
Hacking State
Exploring how technology changes our relationship to power, each other, and ourselves.
Making sense of the techno-acceleration, Alex Murshak conducts in-depth interviews on the philosophy of technology. Hacking State is about doing more with less, pushing limitations, and finding gainful exploits at every level of the human operating system; from minds, to bodies, to tools, organizations, governments, and higher order social systems.
Heidegger describes the nature of technology as a kind of revealing. It remains to be seen where and whether technology gives us Nietzschean will-to-power-like mastery over nature and ourselves or, as Plato warns, we are liable to be lead astray by novel ideas. Our capacity to harness nature has never been greater. Science and technology have unlocked immense power. Yet the human animal remains remarkably similar across millennia. In such a situation, discernment is our greatest asset. It is our relationship to ourselves, our systems, and one another, that will determine our future.
Latest episodes

Oct 10, 2024 • 53min
35 - Ben McCormick: Getting to Know Kinode
Kinode is a decentralized operating system, peer-to-peer app framework, and node network designed to simplify the development and deployment of decentralized applications.
Ben McCormick, a lead developer at Kinode, joins me to discuss the birth of Kinode, the need for backend tools in crypto, choosing Web Assembly for peer-to-peer computing, breaking out of the Feudal structure of Web 2.0 and creating coordination power outside Big Tech oligopolies, how to popularize permission-less infrastructure, getting started developing on the network, and the grand vision that is Kinode.
The Kinode Book: https://book.kinode.org/
Discord: https://discord.gg/mYDj74NkfP
Kinode on X: https://x.com/kinode
Dartfrog: https://kinode.org/blog/hello-dartfrog
My startup: https://lawgiver.ai
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

Sep 26, 2024 • 1h 28min
34 - Charles Haywood: Political Action, Foundationalism, Advice for Ambitious Young Men
Charles Haywood is the Maximum Leader of The Worthy House, publisher of over 600 book reviews, and creator of a framework for the renewal of society called Foundationalism.
We talk about how buying machinery from a defunct hair products manufacturer made him tremendously wealthy, The Worthy House and refining his politics by writing hundreds of book reviews, the (im)possibility of political action today, Foundationalism, right wing "elites", the meaning of left wing violence, why Europe is over, the fertility crisis as an existential threat to civilization, and advice for ambitious young men.
The Worthy House
X: https://x.com/TheWorthyHouse
Site: https://theworthyhouse.com/ Foundationalist
Manifesto: https://theworthyhouse.com/2021/06/17/the-foundationalist-manifesto-the-politics-of-future-past/
WAITLIST for my AI Legislative Startup, Lawgiver: https://lawgiver.ai
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

Sep 12, 2024 • 1h 8min
33 - Nina Power: Defamation and Free Speech in the Internet Age
I speak with Nina Power about her harrowing defamation suit court battle, the narrowing window of free expression in the West, novel problems of anonymity, pseudonymity, and identity presented by the internet, the antagonism of the philosopher and the city, and the need for cultural tools to push back against authoritarian overreaches in free expression.
Nina Power on Substack: https://ninapower.substack.com/
Read the court judgement yourself: https://www.judiciary.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/11/Miller-and-Power-v-Turner-08.11.23.pdf
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

Jun 11, 2024 • 1h 2min
31 - Nick Simmons: Octu Ventures + Urbit, Building the Pillars of a Digital Civilization
Nick Simmons is Cofounder and member of Octu Ventures, a member-driven venture DAO investing in teams building on Urbit.
Urbit comprises a decentralized network of personal servers, a unique digital ID system, and a decentralized peer-to-peer networking protocol. Altogether, these constitute load-bearing pillars of a truly digital civilization.
We talk about the Urbit stack, Octu's thesis behind a member-driven venture DAO, Urbit as a new coordination technology, the importance of persistent digital identities that are not real names, encoding offline social technology in digital online network technology, the robustness and fault-tolerance of the Urbit network, and building the load-bearing pillars of a digital civilization.
Find Nick on Urbit: ~simfur-ritwed
Octu: https://octu.ventures/
Hydra Ventures: https://www.hydraventures.xyz/
What Technology Wants by Kevin Kelly: https://www.amazon.com/What-Technology-Wants/dp/B00476WM36/ref=sr_1_1
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

May 21, 2024 • 57min
30 - Alexander Pacheco: Building a Network of 150
Alexander Pacheco is the founder of social media platform, 150. Based on Dunbar’s Limit, 150’s innovative social network leverages insights from network science to create a small-town feel that elides many of the downsides that come with incumbent social media giants.
Alexander walks us through using anthropology and human nature to shape the network topology of 150 to more closely reflect the way we socialize and build connections in real life, how trust in networks is where the real value lies, the formula for high-quality consensus-building, and why bi-directional, exclusive networks are the optimal structure for building effective, high-trust communities.
Get 150:
https://150.earth/
https://twitter.com/150_inc
Alexander Pacheco
https://alexpacheco.substack.com/
https://twitter.com/alexandercurves
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

