Corporations are often seen as evil, selfish entities. We overlook that they allow billions of parents to feed, educate, and heal their kids. Jobs also generate taxes that allow governments to build roads, hospitals, and schools. Taxes fund welfare and protect national parks.

None of this would be possible (or at least easy) without corporations.

Don’t believe me? Consider humanity before corporations. Our global standard of living was far lower than today.

Still don’t believe me?

Listen or watch this episode with Sawyer CEO Kurt Avery.

https://youtu.be/yAzYx2psyXQ

Timeline

00:00 Sawyer’s charitable actions

05:00 Sawyer Think book

10:00 Protecting Against Bugs

12:20 Origin Story

17:00 Burning off the COGs

19:00 The Why

20:30 Decision Matrix

22:55 Math Trap

27:10 Final Advice

If you’re a backpacker, you’ve heard of Sawyer & probably used their filters.

In this show, Kurt Avery explains what he’s been doing for decades through his company. It might surprise even the most cynical of you out there. It might give you a bit of hope for humanity, too.

If this episode inspires you, consider giving to the Sawyer Foundation.

Or, if you want a win-win, buy their Sawyer’s products online or at your local retailer. A portion of Sawyer’s profits always goes to charity.

Connect

Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!

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Sponsors

1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon

2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!

3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K

4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.

5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.

6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free!

7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.

8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!

9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear

Sometimes a brief meeting with one human can change your life. Lauren Speeth, President of Elphenworks Productions, met US President Jimmy Carter decades ago.

Watch!

Lauren Speeth, PhD, combines a lifelong background in Silicon Valley technology with a commitment to educational, pro‑social storytelling. A classically trained violinist and longtime member emeritus of The Peninsula Symphony’s first violin section, she is also a voting member of The Recording Academy and has produced films and media projects that address poverty, inequality, and the climate crisis while aiming to foster hope.

Her work in social impact has led to advisory roles with leading institutions: she serves as an External Advisor to Stanford’s Center on Poverty and Inequality, where she helped architect the Center’s first website and co-orchestrated its launch with a Concert for Hope, and she is a Lifetime Member of the Board of Councilors at The Carter Center. In higher education, she has held positions as a Regent Emeritus of Saint Mary’s College of California and has taught and lectured widely in management, statistics, computer science, and social entrepreneurship, including ongoing involvement with Bakke Graduate University.

Speeth’s activism and philanthropy were shaped in part through a mentoring relationship with former U.S. President Jimmy Carter, whom she came to know through her deep engagement with The Carter Center.

As a Life Member of its Board of Councilors, she sought guidance from Carter while framing the mission and operating principles of The Elfenworks Foundation; during these conversations, he encouraged her to “risk failure for worthy causes,” advice that helped her define the foundation’s core pillars of having a clear vision, working in partnership, avoiding duplication, sharing credit, measuring results, and staying the course.

Speeth has since carried Carter’s counsel into her writing and public speaking, including her book Taking the Stairs and Liking It: 7 Steps to an Amazing Life, which draws directly on his wisdom along with her own research and global experience.

I bought the book & it’s only 99 cents on Amazon.

Timeline

00:00 Jimmy Carter meeting

13:00 How to get feedback

16:30 Stamina

Connect

Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!

On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on:

* Facebook

* X

* YouTube

* Instagram

* TikTok

* LinkedIn

* Pinterest

* Tumblr

Sponsors

1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon

2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!

3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K

4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.

5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.

6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free!

7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.

8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!

9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear

Watch this interview to enjoy the b-roll

https://youtu.be/35UMP6SV-zw

Hal makes informative videos about Vietnam.1st video of the series:

Subscribe to Hal's outstanding YouTube channel

B-Roll credit: @HalOnEarth

Timeline

00:00 Do The Vietnamese Like China More Than The USA?

03:20 Learning the Vietnamese language

05:00 YouTube channel goals

07:00 What Hal Loves & Hates about Vietnam

10:00 Sexism in Vietnam?

