Verse Talks

Discussing the latest news in digital art with Leyla Fakhr and Jamie Gourlay.

Verse Talks is a arts podcast hosted by Verse, with 91 episodes on record and a Required Pod Score of 80. PitchCentric scores this show on Booking Probability, Listen Score, and live audience signals refreshed every 24 hours.

Verse hosts Verse Talks, a arts show with 91 episodes published.

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  Verse Talks

  Jon Washburn: AI, Consciousness & the Theory of Reality

  Aug 6, 20261h 31m

  Jon Wubbushi is one of the most unconventional thinkers we've spoken to. After building companies, he became known for his AI-generated artworks before unexpectedly turning his attention to theoretical physics. Today he leads a research team working on what he believes is a new framework for understanding reality itself. In this conversation we discuss creativity, AI, quantum mechanics, consciousness, religion, death, morality, and why Jon believes the next decade could fundamentally change humanity. Whether you agree with his conclusions or not, it's a fascinating conversation about some of the biggest questions we can ask. Timestamps 00:00 Introduction 01:20 Why Jon keeps changing careers 03:30 Becoming addicted to flow 05:00 From entrepreneur to AI artist 06:30 The trilogy of Jon's early AI artworks 09:20 The question that led him into theoretical physics 10:50 Quantum mechanics and the double slit experiment explained 13:15 "We may have discovered how reality works" 15:00 Information, consciousness and the foundations of reality 18:10 Souls, consciousness and reincarnation 22:20 Entering the world of science after becoming an artist 26:40 Could this discovery change humanity? 29:30 Spirituality, religion and why society feels more divided 34:00 AI as a reflection of humanity 35:40 Does the universe have an objective morality? 38:15 What happens after death? 41:40 Is God real? 43:20 Are all religions describing the same thing? 45:30 Why Jon stopped calling himself a Christian 48:20 Aliens, consciousness and advanced civilizations 50:15 Is Elon Musk human? 51:15 Time travel, meditation and the Monroe Institute 54:30 Are we living in a simulation? 55:15 Jon's biggest lesson about life 58:30 Why suffering gives life meaning 1:00:30 The inspiration behind Jon's newest body of work Edit This Episode Episode is Not Live Publish: Aug. 04, 2026 @ 5PM Edit Add a Transcript Add Chapter Markers Create a Visual Soundbite Mid-Roll Placements Share Link to Episode Episode Share URL Copy View in website Direct Link to Audio Copy Download MP3 Embed Audio Player What's New Platform Stats Refer a Friend About

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  Verse Talks

  Mat Dryhurst: The Future of Digital Creativity

  Jul 26, 20261h 31m

  In this episode, Mat Dryhurst joins us to discuss how digital art has evolved over the past decade and where it's heading next. We talk about blockchain, NFTs, AI, and the idea of protocol art - works that are defined less by a single image or object than by the rules, systems, and networks that produce them. Along the way, we discuss collecting, curation, online communities, software as an artistic medium, and why some of the most important developments in contemporary art are happening outside traditional institutions. Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction 01:35 – Growing up in Kuwait & finding his way into art 03:09 – Collaborating with Holly Herndon for two decades 05:26 – Music, software and creative beginnings 09:29 – Discovering Ethereum before it launched 11:07 – DAOs, crypto and building new institutions 14:00 – Why ambitious artworks take years to make 17:50 – Building a practice outside the traditional art world 20:06 – Making artworks that exist as real software 25:54 – Artist vs Creator 31:04 – Is autonomous art a productive lie? 35:04 – Why we value art we don't always understand 41:14 – Inside *The Call* and designing participatory artworks 44:45 – Why they never create work for the market 48:28 – AI, backlash and losing friends 53:46 – The biggest misconceptions about AI 58:18 – Oxford, AI policy and the future of regulation 01:01:44 – Matt Dryhurst on NFTs 01:07:25 – What NFTs got right 01:12:30 – Crypto art, digital ownership and why it still matters 01:18:05 – Building culture on the blockchain 01:23:10 – Final thoughts Connect with Matt Dryhurst: Twitter instagram

