The Net Society crew is back and they open with the viral surge of Studio Ghibli-style image generation, tracing how creative tools and internet behavior fused to create a moment of mass prompting. From there, they zoom out to explore the flattening of culture and the eerie resemblance between AI media cycles and speculative assets. The conversation shifts to NFTs as potential memetic stores of value, asking whether blockchain can timestamp and preserve meaning in a world of aesthetic churn. They debate whether AI trends harm or help iconic IP, and whether tokens can offer fair compensation in a remix-heavy world. The crew contrasts longform storytelling with speculative markets, then rounds things out with a deep dive into meme fashion, fast manufacturing, and whether the future is 3D-printed, AI-enabled, and delivered straight to your door.
Mentioned in the episode
Studio Ghibli art style takes over timeline https://x.com/Zeneca/status/1904774204769411196
Stewart Brand Pace Layering https://jods.mitpress.mit.edu/pub/issue3-brand/release/2
Derek’s Squiggles across art history thread https://x.com/derekedws/status/1905023985903079523
Greg Isenberg tweet https://x.com/gregisenberg/status/1905409166232989715
The White House low EQ tweet https://x.com/WhiteHouse/status/1905332049021415862
Derek’s thoughts on CC0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-PjEAH2yr_A&t=1103s
Show & Hosts
Net Society: https://x.com/net__society
Derek Edwards: https://x.com/derekedws
Chris F: https://x.com/ChrisF_0x
Priyanka Desai: https://x.com/pridesai
Aaron Wright: https://x.com/awrigh01
Production & Marketing
Editor: https://x.com/0xFnkl
Social: https://x.com/v_kirra
- (00:00) - Ghibli-fication and the Viral AI Aesthetic
- (06:13) - Meme Coins, Media Decay & the Flattening of Culture
- (14:00) - NFTs, Time, and the Memetic Store of Value
- (22:13) - IP, AI, and the Question of Creator Compensation
- (25:05) - Speculation, Storytelling, and the Problem of Pace
- (33:01) - Evergreen IP & Meme Fashion
- (43:14) - The Future of Physical Goods & Cloud Kitchens
- (45:44) - Introduction
