Edge City

In this fireside chat at Edge City Patagonia with Timour Kosters, author Norman Ohler traces how psychoactive substances shaped world history.

From Nazi Germany’s use of methamphetamine to the CIA’s LSD experiments and humanity’s deep evolutionary relationship with psychedelics.

A wide-ranging conversation on power, consciousness, and the future of society.

Norman's talk was supported by PsyDAO.

LINKS

Norman Ohler: https://x.com/normanohler

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

ABOUT EDGE CITY

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Learn more: ⁠https://edgecity.live⁠

Follow us

✨ https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity/

✨ https://www.instagram.com/joinedgecity/

TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Introduction

(02:18) From Novelist to Accidental Drug Research

(05:08) The Pervitin Discovery That Changed WWII

(07:50) Blitzkrieg Reconsidered Through Chemistry

(12:51) The Myth of the “Drug-Free” Nazi Regime

(17:15) Fear Suppression, Sleep Deprivation, and Soldiers

(22:37) How Meth Changed the Psychology of War

(26:06) Hitler as Patient Zero

(30:49) Oxycodone, Power, and Political Decisions

(38:01) Why History Ignored the Role of Drugs

(41:18) LSD, Alzheimer’s, and a Personal Turning Point

(49:12) CIA, MK-Ultra, and the Lost Future of Psychedelic Medicine

(57:47) The Global Cost of the War on Drugs

(01:01:59) Ibogaine, the Stoned Ape Theory, and Brain Evolution

(01:18:56) Psychedelic Freedom and the Future of Civilization

Edge City co-founder Timour Kosters presented at the Network State Conference 2025 to share what we’ve built so far and where we’re headed next.

Two years in, here’s what we’ve achieved as a society incubator:

✨ 7 popup villages worldwide

✨ 11,000+ participants

✨ $1M in grants given to frontier builders

✨ 50+ startups and projects supported

We're hosting our next monthlong popup village in Argentine Patagonia from Oct 18 to Nov 15, 2025.

Join us to prototype a brighter future — together with others working at the frontiers of tech, science, art, and society.

• Apply here: https://edgecity.simplefi.tech/portal/edge-patagonia/application

• More info: https://edgecity.live/patagonia

ABOUT EDGE CITY

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow us on X: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more: https://edgecity.live

At Edge City Patagonia (Oct 18–Nov 15), residencies form the backbone of the village. Each brings together 5–50 people around a theme. In this roundtable conversation, we hear from residency hosts working on solarpunk futures, onchain tech, consciousness, meditation, biotech, regeneration, d/acc, AI, cypherpunk, and vibecoding.

Learn more: https://www.edgecity.live/patagonia

Apply to join: https://edgecity.simplefi.tech/portal/edge-patagonia/application

ABOUT EDGE CITY

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow us on X: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more: https://edgecity.live

CHAPTERS

(00:00) Introduction

(02:50) Agartha House

(07:32) Argentina Onchain Residency

(13:22) Meditation Artifacts Residency

(15:59) Human Tech Residency

(22:56) Vibe Coding Residency

(26:55) Consciousness at the Edge

(30:46) Cross-Pollination Between Residencies

(31:30) Cypherpunk Utopia

(34:24) Regen Haus

(41:30) San Martín de los Andes

(42:13) Health & Bio Residency

(44:39) The Oz City

46:22) Wrapping Up

Edge City gathers frontier minds to prototype new ways of living and building together. From October 18 to November 15, 2025 we're hosting our flagship popup village in the Patagonian lakeside town of San Martín de los Andes.

Learn more about Edge City Patagonia: https://www.edgecity.live/patagonia

David Hoffman from Bankless sat down with Edge City co-founder Timour Kosters to hear what Edge City Patagonia is and how it can spark new tech, startups, art, friendships, and breakthroughs.

We've designed this month to be the highest-leverage time of your year. Apply here → LINKS

Timour: https://x.com/timourxyz

David: http://x.com/TrustlessState

Bankless: https://x.com/Banklesshq ABOUT EDGE CITY

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.Follow us on X | Learn more CHAPTERS

(00:00) Intro to Edge City

(00:42) Why we build monthlong popup villages

(02:28) What to expect?

