Out of the buzz surrounding Bitcoin has come unique journalism and multimedia. Over the course of cryptocurrencies’ beginnings, many podcasts, radio broadcasts, and YouTube shows have appeared around the same time, giving listeners and viewers information on Bitcoin and many other subjects in a new way. Each show has added its own color and new voices to the decentralized community.
Cointelegraph wanted to provide an inside glimpse of some of the industry's most popular crypto-related broadcasts and podcasts. We asked hosts to tell us how they came to create their shows, how they began talking about Bitcoin, what types of topics they cover, and what some of their most memorable guests and moments have been.
Mad Bitcoins
— Hosted by Thomas Hunt. Watch on YouTube, learn more at MadBitcoins.com and follow on Twitter @MadBitcoins.
“The blockchain is like Pandora’s box. Now that it’s open, there’s no going back. Much like the MP3 was better than the CD, Bitcoin is better than fiat currency. It’s only a matter of time before everyone else figures that out too.”
— Thomas Hunt
Thomas Hunt: I’d always known about Bitcoin, but I was never really involved until I saw the price spike to US$250 in April 2013 after the Cyprus collapse. I suddenly realized all these companies had grown up around Bitcoin and had made it incredibly useable. It was then that I decided to do anything I could to help spread the word about Bitcoin.
Subjects include cryptography, money, banking, and math — as heady topics. With the MadBitcoins show, I try to make short entertaining videos to help lighten the mood around Bitcoin. I believe the best way to educate someone is to entertain them first.
The blockchain is like Pandora’s box. Now that it’s open, there’s no going back. Much like the MP3 was better than the CD, Bitcoin is better than fiat currency. It’s only a matter of time before everyone else figures that out too.
The Crypto Show
— Hosted by Chris Neanderthal, Harlan Dietrich and Danny Sumthin. Listen on Texas Liberty Radio at 89.1fm in Austin, 8pm to 10pm Central, find archives and learn more at TheCryptoShow.com.
“Our ‘Crypto’ radio is so apt because it captures so many important and not unrelated ideas, such as cryptocurrency, underground movements, and anarchist thinking.”
— Chris Neanderthal
Chris Neanderthal: The radio broadcast emerged around March of 2014 out of a local Bitcoin meetup and the first annual Texas Bitcoin Conference. The show was Harlan's (creator of Brave New Books) brainchild, borne of his recognition of the burgeoning revolutionary significance of decentralized, disruptive, open-source technologies. Our “Crypto” radio is so apt because it captures so many important and not unrelated ideas, such as cryptocurrency, underground movements, anarchist thinking, and the “cryptocracy” (that is, hidden powers behind, and machinations of the State).
Topics include 3D printing, anarchism and agorism, the Austrian School of Economics, natural health remedies, media manipulation and psychological warfare, alternative interpretations of historical and current events, esotericism, and anything else that we find credible and relevant.
We have had the great privilege and good fortune of having excellent, thought-provoking guests almost without exception, including Lyn Ulbricht and Cody Wilson. One of our favorite recent guests was bravetheworld.com's Julia Tourianski, who is simply brilliant and whose no-holds-barred attitude, dynamism, and passion I find infectious and inspiring.
The Crypto Show probably wouldn't have had its long list of illustrious guests without the connections, networking skills, and personal savvy of our co-host, Danny. We also wouldn't have the coolest logo in all of radio without one of our other favorite guests, Crypto-Graphics.com
Decentralize.FM
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— Hosted by Eric Martindale of Bitpay, James Walpole of Bitpay and Tony Sakich of Augur. Visit decentralize.fm, subscribe via Soundcloud or follow on Twitter @DecentralizeAll.
Eric Martindale: Back in September of 2014, we were all working at BitPay and were very passionate about Bitcoin and decentralization in general. We wanted to start something with a more broad scope than just Bitcoin, or even cryptocurrency, as we felt that there were already enough content producers talking about Bitcoin — so we committed to expanding our subject matter to everything decentralized, and believe us, everything can be decentralized!
We really like to go beyond the scope of bitcoin and politics, and discuss how decentralization applies to other topics; decentralized governance, alternative market structures, intellectual property, anything that has single points of failure, or centralization due to stagnation. We want our listeners to know the merits that decentralization brings, and encourage them to think about how to decentralize more than just finance.
The interview we did with musician and producer Steve Albini was spectacular, as he shared some outside perspective that a lot of people in Bitcoin, or even the crypto community at large, often don’t get the chance to hear. Ryan X. Charles’ insight into Reddit’s crypto-equity endeavors and Glenn Jacobs’ (that’s Kane from the WWE!) libertarian philosophy were both fascinating subjects to cover, but all of our guests have been truly fantastic. It’s really incredible to see the breadth of perspectives from so many different industries!
De Week van Bitcoin (The Week of Bitcoin)
— Host: Paul Buitink. Watch on YouTube and subscribe to get notified when new episodes come out. Want to join the weekly live show? Follow them on Google+.
Paul Buitink: I was so enthusiastic about bitcoin that I wanted to share my excitement and journey with others. I'm a big fan of the sharing economy and letting knowledge flow freely. Since I'm Dutch and there did not exist a Dutch audio or video channel yet about Bitcoin, I started with a Dutch show together with Tuur Demeester in November 2013.
Over time, we've had dozens of interesting guests and subject material, basically all the main players from the industry, but also many people from the alternative money space at large, like gold experts and contrarian economists. I've personally always been most interested in the currency/money aspect of bitcoin, although all the other applications and blockchain technology in general interest me a lot as well.
We've had many interesting guests over the years. Our most popular show was with Andreas Antonopoulos with almost 12K views. It also featured a range of co-hosts and lots of live questions from the audience. It was a memorable show.
Let’s Talk Bitcoin
— Hosts: Adam B. Levine, Andreas Antonopoulos and Stephanie Murphy. Listen on LetsTalkBitcoin.com or Soundcloud, where you can listen to all of the shows in the Let’s Talk Bitcoin! Network. iOS users can install the Let's Talk Bitcoin! App that lets you download and play podcasts, read articles, participate in community forums and participate in an audience rewards program.
“I started a Bitcoin podcast because at the time there weren't any and I think listening to someone talk about something is a more natural way to learn than reading an article or a paper on it.”
— Adam B. Levine
Adam B. Levine: I started a Bitcoin podcast because at the time there weren't any and I think listening to someone talk about something is a more natural way to learn than reading an article or a paper on it. There were all of these brilliant technically minded people who were working on technologies that have the potential to change everything, but if you wanted to understand it and your brain didn't work the same way, it was like trying to learn another language with cantankerous native speakers. I published the first episode of Let's Talk Bitcoin in late April 2013. It was the fifth bitcoin podcast I'd started and the first one I'd consider a success.
LetsTalkBitcoin.com is what I like to call an experimental community platform. It's where we try out new technologies and tools with real users who are doing things that in a few years will be normal at every other website. Because of that, I've actually taken steps that most consider anti-growth because we just haven't been ready for much larger of an audience than the hardcore early adopters in our community who might not yet understand where we're going, but have liked the ride so far. The Let's Talk Bitcoin! show and network involve about 20 people currently. We're almost entirely powered by volunteers, myself included.
Although they weren't happy events, I have fond memories of several multi-day collaborative investigations with David Perry, Charlie Shrem and others after the Mt. Gox collapse that produced interesting and useful results.