Joe Petrowski on Imagining a Brighter Future with Polkadot and Web3

After a short hiatus, we’re back this week with a new co-host joining the podcast, Jorrin Bruns (Support Engineer, Parity Technologies). In this episode, Jorrin turns the tables and interviews Joe Petrowski (Technical Integrations Lead, Web3 Foundation, and Relay Chain co-host) about the future of the podcast, Joe’s journey from the aerospace industry to professional cycling to Web3, and how blockchain innovation brings together diverse interest groups. They discuss the potential for Polkadot and Web3 to realize a propian future, breaking down surveillance capitalism through decentralized governance, infinitely scalable parachains (so-called hierarchical or nested relay chains), and building a decentralized economy of robots powered by Polkadot. Links & Resources: Joe Petrowski on Twitter Joe’s Blockchain reading list The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, Shoshana Zuboff Edward Luce, The Retreat of Western Liberalism The Art of Cruelty, Maggie Nelson Weapons of Math Destruction, Cathy O'Neil Automating Inequality, Virginia Eubanks Highlights 0:00 - Intro to new Relay Chain host, Jorrin 02:51 - Joe’s interesting journey in to the blockchain space 08:04 - What attracts different people to blockchain 13.59 - Difference between Parity Technologies and Web3 Foundation 15:47 - The potential for infinitely scalable parachains 17.28 - The future direction of the podcast 21:31 - Big tech’s misuse of data in the age of surveillance capitalism 25.20 - Transparency through Polkadot’s open governance 29.38 - Should governments break up tech monopolies? 33:19 - Literary recommendations for working in blockchain 36:20 - Blockchain’s role in building a better future 38:18 - A look at the Polkadot ecosystemSpecial Guest: Joe Petrowski.