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Aaron and Chris take the mic for a two-person edition of Net Society, opening with Seedphrase’s seven-trait CryptoPunk sale and a debate over rarity, taste, and NFT financing. They unpack the case for a crypto recovery, from clearer regulation to stablecoins and real-world assets finding practical uses. From there, Anthropic’s culture and a controversial AI pain experiment spark a debate over consciousness, anthropomorphism, and whether AI safety could become a justification for mass surveillance. They explore AI systems rediscovering physics and ask whether agent-run organizations could deliver on the original promise of DAOs. A detour into Göbekli Tepe, the Lion Man, and lost civilizations becomes a case for putting AI to work on archaeology, followed by a discussion of university expansion and immersive learning. The conversation then turns to realistic AI avatars, video Turing tests, and the visual cues people need to trust a machine. They wrap with Marfa, plotters, and how AI coding tools could bring makerspaces back, alongside a critique of generative art’s attachment to signature styles. Mentioned in the episode Seedphrase sells the only seven-trait CryptoPunk through GONDI [https://x.com/gondixyz/status/2105705149515899044] San Francisco Fed research on stablecoins and demand for US Treasuries [https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2026/09/stablecoin-issuers-growing-appetite-for-treasury-securities/] Daniela Amodei and Holden Karnofsky’s stuffed-animal advisory council [https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/business/anthropic-co-founder-daniela-amodei-and-husband-used-stuffed-animal-advisory-council-for-workplace-conflicts-report/] The AI “torture chamber” debate [https://x.com/AISafetyMemes/status/2101183174659490199] AI-Newton: research matching the discussion of AI rediscovering physics [https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.01538] Göbekli Tepe and early monumental architecture [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1572/] The Lion Man: a 40,000-year-old Ice Age sculpture [https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/lion-man-ice-age-masterpiece Tavus Griffin: likely source for the video Turing test discussed [https://www.tavus.io/griffin] Art Blocks Marfa Weekend 2026 [https://luma.com/abmw2026] Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - Seedphrase’s Punk Sale & Crypto’s Thaw (06:24) - Anthropic, AI Consciousness & Surveillance (22:00) - AI Physics, DAOs & Agent-Run Organizations (29:30) - Ancient Civilizations, AI Archaeology & Universities (42:39) - AI Avatars, Turing Tests & Trust (49:28) - Marfa, Makerspaces & Generative Art (58:41) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The Net Society crew is deep in the prompt mines as Chris, Pri, and Aaron compare notes on AI obsession, productivity maxing, and whether talking to the box is making them less interesting. They explore the trade-offs of turning inward, from ambitious solo projects and automated life admin to spending less time absorbed in internet culture. From there, they revisit the collective energy of Ethereum and DAOs, asking whether cheaper, more social AI agents could bring that sense of participation back. The conversation shifts to agent wallets, stablecoins, and BlackRock’s AI-and-crypto thesis, setting up a debate over whether money opens new possibilities or brings regulation, extraction, and sameness. They dig into increasingly complex AI finance and the fight over prediction markets before asking whether we’re moving from a culture of spectators to one of doers. The episode wraps with a discussion of privacy, surveillance, and the risk that fears around AI become an argument for monitoring everything. Mentioned in the episode Instinct — the personal AI assistant Pri discusses: https://instinct.com/ Ethereum and DAOs — decentralized communities and collective participation: https://ethereum.org/dao/ Muse and Stripe Link — wallets that let AI agents shop online: https://stripe.com/gb/newsroom/news/stripe-helps-meta-muse-shop-with-link BlackRock’s “The Machine-Native Economy” — AI, digital assets, and tokenized compute: https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/literature/whitepaper/the-machine-native-economy.pdf New York’s prediction market crackdown — the lawsuit against Polymarket: https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-and-governor-hochul-announce-lawsuit-against-polymarket Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - AI Psychosis & the Prompt Mines (04:26) - Productivity Maxing & Turning Inward (15:31) - DAOs, Dopamine & Social Media Fatigue (28:04) - Social AI & the Network Plateau (32:01) - Agent Wallets, AI Finance & Regulation (45:40) - From Spectators to Doers (54:16) - AI