May 7, 2024 • 1h 17min
29 - Kevin Dolan (Bennett's Phylactery): Rebooting Natalism for the 21st Century
I’m joined by cofounder and organizer of the 2023 Natal Conference in Austin, TX, Kevin Dolan.
We talk about the conception of a conference to promote having more babies, the various religious and techno-optimist factions of the Natalist Movement, environmental detriments to fertility, how we’re radically undervaluing motherhood, thought-terminating technical solutions to the fertility crisis, surrogacy, expanding freedom of association as the key to self-replicating communities, like-minded community as a solution for the alienation of motherhood, and setting sights on Natal Conference 2024.
“It’s not about stopping the rain, it’s about building a boat.” - Kevin Dolan
Find out about the Natal Conference: https://www.natalism.org/
Follow Kevin on X: https://X.com/extradeadjcb
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

Apr 30, 2024 • 1h 27min
28 - Charles Rosenbauer and Olli Payne: Finding the Keys to Our Possible Futures
I am joined by Charles Rosenbauer and Olli Payne of Possibilia Magazine. Possibilia is an ambitious literary magazine showcasing realistic, optimistic science fiction. They’re bringing positive visions of the future in digital and in print—replete with short stories, nonfiction companion pieces, and illustration.
We talk about the constraints of keeping sci-fi optimistic and realistic, working with writers to meet these constraints, future-adjacent technologies, how private information (cryptography) beats raw compute power, SPACE INFRASTRUCTURE, optimism as a positive telos for humanity, e/acc’s death drive, the Principle of Explosion, generative art as the catalyst for up-skilling artists, stories as social technology, magic lamps, new futurism aesthetics, and the challenges of running a magazine bridging art and technology.
https://www.possibiliamag.com/
https://twitter.com/bzogrammer
https://twitter.com/OlliPayne
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

Mar 26, 2024 • 1h 3min
27 - Lomez: Keeper of the Press
I speak with father of the Passage Prize and Keeper of the Passage Press, Lomez.
Passage Prize started as an open call for literary and artistic submissions to find untapped talent from the Twitter anon sphere. It quickly exceeded its initial ambitions, drawing artists both obscure and famous to claim their spot in the coveted limited run print edition book, and a share of the $20,000 prize. From the success of the Passage Prize contest, the Passage Publishing company was born.
Lomez and I speak about the origins of the Passage Prize, the hole in the market for right-of-center artists to share their work, the dearth of vitality in conservative art, surprises from the first submissions, how they selected for quality, the gap in publishing that Passage Press is aiming to fill, its relationship with Man's World and Mystery Grove Publishing, and his vision for the future of the Passage Press.
Buy book(s): https://passage.press/
Passage Press on X: https://x.com/PassagePress
Lomez on X: https://x.com/L0m3z
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

Mar 5, 2024 • 59min
26 - Stephen R. C. Hicks: Ayn Rand and High Romanticism
On Ayn Rand, Objectivism, the resonance of Atlas Shrugged and The Fountainhead, the development and spread of Individualism, high Romanticism, Rand's polarizing characters, the relationship between altruism and selfishness in her works and philosophy, Ayn Rand's large influence on entrepreneurs, and the intellectual subculture of Randian academics.
Stephen R. C. Hicks is Professor of Philosophy at Rockford University and Executive Director of the Center for Ethics and Entrepreneurship, and Senior Scholar at The Atlas Society.
Site: https://www.stephenhicks.org/
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes. Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml

Jan 23, 2024 • 1h 15min
25 - Kevin MacDonald: Jewish Group Evolutionary Strategy | Cofnas-MacDonald Debate, pt. 2
For part 2 of the Cofnas-Macdonald debate I interview evolutionary psychologist Kevin Macdonald. We go over his response to Nathan Cofnas' objections to the Jewish Group Evolutionary Strategy laid out in "The Culture of Critique" series, his explanations for outstanding Jewish influence, conscientiousness, emotional intensity, and affect intensity as notably Jewish personality traits, Ashkenazi verbal tilt in IQ, the history of Jewish advocacy for immigration, the dispute over group-level selection in evolutionary biology, and his response to the charge of antisemitism.
Youtube interview: https://youtu.be/_tIut3USaFM
Relevant Links:
https://kevinmacdonald.net/
https://nathancofnas.com/debate-with-kevin-macdonald
https://x.com/nathancofnas
https://nathancofnas.com
If you enjoyed this interview, please leave a review on Spotify/iTunes.
Support Hacking State: https://hackingstate.substack.com/subscribe
Listen on:
Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alexmurshak
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/hacking-state/id1689677076
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/1XB9XYULrAY4dp0qIJVvCg
RSS: https://feed.podbean.com/hackingstate/feed.xml