The Decentralists

The war in Ukraine is at a stalemate and a ‘new’ conflict has exploded in Gaza occupying the world’s attention. Partisan politics has tied up American funding in Washington, and Ukrainians are freezing in the dead of winter. To make matters worse, Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin are threatening the world more than ever before. There’s a palpable sense that we’re on the brink of something terrible, especially considering the spectre of a second Trump Presidency. To quote Malcolm Gladwell, the war in Ukraine is a tipping point. What’s really at stake in Ukraine? Tune into this episode of The Decentralists to find out.

It has now been a little over six months since Meta rolled out "Threads" - Their supposed X (Formerly known as Twitter) killer. Like Twitter, Threads is available as both an app and a desktop client, and it offers users the ability to post and share short text posts, images, and videos, as well as interact with other users' posts through replies, "reposts," and likes. Current estimates put total Threads users at around 160 Million accounts. The path that Threads is following is littered with has-beens, wannabes and hand-wringing venture capitalists - Gab, Truth Social, Parler, GETTR, Bluesky... And that's just the ones we can think of. Is Threads going to leave X hanging on by a thread? Does microblogging have a future? Tune in to this episode of The Decentralists to find out.

On October 7th, full scale war broke out in Gaza between Hamas, a terrorist group and Israel. Thousands of rockets from Gaza pounded Israeli settlements killing 1200 people, Israeli retaliatory strikes have killed tens of thousands. The Israel / Hamas war has taken public attention away from the frozen conflict in Ukraine just as Winter sets in. Is the Israel / Hamas war a coincidence or is there someone in the background pulling the strings? Tune in to this episode of The Decentralists as Henry, Mike and Geoff discuss some interesting coincidences that point to the Kremlin.

In October 2022, Elon Musk spent $44 billion buying Twitter which he subsequently renamed "X". Musk's purchase of Twitter took almost a year as the drama played out in front of our eyes. Elon first went public in early 2022, ironically on Twitter with a public spat with founder Jack Dorsey over what her perceived as a lack of free speech on the platform. When Jack didn't take the bait, Musk upped the ante by declaring that if he couldn't get satisfaction, he would buy Twitter and do it himself. This is our third podcast on the Twitter drama and given recent events on X, it might be our last as Musk's anti-semitic rants have driven adverstisers away in droves and revenue has tanked. What are Elon's plans for X (formerly Twitter)? Does he even have a plan? Tune into this episode of The Decentralists to find out just how badly Elon could mess up X (formerly know as Twitter)

International momentum is growing to seize Russian state assets, including central bank reserves to pay for the rebuilding of Ukraine. Otherwise, western taxpayers will end up footing the bill. Canada leads the world with Senator Ratna Omidvar's recent amendment to the Special Economic Measures Act (SEMA) allowing the seizure of Russian state assets and private assets to rebuild Ukraine. Other countries are poised to follow suit, but there’s concern that seizing assets could lead to a loss of leverage with Russia in terms of pressuring Putin to end the war. On this episode of The Decentralists we speak with Peace Coalition members, Dr. Jon Unruh and our very own Mike Cholod about their recent Opinion piece in The Conversation. Will seizing state assets discourage Russia from ending the war? Or is it a new tool for peace-making? Join the Decentralists with special guest Jon Unruh to find out.

After being summoned by the Government of Canada, Mike’s about to walk into several meetings with some of the highest-ranking officials and Ministers in Ottawa. Learn all the details including ‘what it’s really like’ within the hallowed halls of the House of Commons on Parliament Hill. Mike was rather surprised! Please join us to learn who’s involved, what was discussed, and the next steps to move forward on this episode of The Decentralists.

After more than nine months, Mike is back in Canada. Why? Well, he was summoned by the Government of Canada. An influential Member of Parliament and a well-respected Senator have heard about the unique plan to rebuild Ukraine that The Peace Coalition has developed, and they want to talk. Please join us to learn who’s involved, what was discussed, and the next steps to move forward on this episode of The Decentralists.

