There are still some things in life that money can't buy. In this episode I've got three stories of people and situations that enrich our lives: Tuk-tuks, goat milk, and Alaskan salmon.

It all began while I was on a ride-share taxi in Sri Lanka, in a three-wheeled vehicle we call Tuk-tuks, so named after the noisy engine. The Tuk-tuk has become an iconic symbol of the country, brightly painted, and often displaying humorous slogans. The drivers add to the experience. The driving...that's another story. Let's just say a ride is not for the faint hearted. But I always take these Tuks when I am in Sri Lanka.

My small experience set the scene for the rest of the podcast.

Remember The Matrix? That 1999 cult sci-fi movie starring Keanu Reeves and Laurence Fishburne. There's something happening today, here in 2025, that feels slightly like that synthetic world. Not just social media, but now with AI becoming part of every digital space, we could be trapped inside a simulated, controlled world and not realize it.

So in this podcast I wanted to shed some light in those parallels in which we users --heavy users, I should say-- of social media are often echoing what others are saying, reluctant to express our individuality, simply 'Liking,' sharing, and re-posting material that crosses our path. It's also a call to reflect on what values and digital skills we are passing on to the children.

It's as if we're one nation, under attack. Cyber attacks are so common, we tend to dismiss them as someone else's problem. Until it isn't. Our home, our workplace, our identity, our social media account. What have you done lately to ward off the next hack? What if you're identity has already been compromised?

If the answer is 'nothing' then you should listen to two people on this show who are embedded in the complex, murky world of cybersecurity. Michael Emery is senior systems administrator at Benjamin Franklin Charter Schools. Spencer Luke is a security analyst at Microsoft overseeing very large groups. They give us valuable insight into who might be after our data and how to safeguard it.