🎙️ My guest today is Zuby (ZUBY: here on Substack), a British-Nigerian rapper, author, podcaster, and public speaker, raised in Saudi Arabia and known for building an independent career outside traditional gatekeepers. We sit down in El Salvador’s National Palace to talk about why money doesn’t create courage, it only amplifies the character you already have, and why simply telling obvious truths has somehow become “brave” in modern society. Zuby reflects on speaking out during COVID-era, the incentives that keep public figures silent, and how courage is a muscle that either grows through use or atrophies through avoidance. We also explore the monetary crossroads ahead: Bitcoin as self-sovereign digital money vs. CBDCs as programmable control, the coming decentralization of states and culture, and why most people struggle to engage with money at all. Zuby argues that learning Bitcoin is one of the best time-ROIs you can make, and makes the case for a simple first step: get off zero. Finally, we go deeper into faith, the “black pill” trap, and why hope, meaning, and urgency come from remembering we don’t live forever.
This episode is also on Twitter, Spotify, YouTube, Fountain, Rumble and more.
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We talked about:
00:00 - Coming Up…
01:42 - Introducing Zuby: A Multi-Talented Personality
04:42 - Courage, Wealth, and Speaking Out
11:22 - Ad Break - Trezor & Abundant Mines
18:22 - The Craziness of Covid
21:42 - The Godly Spark
30:35 - Creating An Independent Career
37:15 - The Future of Money & Bitcoin
50:26 - Resistance to Change & Learning About Money
59:16 - How Zuby Shows “Fix The Money Fix The World”?
1:19:16 - Spiritual Awakening & Faith
1:30:06 - Inspiration & Hope
My takeaways from this interview:
Zuby argues that money does not create courage, it only amplifies who someone already is. Wealthy cowards become rich cowards, while courageous people were brave long before they had resources or protection.
“FU money” is often misunderstood as financial insulation, but real independence comes from character. Many people delay truth-telling by telling themselves they’ll speak up later, once they’re safer or richer, which almost never happens.
Courage is a habit, not a trait. Each time someone avoids speaking the truth, that muscle weakens. Each time they act honestly despite risk, it strengthens, making future courage easier.
Zuby sees COVID-era lockdowns, mandates, and censorship as a defining moral test. The danger was not the virus itself, but the precedent of surrendering basic freedoms in exchange for perceived safety.
He believes the response to COVID caused more long-term harm than the virus, economically, socially, psychologically, and spiritually, and that silencing debate was a greater threat than disagreement itself.
Zuby traces modern social absurdities, including gender ideology, to the collapse of objective truth. Once society accepts obvious falsehoods, any narrative can be imposed, with severe long-term consequences.
His independent career in music, books, and podcasting was driven by necessity and conviction. Rather than wait for permission, he learned early that the internet removed gatekeepers for anyone willing to create and take responsibility.
Zuby emphasizes that most people are imprisoned not by systems, but by self-imposed mental cages. Fear of judgment, failure, or discomfort keeps people inactive far more than laws or institutions do.
On Bitcoin, he believes society is largely unaware of the monetary transition underway. Most people don’t understand money itself, which makes them vulnerable to inflation, propaganda, and centralized control.
He frames Bitcoin and CBDCs as two opposing futures: one rooted in self-custody and individual sovereignty, the other in programmable money, surveillance, and outsourced responsibility.
Zuby predicts increasing decentralization this century, with people migrating physically and digitally toward jurisdictions aligned with their values, rather than submitting to uniform global systems.
He sees Bitcoin as a generational opportunity similar to early land ownership, something that can reshape family trajectories for decades, and argues that zero Bitcoin is the wrong amount to hold.
“Get off zero” is his core advice. Even minimal exposure changes incentives, awareness, and long-term outcomes, while the vast majority of the world still holds none.
Zuby believes faith and spirituality are essential antidotes to nihilism and the “black pill.” He sees rising despair, anxiety, and dependency as symptoms of spiritual abandonment, not merely social or economic stress.
What gives him hope is mortality itself. Knowing life is finite creates urgency, gratitude, forgiveness, and a refusal to postpone meaningful action, relationships, or truth.
For Zuby, a good life means dying without regret, having spoken honestly, built independently, treated people with dignity, and used the limited time available with intention.
Watch/Listen on Spotify:
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Twitter | Youtube | Zuby’s Episode w/ Jack Mallers | Substack below.
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— Support my work —
I was recently banned from Stripe, so I cannot have paid memberships on Substack… but there’s always another way!