13:00 Religion

14:45 Educational system

19:00 Vietnam's future

Hal's videos mentioned in the interview:

SE Asia 30 years ago

Connect

Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!

On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on:

Facebook

X

YouTube

Instagram

TikTok

LinkedIn

Pinterest

Tumblr

Sponsors

1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon

2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!

3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K

4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.

5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.

6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free!

7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.

8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!

9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear.

Watch the video version of this podcast

Hal makes informative videos about Vietnam.

See my previous video with him:

Subscribe to Hal's outstanding YouTube channel.

Connect

Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!

On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on:

* Facebook

* X

* YouTube

* Instagram

* TikTok

* LinkedIn

* Pinterest

* Tumblr

Sponsors

1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon

2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!

3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K

4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.

5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.

6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free!

7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.

8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!

9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear

Hal makes informative videos about Vietnam.

Watch the video of this podcast

https://youtu.be/RFcLm9fe4a0

Hal gets credit for the B-roll in the video!

Subscribe to Hal's outstanding YouTube channel.

Timeline

00:00 Who is Hal Medrano?

04:00 Pittsburgh, PA

06:30 Why Hal Returned to Vietnam

08:00 Hal On Earth Channel

Hal's videos mentioned in the interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fo0mkcMbDHI

SE Asia 30 years ago

Connect

Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!

On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on:

* Facebook

* X

* YouTube

* Instagram

* TikTok

* LinkedIn

* Pinterest

* Tumblr

Sponsors

1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon

2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!

3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K

4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.

5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.

6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free!

7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.

8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!

9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear

Jost Kobusch, a 32-year-old German mountaineer who summited Denali in winter, is attempting what some experts give a 1% chance of success: he wants to summit Everest in winter, alone, without supplemental oxygen, and following a rarely climbed route, the dangerous West Ridge.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=b1QtNL4CqJo

In this WanderLearn Show, Jost discusses his overall goal, the extreme winter conditions at Everest’s altitude, being blown off the mountain on past attempts, why he chose the West Ridge, details on route maps, filming mishaps, rope use, when he might change his plan, the story of Mallory and Irvine, and what it would mean if he died after summiting.

Timeline

00:00 Jost’s goal

01:00 Everest is 9,000 meters in winter

06:00 Blown off the mountain

07:20 Why West Ridge Route?

08:23 Map of Route

13:25 Filming Disasters

19:00 How Jost uses rope

21:00 When would he change?

23:30 Mallory & Irvine

24:30 What if he dies after summitting?

26:30 Follow Jost

Credits

In the video interview, you’ll see some b-roll from the following sources:

ALONE video:

3D Everest Map

Jost Photos by Daniel Hug

In my next interview with Jost, what would you like me to ask him? Put it in the comments!

Here are my future questions for Jost:

- Will you fly down the mountain? (He loves to paraglide off mountains.)

- Why not do the route alone during May-June first as a proof of concept?

Connect

Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!

On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on:

* Facebook

* X

* YouTube

* Instagram

* TikTok

* LinkedIn

* Pinterest

* Tumblr

Sponsors

1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon

2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!

3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K

4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.

5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.

6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free!

7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.

8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!

9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear.

I bumped into Erik while visiting Big Basin National Park in Nevada, USA. He's been a nomad, living out of his Subaru on a modest budget, and vlogging about his experience. He shows us how he does it.

youtu.be/BhUD0pjITsU

https://youtu.be/BhUD0pjITsU

Follow Erik's YouTube channel Why Erik Ditched His Teardrop Trailer

Loneliest American Road

CREDIT FOR THE TWO EMBEDDED VIDEOS:Kenai Pop-Up Truck Camper Tour - Scout Campers

Overland Ready! 2024 Toyota Tacoma with Kimbo Camper Walkaround - Salty Gears Off Road

Dr. Isabelle Morley is a couples therapist and author of "They're Not Gaslighting You."

https://youtu.be/cPahcRnG_Fg

The kiss cam moment exposes much more than a couple’s private drama—it reveals how we judge, label, and punish one another in the court of public opinion. In this episode, I sit down with Dr. Isabelle Morley to unpack why cheating feels unforgivable to most people, how labels and “therapy-speak” get weaponized online, and what gaslighting really looks like beyond the memes. We also explore when it makes sense to set boundaries, walk away from toxic situations, or hire a therapist instead of relying on social media for armchair diagnosis.

