Podcast recommendations part 4
China in Africa Podcast
This podcast, with archives going back to 2012, currently covers key topics and interviews guests twice per week. I found it difficult to get started, but I want to learn more.
The China Africa Project (CAP) is a non-profit independent multimedia organization… in the United States with no partisan agenda whatsoever and does not advocate on behalf of any country, company, or culture.
https://open.spotify.com/show/7u9GPSNRk2B7vQcjyTrKiV?si=q07NlXyrSPa1AmAf5WY0Mg&nd=1
Dr Bitcoin — The Man Who Wasn’t Satoshi Nakamoto
A new, long-form report on Craig Wright’s claims to have invented Bitcoin and legal disputes as of December 2021. Wright has supporters and his own fork (Bitcoin SV), but outside of that community he’s widely believed to be a fraud and con artist. Nakamoto is an enigma, so how can Wright’s claims be disproven, and what would be the goals of the fraud?
This is a one-of-a-kind story and I’m glad someone has finally compiled all of the confusing threads and turns of this story (which as the creators point out, is about claims and legalities and not blockchain technology).
Why take Wright seriously? Bitcoin was going through a technical schism at the time, and having the original Satoshi return with a definitive answer was appealing. He was able to convince Gavin Andresen, the best-known Bitcoin developer at the time, that he’d signed a new message with the original Bitcoin keys. That convinced me initially, until Wright angrily refused to post a similar proof, or passed off old signatures as his proof. To keep the train running, Wright has complicated stories and objectives, but I’d long lost track.
The series has a great production value for a new group (CONTENT:ED Media). I don’t have a good idea of who they are; I wonder if this was created to shield the hosts from being sued?
Explained by Oklo
Oklo (pronounced “Oh-klo”) is a California startup making small nuclear reactors. The content is a good look into the particular quirks and hurdles of a nuclear startup. In my opinion, the audio/video quality of the interviews could be improved. Episodes were recorded in late 2020 and then resumed in the past ~2 months.
Kickstarter Union Oral History
This is the second season of an NYU podcast (Engelberg Center on Innovation Law & Policy), but it’s a self-contained story narrated by one of the organizers of Kickstarter United. These episodes were released from late 2020 to a final pandemic update in April 2021.
I didn’t have any info about this as it was happening, so it was fascinating to hear a retrospective on what was going wrong at the company and why the union was needed. There are recordings of all-hands meetings (the CEO announcing a policy and answering questions) so you very much feel ‘there’.
Kickstarter attracted an artsy / indie-empowerment workforce, their inciting incidents included a grab for the CEO role, and a question around the alt-right (is ‘Always Punch Nazis’ content acceptable, is it a liability) sparked debate early in the Trump administration.
In some ways this happened inside a specific place and time. The political issues and questions of that time are still around, but less at the forefront. Yet in other ways, Kickstarter has a ripple effect still felt in tech in recent years (Basecamp, Coinbase, and specifically union drives at Code for America and MapBox in 2021).
Other: Mixed Race in America
A five-episode mini-series released by the Washington Post in May 2017. Each episode has 15–20 minutes interviewing a woman who is mixed-race.
I found a link to this on a buried todo list, and I’m glad to finally listen.
