John O’Nolan, the founder and CEO of Ghost, calls himself “the inverse Peter Thiel.” That’s because he wants to build a tech company that bucks the usual narratives, with as few monopolies as possible. His open-source publishing platform is structured as a nonprofit and is integrating with the ActivityPub protocol, giving creators digital sovereignty. No longer do writers have to perform for an algorithm to succeed or get stuck inside closed systems that monetize off their backs.

Does this scenario seem too good to be true? As you’ll hear in this conversation with Flipboard CEO Mike McCue, John doesn’t think so. There’s still a lot to be figured out, but both entrepreneurs are here for whatever this next phase of the internet brings. 

Highlights of this conversation:

• Why John believes in ActivityPub
• Ghost’s ActivityPub integration
• Parallels with the early internet
• Being at a grassroots stage
• Decentralizing human connection
• Impact of catering to algorithms 
• Micropayments and other models

We invite you to watch the podcast on Flipboard’s PeerTube instance at flipboard.video: 

Please follow us on PeerTube if you aren’t already. When you do, the videos become available via any other platform connected by ActivityPub. (It’s basically like having your YouTube, X and Instagram feeds and comments in one central, interoperable home feed. This is the beauty and the power of decentralized social media!)

You can find Dot Social on Flipboard, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google Podcasts, YouTube, anywhere else you might listen to podcasts.

We will continue to bring you new episodes with fascinating fediverse leaders as we record them. The best way to never miss an episode is to subscribe to the show. Please also rate, review, comment and share, especially if you like what you hear. 

See you in the fediverse!

— Mia Quagliarello, head of creator community, is reading Frontline – Architecture, Art, Fashion, Photography and Design