In this episode, we dig into the real-world tools for communicating and coordinating without cell towers or cloud services: Meshtastic mesh radios, ham radio via Winlink and JS8Call, GMRS repeater networks, and the more radical vision of Reticulum — a cryptographic network stack built for a post-internet world. We also cover the surprisingly active landscape of community mesh networks already running in cities like New York and Philadelphia, and why building decentralized infrastructure now is mutual aid, not just prepper fantasy.
Offline Wikipedia via Kiwix, self-hosted media libraries with Jellyfin, Calibre, and Audiobookshelf, and knowledge preservation archives like Open Source Ecology and Appropedia can turn a Raspberry Pi into a local server that keeps your community informed, entertained, and capable.
Communications
- Meshtastic — https://meshtastic.org
- Reticulum Network — https://reticulum.network
- Winlink (email over radio) — https://www.winlink.org
- JS8Call — http://js8call.com
Local networks
- NYC Mesh — https://www.nycmesh.net
- Philly Community Wireless — https://phillycommunitywireless.org
- People's Open Network (Oakland) — https://peoplesopen.net
Entertainment / media
- Jellyfin — https://jellyfin.org
- Kiwix — https://kiwix.org
- Internet-in-a-Box — https://internet-in-a-box.org
- Calibre — https://calibre-ebook.com
- Navidrome — https://www.navidrome.org
- Audiobookshelf — https://www.audiobookshelf.org
Knowledge preservation
- Survivor Library — http://www.survivorlibrary.com
- Appropedia — https://www.appropedia.org
- Open Source Ecology — https://www.opensourceecology.org
- Farm Hack — https://farmhack.org
- Precious Plastic — https://www.preciousplastic.com
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