The Luminary’s Path: A Journey of AI, Community, and Creativity
In this episode, Sheena shares her inspirations, challenges, and hopes for a more collaborative future in AI-assisted art. She also takes us behind the scenes of The Luminary, a CC0 character whose stories and visuals come to life through community input. Exploring how AI can amplify creativity rather than replace it, Sheena discusses how technology can be used to expand imagination and foster a more open, communal approach to art.
Art in the Infinite Garden
Garance walks us through evolving projects like the Solaires sci-fi universe and the Lumi AI art collective, exploring the endless possibilities of collaborative imagination. 00:42 Introduction and Personal Background 01:09 Entering the NFT and Crypto Space 01:35 The Solarus Sci-Fi Project - https://www.solaires.art/en/home/ 02:39 LIT - https://warpcast.com/~/channel/l-i-t 04:57 LUMI - https://warpcast.com/~/channel/lumi 09:30 Challenges and Opportunities in Decentralized Art 16:48 The Role of Community in Blockchain Art 19:31 Future Directions and Local Engagement 22:32 Final Thoughts and Getting Involved More place to get involved: https://warpcast.com/~/channel/lum https://warpcast.com/~/channel/luminous https://warpcast.com/~/channel/wearelum
"Believe in Something" with 1confirmation Founder Nick Tomaino | ZEROPOD S2 E6
What do you get when you cross a middleschool sneakerhead, a Bitcoin pizza-esque 30 million dollar engagement ring, and a knack for spotting the next big thing onchain? You get Nick Tomaino, crypto OG and founder of iconic crypto venture fund 1confirmation. On this episode of ZEROPOD, host Toady Hawk digs in with Nick about working at Coinbase in the very early days, the passion for collecting that led him from copping kicks and rare books to NFTs and ERCs, and founding and running one of the most successful early investment funds in the space. Nick also talks candidly about his bull case for Degen, Farcaster and Ethereum (he thinks one of those will even one day flip Bitcoin), why Ethereum doesn’t need a Michael Saylor, and what he thinks is the best advice for new investors in the space: just believe in something. --- Timestamps: 0:00 – Intro: Find Something More to Believe In Nick shares advice for new traders and the importance of conviction beyond money. 1:02 – Welcome to ZEROPOD: Meet Nick Tomaino Introduction to Nick’s background as an early Coinbase employee and founder of 1confirmation. 2:02 – Nick’s Sneaker-Collecting Days How basketball and sneaker culture shaped Nick’s early passion for collecting. 3:39 – The Collector Gene: Rare Books and Americana Nick’s family history of collecting and how it influenced his love for rare books and later NFTs. 6:42 – Crypto vs. Rare Books: Liquidity and the Future of Collectibles Nick compares the illiquidity of traditional collectibles to the fluidity of NFTs. 10:21 – College Days: Economics and a Focus on Making Money Why Nick studied economics and his early ambitions to optimize for financial success. 12:42 – Learning About Venture Capital How Fred Wilson’s blog inspired Nick’s interest in venture capital and crypto. 15:16 – Joining Coinbase: Early Days of Bitcoin Adoption Nick’s journey to Coinbase in 2013, hustling his way into the company, and working on business development. 20:03 – Starting 1confirmation: Supporting Early Crypto Projects Nick explains the genesis of 1confirmation and its focus on being the first check into game-changing projects. 22:00 – Why the Name 1confirmation? The blockchain-inspired reasoning behind the fund’s name. 23:49 – Opensea and CryptoKitties: Early Investments Nick’s experience with CryptoKitties and why he believed in Opensea’s potential. 26:47 – Degen: Why Social Tipping Matters The evolution of tipping mechanisms in crypto and their role in driving adoption. 30:36 – Thoughts on Farcaster and Decentralized Social Media Nick discusses Farcaster as the best decentralized social network and its role in enabling financial opportunities. 36:39 – Farcaster Projects: Clanker, Anoncast, and More Nick evaluates recent Farcaster projects and the importance of experimentation. 40:04 – The Value of In-Feed NFT Minting Nick shares why he believes microtransactions and NFT minting are the next big things for creators. 45:08 – Ethereum’s Strength and Long-Term Potential Why Nick believes Ethereum could flip Bitcoin and the importance of innovation over narratives. 49:12 – The Importance of Skin in the Game How crypto allows more people to have ownership and take risks with real consequences. 52:03 – The Future of Farcaster: Financial Opportunities Nick’s vision for how Farcaster can thrive by giving users more ways to make money. 53:03 – What’s Exciting in 2025? Pro-Crypto Policies and Innovation Nick shares his optimism about potential regulatory changes and new product developments. 56:00 – Advice for Newcomers: Conviction and Curiosity Final advice for those new to crypto: find something to believe in beyond making money. 58:14 – Wrap-Up: Believe in Something More Closing remarks and gratitude for the conversation. -- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk, SuperTightWoody & Suno AI. Produced by Zero Rights Media. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!
