Shows
Liquid CultureThe Systems Economy | PoofIn this episode we are joined by Poof, who currently works as founder of DX Research Group, a new research lab accelerating creative experimentation at the intersection of AI and Crypto. We dive into the org’s first release, DX1: Singularity and its development, the origins & inspirations behind the founding of DX Research, the “systems economy” and Poof’s unique view on the utility of AI, how DXRG approaches scoping and designing new experiences, the art and science of experimentation, an overview of their second release, DX2: Terminal, and much more. 2025-05-141h 04Liquid CultureWhere Are We in the Cycle? | Smac & JmoIn this episode we are joined once again by friends of the pod, Smac - Partner @ Compound VC and Jon Moore - Advisor @ TCG Crypto. We riff on the current state of markets & reflections on 2025 so far, the durability of 4-year cycles, exciting emergent trends, the potential for “super apps” in the West, and much more. 2025-04-0954 minLiquid CultureThe Future of Storytelling & IP | Austin HurwitzIn this episode we chat with Austin Hurwitz, who currently leads Strategy & Business Development for Doodles. We dive into how Austin’s thoughts on the current NFT landscape, defining Doodles’ brand identity, managing scarcity vs. participation, community input vs. top-down leadership, recent leadership changes, token launch, “ghibligate” and the future of IP, and much more.2025-04-0344 minLiquid CultureBuilding the Open Metaverse | Timmu TõkeIn this episode we chat with Timmu Tõke, founder & CEO of PlayerZero and ReadyPlayerMe. We dive into Timmu’s early fascinating with gaming and customizable avatars, the growing challenge & cost of user acquisition for games, the evolution of the “metaverse,” thoughts on AR & VR development, the founder’s journey, and much more. 2025-04-0236 minLiquid CultureHow to be Authentic on the Internet | Cheryl & LDFIn this episode we chat with close friends of the pod, Cheryl Douglass (Seed Club) and LDF (LayerZero). We dive into their respective origin stories & how they stumbled into crypto, their latest vlog series Zero Knowledge, launching $BLONDE, perspectives on “web3 marketing,” mainstream appeal, and much more.2025-03-2742 minLiquid CultureChonks & The Future of PFPs | Backseats & MarkaIn this episode we chat with Backseats and Marka, the creators behind the Chonks PFP collection. We dive into their individual journeys as developers & how they began working together, the original idea and vision for Chonks, taking inspiration from Jack Butcher’s Opepen, composability in crypto art, current state of NFTs, hot takes, and much more. 2025-03-2645 minLiquid CultureThe Art of Curation | MalteIn this episode we chat with Malte, who serves as Head of Artist Relations at Tribute Labs as well as a curator with Glitch Marfa. We dive into his background as an art historian & how he first discovered crypto, the early days of the crypto art scene, curating at Glitch Marfa, the World Computer Sculpture Garden show, the evolution of collecting as a user behavior, developing “taste,” and much more. 2025-03-2540 minLiquid CultureTribute Brand & the Future of Self-Expression | Dani & GalaIn this episode we chat with a previous guest from episode #2, Dani Loftus, as well as a new guest, Gala Vrbanic, who currently work as COO and Founder of Tribute Brand (respectively). We dive into Gala’s background as a designer & how she met Dani, the current state of digital fashion, the future of self-expression, exclusivity in a world of digital abundance, the increasing impact of AI on digital fashion, fashion dot fun, emerging trends they’re excited about, and much more. 2025-03-1938 minLiquid CultureThe Future of Meebits | SergitoIn this episode we chat with Sergio Silva — known to many as Sergito — who recently became CEO of Meebits. We dive into Sergio’s origin story and how he discovered crypto while working in TradFi, making friends in the Meebits Discord, reflections on balancing business & community, lessons from his previous startup Popset, the current state of the NFT market & much more.2025-03-1241 minLiquid CultureAI, God & Consciousness | Seneca LabsIn this episode, Natalie chats with Calvary Rogers — Product Manager at Google AI, musician, artist & founder of Seneca Labs. We dive into Cal’s non-traditional path into AI research, his experimentation with AI as a creative medium prior to the public release of commercial models, the importance of accessible & human-centered AI, self-hosted exhibits, the deep religious themes in his work& how they connect to our understanding of AI, and much more. 2025-03-0555 minLiquid CultureThe Evolution of Crypto Funds | Zaheer EbtikarIn this episode, we chat with Zaheer Ebtikar — long-time trader & founder of Split Capital. We dive into Zaheer’s background and introduction to trading, the growing importance of liquid funds in crypto markets, understanding LPs and institutional interest, financial nihilism, crypto culture through the trader lens, lending, stablecoins & much more.2025-02-1943 minLiquid CultureAll Media Is Training Data | Mat DryhurstIn this episode, Natalie