Free Cities Podcast

Timothy Allen talks with Federico Fernández.

Federico is the CEO of ‘Somos Innovación’ also known as ‘We Are Innovation', which is a network of more than 30 think tanks based in Latin America and Europe dedicated to promoting progress through innovation, the adoption of new technologies and human creativity.

Unsurprisingly, the main focus of our discussion is innovation in all of its many incarnations.  We examine the eternal struggle between regulation and innovation and dive into some of Federico’s opinions on inventive governance models, in particular Estonia and its innovative E governance system.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

[0:10] Intro to the podcast. [2:50] The USA is still the home of innovation. [7:32] The culture of failure in Silicon Valley. [14:27] Every disruption brings a period of instability. [19:52] Innovation and Regulation. [25:26] Advocacy & research. [28:16] Innovations in governance - Estonia. [35:41] Reducing or eliminating red tape. [41:06] What are the trends in Europe right now? [44:17] Can Free Cities work? [53:09] Indexes of Innovation. [58:44] What's your favorite & most exciting innovation?

TWITTER:

Timothy Allen talks with Gabriel Delgado.

Gabriel is the co-founder and CDO of Próspera.

Timothy Allen talks with Jacek Spendel. 

Jacek is the President of Liberty international which is the oldest organisation promoting libertarianism worldwide.

In this conversation we discuss the work of Liberty International as well as Jacek’s views on libertarianism, travel, free cities and the future of the free world.Jacek has an optimistic view of the world, something that we whole heartedly endorse here at the free cities foundation.  Its incredibly encouraging to hear from so many different people and organisations working towards the same goals of freedom and personal liberty.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:10 - Introduction to this episode.

2:39 - Realisation of the dream of libertarians - The dream of free cities. The ability to opt-in and out. Why Dubai is a great place to live and work. Immigration in Dubai. The ability to vote with your feet.

7:38 - Immigration and the free cities model - Poland is a great place to live. Quality of living and quality of life in Poland. Restrictions during the pandemic. Restrictions in Poland during the coronavirus outbreak.

14:44 - The work of Liberty International - Finding and expanding freedom in a free world. Leadership programme for young libertarian leaders called Project Arizona. Best tools of liberty.

20:01 - Work Migrations Index - Investment opportunities for young people in their 30s. The future of travel in a freer and happier world. Covid-19. Limiting travel to reduce CO2 and greenhouse gases. The forces of free markets and trade.

26:13 - Dangers connected to geopolitical situations - The environmental movement and climate change. Carbon tax. Not a typical digital nomad. The difference between a permanent tourist and a digital nomad.

31:50 - The pros and cons of a digital nomadic life - Being independent from government in Poland. Digital nomad style of living. Pitfalls of moving to autonomous jurisdictions. Bad things happened to other jurisdictions like Costa Rica. Liberland is a scam.

38:01 - How do you envisage a world in 50 years from now? - Free cities and free trade agreements. Digital nomadism and the increase in free movement. The future of free jurisdictions like Singapore. How free jurisdictions will differ from each other. The future of the world according to Liberty International. Sabbatical from Liberty International.

44:27 - What is Project Arizona and why is it important? - Why Arizona is so good. Pros and cons of living in Texas. Success stories of free market conservatives. The dangers of socialism in America. Free Russia Forum in Vilnius, Russia.

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Matt and Terry Kibbe are the founders of ‘Free the People' which is an educational foundation charged with the mission of tuning in the next generation to the core values of personal liberty and peaceful cooperation.

I met them both in Lisbon where they were speaking at LibertyCon and were it not for both of our incredibly strict schedules over that weekend I would have happily spoken to them for much longer since they have such a wealth of experience in the worlds of both legacy and new media.

In our conversation we mainly discuss the current media landscape and what might be the best tools and strategies for communicating our message to the hearts and minds of people in today’s highly volatile world.  

The marketplace of ideas has never been more universally accessible than it is at this time in history and Terry and Matt are most certainly amongst those at the sharp end of the wedge when it comes to communicating ideas of Liberty and freedom.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:10 - Intro to this episode.

4:36 - Introductions from Terry and Matt.

7:33 - The resurgence of Libertarian ideas.