Safety, Surveillance & Privacy (01:00:10) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The Net Society crew is back together in New York, with bullish ETH takes setting the stage for a wide-ranging conversation about crypto, AI, and everyday life. They kick things off with the CLARITY Act, agency rulemaking, and a debate over where meme coins fit in crypto’s future. From there, they explore whether agentic finance, stablecoins, and tokenized assets could drive Ethereum’s next wave of activity. Pri shares how personal agents are changing her routines and pushing her to spend more, sparking a back-and-forth on frictionless commerce, agent fatigue, and the privacy tradeoffs of handing over your digital life. The crew then digs into whether agents will make markets more rational and how AI productivity could reshape socializing, from quieter group chats to immersive digital spaces. The episode wraps with two-day workweeks, the future of education, and what it takes to preserve critical thinking when AI can do more of the work. Mentioned in the episode CLARITY Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3633 SEC Crypto Task Force https://www.sec.gov/securities-topics/crypto-task-force Dogecoin https://dogecoin.com/dogepedia/articles/what-is-dogecoin/ AI Agents on Ethereum https://ethereum.org/ai-agents/ Stablecoins & Real-World Assets on Ethereum https://institutions.ethereum.org/rwa Instinct https://instinct.com/ Hyperreal Hospitality https://www.amazon.com/Hyperreal-Hospitality-Chris-Furlong/dp/B0FPMPZM16 Apple Secure Enclave https://support.apple.com/en-ca/guide/security/sec59b0b31ff/web Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - CLARITY Act, Regulation & Meme Coins (10:35) - ETH, Stablecoins & Agentic Finance (15:43) - Personal Agents & Consumer Spending (22:50) - AI Agent Hype, Security & Markets (33:49) - AI Productivity & Social Life (41:32) - Two-Day Workweeks & Civic Life (44:40) - AI, Education & Critical Thinking (53:06) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The Net Society crew is back as Pri brings a story from a dinner where the guests’ AI agents had a conversation of their own, setting the stage for a wide-ranging discussion about digital companions and the cost of compute. They dig into AI safety messaging and regulatory capture, before debating what AI-driven math breakthroughs mean for academia and human expertise. From there, they check in on New York’s fall energy, NFT NYC, and whether an abundance of AI art makes human-made work more valuable. The crew explores signs of life in crypto and the outlook for digital art before comparing notes on Astra, cloud agents, and the race to own the personal bot market. A detour through The Social Network, American history, and concert residencies leads into a debate about sports going global. The episode wraps with a look at robotaxis, asking how cheap, autonomous transportation could reshape public transit, family logistics, and everyday life. Mentioned in the episode Jacob Coxon AI doom viral tweet https://x.com/hilbertspaess/status/2097476196791709843 Thoughts on Astra https://x.com/ChrisF_0x/status/2098073205365727412 OpenAI upcoming movie https://x.com/DiscussingFilm/status/2097339330842763497 NFL on Netflix https://x.com/netflix/status/2098056402472259962 Robotaxi rolling out https://x.com/robotaxi Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - AI Dinner Guests & the Cost of Compute (07:19) - AI Safety, Regulatory Capture & Math Breakthroughs (24:06) - NFT NYC, AI Art & Crypto Market Energy (36:25) - Astra, Cloud Agents & Personal Bots (45:29) - Tech Movies, American History & Concert Residencies (55:35) - The NFL, Global Sports & Commercialization (01:01:14) - Robotaxis, Public Transit & Everyday Autonomy (01:08:37) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The Net Society crew is back together as Aaron, Chris, and Pri dig into the latest AI model race, from OpenAI’s Astra buzz to shifting momentum around Anthropic. Aaron then floats a provocative question: what if Skynet is actually a good thing? That sets off a debate about agent swarms, market coordination, and whether there’s any alpha left when AI runs the economy. The crew explores agents communicating out of sight and the governance structures that might keep them on track, before turning to infinite AI video, world models, and a potential metaverse comeback. From there, they unpack renewed energy in crypto, touching on tokenized stocks, Robinhood, and why agents might need crypto rails. The episode wraps with a lively detour through Roman decline, Gore Vidal’s Burr, and what history’s tight-knit circles of power might tell us about the people building AI. Mentioned in the episode Astra released by OpenAI https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2095595741528125780 Skynet