chats with Mat Dryhurst — long-time musician, technologist and artist advocate. We dive into Mat’s early background and initial forays into blending frontier technology with creative practices, how & why Art is becoming increasingly intertwined with technology, “Protocol Art,” what it means to be creative in the age of AI, spawning vs. sampling, reviving the ethos of “the commons” and “public goods” as it relates to media, the responsibility of artists today, and much more.2025-02-1245 minLiquid CultureHow to Build Delightful Crypto Products | Max SegallIn this episode we chat with Max Segall, COO of Privy. We dive into the world of crypto wallets & onboarding infrastructure, embedded wallets & Privy’s perspective on the market, the evolution of crypto’s application landscape, new emerging use cases for Privy, minting as a new user behavior, network effects in crypto infrastructure, and much more.2025-02-0539 minLiquid CultureDesigning the Future of Fashion | Charli CohenIn this episode we chat with Charli Cohen, long-time fashion designer & founder of RTSLSS. We dive into Charli’s original vision for RSTLSS and digital fashion, working with legacy brands & IP, influences & opportunities beyond the world of gaming, the baggage around the term “metaverse,” and much more.2025-02-0437 minLiquid CultureCome for the Tech, Stay for the Friends | FunghibullIn this episode we chat with Funghibull, co-founder of SHILLR and very close friend of the pod. We dive into Fungi’s current focus and view on the market, the latest consumer apps & tools, the evolution of collecting culture, how to discovery great new art, the ethos & culture of different chains, the role of media in crypto, maintaining integrity in marketing & community building, and much more.2025-01-2941 minLiquid CultureThe Future of AI is Onchain | Teng YanIn this episode we chat with Teng Yan, founder of Chain of Thought, a research firm focused on exploring the intersections of Crypto and AI. We talk about Teng’s journey from health tech startups into crypto, what “Crypto AI” really means and looks like, compute markets, decentralized training, how to think about “AI agents,” and much more.2025-01-2243 minLiquid CultureCambria & The Future of Gaming | Ben.ZZZIn this episode we chat with Ben.ZZZ, onchain gaming aficionado & founder of Cambria. We dive into Cambria’s origin story, “risk-to-earn” & unique game modes, the nostalgia of the Runescape Era, how to think about retention for games, designing in-game economies, the challenges of building onchain games & much more!2025-01-1535 minLiquid CultureCambria & The Future of Gaming | Ben.ZZZIn this episode we chat with Ben ZZZ, onchain gaming aficionado & founder of Cambria. We dive into Cambria’s origin story, “risk-to-earn” & unique game modes, the nostalgia of the Runescape Era, how to think about retention for games, designing in-game economies, the challenges of building in crypto & much more!2025-01-1535 minLiquid Culture2024 Recap | Smac & JmoIn this episode we are joined once again by friends of the pod, Smac - partner @ Compound VC and Jon Moore - advisor @ TCG Crypto. We dive into the crazy year of 2024, recapping the highest highs and lowest lows, before making predictions for 2025. 2024-12-2355 minLiquid CultureTools For Humanity | Leighton CusackIn this episode we chat with Leighton Cusack, who currently leads Ecosystem development at Tools For Humanity, more commonly known as World (aka “Worldcoin). We dive into Leighton’s early fascinating with social entrepreneurship, discovering crypto & founding PoolTogether, joining World, the importance of privacy & identity in a world of AI, launching World’s developer ecosystem & much more.2024-12-1030 minLiquid CultureArtchains & Creative Compute | Achilleas SarantarisIn this episode we chat with Achilleas Sarantaris, who leads ecosystem efforts around Art, Games & Worlds at Celestia. We dive into his time pursuing a professional music career, discovering crypto & NFTs during the pandemic, early experiments and lessons from Async Art, why he joined Celestia, his thesis around Artchains, and much more.2024-12-0539 minLiquid CultureCrate & The Future of Music Monetization | Joey InyIn this episode we chat with Joey Iny, founder of onchain music trading platform, Crate. We dive into Joey’s background as a successful music producer, royalties and the brokenness of the music business, discovering crypto but not aligning with “collector culture,” the original idea for Crate, learnings & feedback from artists, Crate’s V2 launch & more. 2024-11-2127 minLiquid CultureGoing HIGHER | Martin AnquetilIn this episode we chat with Martin Antequil, the creator behind onchain brand HIGHER as well as the onchain agent Aether. We dive into Martin’s early work on NBA Top Shot at Dapper Labs, his thoughts on the evolution of the NFT market, his time building within the Nouns DAO community, “headless brands” and the emergence of HIGHER, building Aether, personality design & much more.2024-11-1341 minLiquid CultureThe Future is Formless | Brandon ToryIn this episode we chat with Brandon Tory, co-founder & CEO of Formless. We dive into his