048 - Mason: Free Cities at Sea, Atlas Island & Seasteading

Timothy Allen talks with Mason Leschyna. Today I have the first episode recorded at 'Liberty in Our Lifetime' 2024. I had a number of conversations on my bucket list for the conference and one of those was speaking to somebody about Seasteading, something that I was fortunate enough to do on two separate occasions. One of those was with Joe Quirk, the President of the Seasteading Institute and the other was with today's guest Mason Leschyna, the brains behind Atlas Island, a project planning to create sovereign cities at sea. Now, I feel that I should pre-empt this show with a small plea to please forgive me for thinking out loud a fair bit on this episode. Those of you that follow the pod will know that my preferred style of investigation is very much to find out about things in real life from real people, something that I believe allows you the listener to join me as I work this stuff out in real time. So, if you’re a hardened Seasteader then there may not be anything new for you here, but if, like me you had a very specific set of beliefs about the viability of Free Cities in the ocean then I invite you to join me as I get me mind well and truly educated. Mason is a great ambassador for both Seasteading and the Free Cities movement as a whole and I can guarantee you that this is the first conversation of many as this project evolves in the coming months and years. Enjoy the conversation. LIBERTY IN OUR LIFETIME CONFERENCE ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ TIMESTAMPS [0:30] Introduction. [5:44] What is Atlas Island? [7:11] How did you get into Seasteading? [11:45] 101 of Atlas Island. [13:30] Atlas Island: Stage 1. [17:04] Atlas Island: Stage 2. [22:56] Creating a floating city with independence and self-sufficiency. [28:24] Atlas Island: Stage 3. [33:22] Space travel and floating cities. [37:55] Catamarans, floating harbors, and stable boat designs. [42:44] Oil platforms and sovereignty in the North Sea. [46:53] Atlas Island: Stage 4. [51.48] Atlas Island: Stage 5. [52:16] Flagging a floating platform for sovereignty and legal protection. [57:11] Who’s going to build the roads?. [1:00:54] Seasteading and rising sea levels. [1:04:36] Tax-free living and sailing on a boat. [1:08:46] Flag theory and its potential impact on the cruise industry. [1:13:50] Seasteading vs cruises. [1:20:10] Building prototype Seasteading catamarans. TWITTER: Atlas Island: ⁠https://twitter.com/AtlasIsland_⁠ Timothy Allen: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/freecitiesfound⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ OTHER LINKS: Atlas Island: ⁠https://atlasisland.org/⁠ Free Cities Foundation: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://free-cities.org/⁠⁠