DECENTRALIZE, the podcast

After forty-two episodes of discussing almost every technology under the sun, we finally take on drones and their possibilities (quite a few, as we discover). We also discuss what drones, nuclear power, and other technologies spell for the future of war, as well as the role that entrepreneurship and decentralization play in turning killing machines into tools for peace. Friend of the show Jonathan Mayo-Buttry joins us this week to tell us about his work with drone manufacturer 3D Robotics, the principles of motion design, and his experience in producing well-known animations and videos for decentralized technology projects and companies. James is leaving the show this week. Before riding off into the sunset, he leaves a special message for DECENTRALIZE listeners at the end of this episode. Special Guest: Jonathan Mayo-ButtryHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys Want to watch our interviews live? Follow us on Google Plus to join our Hangout

Why do those who know the least about technology often have the most power to misuse it? We try to answer that question this week in a discussion of the debate over mandated security backdoors currently raging between media outlets and technologists. We also discuss the role of historical revisionism and examples of how a decentralist critique can add to our understanding of the role of power and freedom in the past. Our guest this week is Steve Dekorte, creator of decentralized marketplace BitMarkets and lead developer at Voluntary.net. We discuss the challenges and promises of uncensored trade, the proper place of anonymity and identity, and the philosophy driving the work of the Voluntary.net team. Special Guest: Steve DekorteHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys Want to watch our interviews live? Follow us on Google Plus to join our Hangouts on Air every Tuesday at 6:30 PM ET. Check out these links from this week's show: ##Technol

On this week's episode, we're pissed off and baffled by the copyright restrictions which have entangled the classic song "Happy Birthday" for more than a century. After we get over (not entirely) our anger at the intellectual monopoly regime, we discuss content creation platforms and the potential for open source protocols to decentralize sites like Reddit and Medium. Our guest this week is Torsten Hoffman, executive producer and director of award-winning documentary Bitcoin: The End of Money As We Know It. We ask Torsten about insights he's gained into cryptocurrency and monetary history through the course of creating the movie, the process and challenges of independent documentary filmmaking, and why he's chosen to release the film via Bittorrent. Special Guest: Torsten HoffmanHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys Want to see the documentary? Lucky you! You can use the code DECENTRALIZE on the film's Vimeo pa

This week's episode is a detour into the trends emerging for talent in the tech startup world. We talk about the glory of Red Bull-fueled hackathons, the rise of the unconventional career path, and the economics of building strong teams (and paying interns). In the second half of the show, we chat with legendary Perl expert and longtime FLOSS Weekly podcast host Randal Schwartz on topics ranging from the coolest open source software projects encountered over 400 episodes to the art of running a weekly tech show (just like ours!). Special Guest: Randal SchwartzHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys Check out these links from this week's show: HackStart: http://hackstart.me/Nina Mufleh's Airbnb Resume Site: http://www.nina4airbnb.com/ Perl Language: https://www.perl.org/TWiT Network: https://twit.tv/ Randal Schwartz on Google Plus: https://plus.google.com/+RandalLSchwartzRandal Schwartz Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki

This week's episode is a dive into the life sciences. We discuss the growing information access and decreasing costs which are enabling a biohacked biotech revolution. We also cover John Deere's recent efforts to use intellectual property restrictions to prohibit farmers from modifying farm equipment. University of Wisconsin Horticulture Department Chair and Professor Irwin Goldman joins us to discuss the work of the Open Source Seed Initiative, a project dedicated to protecting and developing plant varieties free from intellectual property controls. Special Guest: Irwin GoldmanHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys Check out these links from this week's show: "We Can't Let John Deere Destroy the Very Idea of Ownership," WIRED Magazine: http://www.wired.com/2015/04/dmca-ownership-john-deere/ "Biohacking in the Garage," Seth Bannon: http://sethbannon.com/biotech-in-the-garage

In this week's episode, we discuss the failure of central planning in the midst of the Greek debt crisis and the future of ownership in a digital world. Tony gives his review of Apple Music, and the interminable debate over the relative value of open source technology and user-friendly services continues... Former coworker and friend of the DECENTRALIZE team Manuel Araoz joins the show this week to discuss Streamium, a decentralized, peer to peer paid video streaming service built with bitcoin payment channels. Special Guest: Manuel AraozHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys Check out these links from this week's show: Detroit: An American Autopsy by Charlie LeDuff: http://www.amazon.com/Detroit-American-Autopsy-Charlie-LeDuff/dp/0143124463As We Go Marching by John T. Flynn: https://mises.org/library/we-go-marchingThe Use of Knowledge In Society by Friedrich Hayek: http://fee.org/freeman/detail/the-use-of-knowledge-in-society Bit

