NET Society is unraveling the latest in digital art, crypto, AI, and tech. Join us for fresh insights and bold perspectives as we tap into wild, thought-provoking conversations. By: Derek Edwards (glitch marfa / collab+currency), Chris Furlong (starholder, LAO + Flamingo DAO), and Aaaron Wright & Priyanka Desai (Tribute Labs)
The Net Society crew welcomes Michael Connor, Executive Director of Rhizome, for a conversation about preserving digital culture as the organization celebrates thirty years. Michael traces Rhizome’s evolution from an artist mailing list to a memory institution for digital art, including its role in the early history of NFTs. The crew explores what blockchains can preserve and where institutions still matter, from keeping old software running to documenting the communities around the work. From there, a heated debate unfolds around AI agency, alignment, and whether we’re giving machines too much credit for human qualities. The conversation turns to the return of garage tech, cyberdecks, and artists building hardware to escape the attention economy. They revisit the strange creative possibilities of older AI models, the appeal of running tools locally, and what gets lost as outputs become more polished. The episode wraps with physical media nostalgia, surveillance concerns, and a back-and-forth on whether voice will become the default way we work with AI agents.
Mentioned in the episode
Special guest Michael Connor from Rhizome https://x.com/michael_connor
(https://x.com/michael_connor)Rhizome https://rhizome.org/
(https://rhizome.org/)Rhizome’s ArtBase digital art archive https://artbase.rhizome.org/
(https://artbase.rhizome.org/)Kevin McCoy and Anil Dash at Seven on Seven 2014 https://video.rhizome.org/w/2QnKYifBz9FoeRMWvN23Ur
(https://video.rhizome.org/w/2QnKYifBz9FoeRMWvN23Ur)Old Models Foundation, preserving historical generative AI models https://www.oldmodels.org/
(https://www.oldmodels.org/)Suno AI music generation https://suno.com/
(https://suno.com/)Whisper open-source speech recognition https://github.com/openai/whisper
(https://github.com/openai/whisper)Laurie Anderson on Puppet Motel and its restoration by Rhizome https://rhizome.itm.studio/m/laurie-anderson-on-puppet-motel (https://rhizome.itm.studio/m/laurie-anderson-on-puppet-motel)
Show & Hosts
Net Society: https://x.com/net__society (https://x.com/net__society)
Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 (https://x.com/awrigh01)
Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x (https://x.com/ChrisF_0x)
Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws (https://x.com/derekedws)
Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai (https://x.com/pridesai)
Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (https://x.com/0xFnkl)
(00:00) - Michael Connor & Thirty Years of Rhizome
(07:30) - Blockchains, Preservation & Cultural Memory
(13:33) - AI Agency, Alignment & Human Control
(29:43) - Garage Tech & the Hardware Revival
(33:39) - Old AI Models, Creative Play & Local Tools
(39:18) - Artist Devices, Emulation & Physical Media
(46:18) - Surveillance, Digital Autonomy & AI Interfaces
(55:16) - Welcome & Disclaimer
4 Oct 2026
Ep99 The Midjourney Archeology Dept
Aaron and Chris take the mic for a two-person edition of Net Society, opening with Seedphrase’s seven-trait CryptoPunk sale and a debate over rarity, taste, and NFT financing. They unpack the case for a crypto recovery, from clearer regulation to stablecoins and real-world assets finding practical uses. From there, Anthropic’s culture and a controversial AI pain experiment spark a debate over consciousness, anthropomorphism, and whether AI safety could become a justification for mass surveillance. They explore AI systems rediscovering physics and ask whether agent-run organizations could deliver on the original promise of DAOs. A detour into Göbekli Tepe, the Lion Man, and lost civilizations becomes a case for putting AI to work on archaeology, followed by a discussion of university expansion and immersive learning. The conversation then turns to realistic AI avatars, video Turing tests, and the visual cues people need to trust a machine. They wrap with Marfa, plotters, and how AI coding tools could bring makerspaces back, alongside a critique of generative art’s attachment to signature styles.
