IO-RADIO - The Technology and Ethics Podcast

Dr. Peter Howson is a professor of International Development and a researcher who's worked around the world on projects related to environmental sustainability in the global south. We recently sat down with him to discuss his new book, "Let Them Eat Crypto." When he first heard about blockchain through his NGO partners, he bought into the hype that the technology could help solve some of the problems he was seeing in his field. He soon discovered that instead of a solution, blockchain based crypto projects offer a vehicle through which the ultra-wealthy exploit the poor and enrich themselves at the expense of the most vulnerable. Peter wrote the book, in part, to make amends for his initial enthusiasm about blockchain, and the conclusions he presents are a scathing indictment of the industry who promotes its spread. Howson disassembles crypto's core narratives by putting their greed, flagrant hypocrisy, and utter contempt for other humans on display, and demonstrates that from green washing fraudulent carbon credits, to crypto colonizers displacing indigenous populations, to recruiting impoverished children into financial schemes, all of blockchain's "solutions" are ultimately "Scammydocious." Get the book: https://www.peterhowson.org/book Watch: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tk21ySBLhM4 Visit our web site for more: https://IOradio.org Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube at: https://youtube.com/americanscreamvideo?sub_confirmation=1

"When cryptocurrency’s malign influence on the software industry began to be felt in 2019, an engineer working in finance took notice. After seeing first hand how public permissionless blockchains could be used to pervert incentives and undermine common interests, Stephen Diehl’s views on the decade old tech changed. What he had previously dismissed, he now saw as dangerous, and Stephen began to write a series of influential blog posts that have helped educate the public about the true nature of crypto. In the intervening years Stephen’s written dozens of articles and two books on the subject and has become one of crypto’s most prominent critics. He’s also become an activist against the well funded cryptocurrency industry and has challenged those seeking to exploit and defraud the public by organizing with others who are critical of the tech. We sit down with Stephen to discuss his activism, the ever changing ecosystem of tokenized fraud known as cryptocurrency, and if we should let Sal burn it with fire or apply the law according to Adam. Tune in! https://ioradio.org" Full video available here: https://youtu.be/Z6QmCAkdOY4 Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube at: https://youtube.com/americanscreamvideo?sub_confirmation=1

A conversation with Investigative journalist Zeke Faux, author of "Number Go UP: Inside Crypto's Wild Rise and Staggering Fall." Full video available here: https://youtu.be/fAFLT7_yte8 Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube at: https://youtube.com/americanscreamvideo?sub_confirmation=1

As crypto-critics, we're often accused of living in an "echo chamber" being unwilling to entertain other points of view. As part of our ongoing efforts to try and discuss issues with the people who are in the industry, we present another interview/casual conversation with a 20-something year old Ethereum developer from Switzerland by the name of "Louis." We get his points of view about what problems crypto claims to address. Among other things, he claims the tech offers "less trust assumptions" and "less technical points of failure." Full video available here: https://youtu.be/CZMc-BaTCk0 Please be sure to subscribe to our YouTube at: https://youtube.com/americanscreamvideo?sub_confirmation=1

We found a funny clip online of a crypto bro who called into the Majority Report with Sam Seder trying to convince him he is wrong about crypto. We react to the caller and the people on The Majority Report as they take a side of the argument that is rather unorthodox. Full video available here: https://youtu.be/dBaZDopX2-M

We interview YouTube game reviewer "Jauwn" - whose channel specializes in the sadistic process of wading through all the "web3" NFT games trying to find out if any of them are even remotely playable. Sal and I perform a sanity check on the guy to see what made him want to do such a thing. Full video available here: https://youtu.be/bL_HuH_JrLU

In this episode, we interview one of the cryptocurrency industry's earliest and most staunch critic, Berkely Computer Science Professor Doctor Nicholas Weaver, who has authored various articles and presentations on how and why Bitcoin and crypto are unsuitable for any of the applications they claim, if not downright, in his own words, "criminally negligent" technology. Full video version here: https://youtu.be/FU4PSsMLWzw

Adam and I have a casual conversation about what's been happening in the world of social media. A lot has been going on and major social media sites are unraveling before our eyes. From Elon Musk's rabid attempt to progressively make Twitter more "functional", to Reddit sacrificing the golden goose of loyal moderators and content creating users upon the alter of corporate profits, no platform seems safe from the greedy embrace of silicon valley's techno parasites. What's going on? And where are for profit platform refugees going? In IO Radio #12 we talk social media meltdown, part of an ongoing discussion about the evolution, and devolution, of social media in the 21st century. Full video version here: https://youtu.be/m21JjyZHetI

AmericanScream and I react to RFK Jr.'s Bitcoin 2023 keynote rantings in Miami. Kennedy equates public health measures during COVID to totalitarian oppression and argues that Bitcoin is important because it protects civil liberties from governmental repression. In IO Radio #11 we discuss the democratic presidential candidate's COVID obsession and anti-vaxxer status. Were the Canadian truckers freedom loving patriots, or whiny entitled far right anti-science nut jobs? Join us, and let us know if "Bitcoin solves this". P.S. I want to drown Bitcoin in a bathtub. Full video version here: https://youtu.be/0LZzrJILfVQ

