In episode 3 of Say Wot?, guest host David Strayhorn sits down with Matthias DeBernardini, a software developer and “agentic engineering” tinkerer who’s just joined NosFabrica to help build open-source Web of Trust tooling on Nostr.

They trace Matthias’ path from materials engineering into Bitcoin (including an early “$90 BTC is too expensive” family moment), then into graph theory, Lightning experiments, and Rust-heavy open-source work (Fedimint, AnchorWatch). From there, the convo zooms into the core question: can we build decentralized recommendation systems without recreating the extractive, centralized incentives of Big Tech?

They unpack why today’s large-scale AI training tends to favor hyperscalers (hardware, bandwidth, overhead), why “decentralized labeling” often still collapses into centralized control, and where a better hybrid might live: community-curated, topic-structured data (a “grapevine” Web of Trust) paired with local models for narrow tasks, fine-tuning, and personal assistants.

The episode ends with a clear thesis: the internet’s signal-to-noise problem is incentive-driven, and the way out is opt-out plus better tools, built around user control and delegated trust.

Links

• NosFabrica
• David on Nostr
• Matias on Nostr

Ryan Cooper from Bitcoin Ranch joins Avi for a boots-on-the-ground conversation about rebuilding real-world resilience: food, trade, and community. Ryan shares his path from Detroit childhood roots and a fiercely independent, homeschool-led upbringing to managing a Chevy dealership, then getting “pandemic orange-pilled” into realizing how fragile modern supply chains really are.

That wake-up call turns into a local “milk route,” hands-on support for nearby farmers, and the broader Bitcoin Ranch vision: a decentralized farm incubator built around relationships, volunteer labor, and a growing network of producers and consumers who want clean food and direct-to-consumer markets.

They dig into the “Denim Road” idea (a regional trade corridor), the practical realities of distribution, and Ryan’s near-term solution: member-only microstores. Think climate-controlled sheds with shelf rentals for producers, RFID (or future Nostr-based) access for members, and minimal middlemen, inspired by honor-system farm stands and a self-serve community shop model Ryan saw in Finland.

The throughline is proof-of-work living: if you want real food, real money, and real comms, you build it, locally, with people you can shake hands with.

Links

• Ryan On Nostr
• Avi's New Book – July 18
• Finding Home Episode 3 – Paraguay [IndeeHub Code: PIONEER21 ]
• Avi's First Book – 24 (2nd Edition)

Guest host OpenMike takes the wheel for a laid-back, music-first Sunday Brunch with Tatum Turn Up, kicking off with some classic Nostr “we’re live … are we live?” chaos across Primal/Damus before settling into the vibe of Value for Value radio: sats flow to artists during tracks, and to the show during the chat.

Tatum shares an origin story that feels like pure internet destiny: getting orange-pilled after time in Pomp’s “crypto academy,” then accidentally DM-ing his way into filming with Anthony Pompliano, which launched Between Two ASICs and a run of heavyweight guests.

The conversation ranges from the creator reality of modern platforms to why community-driven funding models matter, including how V4V and live events can restore a more direct patron-to-artist relationship in a world drowning in content.

They also nerd out on the future of streaming: Tatum dunks on Twitch’s walled-garden incentives and explains why zap.stream is a better creator-native loop, then detours into gaming culture with Kaizo Super Mario World romhacks and the joy of high-skill, high-fail challenges.

Closing stretch: festival energy and “micro-Nostrica” moments, including talk of WhatFest in Wyoming and the magic of running into Nostr people IRL, plus a shout to Ainsley Costello (“Cherry on Top”) as a V4V breakout and artist model.