On this week’s Long Reads Sunday, NLW reads David Hoffman’s recent essay in Bankless “The Metaverse Emerges”
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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.
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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Michele Musso. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Only in Time” by Abloom. Image credit: Michael Stevenson/UIG/Getty Images Plus, modified by CoinDesk.
On September 1 and 2 of 1859, people all over the world were treated to something quite rare. Auroras were seen in the skies as far south as the Caribbean and as far north as Brisbane, Australia.
However, some astronomers and telegraph operators experienced something different.
If this same event were to happen today, it might bring out society to its knees.
Learn more about the Carrington Event and what it means for our modern world, on this episode of Everything Everywhere Daily.
outro: Funeral Candies – You're Dead https://youtu.be/TjvQPijYEZ8
We start with discussing an investigation into the harrowing—and fatal—working conditions of delivery drivers in South Korea and the human tragedy at the heart of ecommerce. Moving on to lighter fare—by comparison—we talk through a report on the massive tax breaks and anonymous shell companies supporting the spread of data centres across the US.
Some stuff we reference:
• Dead on Arrival | Carrington Clarke: abc.net.au/news/2021-08-26/south-korea-delivery-drivers-working-theselves-to-death/100380322
• Data In The Dark: How Big Tech Secretly Secured $800 Million In Tax Breaks For Data Centers | David Jeans: forbes.com/sites/davidjeans/2021/08/19/data-in-the-dark-how-big-tech-secretly-secured-800-million-in-tax-breaks-for-data-centers/?sh=1458f2006b43
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Hosted by Jathan Sadowski (twitter.com/jathansadowski) and Edward Ongweso Jr. (twitter.com/bigblackjacobin). Production / Music by Jereme Brown (twitter.com/braunestahl)
Has decentralized gaming just created virtual menial labor?
Join hosts Adam B. Levine, Jonathan Mohan and Andreas M. Antonopoulos as they dive into the world of Axie Infinity and the growing global meta economy. Axie Infinity, a Pokémon-esc play-to-earn game on the Ethereum blockchain, has exploded in popularity around the world. The primary user-base has remained grounded in the Philippines as Filipinos from all walks of life buy, borrow, breed, trade and fight in-game NFT characters called “Axies.”
These fighting cartoon pets have earned players legitimate money – in some cases, enough to sway workers to quit their jobs to pursue Axie full-time. The pandemic and subsequent lockdowns, especially in places like the Philippines, only make Axie that much more enticing. Individuals and groups with more capital have also snapped on the Axie opportunity in the forms of “scholarships” and lending schemes.
Axie Infinity, and in particular, the lending schemes, prompt a larger conversation about the ethical implications of exporting work and the geographic inequality of opportunities. In the best light, lending within play-to-earn can be seen as providing opportunities with profits orders of magnitudes higher than the local economies could provide. Yet, viewing the practice from a different angle, it can be seen as richer countries farming out low-paying work to individuals who have no better options locally.
Is Axie Infinity a solution or scam? Will the platform maintain its relevance or fizzle out?
This episode featured Adam B. Levine, Andreas M. Antonopoulos and Jonathan Mohan. It was edited by Jonas, our theme song comes courtesy of Jared Rubens and today's music during the break was Delta by Gurty Beats. Today's album art features a photo by Karen Fedida/Unsplash, modified by Speaking of Bitcoin.
Live from NECSS 2021; Your Number's Up: Googol; News Items: Poison Frogs, Let Kid's Roam, Going Electric, Artificial Neurons, Neutron Star Mountains, Biggest Things in the Universe Don't Exist; Science or Fiction
Melissa, Kate, & Leah get together again to discuss the Supreme Court’s decision in the Texas SB8 case, what is happening now in Texas, and what might happen still with the law.
Get tickets for STRICT SCRUTINY LIVE – The Bad Decisions Tour 2025!
On this edition of the Weekly Recap, NLW looks at Loot (for Adventurers), the newest NFT sensation. Unlike the “JPEG” or Avatar NFTs, Loot bags are sets of theoretical items for a theoretical game set in a theoretical fantasy world. Created by one of the co-founders of Vine, Loot absolutely took off this past week, racing to be one of the most traded NFTs, and attracting thousands upon thousands of people to start creating the world around those items. NLW explores what it means for the NFT space specifically and for the competition between digital and physical worlds more broadly.
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NYDIG, the institutional-grade platform for Bitcoin, is making it possible for thousands of banks who have trusted relationships with hundreds of millions of customers, to offer Bitcoin. Learn more at NYDIG.com/NLW.
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“The Breakdown” is written, produced by and features NLW, with editing by Adrian Blust. Adam B. Levine is our executive producer and our theme music is “Countdown” by Neon Beach. The music you heard today behind our sponsor is “Tidal Wave” by BRASKO. Image credit: Lorado/E+/Getty Images Plus, modified by CoinDesk.
In a previous episode, I spoke about the Drake equation and the odds of there being intelligent extraterrestrial life. Many people have used the Drake equation to argue that it is almost impossible for there not to be intelligent life in our galaxy.
However, in the summer of 1950, physicist Enrico Fermi pushed back against this by asking a very simple question: if there are so many intelligent civilizations, where are they?
Learn more about the Fermi Paradox
Have you experienced it yet? Delays, cancellations and rescheduled flights when you’re trying to travel. The airline industry took a hit in the early parts of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, they’ve struggled at times to handle a travel rebound.
Today, the founder of the famous website, “Scott’s Cheap Flights,” flight expert Scott Keyes, is here to explain what’s going on with air travel now and what to expect in the near future. He's also offering valuable travel advice.
You’ll learn about everything from handling last-minute flight changes to scoring cheap flights in the first place. For today’s episode, Keyes spoke with our guest host Lacey Evans.
