Kazakhstan became the world's No.2 centre for bitcoin mining after the United States last year. WHY? Cryptocurrency mining requires massive amounts of electricity and because it's so cheap in Kazakhstan, the country saw an opportunity to capture the growing market when China outlawed crypto mining in June 2021. However, this growing market was put on hold when the Kazakh government shut its Internet down during a time of unrest. This is part 1 of how Kazakhstan went from a bitcoin paradise to a miner's limbo.

When Kang Ok-ju defected from North Korea in 2014, she tirelessly saved money in hopes to bring her mother over to South Korea too. But she was scammed and it cost Kang her mother’s life. Like many defectors, Kang struggled to assimilate and at her worst state contemplated suicide. She still lives with survivor’s guilt, and experiences “invisible prejudice” in Korean society. Growing up in North Korea, Kang watched her streets fill with people who had nothing: no food, no water, no shelter. Soon, those people disappeared. Though her mother was entirely dependent on her, Kang had dreams to expand her family’s trade beyond North Korea. As a mother of two, Kang is thankful today that she escaped North Korea, and gave herself an opportunity to do more than just survive. Though she does experience discrimination, Kang is focused on making sure her kid’s feel belonging in a society that feels like ““oil floating on water”.

Australian Senator Pauline Hanson is facing review by the Human Rights Commission for racism, after her latest tweet to Senator Mehreen Faruqi. Hanson has historically championed a Muslim ban, mockingly worn a burqa, and linked Islam to terrorism. Will Australia continue to allow it? This comes off the back of Queen Elizabeth’s death, where Faruqi tweeted that she couldn’t mourn the leader of a racist empire. Hanson tweeted back to Faruqi, telling her to “piss off back to Pakistan”, amongst many other offensive remarks. In her string of decades of racist, anti-immigrant comments, Hanson has also tweeted that Australia is in danger of being “swamped by Asians” Will the Australian Human Rights Commission uphold the racist complaint or continue to allow her outbursts? To learn more about Australia’s history of racist and anti-immigrant laws and their lasting impact, check out EST Explains episode on the White Australia Policy here.