What Bitcoin Did

Ghislaine Maxwell is a British socialite, best known as the lover and partner of paedophile financier Jeffrey Epstein for the best part of two decades.

After being accused of procuring and trafficking underage girls after Epstein’s arrest and subsequent death in jail last year - she went missing.

Earlier this year she was charged with the crimes of enticement of minors and sex trafficking of underage girls.

In this series we will look into the life of Ghislaine Maxwell and the men who helped shape it.

Part 4 - Epstein’s Mentor:

In the fourth episode of the series, we hear from Jeffrey Epstein's former friend Julian Leese, the son of Epstein's mentor, international 'Mr Fixit', Douglas Leese. We look into Epstein's past, his relationship with Ghislaine and debunk the many mysteries and untruths about the couple.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/ghislaine-part-4-epsteins-mentor

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
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If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“Whether it’s everything I do every waking moment, or if it’s something I get to do once every couple of months; we get to be a band again. That’s incredible.”
— Jonathan Vigil

The Ghost Inside are an American metalcore band from Los Angeles, California who, on 19 November 2015, were involved in a fatal crash when their tour bus collided with an 18 wheeler truck outside El Paso.

1,333 days later the band played their comeback show at a sold-out, The Shrine in Los Angeles.

This is their story.

Part 4:

In the fourth and final episode of the series, we look at how the band learnt to play with their injuries, and the road to their comeback show at The Shrine in Los Angeles.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/1333-days-part-4-the-comeback

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

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The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
iTunes
Spotify
Deezer
Stitcher
SoundCloud
YouTube
TuneIn
- Leave a review of the show on iTunes (5* really helps, if you think the show deserves it).
- Share the show and episodes out with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
- Follow Defiance on social media:
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- Subscribe to the Defiance mailing list.
- Donate Bitcoin here: bc1qd3anlc8lh0cl9ulqah03dmg3r2uxm5r657zr5p

If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“There’s definitely been times where I felt like, what was the point of surviving to only be left with this.”
— Jim Riley

The Ghost Inside are an American metalcore band from Los Angeles, California who, on 19 November 2015, were involved in a fatal crash when their tour bus collided with an 18 wheeler truck outside El Paso.

1,333 days later the band played their comeback show at a sold-out, The Shrine in Los Angeles.

This is their story.

Part 3:

In the third episode of the series, we look at the aftermath of the crash; the band’s struggle with physical and mental health and their lengthy rehabilitation.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/1333-days-part-3-the-recovery

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

- - - - -

The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
iTunes
Spotify
Deezer
Stitcher
SoundCloud
YouTube
TuneIn
- Leave a review of the show on iTunes (5* really helps, if you think the show deserves it).
- Share the show and episodes out with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
- Follow Defiance on social media:
Twitter
Facebook
Instagram
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- Subscribe to the Defiance mailing list.
- Donate Bitcoin here: bc1qd3anlc8lh0cl9ulqah03dmg3r2uxm5r657zr5p

If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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“I see synthetic biology as a positive in light of this status quo of just the absolute horror of biology.”
— Bryan Bishop

Location: Zoom
Date: Saturday 16th May
Company/project: Avanti & Bio, Tech and Beyond
Role: CTO & Co-Founder

In the previous episode of Defiance, I spoke to Rob Reid, and we looked at how synthetic biology, with tools like CRISPR, pose a threat to humanity as they could be used to create a highly contagious and deadly virus.

While this risk to human life is scary, the benefits that can come out of synthetic biology and surrounding technologies are astounding. Aside from helping to protect humans from future pandemics, it could also be crucial for future space exploration and a way of combating the ageing process.

In this interview, I talk to Bryan Bishop, the CTO at Avanti and Joseph Jackson, the founder of Bio, Tech & Beyond. As a follow up to my previous show, we discuss how synthetic biology can cure viruses, hunger and extend human life.