Is your work future-proof? On this week's show, we talk about the decentralized future of manufacturing in a long-awaited (by us) episode featuring 3D printing technology and the questions of a world without human labor. We also discuss the evolution of Bitcoin Core, particularly with BIP 47's proposal for payment codes as a solution for user privacy. We're joined this week by Bitcoin master Andreas Antonopoulos to discuss his work in multisignature security with Third Key Solutions, his recent book Mastering Bitcoin, his thoughts on Bitcoin Core development and the block size debate, and why he thinks decentralization is so important for justice. Special Guest: Andreas AntonopoulosHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys Want to help translate Andreas's book Mastering Bitcoin? Check out the Transifex project here: https://www.transifex.com/projects/p/mastering-bitcoin/ Check out these links from the show: EconTalk: "Chris

With the whole team back together in Atlanta at DECENTRALIZE Central, we take a detour from our usual format for a full hour of discussion on how how decentralization is making everything better and cooler, from marketplaces and engineering to gaming and music. In a special segment in this episode, Eric shares the announcement of his new decentralized application platform Fabric. Don't miss it! Hosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Thin Lizzy and Toni Leys Check out these links from the show: Open Bazaar Funding: https://blog.openbazaar.org/openbazaar-is-entering-a-new-phase-with-funding/ Gittorrent Whitepaper: http://blog.printf.net/articles/2015/05/29/announcing-gittorrent-a-decentralized-github/Gittorrent on GitHub: https://github.com/cjb/gittorrent Apple Music Keynote: http://www.apple.com/live/2015-june-event/ (starts at 103:20)Soundtrack.io: http://soundtrack.io/Webtorrent: https://github.com/feross/webtorrentGoogle's Project Soli: h

After thirty-four episodes, the DECENTRALIZE team needed a bit of R&R, so this week's episode is shorter than usual. James takes a few minutes to chat about his recent visit to the mystical tech land of San Francisco and shares some of the exciting projects and fascinating young founders and inventors he encountered at last weekend's Thiel Summit. Syed Karim joins us this week for a discussion of Outernet – an ambitious project started with the goal of bringing access to the internet's information to every person on earth via satellite broadcast. We dig into the open source hardware plans for Outernet's receiver devices and talk to Syed about Outernet's philosophical underpinnings, the threat of (and workarounds to) censorship, and the team's future plans for scaling this "public library for humanity." Special Guest: Syed KarimHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz Ferguson Music By: Toni Leys Check out these links from the show: T

This episode was recorded in the wake of the assignment of a double life sentence for alleged Silk Road creator Ross Ulbricht. We share our reactions to the chilling effect of the sentencing proceedings and discuss our feelings on what this means for us and for others interested in building a more peaceful and decentralized world. Julia Tourianski joins us to talk about her experiences as an activist and filmmaker challenging power structures through her blog and YouTube channel Brave the World, where she covers topics ranging from armed self-defense to anarchism. We also ask her about her participation in the "Free Ross" movement that has arisen organically over the course of Ulbricht's imprisonment, and she shares some ways (see full notes below) that decentralists can support Ross and his family even after the sentencing. Special Guest: Julia Tourianski Hosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz Ferguson Music By: Toni Leys and Rage Against the Machine Wa

This episode is all about movements. Do we need them? Are the ideas of the "Bitcoin community" and "the decentralization movement" more harmful than helpful? We take a look at how movements emerge, how they work, how they affect individuals and their goals. Our guest this week is Max Borders, co-founder of Voice & Exit, a "Festival of the Future" for artists, inventors, and entrepreneurs promoting human flourishing and freedom through permissionless innovation. We talk to Max about the concepts of "voice" and "exit," how the event combines the atmosphere of a TED Talk and a celebration, and how the Voice & Exit team is building a decentralized model for the global growth of their "exiter" community. Special Guest: Max BordersHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys Hey, DECENTRALIZE listeners! Our guest Max Borders generously offered our listeners 20% off the price of a Voic

The DECENTRALIZE team gets philosophical on this week's episode, launching directly into a wide-ranging discussion of the role of technology in humanity's future. We delve into the preservation of humanity's physical legacy in a digital age, the ethics of strong AI rebellion and the possibility of transhumanism, and the decentralized, antifragile qualities of technologies built to survive attacks from nation-states, asteroids, and Arnold Schwartzneggerian terminator robots. Our guests this week are Blocktech Group CEO Devon Read and Ryan Taylor, frontend developer for the Blocktech Group's project Alexandria – a blockchain-based distributed digital library and publishing platform. We talk to our guests about the goals, challenges, and tools of the team building this ambitious project to protect the world's art, history, and culture from censorship. Learn more about Alexandria and learn how to participate in what the Blocktech Group is building: http://blocktech.com/ Special Guests: Devon

