The Wright Show (audio)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com0:00 Bob and David reminisce about Bloggingheads3:26 David’s book, American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy 9:18 Are Russiagaters moving the goalposts? 20:10 What the Trump team knew about Russian meddling 36:05 The missing “collusion” piece of the Russiagate puzzle 46:54 Why David thinks Russiagate's biggest critics are perpetuating a hoax 58:08 If Russiagaters are right, why didn’t Trump do Russia many favors?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and David Corn (Mother Jones, Russian Roulette, American Psychosis). Recorded March 16, 2023.

0:00 Bob: On foreign policy, there is no real Ron DeSantis 10:28 The difference between right-restrainers and left-restrainers 22:33 The dangerous politics of indicting Trump 29:17 Trump’s new plan to take out the deep state 36:12 Is the war turning in Ukraine’s favor? 47:31 Why did DeSantis change the pronunciation of his name? 53:16 Parrot Room preview: Everything Everywhere All At Once speaks to Bob; SVB fallout not over; banning the word “woke”; Camaro goes out of production—or does it?; likelihood of Covid lab-leakRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 24, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65879 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.com0:00 Richard’s banking and business bona fides 2:51 Was the Silicon Valley Bank crash a harbinger of worse to come? 10:06 What actually caused SVB’s collapse? 18:46 Richard: SVB failed risk management 101 31:41 Costs and benefits of the SVB bailout 38:13 The Fed’s oft-forgotten original role 43:32 Did the deregulation SVB lobbied for doom it? 45:09 Overtime preview: Richard’s career highlights; cognitive empathy in commerce; how to hire like a boss; and more! Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Richard Vague (Gabriel Investments, The Next Economic Disaster). Recorded March 21, 2023. Richard's article about the SVB crash in Democracy Journal: https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/the-svb-failure-why-it-happened-and-what-it-means/ Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65853 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:00 Mickey’s mind-bending analogy between romance and politics 5:11 Bob triggered by DeSantis’s “territorial dispute” line about Russia-Ukraine 21:29 How to prevent the next bank collapse? 32:03 Was “wokeness” behind SVB’s demise? 36:56 Ukraine war update 47:53 Are Democrats ditching Israel? 51:50 Winners and losers of Iran-Saudi détente 58:15 Parrot room preview: Mickey’s quibble with Bob’s AI piece; SBF news; Silicon Valley’s campaign to ban TikTok; the sad state of the Metaverse; RIP Jim Gordon; Summer of Soul; Is DeSantis too wine-track? Too beer-track? Who cares?; New segment: Brushes with GreatnessRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 17, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65843Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This

0:25 Ananyo’s book, The Man from the Future, about game theory inventor and polymath John von Neumann 6:38 Early life as a mathematical wunderkind 10:16 Von Neumann’s foundational contributions to quantum physics 24:39 Was entanglement as "spooky" to von Neumann as it was to Einstein? 33:46 Building—and reckoning with—the atomic bomb 47:22 Did von Neumann really want to nuke the USSR? 52:30 Why was early game theory so zero-sum–focused? 1:05:44 Influence on Turing, the open source movement, and modern computing 1:22:27 How brushes with totalitarianism shaped von Neumann’s views 1:28:56 Programming pioneer Klára Dán von Neumann 1:33:26 The duality of von Neumann’s social life 1:39:58 Did von Neumann grok incompleteness before Gödel? 1:42:45 Unfinished work comparing computers and the brain 1:50:23 Von Neumann’s deathbed conversion: Pascal's wager or something more? Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Ananyo Bhattacharya (The Man from the Future). Recorded J

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom4:24 Biden’s soak-the-rich budget: big news or borefest? 16:03 How Biden insulting Xi Jinping endangers Ukraine 23:38 Bob finds another reason Biden shouldn’t run for re-election 27:54 Ukraine war update 35:53 Nordstream’s hobbyist saboteurs 43:05 Tucker Carlson outed as anti-Trump phony 52:00 Parrot Room preview: Gavin Newsom takes on Walgreens; Twitter community notes annoy Mickey; Semafor's China racket; Bob’s Washington Post lab leak piece; Peter Thiel’s techno-optimism Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 10, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65808 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substack.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com1:46 Paul’s new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind 12:13 Does psychology need more evolutionary thinking? 20:33 Freud and Skinner and parts in between 30:47 Mind-body dualism’s enduring intuitive appeal 33:16 ChatGPT and the human mind: compare and contrast 38:22 Are cognitive biases overblown? 47:59 A brief note about the podcast 51:24 Implicit biases, memory, and other topics covered in the book Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded March 07, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65784Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:00 Mickey celebrates good week for JD Vance, Ron DeSantis 11:37 The Biden admin’s “all sticks, no carrots” approach to foreign policy 15:55 Is China’s plummeting birth rate a problem? 17:16 Will Bibi wag the dog? 31:07 Will AI kill the journalism star? 36:42 Ukraine war update 44:11 Alarmism about a China-Russia axis 47:04 Parrot room preview: more Ukraine; Dilbert creator gets canceled; why the kids aren’t alright; Will student loan cancellation pass Supreme Court muster?; Buy books before it’s too late?; Mickey’s flick pick; wrapping up The Long Goodbye; Lab-leak theory gets a boost; more AI; The real story being Elon’s algorithmic boostRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 03, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65772 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: h

