Kurt talks to a wizened conspiracy theorist and starts to try peyote out on a ranch in rural Mexico Read more →
Category: Podcast
Nayarit Peyote Adventure: Episode 164
The Story: Peyote journey in Mexico
A few weeks ago, I (Kurt) decided to take a short trip out onto a ranch in Nayarit, about 4 or 5 hours from my home in Guadalajara, in a native American community. Once upon a time, peyote was an important tradition for the Wixárika (Huichol) people in this region, and they would walk for about ten days to arrive at the sacred site of Wirikuta – known as the birthplace of the earth – crossing almost directly over the mountains to perform the pilgrimage. Nowadays, almost nobody in this community takes this sacrament, though many who live closer to Wirikuta still partake, and some native Americans even eat peyote every day, from the time they are children.
According to the mythology of the Wixárika people, the tribe was once lost and without food, and sent off a group of young men to forage. As the scouts were wandering in the desert, they saw something very strange – a blue deer. They took it as an omen, followed the deer, and realised that the animal was sustaining itself by eating a certain cactus that grew close to the earth – peyote. If you notice a blue deer in some artwork, you can be sure that the artist is Wixárika, and is referring to this myth.
In this episode, Kurt tells the story of taking peyote out on the ranch, explains what visions he had, why the peyote told him not to take peyote, about how so much of our lives is based around our interpretation – to the extent that we don’t even see the interpretations.
Join us on another star-gazing episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
The Links:
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
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Kurt on Anarchast – Living Freely and Enjoying the Ride
The Story: Kurt is interviewed by Jeff Berwick on Anarchast
A couple of weeks ago I had the opportunity to be interviewed by Jeff Berwick, known for his media outlet “The Dollar Vigilante” and his channel “Anarchast” in which he interviews notable anarchists, almost always beginning the interview with the question “How did you become an anarchist?”
I’ve been listening to the Anarchast for years, and hoping that one day I would be able to appear on it, so when Jeff asked me, my answer was an emphatic “Hell yes.”
I figured that, to make the interview entertaining for Jeff and for the thousands of listeners, I’d better prepare carefully, thinking about what would be engaging for them. So in the couple of weeks leading up to the interview, I wrote out many drafts thinking about how I would describe my journey of becoming an anarchist, “Free man on the land” type ideas and how they lead me to question authority, about the freedom that people enjoy in Mexico (despite its flaws), the anti-authoritarianism that exists here, spiritual experiences, and how life is full of wonders.
The Eps:
See the world with new eyes – Episode 147
Jeff Berwick: The Dollar Vigilante – Episode 77
Sterlin Lujan: Compassionate anarchy – Episode 156
The Links:
The Dollar Vigilante on YouTube
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Don’t Waste Your Wonder – Episode 163
The Story: How to have a free mind and use your sense of wonder
Many people seek to hold and to defend a belief in a material or even mechanical universe. A belief in God or anything supernatural or paranormal is considered just a superstition, and to believe in those things, to those people, seems more like a delusion than a rational exploration. We know that if a cult tells you that their way is the only way to salvation – the only way to the truth – such an organisation is probably not interested in an honest pursuit of truth. Yet, when believers in science or scientism make similar statements, many accept them. If we are really interested in finding out more about reality, shouldn’t we be willing to explore ideas?
In this episode, Kurt takes a trip to Guanajuato and reflects on hardcore skeptics, atheism, the exploration of ideas and belief systems, miracles, and how people can use their sense of wonder to enrich their lives. Join us on another paradigm-shattering episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
Leandrew Dixon – Believer to Atheist to Wonderer
The Links:
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Infiltrators: Bitcoin Paranoid – Episode 162
The Story: Have government agents infiltrated Bitcoin?
If you created a system that could potentially displace a lot of existing organisations – large, powerful organisations – rendering them obsolete and removing their sources of funding, you could reasonably expect that some people from those groups wouldn’t be too happy about it. They will most likely decide to take action – perhaps even criminal action – in order to protect their interests. That’s why when Bitcoin was created, it made sense that its inventor (or inventors) decided to remain anonymous.