13:05 - The collapse of the old media.

19:03 - Do you think there's any merit in written content?

23:39 - Have you stopped doing long-form documentary?

27:37 - Different forms of media: earned media, paid media and creative media.

31:40 - What is your favourite Libertarian documentary?

38:32 - The best strategy to promote freedom & liberty.

43:07 - The best way to communicate your ideas.

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Kris Kaleta is a digital nomad and technologist who is doing some absolutely fascinating post-graduate research on virtual Libertarian communities.  

Our conversation touches on many aspects of his work from digital politics to emerging governance models and the contemporary phenomenon of online communities manifesting in real life.  Kris has been a keen observer of the Free Cities movement since the start so he has a lot of great insights into the future of what many are calling the emerging free market of living together.

Other subjects include: Episodic narrative enquiry, the future of the internet, the marketplace for ideas, Agorism, freedom technology, trans-humanism and flag theory.

TIMESTAMPS:

0:10 Introduction to this episode. 2:57 Why did you decide to become a digital nomad? 12:22 The nuts and bolts of being a digital nomad. 17:29 How did you get involved in the community? 23:18 Who’s interested in virtual communities? 29:00 Moving geographically to live a more freer life. 36:50 What kick-started my interest in free cities. 40:44 Ideas are first explored on the social level. 46:50 What the future of the internet looks like. 53:15 What are the antidotes to sovereign state control networks? 58:58 A two-tier society. 1:02:50 Agorism. 1:10:00 The different types of digital nomads. 1:15:42 How do you attract digital nomads? 1:22:23 Tax optimisation. 1:27:21 How are you preparing for a dystopian tech future? 1:33:40 Piratebay. 1:39:07 The difference between a conspiracy theory and a mainstream theory. 1:46:14 Transhumanism in the digital age. 1:51:20 Why humans prefer what they believe they're comfortable with. 1:59:12 The digital realm vs. the physical realm. 2:05:21 How technology is becoming part of us. 2:12:02 Technology is a living thing. 2:18:17 Traveling around the world.

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Today we are continuing our series of conversations from Poland with a discussion about free entrepreneurship and economic education with Mikołaj Pisarski.

Mikołaj is the former president of KoLiber Association and the current president of the Instytut Misesa, Poland’s Mises Institute.

In this conversation we discover Mikolaj’s love for working with young people and his passion for teaching Libertarian principals and the ideas of Austrian economics.  We also talk about Polish history, personal responsibility, parenting strategies and the problems of democracy, as well as a little Anarcho-capitalism and technology thrown in for good measure.

Don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast on your app and if you like to listen to podcasts on youtube then you can find us HERE.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:10 Intro to this episode. 03:11 Being a lefty in the past. 09:17 How did you become interested in economics? 14:56 Teaching students the value of free trade. 23:04 Why monarchy is better than democracy? 28:09 Dealing with road accidents in the anarcho-capitalist system. 35:32 The psychological cost of direct confrontation with responsibility. 41:28 Causes of bad parenting. 46:29 The rise of mental illness in the society. 51:51 Does Poland have private education? 56:06 Homeschooling vs. Public Schools. 1:00:20 Online schools. 1:08:28 Learning to be a teacher. 1:13:33 The resurgence of Austrian economics in Europe. 1:19:52 Pessimism and optimism about the future. 1:24:02 The emergence of a libertarian community in Poland. 1:31:15 What would you do in a year of sabbatical?

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Timothy Allen talks with Nikos Sotirakopoulos

Nikos is an author, senior lecturer in social sciences at York St John Universtity and director of the European Ayn Rand Institute.

Now, i have a problem with this conversation… namely that it is too short… Nikos is a busy man and I had a strict hour with him in Warsaw.  However we managed to get through a fair bit in that hour…. brutalist architecture , collectivism vs individualism, the culture wars, Ayn Rand's philosophy, martial arts, what Jordan Peterson gets wrong, Joe Rogan and the medium of podcasting, political correctness and anti capitalism.. to name but a few of the subjects covered.

Nikos is an excellent orator…  this kind of conversation leaves me not only well informed but also rejuvenated and I hope that you get to have the same experience too.

