The Net Society crew returns with a lively mix of culture, tech, and markets. They kick off with coffee rituals and the rise of the “performative male,” before turning to the resurgence of old tech titans and massive AI cross-investments that feel like the early stages of Skynet. The conversation shifts to media consolidation and empire building, then dives into TikTok’s valuation, the end of the attention economy, and the rise of the token economy. The group explores new NFT Strategy experiments aimed at Squiggles/generative art liquidity, before unpacking Kraken’s IPO path and what scaling does to company culture. They close with a speculative look at AI agents, robot futures, and how media might be reshaped in the years to come.

Mentioned in the episode

Female popstars and mediocre men https://www.economist.com/culture/2025/09/08/why-female-pop-stars-are-lambasting-mediocre-men

Eric Schmidt AI and tech innovation in the US https://www.rdworldonline.com/dont-screw-it-up-eric-schmidts-warning-on-u-s-innovation-as-new-data-shows-china-on-track-to-take-rd-lead/

Cloudflare and NET Dollar https://x.com/Cloudflare/status/1971212556011196859

TokenWorks releases new projects (SquiggleStrategy) https://x.com/token_works/status/1971590630762856910

Rizzbot https://www.instagram.com/p/DOQ0TuADYEh/

Show & Hosts

Net Society: https://x.com/net__society

Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01

Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x

Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws

Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai

Production & Marketing

Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl

Social: https://x.com/v_kirra

• (00:00) - Coffee, Blank Street, and Performative Male Aesthetics