Rewinding the Future HCPP24

Talk presented at Hacker’s Congress Paralelní Polis on 5.10.24. Rewinding the Future: The Cultural Anarchism of Cassettes Abstract Cypherpunks rejoice! We finally have a private, anonymous, and censorship resistant media: the compact cassette. Historically, cassettes have toppled governments, sparked moral panics, and spread subversive messages. But are they still relevant today besides hipster nostalgia? Join me as I recount the transformative history of cassettes, uncovering the parallel societies they have built and explore their modern applications. In today’s age of pervasive surveillance, the portable, offline, and analog nature of cassettes offer...