The identity of Satoshi Nakamoto remains unknown, and as far as we know, no longer has anything to do with the project. So they are most likely safe from reprisal. Yet, what about the people who are involved in the project today? If powerful people wanted to slow down or even destroy Bitcoin, how would they do it? The decentralised, anti-fragile nature of the system makes it too strong for an attack using software. But the developers’ identities are public, and the discussion boards are public. Anyone with sufficient resources could begin to corrupt these groups using money, violence, threats of violence, and sowing seeds of confusions in public forums – perhaps even creating entire companies to subtly undermine the integrity of the project.
In this episode, Kurt looks at a couple of historical examples of how “law enforcement” organisations are willing to get their hands dirty for questionable purposes, and speculates how similar strategies could be used to unhinge the Bitcoin community – or other digital currency communities. He discusses how Hoover used the FBI to act out his prejudices against black Americans, how London Metropolitan policemen were involved in sexual relationships as part of their undercover operations, and the types of unusual comments that float around among prominent Bitcoiners, that raise the question of whether Bitcoin has been compromised.
Join me on a journey of infiltration, deception and mystery in the next episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
Dash digital cash vs Bitcoin: Which will achieve mass adoption first? – Episode 154
Bitcoin vs Dash: Ridiculous comments about Dash – Episode 157
The Links:
Anarchast – Opening Yourself Up to The World, Living Freely and Enjoying the Ride with Kurt Robinson
Just being black was enough – The Nation
Tape shows Nixon feared Hoover – NY Times
Undercover agents fathered children – The Antimedia
Undercover police had children with activists – The Guardian
Luke JR’s $5 comment on Reddit
Lesser known reasons to keep blocks small in the words of Bitcoin Core developers
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Open-Source Education: Carey Giudici – Episode 161
The Story: Decentralised micro-education for future leaders
Millions of children around the world are aware to some extent of one specific truth – that schools no longer teach what is relevant to them, and the structure of schooling doesn’t serve them. Many modern schools are built around the Prussian model – a military model, which in many cases, demands compliance above all else, and secondly, emphasises the memorisation of facts. Once upon a time, this was beneficial in certain ways, preparing workers for the monotony of factory jobs in the industrial era. Now that era has passed, and with the age of automation upon us, it becomes increasingly obvious that learning to be a human robot not only won’t help students thrive – it will barely allow them to survive.
Carey Giudici is an editor and writer who realised that there were paths to knowledge as yet unexplored, and one way to lead children along the path of self-knowledge was by giving personality tests to them, and connecting them with mentors, experts with similar personality traits around the world who can guide them.
In this interview, Carey tells us about how this system of education, which he calls SMILE, might function, how it already is beginning to function, and how it will help young people with high levels of stress, frustration, and confusion in schools that don’t teach them to become leaders.
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please become a patron on Patreon, or have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Derrick Broze: Decentralize Your Life – Episode 160
The Story: Derrick Broze – Author of “Manifesto of the Free Humans”
In this interview, Derrick Broze of The Conscious Resistance explains how he decided that money and status weren’t so important and he structured his life to meet his needs, about the Freedom Cells and similar organisations popping up across the US – these small independent groups of people training each other to be more free, about the Decentralize Your Life tour that he and his crew are about to embark on – spreading the message of liberty and independence, and finding ways to build communities, and about his new book, written with John Vibes, “Manifesto of the Free Humans”, which is the third book in their “Conscious Resistance” series, bridging the gap between spirituality and anarchy.
The Eps:
Alfredo Romero – How to squash Mexican protesters
Kenny Palurintano – Anarchist Adventurer
The Links:
Decentralize Your Life tour details
Derrick Broze on Anarchast, speaking about the Decentralize Your Life tour
The Four Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss
Bruce Lipton: Becoming the superorganism of humanity
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
How to Squash Mexican Protesters: Alfredo Romero – Episode 159
The Story: How Mexico threatens, harasses and bribes activists
May 11th, 2012, Universidad Iberoamericana, Mexico City. Presidential candidate Enrique Peña Nieto gets up to do a speech, describing his political platform before hundreds of students. At the end of his discourse, a group of students stood up and demanded an explanation of the government action in the civil unrest of Atenco in 2006, which resulted in violent beatings, rapes, and even death. At that time, Peña Nieto had been the governor of the state of Mexico.
Peña Nieto responded that he had acted personally to re-establish order and peace, that it was within the legitimate use of public force, and that it was found valid by the supreme court.