ZEROPOD SPOTLIGHT #3: "Obsessed with the Craft of Content" feat. Cameron Armstrong of Seemore.tv
If the internet decides what’s funny, Cameron Armstrong (@cameron on farcaster) has spent his career listening closely to find out. In this edition of our popular ZEROPOD Spotlight series, the Seemore.tv founder shares how he’s helping creators escape the “content algorithm lottery” and why our completionist instinct is one of humanity’s most underrated traits. We explore Farcaster’s journey from tight-knit weirdo haven to high-value creator launchpad, the challenge of minting new platform stars, and the magic of Mandarin oranges on sticks (what?) Whether you’re trying to build a personal brand, a community, or create content like his “OK Banger” podcast, Cameron’s got plenty of advice and anecdotes and you won’t want to miss this conversation. — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - “Content Quality Arms Race” 00:47 - ZEROPOD Intro 02:05 - Crypto space needs more video content 04:15 - The Right Kind of Cringe 05:31 - The thing you can consistently do the longest is what you’ll be the best at 07:04 - The Cameron Origin Story: Military beginnings 08:32 - Harvard Business School 09:32 - E-commerce startup 10:35 - Illicit Farcaster Beginnings 11:50 - “A Bunch of Weirdos in a Room” 12:26 - Farcaster, then and now 15:09 - What is seemore.tv 17:58 - “If Linktree and Google Analytics had a baby” 20:55 - Badges for pod collectors 21:27 - Minting is a patronage behaviour for podcasts 23:00 - A minted episode is a creator tip with a lindy receipt 25:00 - The future promise of Ethereum Attestations 26:22 - The Seemore Story (pivot! pivot!) 30:00 - Problems with current business models for creators 32:00 - Conflicts of interest risk with advertising partnerships 34:00 - The advantage to bad actors in crypto 36:00 - The Seemore List 37:00 - The importance of finding values aligned sponsors for content 38:00 - Does Farcaster have enough interesting people? 40:00 - Rewarding creators is baked into the system on Farcaster 41:50 - The Content Valley of Death 43:00 - Problems with spam filters and dopamine triggers 45:18 - Cam’s got alts 46:00 - You don’t get to decide what’s funny on the internet 47:24 - Why is he bullish on Farcaster? 49:00 - OK Banger 50:53 - From Band Kid to Bangers 51:52 - Outro --- Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and Santhosh. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk x Suno AI. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!