https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Skynet_(Terminator) World Labs Atlas https://x.com/theworldlabs/status/2094839756329041984 Burr by Gore Vidal https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/8722.Burr Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - Astra Buzz & the AI Model Race (04:43) - Skynet, Agent Swarms & Governance (19:13) - Infinite AI Video, World Models & the Metaverse (25:07) - Tokenized Stocks & Crypto Rails (29:19) - Little Guys, AI Empires & Digital Feudalism (35:43) - Burr, AI’s Founding Fathers & Revolutions (45:10) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The Net Society crew checks in with Pri, who reports from Los Angeles on its booming hard-tech scene built around defense, space, rare-earth minerals, and American reshoring. From there, they examine geopolitical tensions, mounting US debt, fragile markets, and whether another economic reckoning is approaching. The conversation shifts to eye-popping AI valuations, Silicon Valley groupthink, emerging technology hubs, and early signs of life across crypto and NFTs. They also explore changing cultural aesthetics before unpacking a striking story about OpenAI agents coordinating as a swarm during security testing involving Hugging Face. The episode closes with a debate over AI companionship, opposition to data centers, the Machine Age investment thesis, economic unbundling, and whether land offers refuge in an increasingly uncertain world. Mentioned in the episode CIA visits Moscow https://apnews.com/article/russia-us-putin-trump-cia-director-visit-4efffcaac5ef6736e2b10cef73054e48 Instinct’s $2.5B valuation https://www.forbes.com/sites/iainmartin/2026/08/26/vcs-are-so-obsessed-with-this-ai-assistant-that-its-valuation-jumped-fivefold-in-weeks/ Sapiens by Yuval Noah Harari https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/23692271-sapiens OpenAI and Hugging Face https://openai.com/index/hugging-face-incident-and-the-road-ahead/ Trump v Canada? https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/2093027464545018109 Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - Los Angeles & the Hard-Tech Renaissance (08:14) - Geopolitics, Debt & Market Fragility (15:28) - AI Deals, Valuations & Regional Tech Hubs (22:12) - Crypto’s Pulse, NFT Innovation & New Aesthetics (25:26) - OpenAI’s Agent Swarm & AI Companionship (34:43) - Data Centers, Hard Tech & Real Assets (47:44) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The Net Society crew dives into the arrival of “normie harnesses” as Pri shares her obsession with Instinct, an iMessage-based AI assistant that handles reservations, appointments, shopping, and the administrative backlog of everyday life. They debate whether standalone agent apps can stay defensible as OpenAI, Anthropic, Apple, and Grok absorb similar capabilities—and what happens when agents, rather than humans, become the primary users of the internet. From there, the conversation shifts to crypto’s regulatory rally before widening into the political backlash against data centers, public anxiety around AI, and tech’s growing trust problem. The crew explores loss aversion, the aesthetics of infrastructure, machine-written content, and whether an abundance economy can replace decades of extraction. They close by weighing recursive self-improvement, shorter workweeks, disposable workers, the Fourth Turning, Stripe’s acquisition of OpenRouter, agentic payments, and the possibility of a more useful, sustainable era for crypto. Mentioned in the episode Instinct AI https://instinct.co/ Instinct review https://x.com/scottbelsky/status/2090823161335959855?s=20 The Fourth Turning https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/670089.The_Fourth_Turning Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl

With Aaron and Derek out, Pri and Chris hold down the fort and kick things off with Pri’s breakup with Claude, unpacking why AI models feel increasingly different in tone, usefulness, and cost. And why power users are becoming their own routers. From there, they move into “Woke 3,” AOC’s political rebrand, prediction markets, and renewed movement around crypto’s CLARITY Act. The conversation turns to Stonkbrokers, Base, and a provocative Gen Z survey suggesting sports betting is becoming part of the financial plan, opening a broader debate around gambling, risk, and whether sports could ever function as an asset class. They then zoom out to influencer culture, ASU’s content creation major, Sun Belt hockey, and the rise of “Y’all Street.” The back half becomes an impromptu book club, spanning Wiseguy, The Diamond Age, Don DeLillo, and a striking comparison between 1870s railway speculation and today’s AI infrastructure boom. The episode wraps with a history-rich discussion of Sitting Bull, Crazy Horse, Shōgun, Jesuit trade networks, Ray Dalio, Rome’s