Tara Brown and Sean Bonner are some of the most creative and curious people I’ve ever known. Among the many things they are fascinated by, there are NFT’s; which coincidentally have also become something of a curiousity over the past years.
Today on the podcast, to better understand NFT’s and what is possible and where the conversations around them have gone and could yet go, Tara and Sean are my guests. Have a listen!
Today on the program we’re scavenging in Amsterdam with Jay and Ryanne. Plus, a bonus appearance but the one and only Macdocman, as he discovers how the scavenger life works and marvels at the details.
Somewhere along the neverending Jumeirah Beach Road in Dubai, within view of world famous sky scrapers and people enjoying themselves on the beach, you’ll find a little oasis of healthy food and unique style. The place is Comptoir 102, a concept cafe created and run by my guests on today’s podcast: Alexandra de Montaudouin and Emma Sawko. While their place may not be far from downtown, this little cafe is in a very different world from the brand name corporate culture that took root in Dubai more than a decade ago.
I may have come to Dubai to listen to the stories of taxi drivers, but what I quickly figured out is there are many layers and many stories in this rapidly growing city that has attracted people from every corner of the world. And so, on my first days in Dubai, in between taxi rides, I did a quick search for healthy quality cuisine in this extremely new neighborhood I was staying in. Although this massive area is filled with hundreds of restaurants, the internet somehow led me to Marta’s Workshop*, where Marta Yanci originally from San Sebastian, Spain, and her talented staff, cook up a different menu everyday.
Marta’s work represents a growing movement in a city that is more known for its tall skyscrapers and massive shopping malls rather than small, unique neighborhood businesses. The moment I sat down at the communal table in this modest and charming dining room, I knew something worth talking about was going on here. A thought that would be only further reinforced when I tasted the fantastically delicious food.
No it isn’t a taxi story, but it is an interesting part of this big Dubai puzzle that – honestly- few media organizations ever dedicate the time and energy to look at in its entirety. Dubai might be young in terms of history, but it already has many layers, each of which shows us something potentially worth learning from. My original inspiration and my focus is still Taxi Drivers, but what you might notice when you listen to Marta, and I have noticed in and out of the cabs, there is something bigger going on here that interconnects everyone.
Çelik Nimani is well aware of the difficulties his young country faces. He is also well aware of the tremendous creativity and potential that can be found here as well as throughout the international Kosovar diaspora. His goal is to help unleash that potential with a resounding call for everyone to get involved, take initiative, and be the change the nation needs to see. He’s not just a business man, he’s an ideas guy who enjoys being inspired just as much as he himself inspires.
In this podcast we get into how to reach people in Kosovo, to motivate them, to wake up those who are in a depression or feeling powerless. We discuss resources and what this nation has to offer the world. You would think being able to choose your country on a form would be a given, but thats not the case in Kosovo – we discuss this issue. From education to entrepreneurs, this program takes the series on Kosovo to the next level, to where the mainstream media rarely invests the time and energy, and where you can hear the details of this immense challenge from the people who are living them everyday.
Erik Nelson moved from house to house as an urban dweller, never living in a space that he felt connected to. Until he found forest land that appealed to him and built his own home there. Or as he explains it: “While most people find a job and then live near that job, we picked the place where we really want to live and then made it work with jobs we could get.”
But approach to work isn’t the only thing interesting about how Erik and his family live. In this podcast we talk about the reasons for making your own home on the side of a hill in Vermont, how the experience was building it and how it is now living there. In his experience we find yet another example of those who have left the conventional path and made their own home in a unique place/way.
