The internet was built to be open—but today, a handful of companies control much of our digital lives. What happens when your account, audience, identity, or ability to communicate can be taken away overnight?

In this episode of We Are Satoshi, I sit down with Derek Ross and MK Fain of Soapbox to explore the future of a free and open internet. We talk about the internet becoming increasingly permissioned through KYC, digital ID, censorship and centralized platforms—and how Bitcoin, NOSTR, open-source software and other freedom technologies can help build an alternative.

Derek shares the story of building an audience of over 1 million people on Google+—only to have Google shut the platform down, and why that experience changed how he thinks about digital ownership.

We also get into Bitcoin crowdfunding in Venezuela, building alternatives to Discord and GitHub, decentralized identity, censorship, moderation, AI, the challenges of true decentralization, and why cryptographic money and cryptographic communication belong together.

If you're a Bitcoin holder, developer, creator, or simply someone who cares about owning your digital life, this conversation is worth watching.

Connect with us:Soapbox website: https://soapbox.pub/blog/nostr101MK on Nostr: mk@ditto.pubMK on X: https://x.com/mkay_fainDerek on Nostr: derekross@grownostr.orgDerek on X: https://x.com/derekmrossKyle on Nostr: kylehuber@primal.netKyle on X: https://x.com/thekylehuber

Support the POD!

15% off at Born to Be Free Online Store: https://oshi.link/C2mHb0

Buy the Daylight Co DC-1: https://buy.daylightcomputer.com/WEARESATOSHI($25 off with code: WeAreSatoshi)

15% OFF your order of earthy energy : https://liveearthy.co?bg_ref=c8KTLsLeKv(code KHuber)

10% off Chroma Blue Light Glasses and Other Products: https://getchroma.co/?ref=ixabomjq(code: KYLE10)

SLNT Faraday Bags: https://slnt.com/?avad=428701_b45ea6cd1

Stream sats on Fountain: ⁠ https://fountain.fm/show/oNj9eSXpNudLR2XoMtKL

Watch + subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreSatoshiPod

If you are interested in buying Bitcoin, River is the best place to do so: ⁠ https://river.com/signup?r=4JAPK6Q2⁠

Bitcoin was supposed to set us free—but has it been captured by the very system it was designed to escape?

Polymath artist Monika Bravo joins me to explore Bitcoin’s identity crisis, sovereignty, AI, the architecture of value, and what it means to recover the spirit of Satoshi.

Monika and I go deep on her upcoming book, The Art of Synthesis and the Architecture of Value, and the ideas shaping her work right now: subjective value, personal sovereignty, boundaries, identity, creativity, artificial intelligence, Bitcoin culture, trauma, ancient knowledge, and the relationship between consciousness and technology.

We also explore whether Bitcoin’s increasing financialization is changing its culture, why Monika believes we shouldn’t turn Bitcoin—or its most prominent figures—into an ideology, and why value ultimately goes far deeper than price.

Connect with us:

Monika's Website: https://studioofendlessideas.com/

Monika on X: @bravomonika

Monika on Instagram: @monikaco

Monika on Nostr:

Npub1dxrhmnzk34sk7wfewvejsqz6hejkesdugwwp4zr7k006uulu9zmq6t87rc

Kyle on X: https://x.com/thekylehuber

Kyle on Instagram: @kylehuber21

Kyle's Website: https://kylehuber.com

Kyle on Nostr: kylehuber@primal.net

Support the POD!

15% off at Born to Be Free Online Store: https://oshi.link/C2mHb0

Buy the Daylight Co DC-1: https://buy.daylightcomputer.com/WEARESATOSHI($25 off with code: WeAreSatoshi)

15% OFF your order of earthy energy : https://liveearthy.co?bg_ref=c8KTLsLeKv(code KHuber)

10% off Chroma Blue Light Glasses and Other Products: https://getchroma.co/?ref=ixabomjq(code: KYLE10)

SLNT Faraday Bags: https://slnt.com/?avad=428701_b45ea6cd1

Stream sats on Fountain: ⁠ https://fountain.fm/show/oNj9eSXpNudLR2XoMtKL

Watch + subscribe on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@WeAreSatoshiPod

If you are interested in buying Bitcoin, River is the best place to do so: ⁠ https://river.com/signup?r=4JAPK6Q2⁠

Send me an email with feedback/questions: wearesatoshipod@gmail.com