesses, large and small, can sell directly to customers. But a lot of these ecommerce services provide a heavier surface than many need by managing product catalogs and requiring inflexible interfaces.
On this sponsored podcast episode, Ben and Ryan talk with Filippo Conforti, co-founder of Commerce Layer, an API-only ecommerce platform that focuses on the transaction engine. We talk about his early years building ecommerce at Italian luxury brands, the importance of front-ends (and micro-frontends) to ecom, and how milliseconds of page load speed can cost millions.
Episode notes
Conforti was the first Gucci employee building out their ecommerce, so he got to experience life in a fast-moving startup within a big brand. When he left five years later, the team had grown to around 100 people.
The ecommerce space is crowded—one of Commerce Layer’s recent clients evaluated around 40 other platforms—but Conforti thinks Commerce Layer stands out by making any web page a shoppable experience.
Conforti thinks composable commerce back ends that neglect the front end neutralize the benefits. Commerce Layer provides micro-frontends—standard web components that you can inject into any web page to create shoppable experiences.
Getting your ecommerce platform as close to your customer makes real monetary difference. A report from Deloitte finds that a 100ms response time increase on mobile translates to an 8% increase in the conversion rate.