(03:10) David's experience at Edge Esmeralda

(04:39) Designed for serendipity and collaboration

(05:15) What's unique for Edge City Patagonia

(06:04) How to maximize your experience

(06:57) Co-working and co-creation

(08:03) Make your own adventure

(08:43) Human connection and social structures

(10:43) How to join Edge City Patagonia

Audrey Tang (Taiwan’s first Digital Minister) sits down for a fireside chat with Edge City’s Timour Kosters to talk about digital democracy, the philosophy of plurality, civic technology, and what the rest of the world can learn from Taiwan’s democratic experiments.

Recorded at Edge Esmeralda, held in Healdsburg, CA, from May 24 - June 21, 2025.

LINKS

Audrey Tang: https://x.com/audreyt

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

Edge Esmeralda: https://www.edgeesmeralda.com

ABOUT EDGE CITY

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow Edge City on Twitter: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more about Edge City: https://edgecity.live/

CHAPTERS

(00:00) Introduction: Audrey Tang and the Idea of Plurality

(01:53) From Civic Hacker to Minister

(04:48) The Sunflower Movement and GovZero

(09:42) Tech for Collective Action: Open Data and Pandemic Response

(13:01) Democracy as Defense: Radical Transparency in Taiwan

(17:12) Global Applications: Bowling Green, Japan, and California

(26:00) What is Plurality? From Conflict to Collaboration

(31:02) High-Bandwidth Democracy and Civic Muscle

(35:07) Real-World Plurality in Japan and California

(43:07) AI, Education & Civic Competency

(47:50) Q&A: Gen Z, Radical Interoperability and Future Tools

(56:57) Q&A: DAOs, Community Design and the Power of Forking

Glen Weyl builds new social technologies for collective decision-making, plural coordination, and democratic innovation. He leads the Plurality Institute and co-founded RadicalxChange to turn experimental ideas into institutional prototypes.

In this conversation, Glen Weyl and host Timour Kosters explore the intersection of technology, democracy, and civic infrastructure. From Taiwan’s civic tech to new models of money and collective decision-making, this chat covers the intellectual foundations of the Plurality movement.

Recorded at Edge City Austin, held in Austin, TX, from March 2-7, 2025.

Links

Glen Weyl: https://glenweyl.com/

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

About Edge City

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow Edge City on Twitter: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more about Edge City: https://edgecity.live

Chapters

(00:00) Glen Weyl's work and the vision for Edge City

(01:43) The growing chasm between technology & democracy

(04:46) From Star Trek to Snow Crash, the cultural collapse of future visions

(06:18) Two threats to democracy: chaos and control

(09:54) Network societies vs. network states

(12:01) The 3 political ideologies of the 21st century

(15:22) Why Plurality is the most viable path

(18:05) Lessons from Taiwan - GovZero, Pol.is & civic tech

(22:50) Japan’s AI-augmented grassroots politics

(31:53) New models of money

(37:18) Designing experiments at Edge City popup villages

(44:25) Decentralized governance, power vacuums & quadratic voting

(53:04) Community currencies and plural governance models

(58:35) From temporary popup village to permanent city

(01:03:52) Integration, not exit

(01:12:11) Identity and community recovery

(01:15:49) Mathematics and Plurality, final thoughts

Kevin Owocki is the founder of Gitcoin and co-founder of Allo Capital, focused on regenerative crypto economics.

Rena O'Brien is a web3 strategist and DAO builder with experience spanning Gitcoin and global capital networks.

In this episode, Kevin and Rena explore why onchain capital allocation matters—and how programmable money can transform how we fund public goods, startups, and impact at scale. They discuss new coordination tools, the philosophy behind capital as a force for good, and what it might look like to fund “missions not markets” in the years ahead.

If you're curious about the future of funding, DAOs, or the next layer of crypto beyond speculation, this one's for you.

Links

Kevin Owocki: https://x.com/owocki

Rena O'Brien: https://www.linkedin.com/in/renaobrien

Allo Capital: https://www.allo.capital

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

About Edge City

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow Edge City on Twitter: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more about Edge City: https://edgecity.live

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(02:51) Why Tokenized Capital Allocation?

(05:26) The 8 Forms of Capital Explained

(08:59) The Impact of Gitcoin

(10:18) What’s Broken with Capital Allocation Today?

