Happy 2026 everyone! What a wild year so far… (its only January).
As a quick update: A lot is happening in the background as I’m building and working on a couple of projects adjacent to the space (in decentralized tech, privacy-focused authenticity, and in open metrics and dashboards within the network state and network society movement). The blog is still very much alive, but you’ll naturally see more infrequent posts. I’m also going to be visiting Network School sometime this summer for a couple of months, and 4Seas in Chiang Mai later this year, so if you’re on site and we overlap, DM me on X!
In the meantime, I wanted to share my first podcast appearance with Simon from the Speak Easy Podcast. His podcast covers prediction markets, startups, and AI, but he’s got an interest in the network state movement and I was honoured to be on the pod to give a snapshot on the space, its challenges, and where things might be headed:
From the video description:
We explore the concept of network states and parallel societies, discussing their historical and modern examples, the motivations behind their creation, and the challenges they face. Michael brings clarity to the impact of fiat money printing, the role of technology in enabling network states, and the potential for a reimagined state as a service provider. We explore the role of the state as a service provider, the impact of the internet on individual empowerment, the emergence of network societies, and the generational divide in societal values and expectations. We also explored the challenges and opportunities presented by technological advancements and the potential for real changes to challenge the status quo.
Chapters
00:00 Introduction and Platform Discussion
05:52 Motivations for Exploring Network States
11:16 Challenges of State Legibility and Control
17:55 Ideal Scenario for Network States Adoption
26:35 Generational Divide in Societal Values and Expectations
It was a wonderful podcast and discussion, and Simon was a very gracious host.
Expect a regular blog post soon, and in the meantime feel free to follow me on X and subscribe to Simon’s YouTube channel.
Happy building and shipping, here’s to the year of the horse and all the change and dynamism it will bring 🐎
In the Network State era, there’s a maturing focus on people – how to attract them, organize them, inspire them, and yes, govern them. Parallel Citizen reflects on emerging network enclaves, network archipelagos, and network state experiments around the world. Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support me.
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