Telekinetic

For posterity: this was recorded in mid-December, 2020. (1:55) Mitch introduces Jamie Skella, technologist and strategic advisor to the Aussie stars -- Mitch's words, not Jamie's. (5:26) Jamie explains how the blockchain-based voting technology he helped developed at MiVote, and later Horizon State, modernizes and optimizes voting to make it more equitable, more affordable, and more available as a lever for change. (8:47) We lay plain the literal transportation problems in location-based elections, and double down on how alleviating those problems paves the way for a dramatic increase in voting opportunities on a per-policy basis, rather than the character-driven soap operas plaguing conventional politics. (14:29) We touch on the blockchain solution as an exponential improvement on digital machine-based voting, rather than a linear progression. (17:09) Jamie reflects on the hurdles of getting his technology adopted in the public sector and beyond. (23:47) Mitch offers his hot take: the voting aspect of democracy is more or less mob rule no matter how you slice it; abiding by the social contract to support the winner after the fact is what actually makes a democracy. (31:50) Mitch posits that fast-developing countries could use the Horizon State platform to leapfrog established superpowers. Jamie reveals a few interesting discussions he's had with unlikely heroes for democratic revolution.

(1:28) Mitch introduces Carlos Pardo of NUMO. (3:52) Carlos illuminates the modern history of "transportation avoidance" as an urban planning strategy. (6:26) We consider why transportation planners and mobility agencies refuse to acknowledge teletravel as a key component of TDM. (19:30) We debate the inherent value of travel as an instinctive and anthropological need, regardless of trip purpose. Carlos cites a study about soccer moms and the Marchetti constant. Mitch offers his hot take: transportation optimizes at zero. (30:42) Carlos speaks to the threats and opportunities transit systems are grappling with due to pandemic-induced confinement, and the potential future where social movement shifts from a pendular nature to a more chaotic one. (37:13) Carlos offers up the concept of a "mobility hub", the current focus of his work at NUMO.

Mitch settles into his dangerously comfortable armchair to wax philosophical about the nature of human progress, and how we know we're achieving it whenever we see transportation being made obsolete.