Can blockchain technology support mutual aid?

Cryptocurrency has been in the news this past month after a cascade of bankruptcies unraveled a web of fraud. This comes after a year of already declining markets recast the 2021 crypto boom in a dark light. However, the headlines usually stick to flashy financial projects with big bottom lines.

James Brennan speaks with Marisa Rando from PactDAO to learn how mutual aid can be served by blockchain – without ever adding a price tag to anything. Based in New York City, Pact uses decentralized tech to help coordinate community action. Marisa walks listeners through how Pact is navigating this unique middle ground of decentralized tech and local organizing.

CU Boulder’s MEDLab’s radio show and podcast, Looks Like New, asks old questions about new tech.

Each month, host Nathan Schneider and the Looks Like New team speaks with people who work with technology in ways that challenge conventional narratives and dominant power structures. The name comes from the phrase “a philosophy so old that it looks like new,” repeated throughout the works of Peter Maurin, the French agrarian poet and co-founder of the Catholic Worker movement.

Looks Like New airs the fourth Thursday of every month at 6 p.m., or by podcast on iTunes.