On this week's episode, we tackle the growing rebellion against the conformist culture of college and discuss the need for creative and decentralized education options. We also attempt to settle the age-old divide between marketers and makers in tech, and we explore what makes companies, products, and careers truly great. We're joined by special guest Ryan X. Charles, former astrophysicist, veteran of BitPay and Reddit, and current software engineer at BitGo. Ryan tells us about his experience in building Reddit's cryptoequity platform and shares his comments on BitGo's controversial defensive patent strategy. We also hear his thoughts on open source philosophy, the programming learning curve, and the practical freedom provided by decentralized technologies. Special Guest: Ryan X. CharlesHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys

In this special episode of DECENTRALIZE, show host Tony Sakich interviews legendary musician, singer-songwriter, producer, and outspoken music industry critic Steve Albini. The two discuss Bitcoin, intellectual property, corporatism, and differing approaches to artist empowerment and decentralization in the digital age.

On this episode of DECENTRALIZE, we take some tenuous steps into the space between technology and political theory. Our discussion begins with an exploration the persistent popularity of virtual worlds and their significance to individual freedom. We launch from there into a brief intro to panarchy – the laissez faire governance theory proposed by a French guy in the 19th century(Paul Emile de Puydt, http://bit.ly/1AQbTsq). We have our first double-guest booking this week (with a few small hiccups along the way), with Dan Metcalf of blockchain networking project Blocknet (http://blocknet.co/) and digital payments project XCurrency (http://bit.ly/1IsBKhZ) as well as Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof of alternative governance startup BitNation (http://bit.ly/1FeFNhq). In our interview, we talk to these founders about the inspiration, challenges, and goals of their work in the field of blockchain applications. Special Guests: Susanne Tarkowski Tempelhof and Dan Metcalf Hosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric

We return for Episode 27 to talk about the increasingly noticeable effect of tech entrepreneurship in unbundling goods and services. We also talk about the growing power of the Bitcoin mining network and share our thoughts on the importance of the economic way of thinking in understanding the world of decentralized tech. Then prediction market specialist and academic economist Robin Hanson of George Mason University joins us to discuss his interactions with the early cypherpunk community, the meaning of futarchy, and what the reactions to Bitcoin, PGP, and prediction markets reveal about the economics and psychology that drive (and stall) technology adoption. Special Guest: Robin HansonHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys

This week we start talking about how much we love the new Star Wars trailer and cannot stop despite multiple attempts. The conversation branches out into favorite movies, the science fiction genre, and the elements of great films. We spend much of the latter part of the show discussing the unique characteristics, challenges, and redeeming moments of startup work. We were joined this week by Nick Sullivan, founder and CEO of ChangeTip, to talk about the origin of his career in "creationeering" and the significance of the many uses for bitcoin microtransactions. Nick announces some exciting news for ChangeTip and teases future developments from the company leading innovation in social tipping. Special Guest: Nick SullivanHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys

On this 25th episode of DECENTRALIZE, we shoot the breeze on our favorite moments of April folly (and legitimate absurdity) in the tech industry. More serious discussions ensue as we cover the sharing economy's move into the formerly-closed Cuba, Microsoft's hints of an open source shift for Windows, and the rising dissent against centralized higher education. Hosted By: Tony Sakich & James WalpoleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys

On this week's episode, we are joined by DECENTRALIZE producer Chaz Ferguson to discuss the origins and significance of GitHub's current DDOS siege and the market for decentralized code sharing services. We also explore the restrictions which immigration controls place on technological progress as well as the workarounds now emerging for individuals and startups. Then legendary pro wrestler Glenn Jacobs joins us for a discussion of the political philosophy of libertarianism and his criticisms of the economic and political arguments for cryptocurrency. Special Guest: Glenn JacobsHosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric MartindaleProduced By: Chaz FergusonMusic By: Toni Leys

DECENTRALIZE returns this week with a tour de force of mobile payments coverage, from Square Cash to Facebook Pay. We talk about what these developments from the major players spell for bitcoin and for peer to peer transaction in general. Then we discuss the fascinating topic of the decentralized organization and explore how companies like Valve and Morning Star operate (better) without hierarchies or bosses. We have one of our favorite interviews yet with Catheryne Nicholson, co-founder and CEO of Blockcypher. Catheryne talks to us about her company's role in the rapid expansion and transformation of Bitcoin and blockchain development. Special Guest: Catheryne Nicholson Hosted By: Tony Sakich, James Walpole, & Eric Martindale Produced By: Chaz Ferguson Music By: Toni Leys