Robert Wright's Nonzero
Conversations with a series of people who have nothing in common except that program host Robert Wright is curious about what they’re thinking. www.nonzero.org
Episodes
0:30 Are US-Iran talks dead? 4:24 Do normal Iranians care about the nuclear program? 6:40 Understanding Iran’s enrichment red line 9:42 Assessing the damage to Iran's nuclear facilities 12:25 Iran's decision to kick out inspectors 15:38 Could Iran build a bomb in secret? 17:52 Trump's "desultory" approach to talks with Iran 21:16 Alan's experienc...
0:00 A brief message from Bob 1:40 John’s upcoming book, How States Think: The Rationality of Foreign Policy 4:31 Is the US to blame for Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? 11:40 Is Putin less rational than John assumes? 24:00 Why John is a Russia dove and a China hawk 31:30 Does China pose a threat to freedom around the world? 38:33 Why John thinks China’s rise threatens American security 49:32 Has globalization made great-power peace p...
0:00 A brief message from Bob 1:53 Why neocons like enemies 19:09 How to use power deftly 25:59 Is a nuclear Iran really all that scary? 31:31 Bob's arms-control dreams dashed again 41:18 China problem solved in under three minutes 44:03 Some cheerful thoughts about Hamas
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Francis Fukuyama (Stanford University, The End of History and the Last Man, Liberalism and ...
0:30 Barry’s new novel, ‘The System’ 2:33 CIA lessons & seeing like a Martian 7:17 Fiction, empathy, and geopolitics 9:55 No cartoon villains 10:58 How power really works in DC 15:25 Feinstein vs. Brennan: the 'sit down' 18:32 Why we excuse ourselves 20:05 Jobs, jets & hidden threats 21:28 The problem with the House 26:15 Valeria’s dilemma: bend ...
0:28 The dueling Sam Altman biographies 4:36 Who is the real Sam Altman? 16:06 OpenAI’s origin—did Sam scam Elon? 20:50 Why the OpenAI board coup failed 35:27 Good and bad critiques of OpenAI 47:14 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Timothy B. Lee (Full Stack Economics, Understanding AI, AI ...
0:28 Courtney’s and Alex’s Always at War podcast 2:54 Have restrainers given up on Trump? 11:10 The legacies of Hamilton Jordan 16:31 Courtney: Money drives war 25:40 Palantir cashes in 32:45 Alex: Blame American exceptionalism first
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Alex Jordan (The Quincy Institute, Always at W...
0:30 Headlines 1:27 - Washington 2:08 - Silicon Valley 2:47 - China 3:31 - Africa 4:10 - Europe 5:01 Bob joins to discuss the Israel-Iran war 08:51 Has Trump had a change of heart? 13:44 The Pandora's Box of a US attack 18:21 Connor makes the pro-bombing-Iran argument 22:09 Bob: A diplomatic solution would have been 'trivially easy' 28:09 Trump's...
0:30 The time Alex blocked everyone's view of Jennifer Aniston 4:40 How Alex acquired the Bibi interrogation tapes 9:00 What the Bibi Files suggest about the Gaza war 11:58 Bibi's bribes 16:40 Bibi-Trump parallels 27:03 Barriers to getting the movie distributed (and where to watch it) 42:10 Heading to Overtime (and Bob’s and Alex's unfinished fil...
0:30 Headlines 1:22 - Israel-Iran 2:14 - Sanctions 2:57 - NATO 3:35 - Revolving doors 4:22 - US-China trade war 5:34 How China views the Israel-Iran crisis 10:17 Why the Iran attacks undermine US-China talks 11:32 How the US and China reached the brink of all-out trade war 19:21 China's not-so-secret weapon in trade talks 22:36 Why China won't ba...
0:28 The Trump-Musk blowup, reconciliation, and fallout 21:10 Trump vs Elon: a psycho-analysis 26:43 Where do Trump and Elon go from here? 30:42 Remembering Brian Wilson and Sly Stone 39:48 Will AI turn us all into narcissists? 46:31 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://sma...
0:28 Steven’s years at OpenAI 2:23 An insider's view of the AI boom 11:59 The real meaning of “Feel the AGI” 16:45 AI safety’s rationalist kernel 24:39 What’s really driving the AI arms race(s)? 29:55 Is stifling China’s AI development smart? 44:31 Dario Amodei’s geopolitical naivete 56:34 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution ...
0:30 Headlines 4:42 Jennifer: Why Trump should walk away from Ukraine 9:50 Can Ukraine survive without US support? 12:50 Why a comprehensive peace deal is unlikely 17:20 The perils of US mediation 19:25 Are the peace talks making progress? 21:20 How grinding wars end 26:37 Understanding Russia's battlefield advantage 33:04 Ukraine's shrinking arm...
0:28 A sublime Nonzero-TAC crossover event 3:07 Some bad MSM reporting on US-Iran negotiations 20:37 Would Kamala have been better than Trump on Gaza? 34:03 Is a two-state solution conceivable? 38:43 Buchananite conservatives on China 46:30 China, AI, and Covid-19 51:28 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism...
0:28 The scope of Trump's assault on Harvard 8:17 What Trump demanded from Harvard 11:25 What makes certain universities vulnerable 15:35 Ideology and “viewpoint diversity” at Harvard 22:40 Trump’s attacks on media and cultural institutions 27:56 The costs of lost research 33:25 How woke was Harvard? 37:19 Antisemitism and philosemitism at Harvar...
0:30 Headlines 4:57 Trump's sanctions dilemma: Migration crackdown vs. regime change 6:23 How sanctions helped trigger Venezuela’s economic collapse 9:58 The power of 'secondary sanctions' 14:17 How sanctions drove inflation, hunger, and state failure 19:11 From Venezuela to the US: Understanding the migrant wave 21:03 Inside the Trump split: Rub...
0:30 Paul aces Bob’s worthwhile Canadian pop-quiz 5:48 Trump’s corruption: Illegal or just unprecedentedly gross? 10:49 Elon bows out 16:40 Trump’s crusade against elite colleges continues 24:41 Is JD Vance more dangerous than Trump? 31:52 Are AI doomers walking their talk? 40:44 Trump makes Canada a golden offer 45:53 Heading to Overtime
Robert W...
0:28 Why Max helped organize the 2023 “Pause AI” letter 7:12 AI as a species not a technology 12:32 The rate of AI progress since 2023 21:44 Loss of control is the biggest risk 32:42 How to get the NatSec community’s attention 36:12 How we could lose control 38:17 He we stay in control 47:30 Heading to Overtime
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolutio...
0:30 Headlines 4:29 Bob joins to talk foreign policy 5:52 The DC shootings and the war in Gaza 12:12 Israel's growing isolation 24:23 Are we headed toward an arms race in space? 33:56 An end to the era of arms control? 35:34 Programming update and transition to Overtime
Recorded May 23, 2025.
Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.n...
0:28 How significant are the Middle East data center deals? 12:27 Why did AI safety hawks quit talking about international cooperation? 19:02 Why build data centers in the Middle East? 27:44 Microchips and security risks 31:10 The unexamined assumptions of Sinophobia 42:24 What ever happened to peace, love, and understanding? 48:10 AI Czar David ...
0:30 Headlines 5:25 Why the PKK's disbanding should be the biggest news of the week 10:22 How did Turkey get the PKK to lay down arms? 13:47 A breakthrough for Turkey-Iraq relations 20:35 How Syrian Kurds are trying to make nice with Damascus 27:09 The end of US sanctions on Syria 34:29 Rebuilding a shattered state 37:42 Turkey and Israel: Syria ...
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