"Higher is a Mindset" with Martin Anquetil, founder of Higher and creator of Aether AI | ZEROPOD SEASON 2 E3
What does it mean to build a brand without a leader, a strategy, or even a plan? In this episode of ZEROPOD, I sit down with Martin Anquetil, one of the founders of $HIGHER, the headless memecoin brand redefining chaos as culture onchain. We dive into everything from AI agents breaking bounty bots on Farcaster to an Ethereum stock split, the memecoin meta and the challenges of building a project based on a number-go-up meme even when number doesn’t always go up. Along the way, Martin shares lessons from his time within Nouns, explores the unique challenges of decentralization, and reveals what it takes to survive a 97% token price crash with your optimism and community intact. We really enjoyed this conversation with Martin, and we hope you do too! — TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 - Figuring out “Can we do this thing?” while doing it 01:00 - ZEROPOD Intro 01:51 - The Martin Origin Story 04:00 - College and Interning at Google 05:00 - Oneshot by Topshot 07:00 - 2021 NFT Season Nostalgia 10:55 - Who the F**k is Buying XRP? 11:50 - Ethereum Stock Split Discussion 15:15 - First Impressions of Nouns 16:15 - Leaving TopShot to Explore Onchain Options 17:50 - Freelancing with Nouns Builder 19:19 - Agora, Explorer Grants, and Other Nouns Initiatives 20:00 - Mogu Mogu Mogu: Nouns Governance Tooling 24:19 - Starting $HIGHER 25:00 - Roots in /bullposting 28:00 - How Would He Launch Higher Today? 32:00 - The Strength of Builders Who Stick Through the Bear 34:00 - “Higher, Not Sideways” 37:30 - Quack Quack ⌐◨-◨: 38:50 - Is $HIGHER a Neo-DAO or Something New? 40:00 - Authenticity vs. Top-Down Control: The Higher Experiment 44:00 - Could $ANON Run a Higher-Like Playbook? 45:00 - Farcaster Users Speed-Running Speculation Lessons 47:00 - $ZEROPOD: Exploring Media and Tokens 49:00 - The Origins of $POINTS on Farcaster 50:50 - “Provenance is Culturally Emergent” 51:00 - Jacob’s Horse Meme and Its Viral Evolution 53:53 - What Is Aether? The AI Agent Shaking Things Up 57:00 - The $LUM Luminous Launch 1:01:00 - Challenges of Community Cohesion in Decentralized Projects 1:02:03 - Questions for Martin from Aether 1:06:00 - What’s Next for Aether? Memory and Autonomy 1:07:00 - Aether on Twitter? Exploring New Platforms 1:08:00 - Balancing Meaningful Building with Market Pressures 1:11:00 - Betting on Yourself and Long-Term Projects 1:14:00 - Martin’s Thoughts on Trading and Staying Grounded 1:16:00 - Coinbase Listings and Meme Coin Dynamics 1:21:00 - What’s Next for Martin and $HIGHER 1:24:00 - Outro: Reflections and the Road Ahead — Podcast recorded by Toady Hawk, edited by Toady Hawk and JackWyldes. Hosted by Toady Hawk. Music by Toady Hawk x Suno AI. This content is zero rights reserved (cc0), please remix and reuse it in any way you like!
ZEROPOD SEASON 2 E2: "Positive-Sum Gamer" with Optimism's Chief Growth Officer Ryan Wyatt aka @fwiz
In Episode 2 of ZEROPOD Season 2, we dig in with Ryan Wyatt aka @fwiz about his first full year in the role of Optimism's Chief Growth Officer. Ryan shares how his leadership has helped to drive adoption of Optimism’s open source OP Stack and has attracted some S-tier partners for the so-called Superchain.We also learn about Ryan's interesting background as a lifelong gamer and esports streaming trailblazer, first with Machinima and later at Google as the head of gaming at YouTube. We discuss Optimism’s journey to becoming a powerhouse in Layer 2 solutions, what makes it the platform of choice for top companies, and the groundbreaking plans for seamless interoperability across the Superchain. Tune in for an inside look at what’s next for Optimism and the ambitious roadmap Ryan and his team have set for 2024 and beyond. And as always, if you enjoy this podcast, please mint and share it with your friends! --- Timestamps: 0:00 - The Bitcoin Millionaire Story: Ryan’s early experience paying creators in Bitcoin and its surprising outcomes 1:37 - A Swagged-Out Superchain Welcome: Introduction and Ryan’s first impressions of Optimism 2:15 - From Gamer to Growth Officer: How Ryan’s love for gaming launched his career in tech 4:00 - Navigating a Career in Gaming: The challenges and rewards of working in the gaming industry 6:36 - Early Days in Onchain Video Content: Ryan’s journey from Machinima to YouTube Gaming 9:03 - YouTube, Gaming, and the Crypto Transition: Moving from Web2 to onchain with optimism 11:06 - The Crypto Skepticism of Gamers: Ryan’s perspective on why gamers resist blockchain 12:50 - Memorable Moments at Google: Key lessons learned at YouTube and Google 13:50 - Why Ryan Jumped Into Crypto: Career shifts and finding inspiration in the onchain space 15:10 - Joining Polygon and Scaling Crypto: Early roles at Polygon and the vision for onchain scaling 17:57 - The Shift to Optimism and the Superchain: New challenges and the road to a collaborative L2 ecosystem 19:03 - What Does a Chief Growth Officer Do?: Ryan explains the role and responsibilities 21:01 - Unique Governance at Optimism: How collective governance shapes Optimism’s vision 23:01 - Retroactive Public Goods Funding: Exploring funding models that reward impact 25:05 - One Year of Superchain Growth: A recap of Ryan’s first year with Optimism and the ecosystem’s growth 29:33 - Coinbase’s Role in OP Stack Adoption: How Base helped drive the Superchain’s momentum 31:27 - Navigating Competitors on the Superchain: Collaboration and competition in the onchain world 33:50 - Solving Liquidity Fragmentation: Why interoperability is key to Optimism’s future 36:30 - The Future of Onchain Interoperability: Ryan’s vision for seamless cross-chain transactions 39:54 - Challenges of User Experience: Bridging, liquidity, and simplifying the user journey 43:16 - The Value of Open Source: How Optimism’s open-source approach benefits the ecosystem 46:13 - Looking Forward: 2025 Intentions: Ryan’s goals for the Superchain in the coming year 47:50 - Final Thoughts: How community and innovation drive onchain growth
012 - intent.
@cameron and @christin yap about intent.
011 - adapt.
@cameron and @christin yap about adapting.
010 - question.
@cameron and @christin question everything. WATCH the video here https://www.youtube.com/live/Q567pq348Gs?feature=shared
009 - obsess.
@christin and @cameron yap about their obsessions. WATCH the episode here https://www.youtube.com/live/047kygZCtaA?feature=shared
Hyperactive Episode 5 - Red with Antimo FM
We walk-and-talk with freelance product designer, Antimo FM. Antimo shares his journey from growing up in Italy with a passion for comic books and illustration, his path to design, crypto, and Farcaster, and how he’s using Hypersub to build community and earn recurring revenue onchain.
A brief history of Ethereum hard forks
This episode is a brief history of Ethereum hard forks, from the early days of the Frontier thawing to the more recent Dencun upgrade. Sources: https://ethereum.org/en/history/
007 - write.
WATCH the VIDEO here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S1kgfxCpJY
008 - reflect.
@cameron and @christin reflect on reflecting. WATCH the episode video here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z8I5fxwfpa8
004 - power.
@cameron and @christin yapped about the ok-est bangers and the theme of power: • debated "don't be a little bitch" as motivation tool. • dan romero's career advice scrutinized for feasibility in real life. • power and happiness explored: external success vs. internal contentment. watch with VIDEO here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SS4kH5Lc1W4
006 - story.
@cameron and @christin yap about storytelling. Storytelling structures: The hosts discuss narrative frameworks like Vonnegut's "Man in a Hole," exploring how common story arcs resonate with people's experiences of overcoming challenges. Action and iteration: Cameron emphasizes taking small, frequent actions to generate information and progress, rather than seeking perfect decisions. Personal narratives: The hosts explore how self-storytelling shapes identity and perceptions, highlighting the importance of mindful narrative creation in one's life. watch VIDEO here https://www.youtube.com/live/vK0UDxM0wSI?feature=shared
003 - special.
@cameron and @christin yap about what's like to feel "special" growing up, and analyze the ok-est bangers of the week on farcaster.
002 - iterate.
@cameron and @christin analyze the ok-est bangers and yap about the keys to iterating wisely. sponsored by /openair and @know on farcaster. join /openair on farcaster and follow @know to learn more about the open air 5-week meditation series supported by $HIGHER
001 - speed.
@cameron and @christin yap about bangers on farcaster and how to embody speed. gotta go fast! sponsored by receipts.xyz watch the full episode with VIDEO 👇 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y69lbzPAbVo
005 - ritual.
@cameron and @christin yap about ritual. shout out to @king for building the ok banger show frame! visit frames.sh and DC @king to build your own farcaster frame. watch the video of this episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zIhSUGUCzAE