early passions for engineering and music, managing the duality of corporate life & creative life, discovering crypto & the original vision for SHARE Protocol, tradeoffs between PMF and decentralization, self-funding media & much more. 2024-11-0641 minLiquid CultureBoost & The Future of Token Distribution | Brian Flynn & Jon MooreIn this episode we chat with Brian Flynn, founder of Boost Protocol, and Jon Moore, investor at TCG Crypto and longtime friend of the pod. We dive into the origins of Rabbithole and its evolution into Boost Protocol, how token distribution mechanisms have changed over time, the emerging concept of “onchain virality,” patterns in how users are leveraging Boost today, identify & sybil resistance challenges, experiments around AI agents, and more. 2024-10-3043 minLiquid CultureBlinks & The Future of Crypto UX | Chris OsbornIn this episode we chat with Chris Osborn, founder of Dialect. We dive into his background in physics & quantum computing, how he discovered and transitioned into crypto, the original vision for Dialect and “smart messaging,” Blinks & Solana Actions, crypto as a novel UX paradigm, reflections on crypto’s superpowers, and more.2024-10-2340 minLiquid CultureCo-host Origin Stories | Ben RoyIn this special episode, Nat interviews Liquid Culture co-host Ben Roy. We dive into Ben background in politics & international relations, pivoting into crypto, reflections on being a prolific community builder, working with the Seed Club, early ideas for Liquid Culture, Canada’s tech talent exodus, and much more.2024-10-1632 minLiquid CultureCo-host Origin Stories | Natalie MullinsIn this special episode Ben interviews Liquid Culture co-host Natalie Mullins. We dive into Nat’s crypto origin story, her musical heritage & creative process, how she thinks about onchain media and minting, breaking into venture investing, and more. 2024-10-0933 minLiquid CultureNeo-Couture & Fashion as Hardware | Colby MugrabiIn this episode we chat with Colby Mugrabi, founder of mmERCH. We dive into Colby’s early obsession with fashion, her crypto origin story, initial experiences with the “metaverse” and virtual fashion, the inspiration and vision behind founding mmERCH, lessons & learnings from their Genesis drop, how the fashion industry views crypto, upcoming releases, and more.2024-09-3040 minLiquid CultureHypersub & The Future of Creator Revenue | Jonny MackIn this episode we chat with Jonny Mack, co-founder of Hypersub. We dive into Jonny’s background as a professional designer, his early forays into crypto, the origins of Hypersub, pivoting from crowdfunding to subscriptions, pricing strategies & onchain referrals, scaling beyond crypto-natives, and more. 2024-09-2543 minLiquid CultureBeyond Web2 Replication | Parker Jay-PachiratIn this episode we chat with Parker Jay-Pachirat, an investor at FinTech Collective and founding member of Boys Club. We dive into Parker’s thoughts on defining “consumer crypto,” what constitutes a “break out” consumer application, studying using retention, her experience being Tumblr famous, the significance of minting, distribution incentives, and more. 2024-09-1738 minLiquid CultureConnecting IRL to URL | Ryan OuyangIn this episode we chat with Ryan Ouyang, co-founder of IYK. We dive into Ryan’s background in software engineering & ETH mining, IYK’s origin story and vision, weird early use cases, dropping out of university, the future of fandom & loyalty, musicians as early adopters, and more.2024-09-1140 minLiquid CultureThe Future of Fun is Onchain | Peter PanIn this episode we chat with Peter “pet3rpan” Pan, partner at the crypto investment firm 1kx. We dive into Peter’s background a product designer, his thesis for "blockchains as toys," web2 skeuomorphism vs. crypto-nativity, mobile games, autonomous worlds, the potential of onchain social graphs, and more. 2024-09-1043 minLiquid CultureLong Live Music NFTs | Latashá & Ed BalloonIn this episode we chat with Latashá and Ed Balloon, both independent musicians and trailblazers at the intersection of music & onchain media. We dive into their respective background as professional creatives, frustrations with onchain platforms & marketplaces, going “direct-to-consumer” and the importance of user data, creative freedom & ownership, explorations beyond music, and more. 2024-09-0441 minLiquid CultureWhere Code Meets Art | Sofia GarciaIn this episode we chat with Sofia Garcia — generative artist, curator & founder of ARTXCODE. We dive into Sofia’s early interest in generative art, how she discovers and works with artists, finding crypto art, the origins and mission of ARTXCODE, her thoughts on the current state of NFT markets and collector archetypes, her recent “Misunderstood Machines” collection, and more.2024-08-2839 minLiquid CultureCrypto Twitter’s Comic Hero | Bold LeonidasIn this episode we chat with Bold Leonidas, known & loved by many for his witty comic illustrations of the infamous “Crypto Twitter.” We dive into Bold’s original skepticism of crypto twitter, his foray into NFTs and crypto art, the genesis of the comic strip idea, owning memes, the important of scarcity in art, why he