Welcome to the Edge City Podcast, where we explore ideas and projects pushing the boundaries of tech, science, and culture. You'll hear about experimental communities, scientific breakthroughs, and social experiments. By the end of each episode, you'll have a clear understanding of an important idea that's set to shape our future.
Edge City creates popup villages that bring together people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society across the globe. These serve as living labs for experimentation and innovation, all dedicated to accelerating human flourishing.
Norman Ohler: Blitzed, Tripped, and How Drugs Shaped History
In this fireside chat at Edge City Patagonia with Timour Kosters, author Norman Ohler traces how psychoactive substances shaped world history.
From Nazi Germany’s use of methamphetamine to the CIA’s LSD experiments and humanity’s deep evolutionary relationship with psychedelics.
A wide-ranging conversation on power, consciousness, and the future of society.
Norman's talk was supported by PsyDAO.
LINKS
Norman Ohler: https://x.com/normanohler (https://x.com/normanohler)
Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz (https://x.com/timourxyz)
ABOUT EDGE CITY
Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.
Learn more: https://edgecity.live (https://edgecity.live)
Follow us
✨ https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity/ (https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity/)
✨ https://www.instagram.com/joinedgecity/ (https://www.instagram.com/joinedgecity/ )
TIMESTAMPS
(00:00) Introduction
(02:18) From Novelist to Accidental Drug Research
(05:08) The Pervitin Discovery That Changed WWII
(07:50) Blitzkrieg Reconsidered Through Chemistry
(12:51) The Myth of the “Drug-Free” Nazi Regime
(17:15) Fear Suppression, Sleep Deprivation, and Soldiers
(22:37) How Meth Changed the Psychology of War
(26:06) Hitler as Patient Zero
(30:49) Oxycodone, Power, and Political Decisions
(38:01) Why History Ignored the Role of Drugs
(41:18) LSD, Alzheimer’s, and a Personal Turning Point
(49:12) CIA, MK-Ultra, and the Lost Future of Psychedelic Medicine
(57:47) The Global Cost of the War on Drugs
(01:01:59) Ibogaine, the Stoned Ape Theory, and Brain Evolution
(01:18:56) Psychedelic Freedom and the Future of Civilization
6 Oct 2025
The Story & Impact of Edge City in 5 min - Timour Kosters @ the Network State Conference 2025
Edge City co-founder Timour Kosters (https://x.com/timourxyz) presented at the Network State Conference 2025 to share what we’ve built so far and where we’re headed next.
Two years in, here’s what we’ve achieved as a society incubator:
✨ 7 popup villages worldwide
✨ 11,000+ participants
✨ $1M in grants given to frontier builders
✨ 50+ startups and projects supported
We're hosting our next monthlong popup village in Argentine Patagonia from Oct 18 to Nov 15, 2025.
Join us to prototype a brighter future — together with others working at the frontiers of tech, science, art, and society.
Apply here: https://edgecity.simplefi.tech/portal/edge-patagonia/application (https://edgecity.simplefi.tech/portal/edge-patagonia/application)
More info: https://edgecity.live/patagonia (https://edgecity.live/patagonia)
ABOUT EDGE CITY
Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.
Follow us on X: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity (https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity)
Learn more: https://edgecity.live (https://edgecity.live)
17 Sept 2025
Meet the Residency Leads of Edge City Patagonia
At Edge City Patagonia (Oct 18–Nov 15), residencies (https://www.edgecity.live/patagonia#residencies) form the backbone of the village. Each brings together 5–50 people around a theme. In this roundtable conversation, we hear from residency hosts working on solarpunk futures, onchain tech, consciousness, meditation, biotech, regeneration, d/acc, AI, cypherpunk, and vibecoding.
Learn more: https://www.edgecity.live/patagonia (https://www.edgecity.live/patagonia)
Apply to join: https://edgecity.simplefi.tech/portal/edge-patagonia/application (https://edgecity.simplefi.tech/portal/edge-patagonia/application)
ABOUT EDGE CITY
Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.
Follow us on X: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity (https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity)
Learn more: https://edgecity.live (https://edgecity.live)
CHAPTERS
(00:00) Introduction
(02:50) Agartha House
(07:32) Argentina Onchain Residency
(13:22) Meditation Artifacts Residency
(15:59) Human Tech Residency
(22:56) Vibe Coding Residency
(26:55) Consciousness at the Edge
(30:46) Cross-Pollination Between Residencies
(31:30) Cypherpunk Utopia
(34:24) Regen Haus
(41:30) San Martín de los Andes
(42:13) Health & Bio Residency
(44:39) The Oz City
46:22) Wrapping Up
21 Aug 2025
Edge City Patagonia: A Popup Village for Human Flourishing | Bankless Interview
Edge City gathers frontier minds to prototype new ways of living and building together. From October 18 to November 15, 2025 we're hosting our flagship popup village in the Patagonian lakeside town of San Martín de los Andes.
