Digital Self-Defense

Hosted by Makani Mason

Technology Education

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Episodes

113

Latest episode

Jun 2026

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About the show

The Digital Self-Defense podcast is your fastest path to a safer digital life. Learn our three simple safety skills to stay ahead of the bad guys, protect what matters, and keep up with changes in technology - even AI. Safety Skill 1: Protection Partners means building habits that help you pause and check with trusted people before making important digital decisions. Safety Skill 2: Confident Awareness means knowing which threats matter most to you and learning how to face them with confidence. Safety Skill 3: Master Keys means identifying which parts of your digital life unlock the most doors, then protecting them first and best. You don't need to become a computer geek to defend yourself. Listen along as we focus on these 3 Safety Skills, practice them over time, and prepare for the digital threats of today and tomorrow.

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June 12, 2026Episode 109

109. Safety Skill 1 - Protection Partners

Helpful episodes to listen to firstEpisode 4: Protection PartnersEpisode summaryProtection Partners means building habits that help you pause and check with trusted people before making important digital decisions.The most fundamental, universal and powerful defenses against digital threats are humans you can trust. That has always been true, but recent advances in AI have raised the stakes in profound ways. As scams become more convincing and technology changes faster, we need trusted people around us who can help us slow down, think clearly, and make better decisions.There are many different kinds of Protection Partners. The one we have mostly focused on is the first and most fundamental one: your Daily Protection Partner. This is someone who listens without judgement and supports you in your efforts to improve your digital self-defense skills. Hopefully they join you on the journey too.One of my goals with this podcast is to be a Protection Partner to every one of my listeners. But not a Daily Protection Partner. My goal is to be your Digital Self-Defense Coach. I want to, over time, earn your trust, so that when you have a tough question about online security, I'm one of the people you know you can depend on.Join Makani's FREE group coaching callTalk to Makani 1-on-1Learn the 3 Safety Skills

June 5, 2026Episode 108

108. 3 Safety Skills

Episode summaryToday is our first episode under the new name of the podcast: Digital Self-Defense. This isn't just a rebrand, though. The new name reflects how much my approach to teaching online safety has evolved.Along with the new name, I want to introduce our new focus: 3 fundamental Safety Skills. Each episode will focus on one Safety Skill - a new way to learn it, apply it, or think about it differently.Safety Skill 1: Protection Partners means building habits that help you pause and check with trusted people before making important digital decisions.Safety Skill 2: Confident Awareness means knowing which threats matter most to you and learning how to face them with confidence.Safety Skill 3: Master Keys means identifying which parts of your digital life unlock the most doors, then protecting them first and best.You don't need to become a computer geek to defend yourself. Keep listening as we focus on these 3 Safety Skills, practice them over time, and prepare for the digital threats of today and tomorrow.Join Makani's FREE group coaching callTalk to Makani 1-on-1Learn the 3 Safety Skills

May 22, 2026Episode 107

107. Digital Self-Defense

Episode summaryBeginning with our next episode, we are renaming the podcast to "Digital Self-Defense."Here’s the quick story behind the change.When I started this business three years ago, I knew I wanted to teach people how to stay safe online.What I didn’t know yet was the fastest, clearest, and most effective way to help people get there.So over the past few years, I’ve been experimenting - here on the podcast and elsewhere - and learning a lot along the way.Today marks a milestone in that learning journey.I have a much clearer vision of what I want to teach, and that vision is represented by the new name of the podcast.It’s far from the end of the journey, but it is an awesome next step.Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter KitGet help from Makani

May 8, 2026Episode 106

106. How to Use Forwarding Email Aliases

Episode summaryA forwarding alias is an email address that passes along email to your real email address without the original sender ever knowing what that email is.They usually allow you to reply, with the email coming from your alias also, thus providing privacy in both directions.Unlike burner aliases, you will need to create an account in order to start creating forwarding aliases. One solid option is 33 Mail.There are lots of ways to use forwarding aliases, but the one that provides the most benefit is to create a unique alias for every website or company that you share your email address with.This gives you the most power to block spam and thwart phishing attacks.LinksEmail Alias Provider: 33 MailGet the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter KitGet help from Makani

April 24, 2026Episode 105

105. When to Use Disposable Email Aliases

Episode summaryBurner aliases are short lived. You don't have to register an account to create one, or share any personal information.Some of the services that provide burner aliases automatically delete the alias after as little as 10 minutes. This is a great security and privacy feature.I mostly recommend burner aliases for cases where you want to receive only a single email, and nothing super sensitive or critical. Also, if a service requires a browser extension to use it, I recommend against it.If you want to play with this type of service, here's one to check out: 10 Minute Mail.Linkshttps://10minutemail.com/Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter KitGet help from Makani

April 10, 2026Episode 104

104. Three Types of Email Aliases

Episode summaryThere are three types of email aliases. They each work quite differently but share the same purpose: to avoid exposing your real email address to abuse.The first type is a burner alias. These are very short lived email aliases, often used for receiving just a single email.The second type is a forwarding alias. These stay around for as long as you need them, but can be deleted at any time. They can do almost everything a burner alias can do, but often cost money.The third type is an integrated alias. These are quite similar to forwarding aliases, but a bit simpler and safer to use. They can do everything forwarding aliases can. They are by far my preferred choice of alias, and the one I use almost exclusively.Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter KitGet help from Makani

March 27, 2026Episode 103

103. Email's Best Friend: Aliases

Episode summaryEmail has a lot of flaws. One of the biggest is that anybody can send you an email without your permission.They don't have to know you - they just need to discover your email address - by any means.Email aliases can't directly fix this flaw, but they can do a lot to help mitigate the problems it causes.The idea of an email alias is simple.It's an email address that will deliver email to you, but without exposing your real email address.There are 6 benefits that email aliases, used correctly, can provide:Privacy: Prevent your real email from being exposed in data breachesSpam Control: Disable individual aliases to totally shut down spam.Organization: For the control freaks among us (like me), aliases are a great tool.Tracking: Never wonder again who sold your email address.Account Protection: Prevent stolen login reuse.Phishing: Enables clear and reliable identification of phishing emails.That all may sound too good to be true, but it's not. Stay with me, and I'll teach you how.Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter KitGet help from Makani

March 13, 2026Episode 102

102. How to Ditch Gmail But Keep Google Docs

Helpful episodes to listen to firstEpisode 96: Why Your Email Account Should Only Be For EmailEpisode summaryThey say pick your battles. Well, I'm picking mine. I want you to ditch Gmail.Maybe you're holding back because you think that means giving up Google Docs, Google Drive, Google Photos, or some other Google service.If this is you, I have great news. I promise: you can ditch Gmail, but keep all the rest of the Google services you use.Option 1 - Let your Gmail account survive, but transition away from ever using it. Not using the Gmail service doesn't stop you from using any other Google service.This works great if you are a heavy user of Google services.Option 2 - Create a new Google account, using a non-Gmail email address. I know that might sound crazy and impossible, but it's easy.It works the same as creating an account at any other website, other than the fact that Google makes it the default to signup using Gmail.Drop me a note when you've made the switch!Get the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter KitGet help from Makani

February 27, 2026Episode 101

101. My Thoughts on Proton

Episode summaryProton provides a lot of the same services as Google, but with a privacy focus. From the beginning, their core values have been privacy and security. They offer a great, useful free version for many of their products. For full functionality, a paid subscription is required.They started with email (Proton Mail), and have expanded to other core services comparable to what is offered by Google - Proton Drive, Proton Docs, a password manager, a VPN and more.I am super grateful for Proton, and their foundational focus on privacy and security. It's something that few companies truly prioritize, especially amongst the giants in the tech space. They have been steadily growing, and I hope they continue to grow, and one day even take a notable share of customers away from Google.One major obstacle standing in their way right now is the usability of their products. Many of them are still far more clunky than their Google counterparts. For those who care enough about privacy and security, they will overlook this.But if Proton really wants to grow, they need to spend a lot more time polishing their products. I hope that before too long, they will stop adding new stuff, and turn all the good services they have into truly great ones.LinksProton - a privacy focused version of Google servicesGet the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter KitGet help from Makani

February 13, 2026Episode 100

100. Which Email App Should I Use?

Episode summaryMy top choice for email app, both on my phone and my laptop, is the native Fastmail app. This app only works though if Fastmail is your email provider - which I highly recommend. I have been using Fastmail as my primary email account since 2013.I also have several gmail accounts and for them, I use the gmail app on my phone, and Mimestream on my laptop. It's a strange sounding name I know. Unfortunately, it's only available on Mac, and it costs money, but it's built specifically for gmail and works beautifully. I've tried a lot of different apps, and Mimestream is my favorite.For Windows (also works on Mac), my top paid recommendation is Spark.If you're looking for a free option, Thunderbird works well. If you are a Mac user (like me), then Apple Mail is also a solid free option.LinksExcellent paid MacOS Gmail app - MimestreamExcellent paid Windows/Mac Gmail app - SparkExcellent free Windows/Mac email app - ThunderbirdGet the FREE Bulletproof My Identity Starter KitGet help from Makani