In this conversation, we go deep with Crystal Street — Naropa Institute graduate, journalist, photographer, and bridge-builder between the frontline of crypto and the ethics we desperately need in tech. From whistleblowing in Web3 to building decentralized communities in Web3, Crystal brings lived experience, clarity, and a healthy dose of "enough is enough" to our exploration of how technology can serve people, not extract from them.

We talk endings and beginnings:

• Ending: extractive systems that consume our time, attention, and sovereignty.
• Beginning: a return to open, transparent, community-led tech — the promise of Web1 reborn through Web3.

Along the way, we dig into:

• Why Web2's top-down hierarchies break inside blockchain's organic ecosystems.
• Hyperlocal currencies and cooperative governance as lifelines when old systems fail.
• Smart contracts — why lawyers side-eye them, and when they're worth fighting for.
• How DAOs like JournalDAO are reimagining journalism from the "basement of the casino."
• What voting on-chain could mean for real democracy.
• The quiet crisis of Gen X in the job market, and why bridges between generations matter now more than ever.

Crystal also shares a raw look at the current labor reality — the silent suffering behind the job hunt, the collapse of safety nets, and why reinvention is both a necessity and a skill set we cannot afford to lose.

This episode is for anyone who:

• Wants to understand Web3 without the crypto bro haze.
• Feels the strain of extractive work systems.
• Wonder how local communities can take back power from centralized platforms.
• Believes transparency and participation should be baked into the systems that shape our lives.

Find Crystal:

Twitter/X: @CrystalDStreet

Podcast: The Human Layer

Brought to you by:

• Humma — Empathetic AI™ made by and for the community.
• Bast.ai — Building the trust layer for our AI infrastructure.

Listen, subscribe, share — your support keeps these conversations going.

Welcome back to And We Feel Fine—the radically honest podcast about what’s ending, what’s beginning, and how we build systems of care, not conquest.

In this episode, co-hosts Beth Rudden and Katie Smith flip the script on self-care—from something commodified and individual to something collective, powerful, and deeply structural.

We unpack why real rest is not separate from leadership—it's at the heart of it. From neurodivergent rhythms to exit strategies for grind culture, we explore what it looks like to plan your breakdown, build rituals instead of routines, and stop treating exhaustion like proof of worth.

This one’s for anyone who’s held it all together for too long—and is ready to build something better.

🔍 Topics We Cover:

• Why “always on” leadership is a dead end
• How neurodivergent and queer folks model new ways to rest and reset
• What the engagement economy steals from us (and how we reclaim it)
• The link between self-care, collective care, and actual system change
• Stories of dance parties, breakdowns, and radical boundary-setting

🕰️ Timestamps:

00:00 – When leaders need to fall apart (and why that’s healthy)

05:00 – Neurodivergence, burnout, and boundaries at work

13:00 – “Always on” tech and the addiction economy

20:00 – Redesigning the workplace for psychological safety

32:30 – Building culture with rest, rituals, and care at the center

💥 Sponsors:

⁠Bast.ai⁠ — Explainable, transparent AI that keeps your data yours.
⁠Humma.AI⁠— Empathetic AI™ that starts with consent builds with community and delivers cultural relevance at scale.

🗣️ Join the conversation:

✔️ Subscribe for more radically honest talk on society, culture, technology and AI

💬 How do you build in breaks, joy, or boundaries? Tell us in the comments

❤️ Like if you’re ready for a new model of leadership

🔔 Hit the bell so you never miss a new episode

📬 Want deeper dives and behind-the-scenes posts?⁠ andwefeelfine.substack.com

Welcome back to And We Feel Fine, where each week we ask what’s ending, what’s beginning—and what it means to build with care.

In this episode, Katie Smith and Beth Rudden sit down with Pacific tech leader Julia Pahina for a radically honest conversation about the intersections of technology, culture, and systems change.

We talk:

• Why ancestral wisdom and relational intelligence belong in AI
• How to name capitalism and white supremacy in tech spaces
• What it means to “walk out” of harmful systems and create new ones
• The invisible labor of systems change—and the trust it requires
• Data sovereignty, trauma-informed design, and the power of community-led innovation

Julia shares her journey from surviving deep trauma to building systems change across Aotearoa and beyond—explaining why digital futures need care, not conquest.

📍 Follow Julia @lifeofjuliapahina

🔗 Learn more at Wolfe and Fibre Fale

This episode is brought to you by:

🧠 Bast.ai — for trusted, explainable AI

💬 Humma.AI — building Empathetic AI™ rooted in consent and community

🎤 About the Hosts

Beth Rudden (she/her) is the CEO of Bast.ai, a global data scientist and expert in trustworthy, explainable AI rooted in anthropology and care.

Katie Smith (they/them) is the CEO of Humma.AI, a privacy-first AI company that redefines technology through empathy and consent.

👍 Like, comment, and subscribe.

💬 What systems are you walking away from—and what are you building in their place?

The era of the lone genius CEO is over. What’s rising now? Leadership that’s collaborative, culturally aware, and rooted in care.

