Edge City

In this conversation, we discuss why building the absurd before it becomes consensus is crucial for a flourishing future. Our guests are Lee Jacobs, Cyan Banister, Arielle Zuckerberg, and Z. Mike Wang from Long Journey VC.

More info on Edge Esmeralda: https://www.edgeesmeralda.com

More info on the Long Journey Residency: https://www.edgecity.live/blog/introducing-the-long-journey-residency-at-edge-esmeralda-2025

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This is an edited recording from a live conversation on X Spaces: https://x.com/i/spaces/1LyxBWDQdVEKN/peek

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ABOUT EDGE CITY

Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow Edge City: https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more: https://edgecity.live/

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SOCIALS

Janine Leger: https://x.com/JanineLeger

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

Long Journey: https://x.com/LongJourneyVC

Lee Jacobs: https://x.com/LeeJacobs

Cyan Banister: https://x.com/cyantist

Arielle Zuckerberg: https://x.com/ariellezuck Z.

Mike Wang: https://x.com/zmwang

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TIMESTAMPS

00:00 – Why the Best Ideas Look Absurd (Until They Don’t)

01:19 – The Long Journey Origin Story

06:19 – From Zuzalu to Edge City: Building Experimental Villages

09:41 – What to Expect at Edge Esmeralda 2025

14:15 – Inside the Long Journey Residency: A Pre-Accelerator for Wild Ideas

18:56 – From Crazy to Consensus: How Big Ideas Take Off

23:10 – Why We Need Spaces Like Edge City Now

What does it mean to lead a flourishing life, and how can we create a flourishing society? In this episode, Brink Lindsey dives deep into these fundamental questions, exploring the intersection of individual well-being and societal health.

We discuss the "triple crisis" of inclusion, dynamism, and political dysfunction and its impact on progress. Brink unpacks the tension between material prosperity and true human flourishing, offering insights into how agency, respect, and innovation can guide us toward a better future.

Brink Lindsey:

https://x.com/lindsey_brink

Timour Kosters:

https://x.com/timourxyz

-- Edge City convenes people working at the frontiers of tech, science, and society in popup villages across the globe.

Follow Edge City on Twitter:

https://x.com/JoinEdgeCity

Learn more about Edge City:

https://edgecity.live/

-- CHAPTERS

(00:00) Introduction

(02:05) Brink on "The Permanent Problem"

(04:05) Keynes’ Predictions on Work Hours and Wealth

(11:46) The Crisis of Governance and Social Trust

(17:01) Defining Human Flourishing

(24:33) The Triple Crisis (Inclusion, Dynamism & Politics)

(34:33) Barriers to Technological Innovation

(42:48) Reconciling Environmentalism with Technological Growth

(51:41) Reviving Community in the Age of Individualism

(59:36) Building Decentralized Futures

(01:08:10) Reflections on Edge City Lanna

We chat with Matt Prewitt from RadicalxChange about rethinking communities through intentional design and social technology. The conversation explores various types of intentional communities, including affinity communities, individualist escape communities, and responsible experimenters.

Matt highlights how responsible experimentation can create more sustainable and impactful spaces and argues that mutual vulnerability is essential for building trust and shared identity. This is illustrated by RadicalxChange's use of community currencies like "∈dges" at Edge City’s pop-up villages, an experiment to incentivize local exchange and keeping value circulating in the community.

The chat closes with ideas on how such social technologies can cultivate human flourishing by combining global connectedness with robust, locally supportive systems.

Matt Prewitt: https://x.com/m_t_prewitt

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

RadicalxChange: https://www.radicalxchange.org/

Edge City: https://twitter.com/joinedgecity

Edge City Lanna: https://www.edgecity.live/lanna

(00:00) Introduction (02:14) RadicalxChange’s Mission and Theory of Change (06:45) Georg Simmel and the Power of Secrecy in Communities (14:23) Three Types of New Community Initiatives (24:53) The Importance of Social Technology (33:29) Associative Obligations and Mutual Vulnerability (47:42) Reimagining Money: Community Currencies (59:35) Lessons from Community Currency Experiments (1:11:36) Community Currency Experiment at Edge City (1:21:43) Pop-up Villages and the Future of Intentional Communities (1:24:53) Human Flourishing

In this inaugural episode of the Edge City Podcast, host Timour Kosters sits down with Devon Zuegel and Janine Leger to explore Edge Esmeralda, a pop-up village experiment they organized in June 2024 that brought together 1,300 people who believe the future can be better and are actively working to make it happen.

Devon is an accomplished writer and thinker with a background in software engineering and a deep passion for cities. She’s currently working on Esmeralda, a new town project in Northern California. Janine, Timour’s co-founder at Edge City, previously led the grants program at Gitcoin and was a co-creator of Zuzalu, a pioneering popup city that explored new models of communal living and collaboration.

Chapters

(00:00) Introduction

(02:40) What was Edge Esmeralda?

(05:30) Inspiration and historical context

(10:37) Building community and culture

(17:41) Highlights of Edge Esmeralda

(29:03) Challenges and learnings

(36:54) Looking ahead: future plans

Links

Devon Zuegel: https://x.com/devonzuegel

Janine Leger: https://x.com/JanineLeger

Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz

Edge Esmeralda Recap: https://edgeesmeralda.com/2024

Esmeralda: https://esmeralda.org/

Edge City: https://twitter.com/joinedgecity

Edge City Lanna: https://www.edgecity.live/lanna