Enjoy the conversation.

TIMESTAMPS:

00:10 Introduction to this episode. 05:40 Why I like Brutalist Architecture. 7:40 Does collectivism have a place at any scale? 13:37 Why is the public sphere so toxic?. 19:37 Why do political parties end up not standing for anything? 22:16 Is tribalism a political strategy or innate? 27:09 Socialism and the morality of sacrifice. 32:22 Ayn Rand's philosophy 101. 36:12 The difference between happiness and meaning. 41:34 What is enthusiam? 47:43 The power of discussion. 52:52 Why podcasting is a radical revolutionary way of passing ideas? 56:21 Lifestyle Activism vs. The New Left. 1:02:58 Let’s disagree on issues but agree on truth.

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Today we’re beginning our series of interviews recorded in Poland and we’re starting out with a conversation I had with Tom Palmer during the Weekend Kapitalizmu conference.

Tom is an American Libertarian author and theorist, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute and the executive vice president for international programs at Atlas Network.

Just prior to recording this episode, Peter Young, The Free Cities Foundation’s CEO was chatting with myself and Tom in our makeshift studio in Warsaw and it such an interesting discussion that I asked Peter to come onto the podcast with us to further the conversation. As a result, after briefly discussing Tom’s work at Atlas Network, he and Peter end up deconstructing some of the concepts underlying Free Cities and we get a very useful insight into Tom’s thoughts on the general validity of the Free Cities model itself.  

I would like to say Many thanks to Tom and Peter for making this a lively and interesting dialogue

Enjoy the conversation.

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Today I'm talking with Martin Leskovjan.

Martin is a member of the subversive Czech art collective Ztohoven and co-founder of Paralelni Polis which is one of the collective’s better known projects, also the site of the world’s first bitcoin-only cafe.

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.

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. 

Enjoy the conversation:

A.I. generated summary:

00:10 - Introduction to this episode.

06:32 - Spreading awareness of Bitcoin.

13:14 - The Artistic side of the collective.

20:12 - The fetish of national and state symbols.

26:55 - How did the idea of the red underpants come about?

30:34 - Trolling on the internet vs. trolling on 4chan.

37:32 - What is Ztohoven's latest project?

41:56 - The beginnings of the art collective.

48:49 - What was the intention behind the creation of Paralelni Polis?

54:06 - Organising the Hackers congress.

1:01:36 - The price of being ungovernable.

1:09:57 - What is meme culture?

1:19:22 - Being compelled to be subversive.

1:23:58 - The tools of crypto-anarchy.

1:28:13 - The transition from centralized systems to decentralised systems.

1:33:47 - The fall of Rome.

1:37:44 - Awareness of cryptography tools.

1:44:37 - Problems with the current state of activism.

LINKS:

This is Episode 18 of the Free Cities Podcast, and it is also the penultimate show from the series of conversations I had in Prague. I am in Warsaw for the next seven days, recording interviews that you will be listening to over the next two months on the Free Cities Podcast. I can report that I am only three episodes in, and I have to say that my mind has been blown already on two different occasions, so I am really looking forward to sharing these conversations with you over the coming weeks.

Today on the show, I am talking with a Swedish couple by the name of Pontus and Ulrika Lindblom. Pontus and Ulrika are a family with a fascinating story...a journey around the world searching for liberty that has led them to the point of purchasing a property in Próspera on the island of Roatán in Honduras. I won't give too much away here, but needless to say, they have an exceptionally 21st-century story that revolves around, amongst other things, digital nomadism, flag theory, and Bitcoin.

If living in a Free City project is something you've thought about yourself, then today's guests should be able to offer you a wealth of first-hand experiences of the trials and tribulations faced by a freedom-loving family looking for the best way to navigate the idiosyncrasies of the times we are living in.

It was great to speak with them both. I very much appreciate people who are actually 'walking the walk' in this world. I sincerely hope they can offer some of you the inspiration to get out there and create the change you want to see in the world.

Enjoy the conversation.

AI Generated Summary:

00:30 - Introduction by Timothy Allen

03:04 - How did you end up in Prague?

10:48 - Homeschooling is illegal in Sweden.

18:31 - Prague’s experience of lockdowns.