The war in Ukraine is not just a physical war of tanks, trenches, artillery and attrition. It’s also being fought across the Internet on the social media front line and deep within the darkweb where armies of hackers from both sides fight a brutal cyberwar. Sometimes these electronic battles erupt into the daylight with both horrendous and hilarious results. Are there legitimate reasons to train national cyber-soldiers - a professional army of hacktivists? Find out what we’ve discovered in Ukraine on this episode of The Decentralists.

Ukrainian people are very technically sophisticated, especially in the big cities like Kyiv and Lviv. Evenryone has the latest iPhone compete with air buds. You can order, pay and tip at every restaurant by scanning a QR code at your table. Banking is virtual and people pay and transfer money by sharing credit card numbers and tapping Apple Pay. Hungry? Glovo will deliver in the middle of an air raid and Uber, Uklon or Bolt will pick you up and drive you anywhere in Kyiv anytime. How did Ukraine become such a technically sophisticated nation? Tune in to the latest episode of the Decentralists to find out.

Ukrainians routinely complain about paying extra fees for expedited processing of documents, or to have a plumber repair their toilet. Kyiv is littered with unfinished apartment buildings because developers skim so much from the construction funds that the structure cannot be finished. Doing business in Ukraine is challenging and it’s not just because of the illegal Russian invasion. For decades corruption has been a reality. Is corruption inevitable in post-soviet countries? What effect could corruption have on Ukraine's recovery and rebuilding after the war? And how can it be eradicated? Find out on this episode of the Decentralists.

WIRED recently published an explosive article The Kremlin has Entered your Telegram Chat, regarding the experience of Russian rights activist Marina Matsapulina. Matsapulina, like most Russians and indeed most Ukrainians, was using the globally-popular Russian-developed Telegram. Equivalent to the American WhatsApp, communicating through Telegram is touted as totally private and secure. So how did the Russian secret service know her every move? Is Telegram, the supposedly anti-authoritarian app co-founded by the mercurial Saint Petersburg native Pavel Durov, now doing the Kremlin’s bidding? Or it is compromised because its servers are located in Dubai, a known friendly nation to Russian oligarchs and expats. Nearly everyone in Ukraine uses Telegram - an app created by a Russian in Russia. Should Ukrainians switch to WhatsApp? Listen to this episode of the Decentralists to learn more.

We came to Ukraine because we felt our mobile app could be incredibly helpful to refugees. Many agreed, so we redesigned it to enable displaced people to securely & privately report details of damage or destruction of their home, land and property (HLP). Ukraine must find an efficient way to document and process the expected millions of rebuilding claims, even from those who may not have a property deed or other formal proof of occupancy. Furthermore, political agreement and precedent must be established to seize Russian assets, leading to a legal mechanism to forfeit them and apply the funds to the rebuilding of Ukraine. No organization exists to confront these political & legal challenges or to manage such a daunting task. Until now: The Peace Coalition. Join the Decentralists to learn how technology and policy can unite to rebuild Ukraine.

It’s not easy traveling to Ukraine during wartime with multiple flights and a 24-hour train ride from Warsaw, but it’s certainly an adventure. You’ll find that Kyiv has every modern conveniece like ride-sharing, food delivery and digital government services. However, it also has daily air raid sirens, and deadly missile & drone attacks courtesy the Russian Federation. Most people speak English, restaurants are full and the bars make awesome cocktails, but a little anxiety is always palpable. Season 5 is all about Ukraine and its brave people so if you want to stay informed, listen to The Decentralists. Mike’s now been living in Kyiv for nearly six months. What’s life really like in a war zone? Have a listen and find out.