(14:25) The Case for Onchain Allocation Systems

(17:50) Introducing Allo Capital

(21:17) Funding Local Projects with AlloIRL

(28:01) Relevance to Edge City

(39:36) Owocki's New Book: How to DAO

(46:36) Gitcoin as DAO

(54:57) Popup Villages & Human Flourishing

In this conversation, we discuss why building the absurd before it becomes consensus is crucial for a flourishing future. Our guests are Lee Jacobs, Cyan Banister, Arielle Zuckerberg, and Z. Mike Wang from Long Journey VC.

Links

More info on Edge Esmeralda: https://www.edgeesmeralda.com

More info on the Long Journey Residency: https://www.edgecity.live/blog/introducing-the-long-journey-residency-at-edge-esmeralda-2025

About Edge City

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow Edge City: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more: https://edgecity.live

Socials

Janine Leger: https://x.com/JanineLeger

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

Long Journey: https://x.com/LongJourneyVC

Lee Jacobs: https://x.com/LeeJacobs

Cyan Banister: https://x.com/cyantist

Arielle Zuckerberg: https://x.com/ariellezuck

Mike Wang: https://x.com/zmwang

Chapters

(00:00) Why the Best Ideas Look Absurd (Until They Don’t)

(01:19) The Long Journey Origin Story

(06:19) From Zuzalu to Edge City: Building Experimental Villages

(09:41) What to Expect at Edge Esmeralda 2025

(14:15) Inside the Long Journey Residency: A Pre-Accelerator for Wild Ideas

(18:56) From Crazy to Consensus: How Big Ideas Take Off

(23:10) Why We Need Spaces Like Edge City Now

What does it mean to lead a flourishing life, and how can we create a flourishing society? In this episode, Brink Lindsey dives deep into these fundamental questions, exploring the intersection of individual well-being and societal health.

We discuss the "triple crisis" of inclusion, dynamism, and political dysfunction and its impact on progress. Brink unpacks the tension between material prosperity and true human flourishing, offering insights into how agency, respect, and innovation can guide us toward a better future.

Links

Brink Lindsey: https://x.com/lindsey_brink

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow Edge City on Twitter: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more about Edge City: https://edgecity.live/

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(02:05) Brink on "The Permanent Problem"

(04:05) Keynes’ Predictions on Work Hours and Wealth

(11:46) The Crisis of Governance and Social Trust

(17:01) Defining Human Flourishing

(24:33) The Triple Crisis (Inclusion, Dynamism & Politics)

(34:33) Barriers to Technological Innovation

(42:48) Reconciling Environmentalism with Technological Growth

(51:41) Reviving Community in the Age of Individualism

(59:36) Building Decentralized Futures

(01:08:10) Reflections on Edge City Lanna

We chat with Matt Prewitt from RadicalxChange about rethinking communities through intentional design and social technology. The conversation explores various types of intentional communities, including affinity communities, individualist escape communities, and responsible experimenters.

Matt highlights how responsible experimentation can create more sustainable and impactful spaces and argues that mutual vulnerability is essential for building trust and shared identity. This is illustrated by RadicalxChange's use of community currencies like "∈dges" at Edge City’s pop-up villages, an experiment to incentivize local exchange and keeping value circulating in the community.

The chat closes with ideas on how such social technologies can cultivate human flourishing by combining global connectedness with robust, locally supportive systems.

Links

Matt Prewitt: https://x.com/m_t_prewitt

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

RadicalxChange: https://www.radicalxchange.org/

Edge City: https://twitter.com/joinedgecity

Edge City Lanna: https://www.edgecity.live/lanna

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(02:14) RadicalxChange’s Mission and Theory of Change

(06:45) Georg Simmel and the Power of Secrecy in Communities

(14:23) Three Types of New Community Initiatives

(24:53) The Importance of Social Technology

(33:29) Associative Obligations and Mutual Vulnerability

(47:42) Reimagining Money: Community Currencies

(59:35) Lessons from Community Currency Experiments

(1:11:36) Community Currency Experiment at Edge City

(1:21:43) Pop-up Villages and the Future of Intentional Communities

(1:24:53) Human Flourishing