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'The Internet Was Illegal' and Other Early Stories With Zooko Wilcox

'The Internet Was Illegal' and Other Early Stories With Zooko Wilcox

'The Internet Was Illegal' and Other Early Stories With Zooko Wilcox

In this wide-ranging conversation, CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen and early cypherpunk Zooko Wilcox discuss what crypto can learn from technology successes and failures in the '80s and '90s.

In this wide-ranging conversation, CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen and early cypherpunk Zooko Wilcox discuss what crypto can learn from technology successes and failures in the '80s and '90s.

In this wide-ranging conversation, CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen and early cypherpunk Zooko Wilcox discuss what crypto can learn from technology successes and failures in the '80s and '90s.

AccessTimeIconJan 12, 2020, 2:40 PM
Updated Aug 19, 2021, 12:13 AM

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The best Sundays are for long reads and deep conversations. Earlier this week, the Let's Talk Bitcoin! show enlisted CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen and early cypherpunk Zooko Wilcox for a conversation on the history, challenges and long-term development path of early, formative technologies, which we often hear modern blockchain movements compared against. 

From the pre-internet days, through the free/open source movement, Linux's successes and challenges on the desktop, the peer-to-peer movement, cypherpunks, Linux maximalism, fundamentalism as a concept as well as some brief excursions through some history and politics of the time...

Later, we'll discuss how AI and lawyers have more in common than you'd think, and what kind of protections we may need as autonomous agents become ubiquitous.

Zooko's post-interview Twitter thread:

Episode Credits:

This episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin! is sponsored by Brave.com, eToro.com, and Purse.io.Original photo by Museums Victoria on Unsplash. This episode featured CoinDesk reporter Leigh Cuen and Zcash co-creator Zooko Wilcox. Music for today's episode was provided by Jared Rubens, and general fuzz, with editing by Jonas.  Have any questions or comments? Email adam@ltbshow.com.Find all 422 episodes at LTBShow.com

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