Learn more about Edge City Patagonia: https://www.edgecity.live/patagonia (https://www.edgecity.live/patagonia)
David Hoffman (http://x.com/TrustlessState) from Bankless (https://x.com/Banklesshq) sat down with Edge City co-founder Timour Kosters (https://x.com/timourxyz) to hear what Edge City Patagonia is and how it can spark new tech, startups, art, friendships, and breakthroughs.
We've designed this month to be the highest-leverage time of your year. Apply here → (https://edgecity.simplefi.tech/portal/edge-patagonia/application) LINKS
Timour: https://x.com/timourxyz (https://x.com/timourxyz)
David: http://x.com/TrustlessState (http://x.com/TrustlessState)
Bankless: https://x.com/Banklesshq (https://x.com/Banklesshq) ABOUT EDGE CITY
Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.Follow us on X (https://x.com/intent/user?screen_name=JoinEdgeCity) | Learn more (https://edgecity.live) CHAPTERS
(00:00) Intro to Edge City
(00:42) Why we build monthlong popup villages
(02:28) What to expect?
(03:10) David's experience at Edge Esmeralda
(04:39) Designed for serendipity and collaboration
(05:15) What's unique for Edge City Patagonia
(06:04) How to maximize your experience
(06:57) Co-working and co-creation
(08:03) Make your own adventure
(08:43) Human connection and social structures
(10:43) How to join Edge City Patagonia
19 Jun 2025
Audrey Tang - Plurality and Digital Democracy | A Fireside Chat at Edge Esmeralda
Digital Minister Audrey Tang discusses digital democracy and Taiwan's democratic experiments with Timour Kosters in this interview, exploring plurality and civic technology for global application.
20 May 2025
Network Societies, Civic Tech & Democracy - Glen Weyl & Timour Kosters at Edge City Austin
Glen Weyl builds new social technologies for collective decision-making, plural coordination, and democratic innovation. He leads the Plurality Institute and co-founded RadicalxChange to turn experimental ideas into institutional prototypes.In this conversation, Glen Weyl and host Timour Kosters explore the intersection of technology, democracy, and civic infrastructure. From Taiwan’s civic tech to new models of money and collective decision-making, this chat covers the intellectual foundations of the Plurality movement.Recorded at Edge City Austin, held in Austin, TX, from March 2-7, 2025. Glen Weyl: https://glenweyl.com/Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz --Follow Edge City on Twitter: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity Learn more about Edge City: https://edgecity.live/ Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.--CHAPTERS(00:00) Glen Weyl's work and the vision for Edge City(01:43) The growing chasm between technology & democracy(04:46) From Star Trek to Snow Crash, the cultural collapse of future visions(06:18) Two threats to democracy: chaos and control(09:54) Network societies vs. network states(12:01) The 3 political ideologies of the 21st century(15:22) Why Plurality is the most viable path(18:05) Lessons from Taiwan - GovZero, Pol.is & civic tech(22:50) Japan’s AI-augmented grassroots politics(31:53) New models of money(37:18) Designing experiments at Edge City popup villages(44:25) Decentralized governance, power vacuums & quadratic voting(53:04) Community currencies and plural governance models(58:35) From temporary popup village to permanent city(01:03:52) Integration, not exit(01:12:11) Identity and community recovery(01:15:49) Mathematics and Plurality, final thoughts
12 May 2025
Kevin Owocki & Rena O'Brien: From Gitcoin to Allo - The Case for Onchain Capital Coordination
Kevin Owocki is the founder of Gitcoin and co-founder of Allo Capital, focused on regenerative crypto economics.
Rena O'Brien is a web3 strategist and DAO builder with experience spanning Gitcoin and global capital networks.
In this episode, Kevin and Rena explore why onchain capital allocation matters—and how programmable money can transform how we fund public goods, startups, and impact at scale. They discuss new coordination tools, the philosophy behind capital as a force for good, and what it might look like to fund “missions not markets” in the years ahead.
If you're curious about the future of funding, DAOs, or the next layer of crypto beyond speculation, this one's for you.
--
LINKS
Kevin Owocki: https://x.com/owocki
Rena O'Brien: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaobrien/
Allo Capital: https://www.allo.capital/
Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz
--
ABOUT EDGE CITY ☀️
Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.
Follow Edge City on Twitter: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity
Learn more about Edge City: https://edgecity.live/
--
TIMESTAMPS ☀️
(00:00) Introduction
(02:51) Why Tokenized Capital Allocation?
(05:26) The 8 Forms of Capital Explained
(08:59) The Impact of Gitcoin
(10:18) What’s Broken with Capital Allocation Today?
(14:25) The Case for Onchain Allocation Systems
(17:50) Introducing Allo Capital
(21:17) Funding Local Projects with AlloIRL
(28:01) Relevance to Edge City
(39:36) Owocki's New Book: How to DAO
(46:36) Gitcoin as DAO
(54:57) Popup Villages & Human Flourishing
25 Apr 2025
Why You Should Build the Magically Weird: The Long Journey Residency at Edge Esmeralda
In this conversation, we discuss why building the absurd before it becomes consensus is crucial for a flourishing future. Our guests are Lee Jacobs, Cyan Banister, Arielle Zuckerberg, and Z. Mike Wang from Long Journey VC.
