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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.

LINKS

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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