It’s been three months since we last released an episode of The Decentralists and for that we apologise. However, we have a pretty good excuse. Mike went to Kyiv for two weeks in early August on a mission for our non-profit, The Peer Social Foundation. He’s still there - deeply involved in planning the country’s recovery with the brave people of Ukraine. What the heck are the Decentralists doing in Ukraine? How do you even get there? What’s life really like in a war zone? Please have a listen – there’s much more to come…

Palantir, Clearview A.I., NSO Group, maker of the infamous Pegasus spyware, Anomaly 6 and Zignal are a few examples of private companies that offer to spy on anyone for a price. Anomaly 6, a mobile phone spyware solution set up by 2 former NSA military intelligence officers, can track roughly 3 billion devices in real time, equivalent to a fifth of the world’s population. Zignal Labs, a social media monitoring firm that leverages its access to Twitter’s rarely granted “firehose” data stream to sift through hundreds of millions of tweets per day without restriction. With their powers combined, A6 proposed, Zignal’s corporate and governmental clients could not only surveil global social media activity, but also determine who exactly sent certain tweets, where they sent them from, who they were with, where they’d been previously, and where they went next. This enormously augmented capability would be an obvious boon to both regimes keeping tabs on their global adversaries and companies keeping tabs on their employees. These firms represent a burgeoning new private military-grade surveillance industry and it is targeted at us! Is this the beginning of surveillance on demand? What can we do to prevent this type of surveillance from happening? Join the Decentralists this week and find out why hacking tools are available to the highest bidder and how anyone can hire their own Private Spy...for a price.

As reported by the BBC, Affinity Credit Union in Iowa has filed a class action lawsuit against Apple regarding its ‘closed’ payment system, Apple Pay. The complaint alleges that Apple prevents consumers from using competing mobile wallets capable of offering competing tap and pay solutions. Affinity claims Apple charges banks and credit unions at least $1 billion in excess fees annually for the privilege of using Apple Pay. Is this surprising behaviour from Apple? Will Apple ever open its iOS ecosystem? Join The Decentralists as we discuss recipes for good ol’ American Apple Pay.

The largest data breach in history just occurred in China. According to Reuters the "Databases contain information on one billion Chinese national residents and several billion case records, including: name, address, birthplace, national ID number, mobile number, all crime/case details.” Apparently, the hacker “China Dan” is willing to sell the database for the relatively low sum of $200,000. At that price, many people and numerous governments could very soon own information on nearly every person in China. State censorship is working overtime to remove all mentions of the hack from the Chinese Internet, and the government is warning people and business to pay more attention to security. Is this hack legitimate? What happens next? What will China do? There’s lots to discuss on this week’s episode of The Decentralists!

As we mused back in April on The Musk Stops Here, Elon Musk has not followed through on his promise to buy Twitter. Three months later, Musk has rescinded his purchase offer for the agreed upon $44 billion. Musk and Twitter are gearing up for a colossal legal battle in the Chancery Court of Delaware. What happened? Can Elon just change his mind like a pair of socks? What about the fallout for shareholders of Twitter and Tesla? We have lots to unpack regarding the latest Musk drama on this week's episode of The Decentralists.

research institute, technology lab, solutions network, media hub and public forum. Our special guest is Yuliya Panfil, a senior fellow and director of New America’s Future of Land and Housing program. Two billion people—over a quarter of the world’s population—lack a fundamental human right: the right to property. This isn’t solely a problem in the developing world; nearly five million Americans lose their homes through eviction and mortgage foreclosure every year. How can decentralized technology help document HLP claims, and could this reduce future conflicts? Join the Decentralists with special guest Yuliya Panfil to find out.

To paraphrase Jonathan Haight from his recent article in the Atlantic, WHY THE PAST 10 YEARS OF AMERICAN LIFE HAVE BEEN UNIQUELY STUPID, the proverbial tower of Babel has fallen and we barely noticed. Social Media has fragmented our societies, effected our mental health, and undermined our democracies. The switch to an algorithm-based advertising model and the billions of daily ‘likes’ and ‘retweets’ have caused the collapse of our previously fairly civil society in just ten short years. On this episode, the Decentralists discuss Johnathan Haight’s undeniable evidence that social media is responsible for the decline of our society and democracy since 2012. However, we believe there’s a solution: Decentralization.