25:11 - The Pirate Party in Sweden.

33:15 - The decentralisation of the family.

37:21 - Finding a community to grow up in.

43:43 - Prague's Liberty in Our Lifetime conference.

49:39 - Buying an apartment in Próspera with bitcoin.

55:29 - How much do apartments in Próspera cost?

1:00:21 - How to make a living as a digital nomad.

1:04:03 - The ideal situation for the family.

1:10:02 - What are the advantages of having residency?

1:14:20 - Why did you decide to go to El Salvador?

1:21:41 - Democracy in the future.

1:26:41 - How to prepare for the future.

1:34:09 - How did your neighbours in Prague react to the lockdowns?

1:41:52 - Advice for people who want to live a nomadic lifestyle

LINKS:

Today I’m talking with Max Hillebrand. 

Max is a well-known privacy and Bitcoin activist who is also the CEO of zkSNACKs, the company who’s flagship product is the privacy oriented Bitcoin wallet, Wasabi Wallet.

Max spoke in depth about privacy and self-sovereignty at last year’s Liberty in our Lifetime conference and this conversation follows in a similar vein. We begin with a few stories from his time working at Deutsche Bank but the conversation quickly moves on to open source software, Bitcoin and of course privacy.

We discuss many of the practical aspects of privacy tech, including how GitHub works, methods for anonymising bitcoin transactions, blockchain surveillance and the privacy implications of Bitcoin’s lightning network.

Max also makes some fascinating predictions about the far distant future of the Bitcoin network … certainly some things that I, for one had never contemplated before.

Enjoy the conversation

AI Generated Summary:

0:10 - Introduction to this episode

3:33 - How did you become interested in economics and banking?

5:57 - Falling down the Bitcoin rabbit hole at Deutsche Bank

12:23 - What did you learn from the bank?

15:19 - What does anarchy mean to you?

21:52 - The power to change code

28:37 - The difference between Git and GitHub

32:29 - Where is the source code of bitcoin on GitHub?

37:48 - The importance of privacy in banking

40:22 - Definition of privacy

45:33 - What do we want to prevent with Bitcoin?

51:01 - Explain how privacy tools work on the blockchain

56:21 - How does a bitcoin transaction work?

1:00:29 - The cost of a single transaction

1:08:58 - How much does it cost to use coinjoin?

1:13:21 - What’s the legality of what you’re doing?

1:17:30 - What is the attack vector on privacy?

1:20:49 - The legality of using a wallet

1:28:09 - What are the percentages of people making illicit coinjoins?

1:33:12 - Centralised vs decentralised

1:42:59 - How do wallets decide which coins to spend?

1:49:38 - The second layer of the monetary system

1:55:10 - Opening lightning channels

2:00:15 - Custodial wallets vs. money warehouses

2:04:58 - Federated money warehouses and Bitcoin

2:30:58 - What are your thoughts on other cryptocurrency coins?

2:37:28 - Bitcoin is not inevitable

2:44:52 - Hashing power and mining

2:51:30 - What would you do if money was no object?

LINKS:

On this week's podcast I am talking with Přemysl Bosák.

Přemysl is the founder of a new dispute resolution platform called Disputio which is an obvious fit with people like myself who would prefer to bear the responsibility of resolving their own disputes.

In this conversation we discuss the platform and how it works as well as a little about the history and evolution of law including bottom up solutions to legal problems. Přemysl is an anarcho-capitalist so we discuss anarchy and voluntarism as well as transhumanism, epistemology and the resurgence of personal responsibility in contemporary culture.

This is my 5th interview from Prague.  Coming up will be 3 more touching on subjects from worldschooling to Libertarian art and I talk to one family who, amongst other things have just purchased a property in a free city in Honduras.

Thanks for listening to these conversations. It's heartening to see the number of subscribers going up steadily each week which makes me happy that our movement is gaining momentum.  Please don’t forget to subscribe and leave us a review and thanks in advance for both.

SAVE THE DATE!

Liberty in Our Lifetime Conference 

October 14th - 15th, 2023

Empire Hall, Prague.

TWITTER:

In part 4 of our series of conversations recorded in Prague I am talking with Jan Mošovský.

