The Wright Show (audio)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com1:41 How US-China rivalry is shaking up the region 12:44 Why Washington wants to control the Middle East oil spigot 25:01 The odds of an imminent confrontation with Iran 30:49 Is America breaking international law in Syria? 42:55 What would a Middle East without US intervention look like? 48:25 Why Israel lacks a written constitution 55:27 Heading to OvertimeRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Joshua Landis (University of Oklahoma, SyriaComment.com). Recorded August 08, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66533 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:33 Jeffrey Goldberg becomes King of Washington 5:24 Does Trump prosecutor Jack Smith have the goods? 21:48 Hunter Biden’s corruption defense: It was all an illusion 31:52 President Biden’s Ukraine quagmire 41:25 What Trump gets right about Russia-Ukraine 48:17 Is West Africa heading toward a major war? 52:08 Parrot Room preview: A PBS lament; Mickey’s border worries; Bob’s reflection on jury duty; the economics of electric vehicles; the UFO files; Italy pivots away from guaranteed income; over-the-counter Alzheimer’s test; US-China decoupling; room-temperature superconductors; and the limits of AIRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded August 04, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66526 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bon

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com(Overtime segment available to paid subscribers below the paywall.)1:06 Bob and Dan reminisce about blogging and Bloggingheads 8:17 Was the first year of Russia’s invasion a success for US foreign policy? 17:45 When will Putin be ready to cut a deal? 23:13 The odds of a wider war—or a nuclear one 27:45 What good can come from continuing the war? 41:08 Has the US mismanaged its relationship with Putin’s Russia? 50:56 Putin’s fear of western-backed color revolutionsRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Daniel Drezner (PostEverything, Tufts University, Drezner's World). Recorded July 31, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66511 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:34 Bob extols the virtues of jury duty 4:27 Ukraine’s counter offensive surge 16:42 What does Hunter’s failed plea deal mean for Joe? 24:03 In search of a DeSantis strategy 32:13 The Niger coup and Cold War II 44:12 Parrot room preview: Israel’s issues; musings on late musicians; Is Ramaswamy surging?; New lab leak controversy; Mickey’s border question for Biden; Is DEI d-e-a-d?; A crazy (ex-)Twitter theory; AI self-regulationRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded July 28, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66501 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com(Overtime segment available to paid subscribers below the paywall.)2:21 Where AI fits in Connor’s tech threat taxonomy 15:10 What does the “general” in artificial general intelligence actually mean? 22:26 What should worry us about AI right now? 30:01 Connor: Don’t put your trust in AI companies 39:28 The promise and perils of open-sourcing AI 49:52 Why "interpretability" matters 56:31 What would an aligned AI actually look like? 1:01:00 Bridging the technology wisdom gapRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Connor Leahy (Conjecture). Recorded July 11, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66476 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:34 Senator Chris Murphy declares war on loneliness 8:58 Why is the Ukraine offensive going badly? 14:51 Why Biden should push for peace talks now 24:37 Threads unravels 35:23 Was RFK’s Covid conjecture anti-Semitic? 43:11 Mickey reviews the MSM version of DeSantis 52:15 American diplomacy update: murky scandals and trash talk 56:39 Parrot Room preview: Biden corruption scandal; electric car paranoia; what Trump will do if he wins; Mickey on Xi Jinping; Trump’s trials; Tony Bennett passes away; Meta’s dubious AI policy; Is the internet annoying, or is Bob just old?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded July 21, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/664663 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack

0:33 What is this new Overton Windows series about? 10:05 Tamler’s connections to Israel and Bob’s experiences there 19:22 What does Zionism mean in practice? 27:35 The shifting Overton window around Israel/Palestine 45:35 The heavy-handed response to the BDS movement 57:13 What the Israel/Palestine discourse says about Overton windows 1:02:09 So where should the boundaries be set?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Tamler Sommers (Very Bad Wizards, University of Houston, Why Honor Matters). Recorded June 21, 2023.Nonzero Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsVery Bad Wizards: https://verybadwizards.com/ This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:04 Mickey bats .500 on this week’s news quiz 5:19 Gen. “Spartacus” and other Russians with attitude 17:01 What (or who) is impeding peace in Ukraine? 24:00 What Biden has that other possible Dem candidates don’t 36:04 What Trump’s messaging has that DeSantis’s doesn’t 39:41 Untangling Threads’s early days 53:06 Parrot Room preview: AI update; the mysterious Gal Luft; the irony of Klaatu’s speech; Mickey’s diversity epiphany; Canadian euthanasia initiative; Silo spoilers; AMC Pacer maker passes; Bob’s China vindication; Alan Arkin speech debate round threeRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded July 13, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66441 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subsc

