019 - Martin Leskovjan: Parallel Structures, Subversive Art & Liberating Minds

<p>Today I'm talking with Martin Leskovjan.</p> <p>Martin is a member of the subversive Czech art collective <em>Ztohoven</em> and co-founder of <em>Paralelni Polis</em> which is one of the collective’s better known projects, also the site of the world’s first bitcoin-only cafe.</p> <p>This is a conversation about art and the power to influence. Ztohoven are a band of merry pranksters with a desire to provoke emotion and open minds and I talk with Martin about many of their projects and whether it is possible to create parallel social structures that can liberate people.</p> <p>Martin is a fascinating and inspiring individual, one of many good people I had the pleasure and privilege to meet in Prague for this series and I sincerely hope you enjoyed the discussions as much as I did. </p> <p>Enjoy the conversation:</p> <p>A.I. generated summary:</p> <p>00:10 - Introduction to this episode.</p> <p>06:32 - Spreading awareness of Bitcoin.</p> <p>13:14 - The Artistic side of the collective.</p> <p>20:12 - The fetish of national and state symbols.</p> <p>26:55 - How did the idea of the red underpants come about?</p> <p>30:34 - Trolling on the internet vs. trolling on 4chan.</p> <p>37:32 - What is Ztohoven's latest project?</p> <p>41:56 - The beginnings of the art collective.</p> <p>48:49 - What was the intention behind the creation of Paralelni Polis?</p> <p>54:06 - Organising the Hackers congress.</p> <p>1:01:36 - The price of being ungovernable.</p> <p>1:09:57 - What is meme culture?</p> <p>1:19:22 - Being compelled to be subversive.</p> <p>1:23:58 - The tools of crypto-anarchy.</p> <p>1:28:13 - The transition from centralized systems to decentralised systems.</p> <p>1:33:47 - The fall of Rome.</p> <p>1:37:44 - Awareness of cryptography tools.</p> <p>1:44:37 - Problems with the current state of activism.</p> <p>LINKS:</p> <p>Liberty In Our Lifetime 2023: <a href="https://libertyinourlifetime.org/">⁠https://libertyinourlifetime.org/⁠</a></p> <p>TWITTER:</p> <p>Martin Leskovjan: <a href="https://twitter.com/LeskovjanMartin">⁠https://twitter.com/LeskovjanMartin</a></p> <p>Timothy Allen: <a href="https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen">⁠https://twitter.com/MrTimothyAllen⁠</a></p> <p>WEBSITES:</p> <p>Ztohoven: <a href="http://www.ztohoven.com/⁠">http://www.ztohoven.com/⁠</a></p> <p>Paralelni Polis: <a href="https://www.paralelnipolis.cz/en/">https://www.paralelnipolis.cz/</a></p> <p>Free Cities Foundation: <a href="https://free-cities.org/">⁠https://free-cities.org/</a></p> <p>VIDEOS:</p> <p>The official burning of the red boxer shorts: <a href="http://shorturl.at/mqrxU">⁠http://shorturl.at/mqrxU⁠</a></p> <p>The Triggering of Shia | He Will Not Divide Us: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p4h3jwJob0">⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_p4h3jwJob0</a></p>