In this episode of And We Feel Fine, co-hosts Beth Rudden and Katie Smith unpack what leadership means in a world shifting from scarcity to abundance—and why it’s not about being in charge, but showing up with empathy, vision, and community. We explore how AI and systems change are challenging old paradigms, and how the most powerful leadership today might come from the most unexpected places.

Whether you’ve led a company, a movement, a family—or are still figuring out what leadership means to you—this conversation offers perspective, challenge, and hope.

Watch for:

• 💥 Why the “big man” leadership model is collapsing
• 🤖 How AI could finally center empathy and equity
• 🌱 The radical power of long-term thinking
• 🏳️‍🌈 How queer, neurodivergent leaders are shifting culture
• 📖 Real stories of rebuilding after burnout, and leading differently

Sponsors:

• Bast.ai — Transparent, human-centered AI that reflects how people really live
• Humma — Empathetic AI™ — Made by and for the Community

Timestamps:

00:00 – What’s ending and beginning in leadership

06:32 – Scarcity thinking vs. abundance frameworks

13:15 – Community as a leadership engine

24:40 – Burnout, boundaries, and the myth of the hero

33:02 – Redefining what it means to lead—starting today

Join the conversation:

✔️ Subscribe for weekly drops on AI, society, and transformation

💬 Share your stories and questions in the comments—we read them all

❤️ Like if you’re ready for leadership that centers care

🔔 Hit the bell so you never miss a bold take

📬 For deeper dives, exclusive posts, and behind-the-scenes:⁠andwefeelfine.substack.com

In This Episode

Katie and Beth explore how AI, genomics, and healthcare are colliding—and what it means for the future of prediction, ethics, and our most personal data. They also delve into personal aspects of work-life rhythms and reimagine what it means to live in communities built for connection, not isolation.

Why You’ll Want to Watch

• How predictive analytics can go dangerously wrong without quality input
• Why ownership and consent matter in genetic research and personal data
• How built environments shape our sense of belonging
• What ancient innovations can teach us about designing for dignity
• And: Why your vacation might need a vacation

Meet Your Hosts

• Beth Rudden – CEO and Founder of Bast AI, former IBM Distinguished Engineer, and author of AI for the Rest of Us. Beth builds tools that make AI explainable, ethical, and human-centered, spanning healthcare, education, and workforce transformation.
• Katie Smith – CEO and Co-Founder of Humma.AI, and author of Zoe Bios: The Epigenetics of Terrorism. Katie blends two decades of leadership in tech commerce and social impact, building privacy-first systems rooted in equity, systems thinking, and human experience.

Top Takeaways

• AI in healthcare is powerful—but it’s only as good as the data it’s built on
• Predictive tools need consent, context, and cultural competence
• Genetic data must be owned, not extracted
• Community design impacts public health and connection
• Offline spaces are still the future of meaningful interaction

Chapters

00:00 – Intro & Vacation Reflections

05:11 – The Intersection of AI and Healthcare

12:16 – Predictive Data and Bias

19:02 – Ethics in AI and Genetic Research

24:44 – Rethinking Scientific Breakthroughs

28:16 – Lessons from Ancient Infrastructure

30:37 – Longevity vs. Quality of Life

31:46 – The Role of Government in Research

34:30 – Consent and Ownership in Genomic Data

36:35 – How AI Affects Time Management

39:00 – Libertarianism and Public Good

40:00 – Transparency in Tax Systems

42:16 – Recycling and Community Ethics

43:37 – Cultural Shifts in Behavior

44:11 – Designing for Connection

47:41 – Co-Living, Shared Spaces, and Mental Health

51:27 – Healing Through Community

53:06 – Offline Belonging in a Digital World

56:30 – Outro

Katie and Beth on literacy, dyslexia, and the future of creativity in a tech-driven world.

In this episode: Technology isn't just reshaping how we work—it's transforming how we read, write, and understand the world. Beth and Katie delve into the complex and multifaceted intersection of literacy, dyslexia, and generative AI.

From personal reflections to provocative questions, they explore how AI can empower those with learning disabilities, shift the way we express ourselves, and reimagine what literacy looks like in the 21st century. But they don't stop at promise—they unpack the tension between authenticity and automation, and the risks of losing our humanity in the rush to digitize expression.

This conversation moves from ethics to empathy, from accessibility to artistic integrity, and lands in the heart of what makes us human: the need to be heard, understood, and connected.

Topics Covered

• The intersection of dyslexia, literacy, and generative AI
• Why writing with AI can feel like cheating—and why it might not be
• The evolution of reading, writing, and expression in a digital age
• Navigating authenticity in AI-generated content
• How AI can support creative expression for neurodivergent thinkers
• Transparency and ethics in AI communication tools
• Artistic integrity and the tension between automation and meaning
• Why reading still matters—even as the tools change
• Community, connection, and the future of communication

Key Takeaways

• Generative AI can unlock expressions for people with dyslexia and other learning and cultural differences.
• Authenticity and creativity are still possible, even when AI is part of the process.
• AI tools should enhance, not replace, our (and others) voice and effort.
• The ethical design of AI requires transparency, care, and input from the community.
• The future of literacy must prioritize access, dignity, and human connection.
• Human-created content still carries a kind of value—and soul—that algorithms can't replicate.