Jan is the Director of Research at the Liberalni Institute, a Czech think tank championing the ideas of classical liberalism. He is also the European programs Manager at Students for Liberty, the largest libertarian students organisation in the world.

I begin this conversation by asking Jan about something he wrote in an article…

"Every good story is ultimately libertarian in nature"

An interesting observation that’s leads us into an in-depth discussion on Libertarianism, liberalism and governance models.

Jan has reservations about the viability of the Free Cities model and we discuss where he sees vulnerabilities and potential alternatives.

Today's episode is my third conversation from our series recorded in Prague and this week I am talking with Pavla Karon.

Pavla is what I would describe as an anarcho-capitalist entrepreneur and mother… labels aside she’s also a super interesting person to talk to who has much to say on the subjects of freedom and liberty, especially in the context of parenthood and relationships.

Our conversation goes in many directions but in particular we discuss subjects such as what it was like growing up under socialism, bringing up free children, digital nomadism, tools for staying free and the importance of the path to inner freedom, particularly in relationships.  On that subject, in her own marriage Pavla and her husband of 10 years practice ethical non-monogamy, a relationship model that she sees as a natural extension of her libertarian beliefs.

This is a fascinating conversation that was constrained in time by my busy schedule but I will certainly be recording a part 2 in the future.

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This is the 2nd iteration of my series of conversations recorded in Prague and today I am I am talking with Josef Tětek.

Josef is an author, educator and founder of the Slovak Ludwig Von Mises institute.  He also hosts the popular Czech podcast Stackuj which is a show about Bitcoin, money and freedom.

Josef’s background in Austrian economics and political philosophy informs the majority of our conversation and we start off by having an interesting discussion about the private provision of public goods and the various incarnations of this model that have existed around the world. Josef makes particular reference to ‘BB Centrum’ which is a privately owned public neighbourhood not far from where we were recording the podcast in Prague.

Other topics discussed include social engineering, the evolution and dissolution of the state, digital gulags and Josef reports on what he discovered about monetary colonialism during a recent trip to the African Bitcoin Conference in Ghana.

This was another extremely fascinating conversation from the Czech Republic. Look our for more of them on the show over the next few weeks and if you are enjoying our content please leave us a review on your podcasting app and many thanks in advance.

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Today we begin our series of interviews recorded in Prague and my first guest is Alena Vranova.

Alena’s extremely accomplished track record includes several successful startups in finance and technology but she is best known as the founder and former CEO of SatoshiLabs who produce one of the world's best known cryptocurrency hardware brands TREZOR. SatoshiLabs also founded Slush Pool which was the world's first Bitcoin Mining Pool established way back in 2010.

In this conversation we talk about Alena’s experiences growing up in the Czech Republic under communist rule and her thoughts and predictions for a future in which she sees technology emboldening many authoritarian regimes around the globe.  In our discussion she highlights Paraguay as a relatively unknown destination for people considering a Plan B residency option, something that she has taken advantage of herself.  She also speaks about an innovative project in the country that is using the profits from Bitcoin mining to fund an education programme teaching 21st century skills to Paraguayans.

Other subjects covered include open source technology, central bank digital currencies, homesteading, self sufficiency, transhumanism and Alena offers up some suggestions on how to prepare for the future that she sees coming.

As a renowned technologist, I find Alena's unique perspective on the world absolutely fascinating and I sincerely hope I get to continue our conversation at some point in the future.

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In this episode I talk with John Dennehy. 

John is a former journalist who quit his life in the US to move to El Salvador with the intention of starting a Bitcoin education programme.

The result was the creation of the non-profit organisation ‘Mi Primer Bitcoin’ and the world’s first ever Bitcoin diploma.

In this conversation we discuss the story behind 'My First Bitcoin' as it is known in English, and the current state of the education programme as well as El Salvador's Bitcoin adoption in general.

As a firm believer in the notion that Bitcoin is a tool to empower people, John has some strong views on the subject of education as well as the state of the legacy journalism world from which he came.

I hope you find this discussion interesting and informative. Don’t forget to subscribe to our feed if you like our content and please leave us a review if you so desire.

