WTF Is an NFT?
Uncanny Valley | WIRED
WIRED
4.1 • 572 Ratings
🗓️ 12 March 2021
⏱️ 41 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
When you think of digital media, you probably think of something like a YouTube video or a meme. Something you can access for free, any time you want. But some relatively new technologies are being used to make pieces of digital media sellable, thereby creating a high-stakes market for them. These NFTs—or non-fungible tokens—are the latest internet buzzword, and they’ve raised a lot of questions about how we determine the value of online goods.
This week on Gadget Lab, WIRED senior writer Kate Knibbs and WIRED politics writer Gilad Edelman talk to Lauren Goode about the nascent NFT ecosystem and what it's like to sell one of your tweets.
Show Notes:
Read Kate’s story about selling her tweet here. Read Gregory Barber’s story about the climate impacts of NFTs here. Steven Levy's newsletter entry about NFTs is here. Read more about NFTs in the art world here.
Recommendations:
Kate recommends the novel Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro. Gilad recommends the yard game Kubb and also a way to make a quick cucumber infusion. Lauren recommends New Haven pizza.
Kate Knibbs can be found on Twitter @Knibbs. Gilad Edelman is @GiladEdelman. Lauren Goode is @LaurenGoode. Michael Calore is @snackfight. Bling the main hotline at @GadgetLab. The show is produced by Boone Ashworth (@booneashworth). Our theme music is by Solar Keys.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Galad. |
| 0:00.7 | Lauren. |
| 0:01.3 | Galad, normally I would only bring you on the show to talk about tech policy or cheese. |
| 0:06.6 | But Mike is out this week, so here we are. |
| 0:09.6 | I'm very honored to be the permanent new co-host of this podcast. |
| 0:13.4 | We're not telling Mike until he gets back. |
| 0:15.4 | So let's just keep that between us. |
| 0:17.1 | Done. |
| 0:24.5 | Hey. us. Done. Hey everyone. |
| 0:25.6 | It's time for gadget lab. |
| 0:27.3 | I'm Lauren Good. |
| 0:28.1 | I'm a senior writer at Wired. |
| 0:29.3 | And as I mentioned, |
| 0:30.2 | Michael Kulori is out this week. |
| 0:32.2 | But I am not alone. |
| 0:33.4 | Filling in for my co-host is Wired's politics writer |
| 0:36.0 | and cheese enthusiast Galad Edelman, who's joining from Washington, D.C. Hi, again, Galad. Hey, Lauren. We're also joined this week by Wired Senior writer Kate Nibbs, who I believe is coming on the show for the first time. Is that right, Kate? Yes, I'm very excited to finally be here. I'm so excited to have you on, and you are joining us from New York City. |
| 0:55.7 | So I guess a good way to start this show would just be to say WTF NFTs, because that's what |
| 1:02.0 | we're talking about today. So if you've spent any time on the internet in recent weeks, you've probably |
| 1:06.6 | seen people talking about NFTs, which stands for non-fungible tokens, basically digital assets. |
| 1:15.0 | So when you think of digital media, you probably think of something like a YouTube video or a |
| 1:19.7 | meme, right, something you can access for free anytime you want. But some relatively new |
... |
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