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.comRWA Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@RussiansWith... RWA podcast episodes: https://www.patreon.com/rwapodcast 01:10 Why Bob invited Russians with Attitude onto the Nonzero Podcast 7:30 Why do Kirill and Nikolay support Russia’s invasion of Ukraine? 15:23 Shortcomings of US mainstream media in covering Russia 25:40 The roots of the Donbass rebellion 37:33 Parallels between the Maidan Revolution and the Donbass rebellion 49:05 What was Putin’s main reason for invading? 1:00:53 Is Russia systematically committing war crimes? 1:14:23 Final thoughts from Nikolay and Kirill before heading into Overtime 1:22:23 What was the Prigozhin mutiny really about? 1:29:50 The chances of an imminent ceasefire 1:37:06 How do Nikolay and Kirill self-identify ideologically? 1:44:47 The extent of Russian government repression of dissidents 2:01:14 America’s missed opportunity to bolster global peace and prosperityRobert Wright (Bloggingheads

2:39 Should GOP candidates attack Trump—or praise him? 14:10 Prigozhin mutiny aftermath gets messy 22:56 Signs of a coming ceasefire in Ukraine 31:57 Does the foreign policy Blob really care about Ukrainians? 38:31 MSM deep-sixes affirmative action ruling 44:24 Is Zuckerberg’s Twitter clone anti-old people? 52:42 Parrot Room preview: New anti-censorship ruling; private companies and the First Amendment; The Day the Earth Stood Still; riots in France; Macron’s good policy idea; artificial intelligence and war; complaints about Timothy Snyder; complaints about the New York Times; Foundation episode 1 review; Elon-Zuckerberg cage match. Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded July 6, 2023. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com02:26 Why Tim thinks AI chatbots are more than just “stochastic parrots” 9:27 Do AIs “understand” things? 21:18 The multidimensional mind of AI 26:28 Humans designed AIs, so why don’t we fully understand how they work? 34:42 The real mystery of smart machines: They learn things we didn’t teach them 42:36 Why deep learning was such a game changer for AI research 57:22 The T in ChatGPTRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Timothy Nguyen (Google).Overtime segment:

00:00 Why Michael McFaul is wrong about Vladimir Putin 10:13 Is Putin ready for a ceasefire? 22:39 Has SCOTUS succeeded in killing affirmative action? 36:13 Americans do have to pay student loans, don’t have to make LGBT websites 47:29 Is RFK Jr. entering Trump’s orbit? 52:08 Parrot Room preview: GOP election strategy; Bidenomics and national conservatism; band name of the year; Yglesias says liberals have higher IQs; final episode of Silo; Bob reviews Invasion of the Body Snatchers; Titanic submarine tragedy; and reasons to worry about a false flag attack in Ukraine. Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded June 30, 2023.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:33 Sean’s new book, We May Dominate the World: Ambition, Anxiety, and the Rise of the American Colossus 3:52 China’s and Russia’s behavior today compared to America’s a century ago 14:00 If geopolitical realities don’t change, are great powers doomed to blow up the world? 21:12 Why did the US decide to dominate the western hemisphere? 28:19 American interventions from the Civil War to World War I 35:57 Why forceful US interventions in Latin America have become less common 44:45 Were the fears motivating the annexation of Hawaii based in reality? 54:54 Did the Spanish-American War have broad public support?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Sean Mirski (Hoover Institution, We May Dominate the World). Recorded June 22, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66385 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:34 Should Hunter Biden and Trump get the Tim Geithner treatment? 10:36 Bob’s latest evidence that Biden shouldn’t run again 18:43 Have we reached peak RFK Jr.? 23:19 Does the counteroffensive hurt Ukraine’s cause? 30:28 Leaky new dam collapse theory 40:14 The rapidly metastasizing GOP primary field 49:33 Israel-Palestine gets Black Mirror-y 55:43 Alito’s ill-considered trip 1:01:34 Parrot room preview: The right’s schism over capitalism; Prigozhin's insurrection; the Titanic sub tragedy; Why Mickey is growing to hate EVs; Janan Ganesh’s elite take on populism; Bob’s (possibly) new UFO thoughts; Cutting the tax cuts from supply-side economics?; Silo; Biden’s billion-dollar battery bonuses; Biden’s reverse-Epstein problemRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded June 23, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66369 Twitter: https://