still draws freehand, and more.2024-08-2145 minLiquid CultureA Brief History of Crypto Art | ColdieIn this episode we chat with Coldie, renowned 3D artist, collector & blockchain art OG. We dive into Coldie’s background and training in visual arts, the importance of documenting blockchain history through art, the inspiration behind his artworks, meme culture, collecting, royalties, and more. 2024-08-1448 minLiquid CultureThe Parallel Universe | Kalos & AdrianIn this episode we chat with Kalos and Adrian of Parallel Studios, creators of the Parallel Trading Card Game (TCG) and Sci-Fi franchise. We dive into the early days of the crypto gaming scene, Parallel’s story arc & game universe, the future role of AI in gaming, the UGC & mod ecosystem, creative inspiration, and more. 2024-08-0745 minLiquid CultureThe Future of Media & IP Development | Julian HolguinIn this episode we chat with Julian Holguin, current CEO of Doodles and longtime executive in the traditional media industry. We dive into Julian’s origins at Billboard before transitioning into crypto, the differences between traditional IP development and the onchain approach, Doodles’ business model & community engagement strategy, the future of internet-native media businesses, and more. 2024-07-3150 minLiquid CultureHow to Build Community Online | WabIn this episode we chat with Wab, serial entrepreneur and founder of Sappy Seals. We dive into Wab’s origins and background as a software engineer, his unique perspectives on building NFT communities, sustainable funding, community use of IP, game development & more.2024-07-1851 minLiquid CultureHow to Build Community Online | WabIn this episode we chat with Wab, serial entrepreneur and founder of Sappy Seals. We dive into Wab’s origins and background as a software engineer, his unique perspectives on building NFT communities, sustainable funding, community use of IP, game development & more.2024-07-1851 minLiquid CultureThe Future of Media & Lifestyle Brands | Natasha HoskinsIn this episode we chat with Natasha Hoskins, co-founder of Boys Club. We dive into Natasha’s unique background in art history and entrepreneurship, the origins and evolution of Boys Club, building media companies and lifestyle brands, the art of event planning & community building, and more. 2024-07-1039 minLiquid CultureTaking Consumer Crypto Mainstream | Winnie & AleksijaIn this episode we chat with Winnie Lau, investor at BlockTower Capital, and Aleksija Vujicic, former investor at Multicoin Capital and now founder of TATA Bazaar. We dive into their backgrounds as consumer-focused investors, what makes consumer investing so hard, why consumer crypto struggles to reach the masses, a sneak peak into Aleksija’s stealth startup & more.2024-07-0340 minLiquid CultureThe Memecoin Supercycle | Kel & AnsemIn this episode we chat with Kel Eleje, former Messari analyst & author of the "Memecoin Supercycle" thesis, as well as Ansem (aka Zion), legendary crypto trader & co-founder of Bullpen. We dive into the arguments for taking memecoins seriously as an investment category, celebrity coins & social tokens, the evolution of onchain trading, online attention flows, potential downsides of memecoins and more.2024-06-2548 minLiquid CultureDesigning the Future of Crypto | 0xDesignerIn this episode we chat with 0xDesigner, one of crypto's most prolific designers and creator of the "Design Everydays" series. We dive into his philosophy & approach to software design, how to build "cultural moats," Zora & the power of minting creations onchain, reflections on crypto's current design landscape, and more.2024-06-2040 minLiquid CultureInside the Mind of an AI Artist | Claire SilverIn this episode we chat with Claire Silver, an acclaimed “AI collaborative artist” and founder of Accelerate Art. We dive into Claire’s creative origins experimenting with both crypto and artificial intelligence as artistic mediums, the economics of selling art onchain, her journey as a collector and more. 2024-06-1238 minLiquid CultureThe Cultural Evolution of Crypto | Smac & JmoIn this episode we chat with close friends of the pod, Smac (investor @ Compound VC) and Jonathan Moore (investor @ TCG Crypto). We dive into the cultural evolution of crypto, from early Bitcoin days through DeFi Summer and 2021 NFT Mania, exploring how each new wave broadened and transformed crypto's culture, and more.2024-06-0543 minLiquid CultureThe Future of Digital Fashion | Dani LoftusIn this episode we chat with Dani Loftus, founder of digital fashion platform DRAUP. We dive into Dani's background and journey into the world of digital fashion, how the industry has evolved since the early days, generative personalization, the future of social commerce and more. 2024-05-2947 minLiquid CultureInvesting in Consumer Crypto | Derek EdwardsIn this episode we chat with Derek Edwards, co-founder & partner at Collab + Currency as well as co-founder of Glitch Marfa. We dive into his focus on investing at the intersection of crypto and consumer technology, his passion for digital art and more.2024-05-2243 minLiquid CultureIntroductionWelcome to Liquid Culture.2024-05-2106 min