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  Verse Talks

  Mat Dryhurst: The Future of Digital Creativity

  Jul 25, 20261h 31m

  In this episode, Mat Dryhurst joins us to discuss how digital art has evolved over the past decade and where it's heading next. We talk about blockchain, NFTs, AI, and the idea of protocol art - works that are defined less by a single image or object than by the rules, systems, and networks that produce them. Along the way, we discuss collecting, curation, online communities, software as an artistic medium, and why some of the most important developments in contemporary art are happening outside traditional institutions. Timestamps 00:00 – Introduction 01:35 – Growing up in Kuwait & finding his way into art 03:09 – Collaborating with Holly Herndon for two decades 05:26 – Music, software and creative beginnings 09:29 – Discovering Ethereum before it launched 11:07 – DAOs, crypto and building new institutions 14:00 – Why ambitious artworks take years to make 17:50 – Building a practice outside the traditional art world 20:06 – Making artworks that exist as real software 25:54 – Artist vs Creator 31:04 – Is autonomous art a productive lie? 35:04 – Why we value art we don't always understand 41:14 – Inside *The Call* and designing participatory artworks 44:45 – Why they never create work for the market 48:28 – AI, backlash and losing friends 53:46 – The biggest misconceptions about AI 58:18 – Oxford, AI policy and the future of regulation 01:01:44 – Matt Dryhurst on NFTs 01:07:25 – What NFTs got right 01:12:30 – Crypto art, digital ownership and why it still matters 01:18:05 – Building culture on the blockchain 01:23:10 – Final thoughts Connect with Matt Dryhurst: Twitter instagram

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  Verse Talks

  Evil Biscuit on Drifella, Trading Cards & Digital Art

  Jul 19, 202658 min

  00:00 – Introduction 00:45 – Dropping out of art school 02:20 – Family, comics & collecting 05:20 – Discovering NFTs 06:00 – The birth of Drifella 08:45 – Ethereum, Solana & finding a community 12:20 – Why the Solana art scene exploded 16:30 – Building the Drifella universe 20:20 – Why Drifella 3 became a breakout moment 24:00 – Why trading cards? 27:00 – How Card NFT is made 31:00 – Burning NFTs for physical artworks 33:00 – Curating 100,000+ images 37:30 – AI, intuition & making images 42:00 – NFTs, galleries & the future of art 45:40 – Collaborating with Parker Ito 49:00 – Building a community online 52:00 – What's next for Evil Biscuit? 55:10 – Multiple artistic identities 57:00 – Closing thoughts

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  Verse Talks

  Ed Fornieles on Identity in the Internet Age

  Jun 28, 202650 min

  Artist Ed Fornieles joins Verse Talk to discuss Borrowed Lives: Anon 2026 , a body of work exploring how the internet shapes identity. The conversation ranges from Tumblr and 4chan to memes, online belonging, gamer culture, masculinity, AI, and what it means to grow up in a world where images never stop arriving. Along the way, Ed discusses his wider practice, why online communities matter, and how visual culture quietly changes the way we think about ourselves. 00:00 Introduction 03:45 Introducing Ed Fornieles & Borrowed Lives: Anon 05:45 How Tumblr inspired the project 08:35 4chan, anonymity and internet culture 12:00 Cell : recreating online communities in real life 20:25 "The memes meme you" 22:55 Why Borrowed Lives isn't a traditional narrative 25:10 Growing up through images 29:45 Building Anon: research, internet rabbit holes & image collecting 34:40 Inside the artworks: grids, chapters and visual storytelling 37:20 Why it's called Borrowed Lives 39:45 Are online communities inherently dangerous? 44:35 Masculinity, belonging and growing up online 49:45 How the artworks are actually made 53:00 Pepe, Wojak and the evolution of internet identity 56:10 Future characters, AI and where the project goes next 58:50 Raising teenagers in the internet age 1:02:15 Final thoughts

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