More info on Edge Esmeralda: https://www.edgeesmeralda.com
More info on the Long Journey Residency: https://www.edgecity.live/blog/introducing-the-long-journey-residency-at-edge-esmeralda-2025
--
This is an edited recording from a live conversation on X Spaces: https://x.com/i/spaces/1LyxBWDQdVEKN/peek
--
ABOUT EDGE CITY
Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.
Follow Edge City: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity
Learn more: https://edgecity.live/
--
SOCIALS
Janine Leger: https://x.com/JanineLeger
Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz
Long Journey: https://x.com/LongJourneyVC
Lee Jacobs: https://x.com/LeeJacobs
Cyan Banister: https://x.com/cyantist
Arielle Zuckerberg: https://x.com/ariellezuck Z.
Mike Wang: https://x.com/zmwang
--
TIMESTAMPS
00:00 – Why the Best Ideas Look Absurd (Until They Don’t)
01:19 – The Long Journey Origin Story
06:19 – From Zuzalu to Edge City: Building Experimental Villages
09:41 – What to Expect at Edge Esmeralda 2025
14:15 – Inside the Long Journey Residency: A Pre-Accelerator for Wild Ideas
18:56 – From Crazy to Consensus: How Big Ideas Take Off
23:10 – Why We Need Spaces Like Edge City Now
13 Dec 2024
Brink Lindsey: Human Flourishing, the Triple Crisis, and Societal Experiments
Brink Lindsey explores the intersection of individual well-being and societal health, offering insights into how agency, respect, and innovation can guide us toward a better future where human flourishing is a reality.
31 Oct 2024
Matt Prewitt: Social Technology, Community Currencies, and RadicalxChange
We chat with Matt Prewitt from RadicalxChange about rethinking communities through intentional design and social technology. The conversation explores various types of intentional communities, including affinity communities, individualist escape communities, and responsible experimenters.
Matt highlights how responsible experimentation can create more sustainable and impactful spaces and argues that mutual vulnerability is essential for building trust and shared identity. This is illustrated by RadicalxChange's use of community currencies like "∈dges" at Edge City’s pop-up villages, an experiment to incentivize local exchange and keeping value circulating in the community.
The chat closes with ideas on how such social technologies can cultivate human flourishing by combining global connectedness with robust, locally supportive systems.
Matt Prewitt: https://x.com/m_t_prewitt (https://x.com/m_t_prewitt)
Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz (https://x.com/timourxyz)
RadicalxChange: https://www.radicalxchange.org/ (https://www.radicalxchange.org/)
Edge City: https://twitter.com/joinedgecity (https://twitter.com/joinedgecity)
Edge City Lanna: https://www.edgecity.live/lanna (https://www.edgecity.live/lanna)
(00:00) Introduction
(02:14) RadicalxChange’s Mission and Theory of Change
(06:45) Georg Simmel and the Power of Secrecy in Communities
(14:23) Three Types of New Community Initiatives
(24:53) The Importance of Social Technology
(33:29) Associative Obligations and Mutual Vulnerability
(47:42) Reimagining Money: Community Currencies
(59:35) Lessons from Community Currency Experiments
(1:11:36) Community Currency Experiment at Edge City
(1:21:43) Pop-up Villages and the Future of Intentional Communities
(1:24:53) Human Flourishing
15 Sept 2024
Devon Zuegel & Janine Leger: Building Edge Esmeralda, popup villages, and new towns
In this inaugural episode of the Edge City Podcast, host Timour Kosters sits down with Devon Zuegel and Janine Leger to explore Edge Esmeralda, a pop-up village experiment they organized in June 2024 that brought together 1,300 people who believe the future can be better and are actively working to make it happen.
Devon is an accomplished writer and thinker with a background in software engineering and a deep passion for cities. She’s currently working on Esmeralda, a new town project in Northern California. Janine, Timour’s co-founder at Edge City, previously led the grants program at Gitcoin and was a co-creator of Zuzalu, a pioneering popup city that explored new models of communal living and collaboration.
Chapters
(00:00) Introduction
(02:40) What was Edge Esmeralda?
(05:30) Inspiration and historical context
(10:37) Building community and culture
(17:41) Highlights of Edge Esmeralda
(29:03) Challenges and learnings
(36:54) Looking ahead: future plans
Links
Devon Zuegel: https://x.com/devonzuegel (https://x.com/devonzuegel)
Janine Leger: https://x.com/JanineLeger (https://x.com/JanineLeger)
Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz (https://x.com/timourxyz)
Edge Esmeralda Recap: https://edgeesmeralda.com/2024 (https://edgeesmeralda.com/2024)
Esmeralda: https://esmeralda.org/ (https://esmeralda.org/)
Edge City: https://twitter.com/joinedgecity (https://twitter.com/joinedgecity)
Edge City Lanna: https://www.edgecity.live/lanna (https://www.edgecity.live/lanna)
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
YouTube views
6,995
Score snapshot 15 Sept 2025
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
3 ratings
Spotify
5.0 / 5
4 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 40 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
37
Social presence
0
YouTube
74
Engagement
32
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