0:00 The (fuzzy) distinction between cognitive and emotional empathy 7:01 Simon’s work on autism and empathy 15:59 Should we really view autism as a spectrum? 26:17 Are powerful people bad at cognitive empathy? 40:19 Hitler, tribalism, and the societal dynamics of empathy 53:58 Can cognitive empathy save the world? 1:00:50 The “double-empathy” problem 1:04:52 How autistic kids play differently Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Simon Baron-Cohen (University of Cambridge, The Science of Evil, The Pattern Seekers). Recorded May 18, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66341 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 1:42 Mickey gets a B+ on this week’s news quiz 11:30 Is RFK Jr. the Dem’s key to booting Biden? 20:12 Chris Christie’s chances vs. Trump 24:28 Has Tucker gone off the deep end? 37:16 No, Russia didn’t blow up Ukraine’s dam 43:21 Is the Ukrainian counteroffensive failing? 59:12 Parrot room preview: Remembering Daniel Ellsberg; Elizabeth Gilbert’s self-cancellation; the fake deepfake of John Lennon; Mickey’s AI question; a bit of Epstein news; LIV golf update; Mickey contra popular vote compact; the Blob’s pro-immigration argument; Who’s going to pardon Trump? And why?; Did Harvard or the CIA drive the Unabomber crazy?; RIP Ed Fredkin; Silo; Harvard and the Inuit Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded June 16, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66333 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d l

00:54 Frank’s book The End of History and the Last Man 10:35 Bob’s book Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny 17:14 Do people have to be rational in order to cooperate? 24:07 Are AI and other technologies advancing too rapidly for society to adapt? 37:21 Frank’s take on Hegel 48:05 Why Frank’s a Russia hawk and Bob's a Russia dove 58:12 Will authoritarian regimes do a better job of dealing with advanced information technologies?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Francis Fukuyama (Stanford University, The End of History and the Last Man, Liberalism and Its Discontents). Recorded May 23, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66315Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 3:31 The GOP primary gets crowded 10:56 Will Trump’s indictment help him get the nomination? 19:07 Ukraine’s long-awaited counteroffensive begins 25:55 Dissecting Timothy Snyder’s Ukraine analysis 36:01 Looks like Ukraine blew up Nord Stream 41:47 Tucker’s new Twitter show 49:22 Parrot Room preview: Bob draws lesson from PGA’s merger with Saudi’s LIV; affirmative action set to fall; Apple’s new goggles; Taylor Swift; food stamps and the homeless; why Gen-Zers are more likely to be non-binary; Cracker Barrel goes woke; Chinese spy situation in Cuba; Bob on the sci-fi show Silo. Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded June 09, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66298 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonz

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com2:00 The dam breaks in Ukraine 10:12 Is western media giving a clear picture of the war? 18:25 Why do some Ukrainian soldiers wear Nazi symbols? 27:37 How Russia-Ukraine could become a wider war 37:05 Could the US have prevented the war? 48:11 Seeing American foreign policy from Putin's point of viewRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Branko Marcetic (Jacobin). Recorded June 06, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66277 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

1:31 China’s role in Saudi-Iran rapprochement7:10 The legacy of Trump’s withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal12:25 Does Israel have a Palestine plan?24:12 Tensions resurface in Kosovo29:03 NATO expansion and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine35:31 Has the US mismanaged its relationship with Russia?43:53 Prospects for peace in Ukraine—or for massive military escalation56:26 A message from Bob about this week's Parrot RoomRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Thomas Friedman (The New York Times). Recorded May 31, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/66256Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.com/subscribe