Episodes

Episode 307: The Evolution of Aleo with Howard Wu & Alex Pruden

This week, Anna caught up on all things Aleo with Howard Wu co-founder of the Aleo Network & Alex Pruden executive director of the Aleo Foundation. Howard was last on the show back in 2020 when Aleo was in its infancy, so the group dive into how the project has evolved over the last 4 years, covering lessons learned along the way as well as technical decisions, detours, breakthroughs and reflecting on initial goals as they built out the system.

Episode 306: Predictions: ZK in 2024

In this week’s episode, Anna and cohosts Guillermo, Kobi, Nico and Tarun share their predictions, hopes (and worries) for ZK in 2024. They cover emerging ideas in ZK, research predictions, dream applications, the best case for ZK in 2024, the worst case for ZK, possible ‘Black Swans’ and more.

Bonus: ZK Hack IV Online

No full episode this week. Just a brief message about the upcoming ZK Hack IV Online – running Jan 16 to Feb 6 2024. Find out more www.zkhack.dev/zkhackIV

Episode 305: ZK Rewind: A Look Back at 2023

In this week’s episode, Anna catches up in person with Guillermo, Tarun and Alex Evans for a look back at 2023. They revisit their state of mind back in Jan 2023 and share how the year unfolded and evolved for each of them as well as the ZK space as a whole. They survey the themes, applications and research topics that dominated ZK throughout this year and offer retrospective takes on how the ecosystem has changed.

Episode 304: Exploring FRI, LogUp and using M31 for STARKs with Ulrich Haböck

In this week’s episode, host Anna Rose and cohost Nico Mohnblatt catch up with Ulrich Haböck, an applied cryptographer at Polygon Labs. This episode revolves around Ulrich’s journey into applied zero-knowledge cryptography, transitioning from an academic environment to being a full-time practitioner. They discuss his contributions to the field, including his many write-ups and manuscripts as well as his breakthrough research on Multivariate lookups with his work logUp. They also cover his work on logarithmic derivative lookups using GKR with Shahar Papini, as well as his innovative approaches to STARKs over finite fields that are not ‘NTT-friendly’. This episode offers a deep dive into the complexities and breakthroughs in applied cryptography.

Episode 303: A Dive into Binius with Ulvetanna

In this week’s episode, Anna and cohost Brendan Farmer catch up with Jim Posen and Radi Cojbasic from Ulvetanna. They cover the origin story of Ulvetanna and their work on the ZK hardware/software intersection before moving on to discuss Binius, a new proving system they developed which is optimised for hardware. Binius is built on towers of binary fields and draws on recent breakthroughs on SNARKs. This work continues the trend towards the use of smaller fields and was inspired by the development of new lookup arguments, work done on multilinear provers and sum-check as well as the use of recursive composition in SNARKs.

Episode 302: ZK for web2 interop with zkLogin & ZK Email

This week Anna and cohost Kobi chat with both Kostas Kryptos from Mysten Labs, discussing the zkLogin project and Aayush Gupta representing the ZK Email + Email Wallet projects. They explore the use case of web2 onboarding into web3, through the lens of these two different projects which emerged independently but share a lot of the same characteristics.

They discuss the way this use case problem was first identified, the solution that each project came up with independently, the decisions that each project took and the future use cases they would enable.

Episode 301: EigenLayer @ Devconnect

This week, Anna catches up with Tarun Chitra and Sreeram Kannan during a spontaneous session recorded at Devconnect 2023 in Istanbul! They cover a variety of topics seen at the event, including zk toolkits, intents and Data Availability, shedding light on how these ideas are reshaping the framework of digital interaction and governance. Their chat covers the challenges and opportunities these technologies present, highlighting their significance in the current ecosystem. Later, they explore the complexities and nuances of EigenLayer, offering detailed insights into its functionalities, applications, and potential impact on the industry.

Episode 300: A ZK Podcast Retrospective

In this week’s episode, Anna takes a look back at the last 6 years of the Zero Knowledge Podcast, how it came to be and the journey the show has been on since that very first episode in 2017. Anna reviews the highs and lows of the show, touching on episodes which made a profound impact on her own journey in the ZK space, as well as episodes she wouldn’t rush to listen to again! Discover key show learnings, how the zkSummit formed and take a trip down memory lane in the 300th episode of Zero Knowledge Podcast.

Episode 299: Catch up on zkSync with Alex G

In this week’s episode, Anna chats with Alex Gluchowski, CEO of Matter Labs & co-creator of the zkSync network. They catch up on the zkSync project since it launched in Feb 2023. They dive into recent initiatives like the ZK Stack framework, Hyperchains, and the ZK Credo mission statement. They also explore the upcoming Boojum proof system upgrade planned for zkSync Era and discuss the future of the zkSync project as a whole.

Episode 298: Mina’s zkApps and o1js with Brandon and Steve

In this week’s episode Anna Rose chats with Brandon Kase, CTO, and Steve Pack, Head of Product at O(1)Labs, focusing on the Mina Protocol. The discussion covers their journeys leading to their work on the project, developments in the Mina Protocol since the last appearance on ZK Podcast, and insights into the zkApps building environment. They delve into the technical aspects of o1js and the underlying philosophy that drives its design. The episode wraps with a forward-looking perspective on the potential applications of zero-knowledge proofs as the industry shifts from a research-centric to a builder-centric approach.

Bonus: ZK Hack Istanbul

Just a quick message to say that if you are an experienced hacker ready to jump in and build some cool zk-based applications, be sure to join our IRL hackathon on Nov 10-12. All details about ZK Hack Istanbul can be found at zkistanbul.com

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