ASOMOCO Unplugged

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* The Inner Civil War, my follow-up to the Stone Soup Theory of Billionaires* Shaun Chamberlin 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 and whether Jay Graber of Bluesky can avoid itIn the second half, we have a crypto special:* Jemima Kelly and Eli Gothill on the Grim Ghost of Crypto Future* Numerical nouns vs. numerical adjectives and why this matters for the Hole in Bitcoin’s Heart* Professional wrestling and how it inspired my recent essay, 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. cryptocurrencyLinks and community shout-outs* Mark Kohr’s great ‘Ecodemmurage Currency’ video * Sarah Jaffe’s Work Won’t Love You Back* Surviving the Future by the late David Fleming, edited by Shaun Chamberlin (see also Lean Logic)* Shaun on Mastodon, and his excellent course on Surviving the Future* Josh Davila’s Blockchain Socialist podcast, and Blockchain Radicals book* David Graeber, Cory Doctorow and others in the SPECTRE video about basic incomeBonus for paying subscribersAll my sweet paying subscribers who keep ASOMOCO going get a bonus 14 minute meditative track here. 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.asomo.coWelcome 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* The influencer economy and algorithmic holidays* Propaganda on X, and the rise of Bluesky and Substack* A recent discussion on the potentially contradictory meanings of ‘anti-woke’* Ethnomusicology, and the anthropology of music* Grace Blakeley on the US election* 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 articlesFree subscribers get the first half, but if you want the full 45 minutes, sign up for a paid subscription here…