"Ethereum is Power to the People" with Jason Chaskin from the Ethereum Foundation | ZEROPOD S3 E1
Jason Chaskin is the newly minted head of app relations at the Ethereum Foundation, and he joins ZEROPOD as our first guest of season 3!In this conversation, host Toady Hawk chats with Jason about his journey from the halls of high finance to the trenches of ETH hackathons, his new EF role helping apps survive and thrive, and why he believes that Ethereum is uniquely positioned to bring power back to the people. If you enjoy this episode, you can collect an onchain version right here and support our ongoing work. --- Timestamps: 00:00 Why Ethereum? Open networks vs Big Tech servers 02:00 Introducing Jason + his background 02:44 Growing up in Connecticut, sports & early life 03:29 College years at Illinois, studying finance 07:00 First exposure to crypto during the ICO era 08:54 Corporate banking and investment banking disillusionment 11:30 Discovering crypto podcasts & influences 13:01 COVID money-printing → aha moment for Bitcoin & Ethereum 14:13 Entering NFTs and first onchain experiences 15:05 Learning to code + ETH Global hackathons 16:33 How Jason taught himself (CS50, Patrick Collins course) 17:22 Pivot point: job applications & rejection at Privy 18:18 Blogging, Farcaster channels, and breaking into EF 21:59 Landing a role with the Ethereum Foundation 22:42 Announcing his new role: Apps Relations & Research 24:59 What the new EF focus means for apps & use cases 27:03 Why stablecoins on Tron succeeded & lessons for ETH 30:03 Should Ethereum fight for stablecoin market share? 32:11 The bull case for apps on Ethereum 34:43 Vitalik’s vision, decentralization, and values 39:23 Are stablecoins bullish or bearish for Ethereum? 40:29 Favorite Vitalik blog posts + public goods funding 46:01 Why Ethereum is a counterbalance to centralization 49:41 Competition with Solana & L1 debates 53:10 Are L2s parasitic to Ethereum? 57:12 EF’s L1 vs L2 scaling roadmap explained 59:59 What new blockspace should be used for (apps, experiments) 1:01:21 Bull case for Farcaster & community building 1:03:50 Thoughts on Nouns DAO and funding public goods 1:09:37 Ethereum’s biggest challenges ahead 1:12:49 EF restructuring and adapting to regulation 1:16:28 Why EF is leaning into ecosystem support & comms 1:18:54 Reflections on FTX, regulation, and industry reputation 1:19:41 Looking ahead to 2025: apps, stablecoins, institutions 1:21:49 Lightning Round Q&A (food, music, hobbies, books, travel, inspirations) 1:28:06 Closing thoughts --- Podcast produced, edited and hosted by Toady Hawk. Zero Rights Reserved and Open Source (Just like Ethereum)Cover art commissioned from the talented @0xAprilia Funding provided by The Yellow Collective on Base, an onchain culture club for curious creators and artists. Find out more at yellowcollective.xyz.
AI, Movies, and Marketing Insights: A Conversation with Matt Hixson
In this episode, I sit down with Matt Hixson, founder of Telegance and veteran of enterprise software, to explore the rise of AI and its ripple effects across industries. With over 17 years leading initiatives in social media and analytics—including a decade working closely with YouTube and Google—Matt brings a unique perspective on how data is shaping the future. We dive into: 🎬 How AI is transforming movies and storytelling 🎨 What it means for creativity and creator tooling 💼 The impact on jobs, disruption, and new opportunities 📊 Why social data is a marketing goldmine for businesses Matt’s journey from CPA to entrepreneur and AI thinker makes for a fascinating conversation about technology, culture, and the future of work. If you enjoy the episode, don’t forget to like, comment, and subscribe for more conversations at the intersection of tech, creativity, and culture.
Signals & Storytelling: Farokh on Prediction Markets and Presidential Moments
I sat down with Farokh Sarmad, President of DASTAN and visionary behind Myriad Markets, to dive deep into: Media & community: How Myriad is reimagining reader participation by rewarding engagement and realigning media incentives. Farokh laid it all out at Consensus—saying “the participant actually gets a piece… gets reputation on-chain” instagram.com Prediction markets: From Polymarket to niche events, Farokh explored the future of decentralized event-driven finance, tying it into crypto culture, all while redefining how creators and communities interact Acquisitions & integration: How DASTAN is building across platforms like Rug Radio and Decrypt, integrating prediction tools into media ecosystems. And THAT one big interview: The world-leading moment when Farokh interviewed Donald Trump on X Spaces—the first crypto-company-affiliated presidential interview. Trump declared a vision of America becoming the “crypto capital of the world,” and Farokh pressed in on context, intent, and what it all means.
The Sprint of Transformation: Why the Future is More Human Than You Think
Between 1837 and 1903, humanity invented the lightbulb, telephone, automobile, and airplane—all within a single human lifespan. Today, we're experiencing that same scale of transformation, except we're not walking through it. We're sprinting. In this special episode of The Good News Is..., Rachel explores the three revolutionary shifts happening right beneath our noses: how we heal, how we connect, and how we create. While headlines focus on AI replacing jobs and technology destroying humanity, we want to show you the signal through the noise—the remarkable ways technology is making life more human, not less. What You'll Discover: How brain-computer interfaces and AI are democratizing healthcare access globally. Why we're witnessing the birth of a new internet where you own your data and digital identity. How the creative renaissance isn't replacing human artistry—it's amplifying it The surprising pendulum swing toward ancient wisdom happening alongside digital acceleration. Why the stories we tell about technology will determine the future we create This isn't naive optimism. It's necessary hope backed by real examples of technology serving human flourishing.
