Alex Tapscott on the Promise of Digital Disruption

06/01/24 • 88 min

When you think of modern technologies that aren’t gadgets and gizmos, you probably think of the Web, and with it, the Internet.

If so, you aren’t really thinking of modern technologies.

We are entering a new age. We’ve moved from the “Read-only Web,” which had little functionality for interacting with content, to the “Read-Write Web,” which offered seemingly endless collaborative opportunities, from sharing things with friends and family to shopping at your favorite brands. But the profusion of cyberattacks, data hacks, and online profiling have left many of us to view digital life as a Faustian bargain in need of a major rethink.

It brings with it a new lexicon and vocabulary for concepts and tools like blockchains, the metaverse, NFTs, DAOs, decentralized finance, and self-sovereign identity. In this episode, Alex Tapscott will serve as our guide and interpreter of this brave new world.

Alex is the author of the Wall Street Journal and The Globe and Mail Bestseller Web3: Charting the Internet’s Next Economic and Cultural Frontier. He is also an entrepreneur and seasoned capital markets professional focused on the impact of emerging technologies, such as Web3, AI, VR/AR, the Metaverse, blockchain and cryptocurrencies, on business, government, and society.

Alex is masterful in communicating via both the written and spoken word as to complex topics that are critically important to our future and living fuller lives. As he wrote “In the Read-Write-Own Web of Web3, we are not merely spectators; we are authors of our digital destiny, reclaiming control over our identities and assets.” This episode is not to be missed if you want to better understand what the future holds and how it will impact us all and society.

When you think of modern technologies that aren’t gadgets and gizmos, you probably think of the Web, and with it, the Internet.

If so, you aren’t really thinking of modern technologies.

Previous Episode

Mountaineer, Entrepreneur, Guinness World Record Holder, and Mom: Jenn Drummond on Becoming BreakProof

We all have an Everest.

Even if you are not an alpinist or mountaineer, we are all on individual journeys, facing ascents and descents as we strive toward our personal and professional peaks. Whether yours is to achieve a big, audacious goal, or to find a way to coexist better with your mother-in-law, how you navigate the journey is up to you. You can choose to stop, to turn around, or to keep going. And you can choose to find meaning in the challenges along the way and embrace the joy in the journey.

And what if you could transform challenges into triumphs?

Well, Jenn Drummond has a lot to say about how to do that through resilience, determination, and mindset. Jenn is a Guinness World Record holder for being the first woman to climb all of the 7 Second Summits, and she’s also a successful business owner, international speaker, author, host of the Seek Your Summit podcast, and the mother of 7 remarkable children.

She also helps others create thriving businesses and lasting legacies of their own through her speaking and writing; in fact we’ll do a deep dive into her new book, BreakProof: 7 Strategies to Build Resilience and Achieve Your Life Goals.

Listen and embark on a journey of personal growth and learn actionable strategies and exercises to build resilience and handle life's challenges. We discuss the importance of goal setting, continuous self-improvement and personal growth, along with ways to troubleshoot seemingly insurmountable obstacles.

I think Jenn’s life and adventures can serve as a blueprint for becoming breakproof. Jenn has a wonderful set of amazing accomplishments in all aspects of life that are models of empowerment and inspiration on how to live a life in full.

Next Episode

Rob Schwartz on Life's Greatest Lesson

Over 20 million copies of one of the most famous memoirs of all-time, “Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson” written by Mitch Albom, have been sold since its 1997 publication, and to this day it remains on many a college’s required reading list.

Twenty-eight years after Morrie Schwartz passed away, his son Rob Schwartz, has edited his father’s last work, and posthumously published what has become a bestselling new book, “The Wisdom of Morrie: Living and Aging Creatively and Joyfully.”

Rob is a journalist and entrepreneur, having founded a number of companies, both in Japan and the US, and held executive positions in others. He’s produced numerous film and music projects with international teams. His areas of expertise include the entertainment industries in Asia, the US, and Europe. His projects often have a special emphasis on music, film, online business development, and developing musical artists’ careers, as well as working for Billboard in Asia.

He has appeared on Good Morning America, Nightline, PBS NewsHour, NBC10 Boston, and in WebMD, Psychology Today, Reader’s Digest, and People magazine. Rob is currently one of the producers of Onetopia, a benefit music festival.

I asked Rob what it was like growing-up in the in the Schwartz household along with his work and background, and what took him to Asia and his work there as a founder, journalist, and in production.

The book’s been described as a profound, poetic, and poignant masterpiece of living and aging joyfully and creatively, but he first starts off examining ageism and explaining how poisonous it is and how wrong it is. In his reflections he confronts the false notion that people are somehow made less by the aging process, and his coining the term “age casting,” as an aspect of ageism and diminishing a person’s value solely based on their age.

We wrapped-up our conversation with him sharing a bit about his efforts in producing a global benefit festival dedicated to mental health and has a playlist on Spotify. He’s also working on the development of Holocaust survivors’ story as a documentary as well.

Rob’s perspectives, work and life serve as an inspiration to us all to live our lives in full.