Episodes

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

Episode 297: Quantum Cryptography Part 2 with Or Sattath

In this week’s episode, Anna and Nico interview Or Sattath, Assistant Professor at the Ben-Gurion University in the Computer Science department. This is the 2nd episode with Or on this show, continuing the conversation around Quantum Cryptography. This time, he describes how we can transition from a pre-quantum to a post-quantum environment, looking at existing systems like Bitcoin and Ethereum. He covers why the methods used in the transition will be important, techniques on how this could be executed and the challenges in designing these techniques and the complications that can arise. Finally, they go on to discuss Quantum Money and recent works in this area.

Episode 296: Zeth, Bonsai and RISC Zero with Brian and Jeremy

In this week’s episode, host Anna Rose and co host Nico Mohnblatt catch up with Brian Retford and Jeremy Bruestle from RISC Zero. Together they delve into the current status of the project, breaking down the components of the stack, from the innovative RISC Zero zkVM leveraging the RISC-V instruction set architecture to the Bonsai proving service and the intriguing Type Zero zkEVM, Zeth. They also touch on their design methodology, how the system components integrate and future developments for RISC Zero.

Episode 295: Return to MPC with Nigel Smart

In this week’s episode, Anna Rose is joined by Nigel Smart, Professor at KU Leuven and Chief Academic Officer at Zama to discuss the advancements in MPC over recent years. Nigel unpacks core components of MPC systems, including garbled circuits, secret sharing, and FHE. They discuss both systems-level applications like DKGs and Threshold Signature Schemes and actual real-world deployments. Throughout the episode, they also discuss how MPC and ZK differ, but how they can be used together to enhance each other’s capabilities.

Episode 294: Succinct Proofs and Linear Algebra with Guillermo and Alex

In this week’s episode, host Anna Rose and co-host Kobi Gurkan chat with Alex Evans and Guillermo Angeris about their new research paper on Succinct Proofs in Linear Algebra. The paper introduces a framework that simplifies the construction of succinct proofs and offers a toolkit of useful techniques. Their conversation also covers the use of randomized reductions in zero-knowledge proofs, the security of the FRI protocol, and the potential applications of the framework in other systems.

Episode 293: Exploring Security of ZK Systems with Nethermind’s Michał & Albert

On this week’s episode, Anna Rose interviews Michał Zając and Albert Garreta from the Nethermind team. They discuss the origin story of Nethermind and its role in the ecosystem today. They also delve into the cryptography research being done at Nethermind, including their work on proving the security of FRI-based protocols, identifying security issues with Fiat-Shamir, exploring topics like ZK malleability and aggregation, and building SNARKs over rings.

Episode 292: State of ZK – Live at zkSummit10!

In this special live episode, recorded at zkSummit10, host Anna Rose chats with regular co-hosts Tarun Chitra, Guillermo Angeris and Nico Mohnblatt about the state of ZK today.

They cover how the term ‘ZK’ has evolved, market trends that are relevant to the ZK community today and ZK ‘crossovers’ like ZKML or ZKFHE and their current status in the industry. They also discuss how the ZK space could grow in the future and share their predictions. Much of the conversation is fuelled by some great questions and comments from the live zk10 audience.

Episode 291: MEV, Mechanism Design & the Censorship Problem with Mallesh M Pai

On this week’s episode, Anna Rose and Tarun Chitra chat with Mallesh Pai, Associate Professor of Economics at Rice University. They explore mechanism design in an economic context and Mallesh’s work around MEV topics – specifically on censorship in an MEV context and within his Special Mechanism Group.

The discussion takes the team back into the topic of MEV, revisiting the proposer builder separation concept and the impact that this may have on the efficiency and censorship resistance of these systems.

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