Replying to Avatar Frank Corva

Here’s what NPR didn’t share from the interviews I did with them (four in total) for the most recent episode of Planet Money:

•That while it’s awkward for most Bitcoin enthusiasts to have the political class here now, it’s better that they are here so that we can have conversations about Bitcoin out in the open with them, instead of conversations on the topic happening behind closed doors.

•That it’s a good thing that the U.S. government is no longer antagonistic toward Bitcoin, because there are activists and others living under authoritarian regimes globally who rely on bitcoin as a money of last resort, and if the U.S. is openly hostile to it, it gives more leverage to the leaders of those authoritarian regimes.

•That Bitcoin is the separation of money and state, but that doesn’t mean the state won’t have something to say about it. And that, again, it’s better that Bitcoin enthusiasts and industry leaders are at the table to have those conversations with politicians.

•(I believe I also told the reporter about the work Gridless is doing in Africa, which is incentivizing the growth of renewable energy, and that Bitcoin shouldn’t be a bipartisan issue and that some Democrats like Ro Khanna see the benefits of it, but I’m not totally sure of that.)

In total, I spoke with the reporter who interviewed me for somewhere between 20 and 30 minutes and they clipped two lines from what I said so to fit them into the narrative they wanted to craft.

While I get that this is how journalism works - that all reporters have a bias - I wanted to weigh in to let you all know that what I shared was manipulated to fit an agenda.

I used to defend NPR’s public funding, as I thought the organization served a public good, but I no longer feel that way.

If they refuse to tell the whole Bitcoin story, they no longer have my support.

The move for interviewing with legacy media may be to make it a condition for them to release the unedited interview before agreeing to speak with them on the record.

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Does that ever really happen?

Nope

I've seen a few prominent figures do it. I think it's less about getting them to say yes, and more about getting the clarity that they reserve the right to misrepresent you if they say no.

Stipulate that you be allowed to record the entire thing before agreeing to give it.

Then post the audio on nostr.