Mentioned in the episode
Seedphrase sells the only seven-trait CryptoPunk through GONDI [https://x.com/gondixyz/status/2105705149515899044 (https://x.com/gondixyz/status/2105705149515899044)]
San Francisco Fed research on stablecoins and demand for US Treasuries [https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2026/09/stablecoin-issuers-growing-appetite-for-treasury-securities/ (https://www.frbsf.org/research-and-insights/publications/economic-letter/2026/09/stablecoin-issuers-growing-appetite-for-treasury-securities/)]
Daniela Amodei and Holden Karnofsky’s stuffed-animal advisory council [https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/business/anthropic-co-founder-daniela-amodei-and-husband-used-stuffed-animal-advisory-council-for-workplace-conflicts-report/ (https://nypost.com/2026/09/30/business/anthropic-co-founder-daniela-amodei-and-husband-used-stuffed-animal-advisory-council-for-workplace-conflicts-report/)]
The AI “torture chamber” debate [https://x.com/AISafetyMemes/status/2101183174659490199 (https://x.com/AISafetyMemes/status/2101183174659490199)]
AI-Newton: research matching the discussion of AI rediscovering physics [https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.01538 (https://arxiv.org/abs/2504.01538)]
Göbekli Tepe and early monumental architecture [https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1572/ (https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/1572/)]
The Lion Man: a 40,000-year-old Ice Age sculpture [https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/lion-man-ice-age-masterpiece (https://www.britishmuseum.org/blog/lion-man-ice-age-masterpiece)
Tavus Griffin: likely source for the video Turing test discussed [https://www.tavus.io/griffin (https://www.tavus.io/griffin)]
Art Blocks Marfa Weekend 2026 [https://luma.com/abmw2026 (https://luma.com/abmw2026)]
Show & Hosts
Net Society: https://x.com/net__society (https://x.com/net__society)
Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 (https://x.com/awrigh01)
Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x (https://x.com/ChrisF_0x)
Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws (https://x.com/derekedws)
Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai (https://x.com/pridesai)
Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (https://x.com/0xFnkl)
(00:00) - Seedphrase’s Punk Sale & Crypto’s Thaw
(06:24) - Anthropic, AI Consciousness & Surveillance
(22:00) - AI Physics, DAOs & Agent-Run Organizations
(29:30) - Ancient Civilizations, AI Archaeology & Universities
(42:39) - AI Avatars, Turing Tests & Trust
(49:28) - Marfa, Makerspaces & Generative Art
(58:41) - Welcome & Disclaimer
27 Sept 2026
Ep98 Zero Inbox on the Network Plateau
The Net Society crew is deep in the prompt mines as Chris, Pri, and Aaron compare notes on AI obsession, productivity maxing, and whether talking to the box is making them less interesting. They explore the trade-offs of turning inward, from ambitious solo projects and automated life admin to spending less time absorbed in internet culture. From there, they revisit the collective energy of Ethereum and DAOs, asking whether cheaper, more social AI agents could bring that sense of participation back. The conversation shifts to agent wallets, stablecoins, and BlackRock’s AI-and-crypto thesis, setting up a debate over whether money opens new possibilities or brings regulation, extraction, and sameness. They dig into increasingly complex AI finance and the fight over prediction markets before asking whether we’re moving from a culture of spectators to one of doers. The episode wraps with a discussion of privacy, surveillance, and the risk that fears around AI become an argument for monitoring everything.
Mentioned in the episode
Instinct — the personal AI assistant Pri discusses: https://instinct.com/ (https://instinct.com/)
Ethereum and DAOs — decentralized communities and collective participation: https://ethereum.org/dao/ (https://ethereum.org/dao/)
Muse and Stripe Link — wallets that let AI agents shop online: https://stripe.com/gb/newsroom/news/stripe-helps-meta-muse-shop-with-link (https://stripe.com/gb/newsroom/news/stripe-helps-meta-muse-shop-with-link)
BlackRock’s “The Machine-Native Economy” — AI, digital assets, and tokenized compute: https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/literature/whitepaper/the-machine-native-economy.pdf (https://www.blackrock.com/us/individual/literature/whitepaper/the-machine-native-economy.pdf)
New York’s prediction market crackdown — the lawsuit against Polymarket: https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-and-governor-hochul-announce-lawsuit-against-polymarket (https://ag.ny.gov/press-release/2026/attorney-general-james-and-governor-hochul-announce-lawsuit-against-polymarket)
Show & Hosts
Net Society: https://x.com/net__society (https://x.com/net__society)
Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01 (https://x.com/awrigh01)
Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x (https://x.com/ChrisF_0x)
Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws (https://x.com/derekedws)
Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai (https://x.com/pridesai)
Producer/Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl (https://x.com/0xFnkl)
(00:00) - AI Psychosis & the Prompt Mines
(04:26) - Productivity Maxing & Turning Inward
(15:31) - DAOs, Dopamine & Social Media Fatigue
(28:04) - Social AI & the Network Plateau
(32:01) - Agent Wallets, AI Finance & Regulation
(45:40) - From Spectators to Doers
(54:16) - AI Safety, Surveillance & Privacy
(01:00:10) - Welcome & Disclaimer
Who has been a guest on NET Society
Names identified in recent episode analyses. Showing up to five guests.
Jonas Lamis
Seth Goldstein
Duece Birbalo
Reach and audience
Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.
Apple Podcasts (US)
5.0 / 5
8 ratings
Spotify
4.8 / 5
18 ratings
Podcast Authority Score: 59 / 100
A composite of feed quality, social presence, YouTube performance and engagement. Read the methodology.
Quality
98
Social presence
0
YouTube
0
Engagement
51
Contact NET Society
Guest appearances
Books guests
Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.
Pod Engine is an independent podcast discovery and analytics service and is not affiliated with or endorsed by this podcast. Artwork and show content belong to their owners. Full legal notice.
Explore this show Podcast research with Pod Engine
