April 28, 2022

UnicornDAO: Pussy Riot's Nadya Tolokonnikova's Fight for Equality in Web3

Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot fame is building the future of feminist equality beginning with UnicornDAO , a community-led investment fund that invests in minority and marginalized artists. Nadya speaks to Kevin about her...

Nadya Tolokonnikova of Pussy Riot fame is building the future of feminist equality beginning with UnicornDAO, a community-led investment fund that invests in minority and marginalized artists. Nadya speaks to Kevin about her political origins in Russia and the current collaborators in her Web3 vision.

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NOTES

  • Who is Nadya Tolokonnikova? [00:45]
  • Why the idea of the Metaverse is particularly appealing to Nadya, who grew up in remote Siberia. [01:34]
  • The roots of Nadya's life as a feminist and political activist. [02:59]
  • When did blockchain click for Nadya as a useful tool for revolution? [07:41]
  • With its decentralized nature, was Pussy Riot a sort of proto-DAO? [10:20]
  • Why having at least a rudimentary understanding of technology is important for people who want to bypass the restrictions of living under totalitarian regimes. [11:09]
  • How Nadya helped raise $7 million for Ukraine in just two days -- and why it wouldn't have been possible without cryptocurrency. [16:05]
  • Nadya's experiences with DAOs thus far. [18:44]
  • How UnicornDAO came to be, what its mission is, how it functions, and who's involved. [22:05]
  • Kevin reflects on the importance of contributing to work and causes for which his children will be proud in years to come. [31:31]
  • What Nadya likes about PROOF's approach to the Grails project. [32:43]
  • How recent projects (such as Grails and Pak's Ash 2 drop) are treating participating artists with a truly egalitarian compensation model. [33:03]
  • While UnicornDAO promotes women, non-binary, and LGBTQIA+ people in the NFT space, it doesn't aim to exclude men from participating. [34:12]
  • What role does Nadya hope UnicornDAO will play in discovering unknown artists and bringing them to the world? [37:59]
  • Guerilla marketing, propaganda wings, and good-natured ass-kicking. [41:18]
  • NFT artists Nadya personally admires and collects. [43:17]
  • As a musical artist, Nadya finds NFTs to be a more artist-supporting model than the traditional music industry -- and more sustainable than flying and busing everywhere to tour. [44:02]
  • Thoughts on celebrity collection of NFTs. [46:31]
  • Kevin donates a Moonbird, Nadya seeks good talent to staff UnicornDAO (might this be you?), and other parting thoughts. [47:59]

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