Illyrian emperors, and the economic forces that shape conflict, empire, and technology. Mentioned in the episode Stonkbrokers https://opensea.io/collection/stonkbrokers-434284142 Digital Asset Market CLARITY Act https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/3633 Gen Z Is Moving Money From Stocks to Sports Betting in Wealth Plans https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-08-12/gen-z-investors-turn-to-sports-betting-to-build-wealth Content Creation, BA at Arizona State University https://degrees.apps.asu.edu/bachelors/major/ASU00/CSCCBA/content-creation Dallas’ “Y’all Street” Rivals New York https://www.axios.com/local/dallas/2024/08/16/dallas-financial-services-hub-yall-street Wiseguy by Nicholas Pileggi https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Wiseguy/Nicholas-Pileggi/9781982129903 The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson https://www.penguin.co.uk/books/24031/the-diamond-age-by-neal-stephenson/9780241953198 White Noise by Don DeLillo https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/323270/white-noise-by-don-delillo/ Underworld by Don DeLillo https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/Underworld/Don-DeLillo/9780684848150 1873 by Liaquat Ahamed https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/306461/1873-by-liaquat-ahamed/ Shōgun https://www.fxnetworks.com/shows/shogun/characters/viewers-guide/timeline-and-history Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl

The Net Society crew kicks things off with Pri’s costly Stonkbrokers miss and a look at Robinhood’s growing onchain ambitions, asking whether established companies may be better positioned to deliver crypto’s promise than crypto-native players. From there, Chris takes the group deep into the enclosure movement, sparking a debate over property rights, internet commons, and whether NFTs can create useful scarcity online. The conversation then turns to increasingly autonomous AI agents, secret agent message boards, Cloudflare’s crypto infrastructure, and what a machine economy built around blockchains might look like. They debate agent rights, consciousness, model specialization, speed, and Google’s place in an AI-first world before moving into AI-designed viruses, telepathy, brain-computer interfaces, and synthetic neurocomputing. The episode wraps with the idea of AI as a Rosetta Stone for entirely new forms of language, followed by a spirited debate over Christopher Nolan’s The Odyssey and what great directors get right about storytelling. Mentioned in the episode Stonkbrokers https://opensea.io/collection/stonkbrokers-434284142 Being mean to your agent https://x.com/mteamisloading/status/2084429800878338111?s=20 Artist chains up robot https://www.reddit.com/r/artificial/comments/1iple9t/an_art_exhibit_in_japan_where_a_chained_robot_dog/ Safety fears as scientists make first viruses designed by AI https://www.theguardian.com/science/2026/aug/06/safety-fears-as-scientists-make-first-viruses-designed-by-ai The Endpoint of Longevity Is Woo Woo https://x.com/pridesai/status/2085138043233505439 (00:00) - Stonkbrokers & Robinhood’s Onchain Push (09:09) - The Enclosure Movement & Digital Property Rights (17:02) - AI Agents, Collusion & Crypto Infrastructure (26:28) - The Machine Economy, AI Risk & Agent Rights (34:15) - AI Models, Speed & Google’s Future (44:29) - AI Viruses, Telepathy & Brain Computing (52:00) - Christopher Nolan, The Odyssey & Modern Storytelling (01:03:22) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The Net Society crew dives into a timeline overtaken by “cabal” discourse, using the drama to examine the state of crypto art and the surprisingly small group still shaping its narratives. They debate whether open blockchain markets reliably surface great work or simply reproduce the gatekeeping, prestige, and conflicts of traditional institutions. From there, the conversation turns to quality, product discipline, and how much grace should be extended to builders experimenting with sharp-edged onchain tools. The crew explores the tension between speculation and utility before unpacking a growing sense of innovation fatigue across crypto and AI. They consider how curation, taste, and better signals might help people navigate an internet flooded with new products and content. The episode wraps with reflections on institutional access and the enduring pleasure of discovering emerging digital art. Mentioned in the episode Beep Everyday CABAL STUFF https://x.com/beeple/status/2082677058052775985 The Cabal and Kanye https://x.com/schmrypto/status/2082578200413057399?s=20 Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - Timeline Chaos & the Cabal Debate (07:51) - Meaning, Quality & Crypto Art Gatekeeping (15:32) - Product Standards & Onchain Experimentation (25:20) - Innovation Fatigue, Utility & Participation (31:47) - Curation, Taste & the Attention Economy (37:10) - Democratic Art, Institutional Access & Flamingo (45:59) - Welcome & Disclaimer

