In this episode, I sit down with Paul (Paul in the Jungle) Keating to explore what happens when you stop outsourcing your health, your money, and your attention.
We unpack Paul’s path from years of school and athletics into a health crisis that sparked a deep dive into health, Bitcoin, and ultimately freedom tech.
We get into what he’s building now with @primalapp /Nostr a healthier, more open social media model with real user ownership, algorithmic choice, and native Bitcoin rails.
We also have a candid detour into marriage, fatherhood, and designing a life around community, purpose, and meaningful “fun.”
|| SHOW OUTLINE ||
• Paul’s path from academia, athletics, and a health crisis into Bitcoin
• Real food, carnivore culture, and reversing modern health narratives
• Living in Costa Rica and following “fun” as a life compass
• Marriage, fatherhood, and the stabilizing power of family
• Designing community through shared land, play, and adventure
• Why modern social media is broken—and how Nostr fixes it
• Primal’s vision: user-owned identity, algorithmic choice, and Bitcoin rails
• Fun vs pleasure, play as a biological need, and sustainable masculinity
• Living Bitcoin as peer-to-peer money, not just an investment
Timecodes
00:00 — Intro
01:18 — Paul’s origin story: school, identity, and the pivot into Bitcoin
02:31 — Autoimmune flare-up, “ego death,” and the health + Bitcoin rabbit holes begin
04:48 — “Fun as a North Star”: why Costa Rica, and the signal he followed
05:48 — The road trip south + first Bitcoin conference / finding “your people”
07:05 — From @Paulsaladinomd Saladino/health to the next battle: making social media healthier
11:55 — Marriage + fatherhood: “focused me,” traditional order, home birth reflections
14:47 — “Imagineering” the future: family, presence, and still being “a dude”
18:21 — Community design: ride-or-dies, shared land, and building the environment. Building it in @BitcoinJungle
21:40 — “Ethical / organic social media”: what Primal + Nostr are trying to fix
23:36 — One identity, many apps: escaping “rented” accounts and algorithm monoculture
28:25 — Why the builders matter: Nostr devs + White Noise (decentralized Signal)
32:00 — Scaling Nostr: Vine relaunch + onboarding without users “knowing”
32:30 — Ecash, zaps, and value flowing through the social graph
34:22 — Square turns on Bitcoin: frictionless acceptance + “Bitcoin as lived reality”
35:10 — “I own no fiat”: living in the end state, integrity, and influence
36:27 — The social media dilemma + being everywhere (Bethany Hamilton convo)
39:12 — Controversial take: what if everyone prioritized “fun”?
40:16 — Fun vs pleasure: sustainability, surfing, and “proof of work” bonding
46:33 — Argentina reflections + “play is the highest form of being”
47:30 — Closing + where to find Paul (primal.net/paul)
|| GUEST ||
Paul Keating (Paul in the Jungle)Primal: https://primal.net/
paulX: https://x.com/paulinthejungle
|| PODCAST ||
Podcast Website: https://www.citadeltheory.com/podcast-2/Apple Podcasts:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4H4DljS...Feed: https://feeds.castos.com/1d029
|| SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL ||
Bitcoin: https://btcpay.citadeltheory.com/apps...Lightning: Jon@primal.netVenmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/jonchenotCitadel Theory Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/citadeltheory
|| CONNECT WITH JON ||
X: https://x.com/jonchenotInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonrchenotPrimal: https://primal.net/jonNOSTR: npub1r393zjxltl0rpsq92r7jnh4yjm96uzhepm6ecyk8ef2lep5rgc6sts8twm
|| CITADEL THEORY SOCIALS ||
X: https://x.com/CitadelTheoryInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/citadeltheoryPrimal: https://primal.net/citadelTheoryNOSTR: npub1rm95vgkrhm4hwj0f4vr8jw95j3w30tj8h9lfmmzj89hlrkwrtv4sqfqh3k
We unpack Paul’s path from years of school and athletics into a health crisis that sparked a deep dive into health, Bitcoin, and ultimately freedom tech.
We get into what he’s building now with @primalapp /Nostr a healthier, more open social media model with real user ownership, algorithmic choice, and native Bitcoin rails.
We also have a candid detour into marriage, fatherhood, and designing a life around community, purpose, and meaningful “fun.”
|| SHOW OUTLINE ||
• Paul’s path from academia, athletics, and a health crisis into Bitcoin
• Real food, carnivore culture, and reversing modern health narratives
• Living in Costa Rica and following “fun” as a life compass
• Marriage, fatherhood, and the stabilizing power of family
• Designing community through shared land, play, and adventure
• Why modern social media is broken—and how Nostr fixes it
• Primal’s vision: user-owned identity, algorithmic choice, and Bitcoin rails
• Fun vs pleasure, play as a biological need, and sustainable masculinity
• Living Bitcoin as peer-to-peer money, not just an investment
Timecodes
00:00 — Intro
01:18 — Paul’s origin story: school, identity, and the pivot into Bitcoin
02:31 — Autoimmune flare-up, “ego death,” and the health + Bitcoin rabbit holes begin
04:48 — “Fun as a North Star”: why Costa Rica, and the signal he followed
05:48 — The road trip south + first Bitcoin conference / finding “your people”
07:05 — From @Paulsaladinomd Saladino/health to the next battle: making social media healthier
11:55 — Marriage + fatherhood: “focused me,” traditional order, home birth reflections
14:47 — “Imagineering” the future: family, presence, and still being “a dude”
18:21 — Community design: ride-or-dies, shared land, and building the environment. Building it in @BitcoinJungle
21:40 — “Ethical / organic social media”: what Primal + Nostr are trying to fix
23:36 — One identity, many apps: escaping “rented” accounts and algorithm monoculture
28:25 — Why the builders matter: Nostr devs + White Noise (decentralized Signal)
32:00 — Scaling Nostr: Vine relaunch + onboarding without users “knowing”
32:30 — Ecash, zaps, and value flowing through the social graph
34:22 — Square turns on Bitcoin: frictionless acceptance + “Bitcoin as lived reality”
35:10 — “I own no fiat”: living in the end state, integrity, and influence
36:27 — The social media dilemma + being everywhere (Bethany Hamilton convo)
39:12 — Controversial take: what if everyone prioritized “fun”?
40:16 — Fun vs pleasure: sustainability, surfing, and “proof of work” bonding
46:33 — Argentina reflections + “play is the highest form of being”
47:30 — Closing + where to find Paul (primal.net/paul)
|| GUEST ||
Paul Keating (Paul in the Jungle)Primal: https://primal.net/
paulX: https://x.com/paulinthejungle
|| PODCAST ||
Podcast Website: https://www.citadeltheory.com/podcast-2/Apple Podcasts:Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/4H4DljS...Feed: https://feeds.castos.com/1d029
|| SUPPORT THIS CHANNEL ||
Bitcoin: https://btcpay.citadeltheory.com/apps...Lightning: Jon@primal.netVenmo: https://account.venmo.com/u/jonchenotCitadel Theory Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/citadeltheory
|| CONNECT WITH JON ||
X: https://x.com/jonchenotInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jonrchenotPrimal: https://primal.net/jonNOSTR: npub1r393zjxltl0rpsq92r7jnh4yjm96uzhepm6ecyk8ef2lep5rgc6sts8twm
|| CITADEL THEORY SOCIALS ||
X: https://x.com/CitadelTheoryInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/citadeltheoryPrimal: https://primal.net/citadelTheoryNOSTR: npub1rm95vgkrhm4hwj0f4vr8jw95j3w30tj8h9lfmmzj89hlrkwrtv4sqfqh3k
