The STEEM Engine Express Episode 20

Welcome to Episode 20 of The STEEM Engine Express podcast.

The STEEM Engine Express is a podcast produced by Ethan D. Smith that normally features short summaries of five posts recently shared in the Discord community, The STEEM Engine. However as a special 20th episode, I'll be highlighting some great Steemians who deserve some time in the spotlight.

For more information about the group, visit the Steemit account @thesteemengine.

Listen to the podcast in one of the following ways:

► Listen on DSound
► Listen from source (IPFS)
► Download mp3 Version

Listen on YouTube:

Intro music is "Biking in the Park" by Lee Rosevere. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License

Background tracks are "Crushin'," "Hope Against Hope," and "Wheels" by Jason Shaw. Used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Other audio clips obtained via the Internet Archive and also used under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported License

Read more about the making of the intro HERE.

Today's featured Steemians:

• @EnchantedSpirit- Lead Curator Extraordinaire
• @Catweasel- The Gatekeeper
• @APanamaMama- Baggage Evaluator
• @AwakentoLife- Railroad Cop
• @EthanDSmith- Railroad Baron

Full transcript:

I'm Ethan Smith, and this is the STEEM Engine Express.

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Normally, I'd begin my curation segment, however, it's Episode 20 of The Express, and I've planned something special. Change is a good thing, and I've largely kept the format of this podcast the same in its five month run so far. However, often just featuring one post from a STEEM Engine Passenger does not accurately represent their bodies of work across the platform.

Not long ago, Passenger and full-time Steemian @crazybgadventure introduced an initiative called #ShoutOutSaturdays, where he invited people to give shout outs to other Steemians who have been influential or perhaps have otherwise piqued their interest. I realize it is not Saturday, but in the spirit of that initiative, I plan to use The Express to highlight the work done by specific people who I believe deserve the spotlight.

And where better to start than with the very people who make The STEEM Engine continue to chug down the tracks each week. This week's Express is all about the leadership team here at The STEEM Engine. Let's get started.

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@EnchantedSpirit is often invisible in the Discord server for the group, but she's a presence to be reckoned with when it comes to curation. She scours our post promotion channel each and every day to find the best of what is submitted in order to highlight such posts in each volume of The Daily Whistle Stops, which as it implies is a daily curation post shared on the group's account on Steemit.

In addition to curating for @thesteemengine group account, @EnchantedSpirit also publishes a personal curation series called The Inbox Runneth Over, which may be found by visiting @theinbox on Steemit. When it comes to her personal blog, she enjoys sharing various items related to astrological signs and predictions.

When it comes to curation on Steemit, there are few better, and we're incredibly privileged to have @EnchantedSpirit on our team. Head over to any of her accounts and show some support. It's definitely well-deserved.

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Right across the room from @EnchantedSpirit, quite literally, is her husband and group Gatekeeper @Catweasel. The Weasel handles admissions into the group, which is via an application process, so he's usually the first one to evaluate the work of potential new Passengers. He has tough but fair standards for group admissions, but based on the members he's admitted, we know he does an excellent job.

In addition to being the Gatekeeper, he occasionally shares his own curation initiative (in partnership with @EnchantedSpirit) called The Magnificent Seven, which features seven posts they have deemed magnificent.

You may also find @Catweasel leaving comments across the various posts he curates, and you'll always be able to recognize him by his slogan, "Trust me. I'm a doctor."

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Next up is @APanamaMama, who fearlessly checks behind our members to make sure they've completed our post promotion requirements, while at the same time raising and homeschooling five children just miles from a picturesque volcano in Panama. Over the past few months, she has been consistently helpful to our community, and takes the time to share all sorts of ideas and posts on her blog about her life, her children, crafts, and of course, the scenery and landscape near her home.

I encourage you to follow her blog and feel free to say hello if you see her in the Discord server. She's often a quiet member of our leadership team, but nevertheless invaluable.

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Bad commenters beware. Our railroad cop @AwakentoLife will track you down if you dare type the words "nice post" into the comment field on Steemit and click submit.

In all seriousness, though, @AwakentoLife is a fantastic guy. Hailing from Croatia, he's a basketball player who finds himself in Italy for most of the year, but always manages to find the time to help promote quality engagement among our members in the post promotion channel. He's also my cohost each week during our Talk of the Line radio show, which has been a delightful experience.

One of the friendliest people you'll meet in our server, @AwakentoLife is always willing to help if he's around, and if you ever have trouble with someone leaving a short or unhelpful comment on your posts, he'll be happy to reach out and encourage better behavior.

As one might expect, if you follow his blog, you can learn all about what it's like to be a basketball player in Italy, but his main focus is encouragement and motivation. If you're in need of a pick-me-up or need some encouraging words to kick-start your day, look no further than his blog. In fact, you should head over now and give him a follow. You won't regret it.

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Finally, there's me. If you're here listening to this podcast, I already know you're familiar with the various initiatives I facilitate and support each week across Steemit, so I want to take this opportunity to say thank you to all of the aforementioned people on our leadership team. You've all been fantastic over the past six months as we've gotten the group off the ground. I look forward to working with you more in the future.

I also want to take a moment to outline a path forward for myself. As I mentioned not long ago, this podcast is still a priority for my presence on the STEEM blockchain, but other obligations in life have kept me from regularly blogging otherwise. Long term, I'd like to return to publishing more lessons in The Beginner's Guide to Steemit, share more personal experiences from my day-to-day life, and publish more #steemstem related content about the research I perform as a graduate student.

I anticipate these goals will be difficult to complete alongside my regular graduate student work, but I look forward to passively supporting other great initiatives across Steemit. Some of which are The Steemit Ramble (@steemitramble), The BuddyUP Project (@BuddyUP), Fiber Artists (@fiberartists), The Paddling Nature Ramble (@paddlingnature), Beyond the Veil (@beyondtheveil), and YouAreHOPE (@youarehope). You can find more information about all of these groups and organizations by visiting the original blog post for this podcast at steemit.com/@ethandsmith.

As for individuals to thank, there are so many, you'd probably get bored if I listed them all, so I'll plan to feature them in future episodes of The Express: Shout Out Edition.

For those of you still around listening, thank you for tuning in. I hope to feature more members of The STEEM Engine community in future podcasts, but I'll also still have a regular curation episode every now and then. Stay tuned for more information, and don't forget to check out Talk of the Line, each week at 8:00 pm UTC on steemstar.net.

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The STEEM Engine Express features five of the best posts curated by the STEEM Engine each week across the Steemit platform. The Express is produced by Ethan D. Smith exclusively for The STEEM Engine initiative on Steemit.com, and is featured throughout the week on the SteemStar.net radio network.

That's all for this week's episode! To read posts mentioned in today's Express or to listen to past episodes, visit steemit.com/@ethandsmith. I hope you'll catch the next Express!

Thanks for listening!

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