Introducing ASOMOCO Unplugged, EP.1

ASOMOCO Unplugged Episode 2

Dear ASOMOCO community, I’m really happy to present Episode 2 of my new podcast ASOMOCO Unplugged, a relaxed and informal walk through the chaos of our economic system, accompanied by musical compositions and guest contributions. In the first half we cover: * Karmic reciprocity, David Graeber and Intro to Econ Life [https://www.asomo.co/s/econ-life-101] * The Inner Civil War [https://www.asomo.co/p/the-inner-civil-war], my follow-up to the Stone Soup Theory of Billionaires [https://www.asomo.co/p/the-stone-soup-theory-of-billionaires] * Shaun Chamberlin [https://www.darkoptimism.org/] on why we should use Mastodon * Animism vs. monotheism, and a beautiful song from The Mononoke Wolf Choir * Cory Doctorow’s concept of Big Tech Enshittification [https://pluralistic.net/2024/11/02/ulysses-pact/#tie-yourself-to-a-federated-mast] and whether Jay Graber of Bluesky can avoid it In the second half, we have a crypto special: * Jemima Kelly and Eli Gothill on the Grim Ghost of Crypto Future [https://www.ft.com/content/d56802aa-fa82-40f4-9cc6-36bbb8d2b35e] * Numerical nouns vs. numerical adjectives and why this matters for the Hole in Bitcoin’s Heart [https://www.asomo.co/p/the-hole-in-bitcoins-heart] * Professional wrestling and how it inspired my recent essay, the Art of Crypto Kayfabe [https://www.asomo.co/p/the-art-of-crypto-kayfabe] * The crucial concept of countertrade, and how it secretly governs the Bitcoin world * Josh Davila on TrumpMusk’s Bitcoin gambit, patronage networks and the risk of political manipulation of the crypto markets * Cryptography vs. cryptocurrency Links and community shout-outs * Mark Kohr’s great ‘Ecodemmurage Currency’ video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Up13sMDqBsU] * Sarah Jaffe’s Work Won’t Love You Back [https://www.hurstpublishers.com/book/work-wont-love-you-back/] * Surviving the Future [https://www.chelseagreen.com/product/surviving-the-future/] by the late David Fleming, edited by Shaun Chamberlin (see also Lean Logic [https://leanlogic.online/]) * Shaun on Mastodon [https://mstdn.social/@DarkOptimism], and his excellent course on Surviving the Future [https://ecogather.ing/surviving-the-future/] * Josh Davila’s Blockchain Socialist podcast [https://theblockchainsocialist.com/], and Blockchain Radicals book [https://repeaterbooks.com/product/blockchain-radicals-how-capitalism-ruined-crypto-and-how-to-fix-it/] * David Graeber, Cory Doctorow and others in the SPECTRE video [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-MNdOUML-A] about basic income Bonus for paying subscribers All my sweet paying subscribers who keep ASOMOCO going get a bonus 14 minute meditative track here [https://www.asomo.co/p/asomoco-unplugged-ep-2-bonus]. Enjoy! This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.asomo.co/subscribe [https://www.asomo.co/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_2]

Introducing ASOMOCO Unplugged, EP.1

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.asomo.co [https://www.asomo.co?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_7] Welcome to ASOMOCO Unplugged, a new experimental podcast format in which I discuss some big things happening in the world of political economics alongside bits of juicy gossip from friends, all interspersed by musical compositions. On today’s episode I play a kalimba through an Ibanez TubeScreamer and talk about… * Stone Soup Theory of billionaires [https://www.asomo.co/p/the-stone-soup-theory-of-billionaires] * The influencer economy and algorithmic holidays * Propaganda on X, and the rise of Bluesky and Substack * A recent discussion [https://substack.com/@brettscott/note/c-77894383?utm_source=activity_item] on the potentially contradictory meanings of ‘anti-woke’ * Ethnomusicology, and the anthropology of music * Grace Blakeley on the US election [https://substack.com/home/post/p-151378226] * Marxism, David Graeber and SPECTRE * My friend Julio’s upcoming book on Abolishing the US dollar * Julio reporting in live from Thailand about quantum money and crypto kings * Why I’m planning to write about crypto again * Upcoming articles Free subscribers get the first half, but if you want the full 45 minutes, sign up for a paid subscription here…