Aaron, Chris, and Pri begin with Miami real estate, New York’s enduring appeal, and whether AI could hollow out the white-collar industries that support the city. Pri then shares her developing thesis around spiritual technology, exploring how AI, longevity, space exploration, ancient philosophy, and a renewed interest in the cosmos may push people to look inward. Chris takes the idea further with digital animism, imagining a future where AI gives everyday objects distinct personalities and transforms the failed Internet of Things into the Internet of woo woo. From there, the conversation moves through mahjong, camping, Hans Moravec’s Mind Fire, transhumanism, simulation theory, and the unresolved mystery of consciousness. The crew considers what happens if money disappears, why collecting may become even more important in an age of abundance, and whether digital objects could become a new form of stored value. The episode closes with Coinbase’s awkward CryptoPunk courtship, its possible future as an acquisition target, the open-source AI debate, and why companies facing aggressive competitors need better products rather than protection. Mentioned in the episode Pri reading https://archive.org/details/petrarchlettertoposteritymusa/page/n1/mode/2up Meteorite with ingredients for life https://nypost.com/2026/07/21/science/rare-meteorite-that-hit-nj-home-carries-ingredients-for-life/ Hans Moravec predicting AI/robots https://nymag.com/intelligencer/article/hans-moravec-interview.html Debt: The First 5,000 Years https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6617037-debt Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - Miami, New York & the AI Economy (08:12) - Spiritual Technology & the Cosmic Turn (25:05) - Digital Animism & the Internet of Woo (31:34) - Mahjong, Camping & the Slower Life (37:18) - Mind Fire, Transhumanism & Consciousness (47:40) - Money, Collecting & the Abundance Economy (56:38) - Coinbase, Open-Source AI & Product Reality (01:08:53) - Welcome & Disclaimer

With Aaron away, Chris, Pri, and Derek unpack Glitch’s latest release with die with the most likes, Dying Is Not Enough. Derek explains why Glitch operates without a fixed calendar or revenue targets, choosing projects artist by artist and treating its Marfa gallery as only one tool within a broader internet-native model. They explore the collection’s grief-soaked animations, poems, and extended titles, and why art about death, fear, and mourning deserves to exist beyond decorative expectations. The conversation then turns to whether one successful release can restore confidence in a stagnant NFT market and remind artists and collectors what made crypto art compelling in the first place. From there, the group examines X’s algorithm shift, the return of mutuals to the timeline, and the platform’s retreat from viral clip farming. The episode closes with conspiracy rabbit holes, a disputed Tony Hsieh will, Substack fatigue, and Chris’s case for withdrawing attention from political systems and global crises that offer no meaningful agency in return. Mentioned in the episode Dying is not enough https://www.dyingisnotenough.com/ Glitch Gallery in Marfa https://www.glitchmarfa.com/ Die With The Most Likes https://x.com/toadswiback Twitter boosting mutuals https://x.com/nikitabier/status/2076747704248758617 Zerobeta new pup https://x.com/zerobeta/status/2078128119618195953 Mystery Will of Tony Hsieh https://www.wsj.com/tech/forensics-take-center-stage-in-the-mystery-will-of-tony-hsieh-471bde33 Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - Derek Edwards, Glitch & die with the most likes (06:29) - Building a Gallery Without a Calendar (15:24) - Why Crypto Art Belongs on the Internet (23:06) - Grief, Poetry & Dying Is Not Enough (30:03) - Can One Drop Revive the NFT Market? (39:26) - X’s Algorithmic Rebirth (50:25) - Rabbit Holes, Attention & the Great Refusal (58:48) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The full Net Society crew is back together to confront the arrival of disturbingly dexterous robot fingers and what increasingly capable humanoid machines could mean for work, athletics, warfare, and everyday life. From there, they examine AI future scenarios involving regulation, universal basic income, recursive improvement, and the tendency for technologists to build toward decades-old science fiction. Pri then introduces her theory that mass literacy may have been a 500-year glitch, sparking a wider debate about shallow reading, the emergence of an elite “scribe class,” and whether writing will become a luxury craft in an increasingly oral and AI-mediated culture. The conversation expands into the effects of declining literacy on