Many of the students didn’t like it, and began screaming at Peña Nieto, and blocking his path. In order to get out of the university, he had to hide in a woman’s bathroom for some time.
After the event, Peña’s colleagues claimed that the screams from the crowd were organised by provocateurs, sent by the opposing candidate López Obrador, that they were too old to be students – 30 or 35 years and up, a small group of less than 20 people. In response, a group of 131 youths posted a video showing their university identification. Social media exploded throughout Mexico, with many showing their support of the students, and their disapproval of Peña Nietos candidacy and later presidency, using the slogan “Yo Soy 132”, or “I am number 132”.
From there, the movement grew to a national phenomenon, drawing inspiration from the Arab Spring movement, and the Occupy movement, developing national assemblies to discuss events, and of course, to attempt to impeach the president.
In this episode, Kurt interviews Alfredo Romero, a long time activist in Mexico who was involved in Yo Soy 132, among other social movements, was threatened, prevented violent agents provocateurs from throwing stones, was accused of throwing the same stones, was arrested and intimidated by the police, and even offered comfortable government positions to silence him. Alfredo also talks about a couple of grass-roots solutions that are popping up in Mexico right now, including the work of Archbishop Vera López, who is attempting to establish a parallel government, focused on the voice and the needs of the community.
Join us as Alfredo lays out the dirty tricks used by governments everywhere to silence dissent in this next episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
The Links:
Alfredo Romero interviewed on We Are Change about being kidnapped by police
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Kurt Robinson Raps: Anarchapulco 2017 – Episode 158
The Story: Liberty hip hop
At Anarchapulco 2017, I (Kurt) had the opportunity to once again give an explosive hip hop performance. I spent a month re-memorising the songs, improving my delivery, and practising my speech. This was this most effort I’ve ever put into preparing for a musical performance in my life.
I rapped songs about freedom, how governments terrorise their own citizens, the history of money and why fiat currency is dangerous, the power that we have hidden inside of ourselves, about my own experience coming face-to-face with death, and about the ex-patriates that now live in Acapulco. I also tried to convey an important message to the crowd, that acceptance of yourself and others can lead the way to real, lasting change.
Many thanks to Doug Scribner, Ryan Herbison, Dan Dicks and everyone involved in this event.
The Eps:
Liberty hip hop Anarchapulco 2016
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.
Bitcoin vs Dash – Ridiculous comments on Dash
The Story: Fun, interesting and exciting comments about Dash
If you bring up the cryptocurrency Dash among people who know anything about it, you’ll probably get a diverse range of opinions. Some people hate it and believe it’s nothing but a fraud. Other people love it and believe it’s the currency of the future. And others still believe its rise has more to do with sex appeal than any usefulness.
In this episode, Kurt digs into the cesspool known as “the YouTube comment section” and responds to the most interesting and bizarre among them. He discusses SegWit and how it causes mental blocks among Bitcoiners, user experience, Bitcoin as a blue chip company or international clearing house, the security of Bitcoin compared to Dash, the sex appeal of Dash, the fantastic dream of cryptocurrency, what Dash’s marketing says about it, Dash as a business, centralisation, whether someone could control 50% of masternodes, the instamine or fast mine of Dash, what is a Ponzi scheme and whether Dash is one, and finally whether Dash is just a big scam in general.
Join us on a crypto adventure in the next exciting episode of … The Paradise Paradox!
The Eps:
Why Amanda B. Johnson loves Dash – Episode 155
Dash vs Bitcoin – which will reach mass adoption first? – Episode 154
The Links:
The Cash:
If you enjoy our posts, please have a look at The Paradise Paradox’s page on Steemit where you can join, earn money, and upvote our posts to help support the show! You can also find a lot of additional content which is not posted on this site, with Kurt’s posts on Steemit and Aaron’s posts on Steemit.
We really appreciate all of your contributions! Every cent and satoshi we receive lets us know that we’re doing something worthwhile, that you are entertained by our program, and that you’re starting to question what you know more and more. Please be generous. Donate to The Paradise Paradox. Or buy some stuff on Amazon using this link. Or buy some of our great T-shirts here.
The Episode:
To download the audio, right click and press “save as”.
Remember to subscribe on iTunes or subscribe on Pocket Casts.
If you enjoyed the episode, don’t keep it a secret! Feel free to share it on Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, Reddit, or your office bathroom wall.