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Zussel Ramos is the C.O.O. of AmityAge Academy in the Free City project of Próspera in Roatán, Honduras.

This interview will be the last one from my series of conversations recorded in Honduras and it is a very informal chat recorded in Próspera’s newly inaugurated Bitcoin Centre.

Zussel is a wonderful young Honduran lady who ended up working her dream job in Prospera thanks to her interactions with the Students for Liberty organisation whilst at college.  In this conversation we discuss the work of the academy and some of the challenges she faces educating Hondurans about not only the technology of Bitcoin but also the fact that the academy is located in one of Honduras's widely misunderstood ZEDEs, (Zones of Employment and Economic Development).

Zussel is a wonderfully positive individual who’s belief in both Bitcoin and Próspera is highly infectious and I look forward to following the progress of the academy closely.

Timothy Allen talks to Sea Pawley.

Sean is the founder and CEO of Seshat Bank which is the full service commercial bank currently being established in the Free City project of Próspera in Honduras.

Topics mentioned in this conversation include:

How to start a bank.

The history of charter cities.

Neo-medievalism.

Pros & Cons of decentralisation of power.

Artificial Intelligence.

Funding war in pre-revolutionary France.

ZEDEs and alternative governance models around the world.

What makes Prospera different from other special economic zones.

Space habitation.

Pros & cons of governance models in space.

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Dusan Matuska is an entrepreneur, consultant & Bitcoin educator.

I initially met Dusan in The Czech Republic during the Liberty In Our Lifetime conference but it wasn’t until our paths crossed again in San Salvador that I finally had the chance to sit down with him for an all to brief chat before he had to fly off to Roatán in Honduras where he has recently opened a Bitcoin eduction centre in the Free City project of Próspera.

In this conversation we talk about Dusan’s decision to move to Próspera and how he sees the future of the project in the face of governmental opposition. 

Other topics we discuss include the socio-political concept of Parallel Polis, anarcho-capitalism, alternatives to democracy, personal carbon taxes and the importance of freedom of movement, in particular with regards to Free City projects and whether or not the freedom to move is even something that is guaranteed to exist in our future.

Speaking to Dusan is always a pleasure… I only wish we could have talked for longer.

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Jorge Colindres is a lawyer, business consultant, and public policy analyst. He is currently acting as Technical Secretary of Próspera ZEDE, a Special Economic Zone in the Republic of Honduras with the status of an autonomous municipality, a common-law legal system, a policy of low taxes and free trade, and an independent financial supervision regime.

In this episode we go into Jorge’s role at Próspera which is similar to that of a Mayor in a traditional municipality.  We also hear his opinions on the idea of ZEDEs… Honduras's so called Zones of Employment and Economic Development, which he considers to be the world's most advanced form of these kind of special zones.

We also discuss tourism and the problems of political instability and the idea of ZEDEs as a response to this instability as well as whether governments could ever shut down Próspera.

We talk about the most compelling arguments against ZEDEs and how they manifest in Honduras and whether Europe is a good place for this kind of free cities model.

Jorge finishes with some timeless advice for anyone wishing to replicate their model of governance and he describes how he sees the future of Próspera over the long term.

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Tom and Emily made the ultimate commitment to 'voting with their feet' when they sold their house and possessions in British Columbia and moved with their 3 young children to Central America.

Their move to a better life was triggered by Canada’s strict COVID 19 restrictions, which had meant that, amongst other things, Emily was fired from her nursing job on account of her choice not to take a COVID 19 vaccination. This situation combined with what they considered to be the unacceptable and increasingly authoritarian trajectory of their own government, compelled them to leave their home country for Mexico, beginning a quest to find a place in which they felt they had the freedom to raise their family in the manner to which they aspired.

Over a year later, that place turned out to be El Salvador and we spend most of this conversation talking about the path that brought them to this point as well as the trials and tribulations of life as a ‘COVID refugee’.

Tom and Emily’s story is both shocking and hugely inspirational. They recount their experiences candidly and give a fascinating insight into what it takes to make a bold move like this successful.

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Timothy Allen talks to Stephan Livera.

