Joe Petrowski on Imagining a Brighter Future with Polkadot and Web3

Relay Chain

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 ecosystem

Special Guest: Joe Petrowski.