Ep 54: Andrew Thurman on Absurd Art, Virtual Embassies, and Why Walken’s Watch Was Worth so Much

I talk with Coindesk reporter and entrepreneur Andrew Thurman about Non-Fungible-Tokens, what gives them value, and the history of absurd art. We also discuss the implication of Barbados opening a virtual embassy in the Metaverse.

Related links:

Andrew Thurman on Coindesk

Follow Andrew on Twitter

Article by Matt Asher about the Metaverse as dystopia

Ep 53: Walter Block on Blackmail, Suicide, and Voluntary Schmavery

I talk with economist and philosopher Walter Block. We discuss his series of books, Defending the Undefendable. The third and latest in that trilogy was recently released. Block defends the legality, and sometimes the morality, of a variety of generally maligned practices and people. We talk about these, as well as libertarian punishment theory, how to handle hostage takers, and the infamous flagpole problem.

Related links:

Walter Block page at Loyola University

Defending the Undefendable III

Walter Block author page at alibris

 

Ep 50: Adam B. Levine on Irreversible Transactions

I talk with Adam B. Levine, managing editor at Coindesk, about decentralized finance startup Compound’s very costly error and their CEO’s ham-fisted attempt to fix it. We discuss ethereum, immutability, fungibility, and what constitutes a hack in the context of code as law.

Related links:

Adam B. Levine Homepage

Compound sends out extra COMP

Adam’s author page at Coindesk

 

Ep 49: Reed Coverdale on Trucking, Memeing, and Making a Garand go BRRRRRRRR


In this episode I speak with Reed Coverdale, trucker, gun hacker, meme lord, podcast host, noted 9/11 conspiracy theory denier, and man with a moustache. We talk status among truckers, supply chains, lolberts, border walls, John McAfee, Dom/Sub twitter, and why Reed’s Garand goes BRRRRRRRR.

Related links:

Reed on Twitter

Natural Capitalist Podcast

Ep 46: Robert A. Jensen on Life After Death

I talk with Robert A. Jensen, author of the new book Personal Effects: What Recovering the Dead Teaches Me About Caring for the Living. Over the past three decades Jensen has travelled to every major disaster you’ve heard of, and many you haven’t, to help recover bodies and the personal effects of the deceased. We discuss the importance of recovering “fragments”, the role played by local customs in his work, the politics of dead bodies, and why the British Empire buried their citizens wherever they died.

Related links:

• Jensen’s former company, Kenyon International Emergency Services

Robert A. Jensen homepage

• Personal Effects for sale at Barns & Noble