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Show notes and transcription: https://www.defiance.news/podcast/how-to-save-humanity-with-synthetic-biology

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Timestamps:
Coming soon…

- - - - -

The success of Defiance will be largely down to the support of you, the listener. Below are a number of ways you can help:
- Subscribe to the show on your favourite app so you never miss an episode:
iTunes
Spotify
Deezer
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TuneIn
- Leave a review of the show on iTunes (5* really helps, if you think the show deserves it).
- Share the show and episodes out with your friends and family on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
- Follow Defiance on social media:
Twitter
Facebook
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- Subscribe to the Defiance mailing list.
- Donate Bitcoin here: bc1qd3anlc8lh0cl9ulqah03dmg3r2uxm5r657zr5p

If you have any questions then please email Defiance.

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The Silk Road was an anonymous marketplace created by Ross Ulbricht on the dark web. Designed with libertarian principles, Ross hinted on his LinkedIn profile what he was working on:

“I want to use economic theory as a means to abolish the use of coercion and aggression amongst mankind. Just as slavery has been abolished most everywhere, I believe violence, coercion and all forms of force by one person over another can come to an end. The most widespread and systemic use of force is amongst institutions and governments, so this is my current point of effort. The best way to change a government is to change the minds of the governed, however. To that end, I am creating an economic simulation to give people a first-hand experience of what it would be like to live in a world without the systemic use of force.”

Two technologies enabled Ross to achieve his goals with the website:
- The Tor Browser: enabled the IP address of the server hosting the website to be hidden, while also allowing users to browse and purchase from the website anonymously.
- Bitcoin: enabled buyers and sellers to transact pseudonymously with each other without using debit or credit cards.

While the website allowed for the trade of any goods, it was primarily used for and became synonymous with drugs, with listings for all types of recreational and over the counter drugs in almost any quantity.

One of the key features of the website was the ability to leave reviews of sellers, which led to a fairer system than the street trade. Sellers did not want to risk losing business, so they could set the grade of their products. This also, arguably, protected buyers by reducing the risk of 'bad batches' and sellers cutting their products with other impurities, something is often seen in the street trade to increase profits.

Ross created a pseudonym, Dread Pirate Roberts, to act as the master admin for the site and he claimed he passed this onto another person early on in the project. It was this pseudonym and master admin, that became the target of multiple law enforcement agencies, across the world.

In October 2013, the FBI was able to access the servers and close down the website. Ross was apprehended in an uncover sting at the San Francisco Library on October 2nd and charged with:
- Possession with intent to distribute controlled substances (dropped in sentencing)
- Distribution of narcotics by means of the internet
- Narcotics trafficking conspiracy (dropped in sentencing)
- Computer hacking conspiracy
- Fake ID trafficking conspiracy
- Money laundering conspiracy
- Continuing criminal enterprise, aka the kingpin charge

On 4 February 2015, Ross was convicted of seven charges and received a double life sentence + 40 years, condemning Ross to spend the rest of his life in prison.

The case presents many complex issues, from the harshness of the sentence to the role of the state. The subject is highly emotive with valid arguments on both sides of the drugs debate. Some argue that the war on drugs is a failure and the Silk Road enabled buyers and sellers to transact in a safe and non-violent way, while opponents would say that the website made it too easy for vulnerable people to gain access to dangerous and hard drugs.

The case also brings up wider topics for discussion, should we as humans be free to put in our bodies what we choose or do we need protection from the state? Why is alcohol legal when other drugs aren't?

The Silk Road included information for buyers on the safe use of drugs and Meghan Ralston, a former "harm reduction manager" for the Drug Policy Alliance, was quoted as saying that the Silk Road was:
“A peaceful alternative to the often deadly violence so commonly associated with the global drug war, and street drug transactions.”

In this interview I talk to Lyn Ulbricht, Ross's mother about Ross, his arrest, the case and the US prison system. Lyn raises important questions ...