00:00 Kiss Cam Scandal

05:00 Why is cheating unforgivable for most people?

10:00 Why do people label?

11:20 Gaslighting

13:48 When attacked?

15:15 When to quit

16:45 When do you hire a therapist

18:30 Using therapy-speak

20:30 Bounderies

22:15 ADHD Book

Watch the first time I interview Dr. Morley:

youtube.com/watch?v=rPm8U3P_GLg

WanderLearn explores travel, tech, and transformation. This is a tech-related episode.

Aleksandar Svetski is the CEO of Satlantis.io, which began as a travel app but has pivoted toward events, including travel-related events.

Satlantis is a new kind of social network for “Sovereign Individuals.” It aims to become the go-to place for people who want more out of life and refuse to conform to the mainstream.

Satlantis is part map, part directory, part aggregator, and part social app. Imagine elements of Instagram, Google Places, Meetup, TripAdvisor, NomadList, and Facebook Groups, but built for the next era.

They’re using Nostr, which is crucial to creating a user-centered internet.

Timeline

00:00 What is Satlantis.io?

08:45 BTC Lightning payments

14:00 Who is adopting it?

16:00 Stablecoins on BTC in 2026

17:30 Vision of 2030

21:30 Free events

24:00 Vision of 2026

Connect

Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!

On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on:

* Facebook

* X

* YouTube

* Instagram

* TikTok

* LinkedIn

* Pinterest

* Tumblr

Sponsors

1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon

2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!

3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K

4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.

5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.

6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free!

7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.

8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!

9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear.

Dr. Robert Edwards, author of The Last Step but One, proposes 5 hypotheses about Mallory and Irvine’s final ascent of Everest.

Two of the hypotheses have sub-hypotheses, bringing the total number of conjectures to 8.

Robert Edwards's Mallory & Irvine book.

Watch the YouTube video

Timeline

00:00 Hypothesis 1

06:10 Hypothesis 2

09:00 Hypothesis 3

12:20 Hypothesis 4.1

19:30 Hypothesis 4.2

23:00 Hypothesis 5.1

25:35 Hypothesis 5.2

28:30 Hypothesis 5.3

31:50 Reflections

DISCLOSURE: I used AI to generate the thumbnail for this video. So if you're wondering why the image is inaccurate, you'll know why.

Connect

Send me an anonymous voicemail at SpeakPipe.com/FTapon

You can post comments, ask questions, and sign up for my Substack newsletter.

If you like this podcast, subscribe and share!

On social media, my username is always FTapon. Connect with me on:

* Facebook

* Twitter

* YouTube

* Instagram

* TikTok

* LinkedIn

* Pinterest

* Tumblr

Sponsors

1. My Patrons sponsored this show! Claim your monthly reward by becoming a patron for as little as $2/month at https://Patreon.com/FTapon

2. For the best travel credit card, get one of the Chase Sapphire cards and get 75-100k bonus miles!

3. Get $5 when you sign up for Roamless, my favorite global eSIM with its unlimited hotspot & data that never expires! Use code LR32K

4. Or get 5% off when you sign up with Saily, another global eSIM with a built-in VPN & ad blocker.

5. Get 25% off when you sign up for Trusted Housesitters, a site that helps you find sitters or homes to sit in.

6. Start your podcast with my company, Podbean, and get one month free!

7. In the United States, I recommend trading cryptocurrency with Kraken.

8. Outside the USA, trade crypto with Binance and get 5% off your trading fees!

9. For backpacking gear, buy from Gossamer Gear.