Edge City Podcast: Audrey Tang on Plurality and Digital Democracy

Links

Spotify | Apple Podcasts | YouTube

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Description

Audrey Tang (Taiwan’s first Digital Minister and civic innovator) sits down for a fireside chat with Timour Kosters to talk about digital democracy, the philosophy of plurality, civic technology, and what the rest of the world can learn from Taiwan’s democratic experiments.

The community gave us feedback that this session was a highlight at Edge Esmeralda. We’re excited to see how Edge City can push forward Plurality ideas in the world.

Recorded at Edge Esmeralda, held in Healdsburg, CA, from May 24 - June 21, 2025.

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Socials

Audrey Tang: https://x.com/audreyt

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

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

Watch here

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Chapters

(00:00) Introduction: Audrey Tang and the Idea of Plurality

(01:53) From Civic Hacker to Minister

(04:48) The Sunflower Movement and GovZero

(09:42) Tech for Collective Action: Open Data and Pandemic Response

(13:01) Democracy as Defense: Radical Transparency in Taiwan

(17:12) Global Applications: Bowling Green, Japan, and California

(26:00) What is Plurality? From Conflict to Collaboration

(31:02) High-Bandwidth Democracy and Civic Muscle

(35:07) Real-World Plurality in Japan and California

(43:07) AI, Education & Civic Competency

(47:50) Q&A: Gen Z, Radical Interoperability and Future Tools

(56:57) Q&A: DAOs, Community Design and the Power of Forking