Stephan is the host of one of the world's leading Bitcoin podcasts and he is also the Managing Director at Swan Bitcoin International. He contributes to various outlets and publications including Bitcoin Magazine and Mises Institute as well as speaking at Bitcoin conferences internationally. 

Previously he worked as an Australian Chartered Accountant for Deloitte, Commonwealth Bank of Australia, and Macquarie Bank. Stephan grew up in Sydney, Australia and studied Commerce with Accounting & Finance majors at the University of New South Wales.

After speaking at The Free Cities Foundation conference 'Liberty in our Lifetime', Stephan wrote an excellent article for Bitcoin Magazine pointing out the striking parallelism between the Bitcoin movement and the Free Cities movement..

Stephan is a natural advocate for Free Cities…. he recently ‘voted with his feet’ and left his home country of Australia to move to Dubai and he discusses the rational behind this decision in detail in this conversation.

He also talks in depth about the Pandemic and consequent lockdowns and the importance in this day and age of what he calls ‘Flag Theory’… the idea of insulating oneself against unfriendly governments by establishing homes in multiple juristictions around the world.

Timothy Allen talks to Christian Betancourt.

Christian is the Co-founder and General Counsel of Seshat Bank, a regional API-first commercial bank and the premier commercial bank from the Honduran special economic zones. He heads its Legal and Compliance departments. He also collaborates as a Fellow at the Fundación para la Libertad Económica, a think tank dedicated to the promotion of public policies that further economic development and social tolerance. Previously Christian was an associate at Consortium Legal – Honduras and Director of Consortium INOVA, the firm’s Center for Advancement in Business and Opportunities, as well as an adjunct fellow at Fundación Eléutera, part of Atlas Network.
Topics mentioned in this conversation include: Liberty, Self-determination, the philosophy of self-sovereignty, the history of ZEDEs (Zones of Employment and Economic Development), national sovereignty, Honduras, Prospera, autonomous zones, setting up Seshat Bank in Prospera, creating a custom regulatory framework for a bank, Bitcoin, cryptocurrencies & CBDCs (Central Bank Digital Currencies)

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Timothy Allen talks to Ricardo González.

Ricardo is an executive member at Honduras Próspera on the island of Roatán in Honduras.

He is an experienced Honduran attorney with a background in business development, start-up incorporation, counselling to mid to small-sized organizations, operation management, and mentorship. He got his Masters in Law (LLM) at Penn State University with a concentration in Corporate Law and Practice.

Prior to studying full time at Penn State Law, Ricardo was the Chief Operations Officer at Bufete Corporativo de Emprendimiento e Innovación, a Honduran law firm primarily focused on providing legal services to entrepreneurs in tech, social and traditional industries, working closely with the founders and giving advice on legal aspects of business operations.

He also served as a legal mentor in startup programs such as Honduras Digital Challenge, Founder Institute, and the Entrepreneurship HUB at the Technological University of Central America (UNITEC) where he is a frequent guest speaker.

Previously he worked as a Research Assistant at Fundacion Eleutera, a Honduran think tank that is dedicated to influencing public policy reform or proposals to make the lives of citizens more prosperous, practical, and free. Major programs for this organization include Economic Freedom Month (with the Economic Freedom Index).

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Timothy Allen talks to Peter Young.

Peter is the managing director of the Free Cities Foundation. He leads the operational management of the foundation, with oversight over project delivery, communications and finance.

Before joining the Free Cities Foundation, Peter spent most of his career based in Beijing supporting trade links between the UK and China.

A.I. generated summary:

00:10 Introduction to the show. 02:32 Definition of a free city. 06:24 Free Cities Foundation's Conference. 10:53 Centralised vs. decentralised power. 17:33 Collectivist vs. individualist. 22:51 Is this model of free cities a new concept? 30:07 High time preference vs. low time preference. 36:44 The problem of property rights in a free city. 41:34 Free Cities Conference in Prague. 47:37 What concerns me about education in the UK? 53:27 Privatised education in China. 57:54 Protest against the current financial system. 1:03:43 How hard money allows for long term thinking. 1:08:44 Bitcoin is legal tender in El Salvador. 1:14:01 Saving your money in bitcoin. 1:19:07 The importance of learning how to use bitcoin. 1:26:41 Peter’s plans for the future.

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