Adam and Sal discuss the latest happenings on Reddit, including censorship of /r/buttcoin (gasp!), Reddit's love of crypto, and the eternal sunshine that private for profit corporations bestow upon the world. By the way, did you know the SEC is going after Binance? Join us for IO Radio #10 and listen to two grown men cry about how Admins have taken away their favourite toys because they're big meanies who don't want us making fun of subreddits whose most helpful posts are links to suicide prevention hotlines. Full video version here: https://youtu.be/nYPotPrrqag

Adam and I react to the "Biggest Bitcoin Ballers" panel discussion at Bitcoin 2023 in Miami. Watch Saint Adam Back, joined by fellow cultists Jack Mallers and Matt Odell, preach the gospel of FOMO and evangelize the sacred tenant of HODL. How much fiat are you donating to the church of crypto? It might be time to sell your worldly possessions and become a Bitcoin monk, while some might pray, the truly devout DCA. In IO Radio #9 we provide colour commentary while three of the world's biggest con-artists try to take every last dollar you have and stuff it into their already overflowing pockets. The only thing on stage scarcer that the panellist's sense of empathy is a real world use case. To finish, we share a sneak peak of highlights from day 1 of Bitcoin 2023. Enjoy! Full video version here: https://youtu.be/l7T6Lp_dSXs

One of the largest Bitcoin conferences has started in Miami this weekend and we're peeking into the livestream presentations and commenting "” adding a bit of FACT CHECKING and logic, reason and evidence into the constant stream of marketing propaganda about crypto and bitcoin. Tune in to IO Radio #8 and see just how insulated this bubble really is. Coolly observe or recoil with horror as you witness how both presenters and attendees are detached from reality, with no semblance of actual understanding of money, finance or how government works. The liberal sprinkling of right wing dog whistles are an added bonus. Full video version here: https://youtu.be/WpBYW0jXRTo

This is a leading question often asked of crypto skeptics. The implication is that our dislike of the technology is based on emotion rather than on facts and evidence. In IO Radio #7 American Scream and I discuss the motivations behind our crypto criticism. Let us know what your reasons are for being skeptical of the future of finance. Did you or someone you know get scammed? Or are you crypto critical for more philosophical reasons? Full video version here: https://youtu.be/qkVjobcJjik

Is Texas a crypto welfare state? We often hear that the crypto mining industry is good for the economy and the energy business. In IO Radio #5 we reacted to a propaganda video claiming that Riot and other crypto miners were good for Texas, but what do local citizens think? Adam and I talk to Jackie Sawicky - founder of the Texas Coalition Against Crypto Mining - her organization has boots on the ground in Navarro county and is trying to educate people about the lies and misinformation being spread about mining facilities being built and operated in Texas. What's at stake when a mining operation moves next door? According to Jackie it's much more than you think. Communities are being exploited and people's lives are are put at risk while municipalities give away electricity to private corporations who sell it back to the public at a huge profit. Listen to the shocking story of what's happened to the small rural Texas communities who've had bitcoin mining come to their front door, and ask yourself if government should be in the business of subsidizing the crypto industry. Full video version here: https://youtu.be/aggYYjqjPEs

There appears to be a sizable amount of resources being pumped into producing these pro-Bitcoin propaganda films. This one was released recently, making some serious claims about Senator Elizabeth Warren and whether Bitcoin is in fact good for energy production instead of being criminally wasteful. Now you can see both sides as we react to this new video. My apologies if the audio levels are a bit wonky on this - I made some mistakes during the recording and hopefully fixed them as best I could (and will do better for future episodes). Additional references: Cambridge Bitcoin Electricity Consumption Index - https://ccaf.io/cbnsi/cbeci Petition opposing Bitcoin Mining by the Concerned Citizens of Navarro County - https://www.change.org/p/no-to-riot-bitcoin-mine-in-navarro-county. Full video version here: https://youtu.be/HPbZElliHoQ

An odd post on the /r/Buttcoin subreddit led us to look into FileCoin and the man making serious allegations about the file storage crypto project. We talk to Kevin Mauro, creator of the website dukedupe.com, to find out why he's willing to go so far as to drive a van around Duke University to call attention to their endowment's supposed connection to FileCoin. Is crypto incentivizing the distribution of harmful, illegal, and exploitative material online or are innovative technologies being criticized based on speculation and circumstantial evidence? Full video version here: https://youtu.be/ijElHICwHuY

Silicon Valley. Signature. Silvergate. What's up with the collapse of banks that start with the letter S? We discuss the latest piece of financial news being used by Bitcoin & crypto proponents to pump their scams. Full video version here: https://youtu.be/VH_BTx3LemE