Proof of BASED with Garrett Skrovina, founder of $BASED | ZEROPOD S2E17
Garrett Skrovina has worn a lot of hat, from Roc Nation exec to CoinDesk strategist, and now Head of Crypto at Laser, the engineering studio behind some of Base’s biggest drops and projects. In this episode of ZEROPOD, host Toady Hawk delves into Garrett's story and learns all about the memecoin he launched last year called $BASED — a fair-launch experiment with a special history and an exciting future. We hope you enjoy! --- This episode of ZEROPOD was sponsored by The Yellow Collective, a culture club for artists and creatives on Base. Learn more at yellowcollective.xyz.
GM Farcaster ep264 Wednesday July 9, 2025 with @tike from Noice
GM Farcaster ep264 Wednesday July 9, 2025 with @tike from Noice From our ChatGPT Intern: Technical glitches couldn’t stop Prof and Adrienne from streaming live in their “New England B&B chic” backgrounds to cover everything from leaderboard dog drama (shoutout Everyday Bailey!) to vertical video anxiety and programmable social chaos. The highlight? TK from Noice joined to chat about their recent airdrop while Adrienne admitted she'd rather write scripts tounfollow 2,311 people than figure out how to post a 30 second clip of her own face. Full Show Notes and Links on YouTube Copyright 2025 cc-by GM Farcaster - reuse/remix allowed with attribution and link back to GMFarcaster.com. NOTE: Cryptocurrencies are often volatile assets. Nothing in this episode should be considered financial advice and is for educational and entertainment purposes. Nothing should be considered investment advice, nor solicitation to buy or sell any assets. NFA, DYOR. Chapters: 0:00:00 GM 0:04:18 rewards0:06:44 FC news0:26:13 @tike from Noice
How Creator Coins Actually Work (And Why Most Fail)
The trio returns while David’s on beach duty. Coop accidentally launches his creator coin, the fellas cover the state of onchain creation, what’s working, and what still feels broken. 🔟 Top Moments (03:00) Daniel Allan laser show recap – nearly sold out, first show with full production. (06:30) Coop's late-night Zora token launch – unintentionally launched his creator coin at 5:30am in a diner. (08:20) Creator Coin strategies – posting videos, airdropping to top holders, experimenting with Noise. (09:30) Are creator coins working? – discussion on upside, missing mechanics, and how activity drives value. (12:20) Farcaster vs Coinbase Wallet – video wars heating up, platforms converging on short-form content. (22:50) New Coop Records platform launch – email signups, coin sections, follow features, credits instead of ETH. (25:50) Song coin economics – using mint fees to buy back tokens; focus on rewarding tastemakers. (17:10) Onchain monetization still lacking – long tail can earn $500, but no breakout case for high-profile creators yet. (35:00) Tokenized stocks on Arbitrum – Robinhood, Kraken, and maybe Coinbase exploring stock coins. (42:00) Conferences vs Building – crypto events losing their edge; focus shifting to product and strategy.
From the MLB to the Metaverse: Sports, Art & the Future of IP with Micah Johnson
From Major League Baseball to TIME Magazine—Micah Johnson is a world-builder in every sense. In this episode, Micah shares his journey from professional athlete to celebrated artist and creator of Aku, the young astronaut born from a simple, powerful question: “Mom, can astronauts be Black?” We explore: ✨ The intersection of sports, art, and technology 🚀 How Aku World is onboarding new audiences to Web3 🎒 His work giving back—donating backpacks to kids in schools 🌍 Building a community-powered IP and creating a world around dreams Micah’s story is about believing in possibility—and helping others do the same. Subscribe and listen in for a dose of optimism, creativity, and bold vision.
"Roller Coasters Before Gift Shops" | A ZEROPOD Spotlight on LAWL from CC0 Studios
Join JackWyldes and Toady Hawk for a casual chat between three zero rights maxis, as they interview LAWL about his copyright-free animation shop CC0 Studios and their newest show, The Normal MFer.
Context S4: The Metropolitan Museum of Art - The Most Visited Museum in America Dives into NFTs
Blake speaks with The Metropolitan Museum of Art team who recently released Art Links, marking The Met’s first foray onto the blockchain. Art Links is a 12-week game that invites you to connect the dots between seeming disparate art works (whether centuries apart, completely different mediums, etc.) according to different themes, rewarding you in the form of NFT badges and IRL prizes. Blake has played religiously every week, and has learned a tonne! 3 of the project leads are here to talk about the game: Destinee Filmore, Assistant Curator in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art at the Met, Brett Renfer, The Met's Senior Project Manager for Emerging Technologies and Audrey Ou, co-founder and CEO of TRLab. They dive deep into the project, from how long it took to plan and launch, to the intended audience, to why they chose Base, to the art they included. Blake also couldn’t resist asking Destinee about if (and when) the Met will collect their first crypto art works. If you want to get a read on the traditional art world and how they are engaging with NFTs…you can’t really get bigger than this. The Met is the most visited museum in America, and one of the most important cultural institutions in the world. Art Links: https://artlinks.metmuseum.org/about TRLab: https://x.com/trlab_ Blake Finucane: https://x.com/blakefinucane Boys Club Newsletter: https://tooonline.beehiiv.com/
"F*** it, I'm going home" - Mats in Los Fomos
The spice must flow 🌶️
Reply Like It's Your Job... Because Now it Is with TheClipDotFun
An official ReplyGuy orientation video, hosted by JackWyldes' large suit and brought to you by Zero Rights Media and The Clip dot fun. "Comment to Earn" has arrived on Base. *Sponsored video from theclip.fun*
