Network Societies, Civic Tech & Democracy - Glen Weyl & Timour Kosters at Edge City Austin

Glen Weyl builds new social technologies for collective decision-making, plural coordination, and democratic innovation. He leads the Plurality Institute and co-founded RadicalxChange to turn experimental ideas into institutional prototypes.In this conversation, Glen Weyl and host Timour Kosters explore the intersection of technology, democracy, and civic infrastructure. From Taiwan’s civic tech to new models of money and collective decision-making, this chat covers the intellectual foundations of the Plurality movement.Recorded at Edge City Austin, held in Austin, TX, from March 2-7, 2025. LinksGlen Weyl: https://glenweyl.com/Timour Kosters: https://x.com/timourxyz About Edge CityEdge 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) Glen Weyl's work and the vision for Edge City(01:43) The growing chasm between technology & democracy(04:46) From Star Trek to Snow Crash, the cultural collapse of future visions(06:18) Two threats to democracy: chaos and control(09:54) Network societies vs. network states(12:01) The 3 political ideologies of the 21st century(15:22) Why Plurality is the most viable path(18:05) Lessons from Taiwan - GovZero, Pol.is & civic tech(22:50) Japan’s AI-augmented grassroots politics(31:53) New models of money(37:18) Designing experiments at Edge City popup villages(44:25) Decentralized governance, power vacuums & quadratic voting(53:04) Community currencies and plural governance models(58:35) From temporary popup village to permanent city(01:03:52) Integration, not exit(01:12:11) Identity and community recovery(01:15:49) Mathematics and Plurality, final thoughts