In March 2023, we ran a four-part miniseries called “trust,” where we talked about how trust works online from a bunch of different angles: free speech and platforms, gamer guilds, crypto and DAOs, justice, and more.
These episodes are pretty unique in their feed, with each one covering a different topic through interview segments and some background discussion between Ethan and Mike.
If you enjoy them, we’d be glad to make more episodes of the podcast like these. Don’t hesitate to reach out to our producer Mike and tell him what you think.
Do We Trust the Internet?
Should governments regulate how Facebook moderates speech? Can you sanction an automated smart contract that’s used for international money laundering? Was it a coincidence that every social media platform banned Donald Trump at the same time? In the first part of our 4-part miniseries looking at trust online, we welcome evelyn douek, host of the excellent podcast Moderated Content, and Primavera de Filippi, one of the foremost legal experts on blockchain, to answer a deceptively simple question: what does trust really mean on the Internet?
Why Would People Trust Crypto?
Cryptocurrency is supposedly the basis of trustless economy, but in the past few years there were a lot of everyday people who entrusted it with everything. How did this happen? In this episode of our miniseries on trust, we talk to Finn Brunton about the deep history of crypto and Molly White about how the crypto industry collapse started, and the regular people who got burned.
How to Start a Guild
Almost two decades ago, World of Warcraft gamers started gathering in guilds to share resources and organize raids. Did they create one of the most trustful types of communities on the entire Internet? This week on our trust mini-series, we talk about how artist and gaming communities cooperate with artist Kei Kreutler and sociologist of virtual worlds T.L. Taylor.
Do You Trust that Justice is Just?
Trusting justice means making it feel meaningful—people have to trust that justice systems are themselves just. To conclude our miniseries on Trust, we talk to Nathan Matias about how exactly people lost trust in Elon Musks’ Twitter, and revisit our recent interview with Tracey Meares and Tom Tyler about how procedural justice can convince can better local civics and online communities by making people feel like they have meaningful say in the process.