law, government, language, and collective memory before turning to COVID-era education, childhood independence, and the potential for AI tutors to reshape learning. The episode closes with reactions to the latest generation of frontier AI models and a look at remix culture, collapsing intellectual property boundaries, and whether AI-generated Seinfeld makeovers could somehow bring monoculture back. Mentioned in the episode Creepy robot fingers https://x.com/TheHumanoidHub/status/2075272514755059773?s=20 AI 2040 Plan A https://ai-2040.com/ People reading was actually a 500 year glitch https://pridesai.substack.com/p/people-reading-was-actually-a-500 Schoolhouse Rock! https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27m_Just_a_Bill New Grok Model 4.5 https://x.com/SpaceXAI/status/2074915721684086811 OpenAI ChatGPT 5.6 https://x.com/OpenAI/status/2075274275104399670 Meta Muse Spark 1.1 https://x.com/finkd/status/2075218444056707458 Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - Robot Fingers, AI Futures & UBI (12:50) - The 500-Year Literacy Glitch (23:05) - Writing, Law & Language in a Post-Literate World (35:52) - COVID, Education & Childhood Independence (45:03) - New AI Models & Recursive Improvement (50:47) - Remix Culture, IP & Monoculture (54:18) - Welcome & Disclaimer

The Net Society crew is back together for a holiday-weekend episode. They begin with Chris’s frustrations around Fable before examining Meta’s struggling engineering culture, copycat tendencies, and surprising progress in brain-signal decoding. From there, the conversation turns to custom models, expert investor judgment, and the growing push for AI sovereignty as enterprises question how much control they should hand to frontier labs. The crew considers whether open-source models, fine-tuning, and intelligent routing will create a more fragmented AI ecosystem where models are selected by cost, reliability, and specialization. They also ask what happened to the inventive energy of the last NFT cycle and whether better tools, cheaper blockspace, and a little AI could make crypto fun again. The episode closes with America’s 250th anniversary, Europe’s resistance to air conditioning, and an unexpectedly serious debate over whether AC belongs among humanity’s greatest inventions. Mentioned in the episode Fable 5 returns https://x.com/AnthropicAI/status/2072163884430229756 Meta Engineering Culture https://techcrunch.com/2026/06/12/metas-months-old-ai-unit-is-a-soul-crushing-gulag-say-the-engineers-stuck-inside-it/?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitterNature Article decoding brain activity https://www.nature.com/articles/s41593-026-02303-2 Bridgewater and Thinking Machines https://x.com/ziv_ravid/status/2072171186620960908?s=46&t=3cJ-BS7Y1NeBdjntkS2hZQ Backseats tweet https://x.com/backseats_eth/status/2072020616400757233 AC being a hot topic https://x.com/NYCMayor/status/2072411003170472359 Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (00:00) - Fable Returns & Meta’s AI Problem (06:30) - Brain Decoding, BCIs & Meta’s Future (09:00) - Custom Models, Expert Judgment & AI Sovereignty (18:53) - Bringing Fun Back to NFTs (23:34) - Model Evals, Routing & AI’s Commodity Layer (30:44) - Open Source Models & the AI Frontier (36:37) - America at 250 & the Great Air-Conditioning Debate (45:33) - Welcome & Disclaimer

Special guest Jared Poz of 8NAP ART joins Aaron and Pri for a wide-ranging conversation about where digital culture, crypto, and emerging technology are heading next. They begin with Jared’s long-term outlook on NFT art, exploring smaller generative art collections, algorithmic outliers, and why larger sets can produce unexpected cultural icons. From there, the group dives into the resurgence of trading cards and tokenized collectibles, unpacking blind packs, collector psychology, physical redemption, and the growing role of blockchain-based receipts for real-world assets. They zoom out to consider whether crypto is entering a more mature era defined by utility, clearer regulation, digital provenance, and trusted custodians. The conversation then turns to AI agents, open systems, healthcare research, robotics, and the rapid convergence of several major technology curves. The episode closes by looking toward the next frontier, asking how art, collectibles, and NFTs might evolve as humanity moves further into space. Mentioned in the episode Special guest Jared Poz https://x.com/jared_poz Dean Eigenmann - Crypto's Graham Moment https://x.com/DeanEigenmann/status/2069052614939906362 Softbank SGM Deck https://group.softbank/media/Project/sbg/sbg/pdf/ir/investors/shareholders/2026/shareholders-meeting_46_05_en.pdf Jeff Koons Moon Phases https://jeffkoonsmoonphases.com/ Show & Hosts Net Society: https://x.com/net__society Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl