What is Steem and how does it work?

http://www.bitcoin.kn/2016/08/what-is-steem-and-how-does-it-work/

I recently listened to this podcast about Steem and feel a little more comfortable about it's decentralization and use of the blockchain. I'm still not sure about the coin and it's 2 derivatives, but slightly more comfortable about their utility against gaming the system.