Chapters (Timestamps)

00:00 — Introduction and Personal Reflections

03:20 — Literacy, Dyslexia, and AI

06:13 — Generative AI and Its Impact on Communication

08:18 — The Role of AI in Writing and Creativity

11:26 — The Evolution of Language and AI

14:22 — The Future of Communication and Authentic Voices

17:18 — Navigating the Challenges of AI in Writing

20:16 — The Philosophical Implications of AI and Language

23:18 — The Balance Between Technology and Human Effort

26:22 — The Importance of Reading in a Digital Age

29:06 — Conclusion and Final Thoughts

31:19 — The Impact of Legislation on Health Insurance

33:51 — The Role of AI in Communication

36:53 — Human vs. AI: The Future of Reading and Writing

39:48 — The Cost of AI: A Discussion on Resources

43:03 — The Value of Human-Created Content

47:07 — Art and Authenticity in the Age of AI

50:41 — Navigating the Ethics of AI and Data Usage

54:57 — The Future of Community in a Tech-Driven World

Hosted by Beth Rudden and Katie Smith, two builders of systems and challengers of the status quo. Beth is CEO of Bast.AI and a globally recognized expert in trustworthy AI, with decades of experience leading data and ethics at IBM. Katie is the founder of Humma.AI, a strategist who drove innovation and revenue growth at major global brands before turning to human rights and technology for social good. Together, they make complex issues like AI and the impacts on everyday people clear, personal, and impossible to ignore.

In this episode: The future of work is already being rewritten by systems, not people. As AI accelerates labor displacement and concentrates wealth in fewer hands, Universal Basic Income (UBI) has returned to the spotlight. But Katie Smith and Beth Rudden aren’t here to romanticize it.

They break down what UBI really is, why it’s misunderstood, and how tech elites hijack the conversation. They challenge the moral logic of effective altruism and explore why true economic reform demands more than a payout—it requires listening to people on the ground and rewriting the social contract with the community at the center.

From epigenetics and AI ethics to the shrinking middle class, this is not a handout discussion—it’s a call to design something radically better, together.

Topics Covered

• What Universal Basic Income is—and what it isn’t
• AI’s role in accelerating economic collapse and job displacement
• The branding problem: Why “basic” isn’t helping the cause
• Effective altruism and the failure of top-down solutions
• Epigenetics, stress, and the physiological cost of poverty
• Why UBI must be tied to systemic reform—not seen as a silver bullet
• The future of work and the danger of being left behind
• Community-led responses to automation and inequality
• How reimagining contribution can strengthen the middle class

Key Takeaways

• UBI isn’t the finish line—it’s a starting point.AI disruption is forcing urgent questions about labor, value, and equity.
• Effective altruism often centers the donor’s equation, not the community.
• The branding of UBI must shift from “basic needs” to shared contribution.
• Long-term economic health requires investing in people, not platforms.
• Real reform must be community-driven, transparent, and just.

Chapters (Timestamps)

00:00 — Introduction to Universal Basic Income (UBI)

01:53 — Defining UBI and Its Implications

07:12 — The Floor vs. The Ceiling: Understanding UBI's Role

15:26 — Critique of Effective Altruism and Top-Down Solutions

24:54 — Systemic Issues and the Need for Reform

31:28 — Reimagining the Future of Work

34:47 — The Role of Universal Basic Income

37:29 — Understanding Epigenetics and Stress

41:47 — The Dangers of AI and Wealth Distribution

46:29 — Listening to Communities for a Better Future

50:08 — Evolving Capitalism and Effective Altruism

In this reflection episode, Beth and Katie look back on the first seven conversations—threads of grief, growth, tech, and care woven into something bigger. This is our origin story and a soft landing for new listeners.

We talk about the role of community in turbulent times, the power of moral imagination, and the systems we’re unlearning—capitalism, AI, and outdated social contracts. Whether you're here for critique, clarity, or curiosity, this episode sets the stage for where we’re going next.

Topics We Cover

• What we’ve learned across the first 7 episodes
• The role of AI in reshaping human interaction
• Rewriting the social contract for our time
• Capitalism, care, and the future of work
• Why transparency and purpose matter more than ever

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Recap of the Journey

01:17 The Importance of Community and Connection

03:48 Navigating Change in a Rapidly Evolving World

06:15 The Impact of AI on Human Interaction

08:33 Trust and Reality in a Changing Landscape

11:32 Reimagining the Social Contract

13:56 Exploring Power Dynamics and Technology

16:15 The Future of Work and Universal Basic Income

25:39 The Role of Media and Data in Shaping Reality

26:54 Understanding Machines: The Human Element in AI

31:37 The Movement Towards a New Social Contract

34:10 Building a Foundation for Dignified Work

37:51 The Ethics of Work and Value in Society

42:05 Reimagining Capitalism and Community

45:53 The Future of Work and AI's Role

49:47 The Importance of Community and Connection