#231 – Alex Gladstein: Bitcoin, Authoritarianism, and Human Rights

Alex Gladstein is the Chief Strategy Officer at the Human Rights Foundation and the Oslo Freedom Forum. Please support this podcast by checking out our sponsors: - Stripe: https://stripe.com - Paperspace: https://gradient.run/lex to get $15 credit - Codecademy: https://codecademy.com and use code LEX to get 15% off - NI: https://www.ni.com/perspectives - Eight Sleep: https://www.eightsleep.com/lex and use code LEX to get special savings EPISODE LINKS: Alex's Twitter: https://twitter.com/gladstein The Little Bitcoin Book: https://littlebitcoinbook.com/ Human Rights Foundation: https://hrf.org/ PODCAST INFO: Podcast website: https://lexfridman.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://apple.co/2lwqZIr Spotify: https://spoti.fi/2nEwCF8 RSS: https://lexfridman.com/feed/podcast/ YouTube Full Episodes: https://youtube.com/lexfridman YouTube Clips: https://youtube.com/lexclips SUPPORT & CONNECT: - Check out the sponsors above, it's the best way to support this podcast - Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/lexfridman - Twitter: https://twitter.com/lexfridman - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lexfridman - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lexfridman - Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lexfridman - Medium: https://medium.com/@lexfridman OUTLINE: Here's the timestamps for the episode. On some podcast players you should be able to click the timestamp to jump to that time. (00:00) - Introduction (08:36) - Universal human rights (22:35) - Authoritarianism (32:46) - AIs impact on civil liberties (44:09) - Edward Snowden and government surveillance (47:48) - Money (52:01) - Bitcoin (1:07:48) - Government response to Bitcoin (1:18:19) - The blockchain (1:23:42) - Can Bitcoin fail? (1:26:33) - Bitcoin scams (1:30:17) - Patriotism (1:32:41) - Human Rights Foundation (1:37:15) - Conflict with China (1:40:05) - Corporate accountability (1:55:27) - Garry Kasparov and the HRF (2:00:36) - Journalism, conversations, and truth (2:07:50) - Alex's book recommendations (2:15:56) - Attacks on Bitcoin (2:17:35) - The future of humanity (2:21:57) - Advice for young people (2:33:13) - Meaning of life