Conversations about science, technology, history, philosophy and the nature of intelligence, consciousness, love, and power. Lex is an AI researcher at MIT and beyond.
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#231 – Alex Gladstein: Bitcoin, Authoritarianism, and Human Rights
Alex Gladstein is the Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation and the Oslo Freedom Forum. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors:
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EPISODE LINKS:
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The Little Bitcoin Book: https://littlebitcoinbook.com/
Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org/
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OUTLINE:
Here’s the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time.
(00:00) – Introduction
(08:36) – Universal human rights
(22:35) – Authoritarianism
(32:46) – AIs impact on civil liberties
(44:09) – Edward Snowden and government surveillance
(47:48) – Money
(52:01) – Bitcoin
(1:07:48) – Government response to Bitcoin
(1:18:19) – The blockchain
(1:23:42) – Can Bitcoin fail?
(1:26:33) – Bitcoin scams
(1:30:17) – Patriotism
(1:32:41) – Human Rights Foundation
(1:37:15) – Conflict with China
(1:40:05) – Corporate accountability
(1:55:27) – Garry Kasparov and the HRF
(2:00:36) – Journalism, conversations, and truth
(2:07:50) – Alex’s book recommendations
(2:15:56) – Attacks on Bitcoin
(2:17:35) – The future of humanity
(2:21:57) – Advice for young people
(2:33:13) – Meaning of life