00:37 Paul’s new book, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence 11:42 Will AIs replace humans in future wars? 29:24 China as an AI superpower 39:29 Will Beijing spread high-tech authoritarianism globally? 48:51 How useful is the “democracy versus autocracy” framework? 54:01 Why Paul’s worried about a race to the bottom in AI safety 1:00:00 Tom Cruise can’t hold a candle to AI pilots Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Scharre (Center for a New American Security, Army of None, Four Battlegrounds). Recorded February 8, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65750 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe 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/parrotroom0:00 Washington Post highlights a cost of US hypocrisy 6:54 Will China push for peace—or fund Russia’s war effort (or both)? 17:49 Can Trump use Biden’s support for Ukraine against him? 28:42 Russia’s offensive, Ukraine’s rope-a-dope 37:59 Bob’s evolving view of America’s role in the Maidan Revolution 44:43 The US vows to back Israel if it attacks Iran 47:32 Parrot Room preview: AI updates; Republicans and Social Security; How Blobbish is Fiona Hill?; Carlos Watson arrested Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded February 23, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65731 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzero.substa

01:25 Coleman’s definition of “wokeness”—and why he’s against it 13:07 Poverty or privilege: Which predicts wokeness among black Americans? 22:46 How much progress has America made since Jim Crow? 32:17 Why writers in particular are haunted by their past 41:59 How racists and criminals are made 51:25 Does "hip-hop culture exist"—and is it bad? 1:02:22 Coleman diversifies his controversy portfolio Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Coleman Hughes (Conversations with Coleman). Recorded February 14, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65724 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe 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 0:00 How should Republicans counter Biden’s blue-collar messaging?14:19 The disturbing thing balloon-gate reveals about the Dems23:58 The Fetterman health crisis30:42 Twitter’s Elon algorithm39:52 Are women more conciliatory than men?42:47 Is Biden pushing Zelensky toward the negotiating table?56:29 An underappreciated risk of arming Ukraine59:26 Parrot room preview: Bob drops some hip-hop knowledge; an AI-war reversal and the dangers of “stochastic parrots”; trans activists taking names; Mickey’s quantum-physics-related pitch for Bob’s next book; new Epstein docs Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded February 17, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65703Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to

0:31 Norman’s new book, I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It!: Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom10:26 How Norman exposed a bestselling book as a hoax18:54 The price Norman paid for taking on Alan Dershowitz28:08 What effects has “wokeness” had on academia?33:46 Pronouns and the perils of linguistic prescriptivism47:43 Who's pushing identity politics on the left? And why?57:54 A few unkind words about Bari Weiss1:02:51 Norman: Ibram X. Kendi is a fashion statement not a scholarRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Norman Finkelstein (I Accuse!, I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It!). Recorded February 7, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65684Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit nonzer

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom00:00 Why Biden’s big speech has Bob worried 9:15 Did the US blow up the Nord Stream pipeline? 18:36 Trump accuses DeSantis of grooming 25:46 With friends like Joe Rogan, Ilhan Omar doesn’t need enemies 36:16 The latest from the Twitter Files: new dirt on the Blob 48:45 Biden takes on Xi, seems a little unhinged 56:12 Why more people are concerned about Ukraine’s chances 1:03:30 Parrot Room preview: Did the West block Russia-Ukraine negotiations?; social vs. income equality; reviewing The Long Goodbye; America’s AI arms race; quantum physics; grading Burt Bacharach songs.Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded February 10, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65676Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d li

1:02 Gabor’s new book The Myth of Normal, about trauma and mental and physical illness in modern Western society7:40 Are we all victims of a “toxic” culture?14:09 Gabor’s early years in Nazi- and then Soviet-occupied Hungary21:30 What Gabor thinks standard theories of addiction get wrong24:02 Can trauma ever be a good thing?26:34 Was Bob’s childhood traumatic? And if so, how?39:46 Trauma, attachment, and authenticity46:57 Is modern society hostile to community?53:43 The difference between healthy and unhealthy anger57:32 A primer on “compassionate inquiry”1:02:16 The time Gabor was leading an ayahuasca retreat and got deposed by shamans1:06:53 Gabor on why cognitive empathy is difficult but essential1:12:40 What Gabor sees as the essence of the bookRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Gabor Maté (Scattered Minds, When the Body Says No, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts). Recorded January 26, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65651Twitter: ht

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:00 Is the 2024 race shaping up to be a political Groundhog Day?16:05 Ilhan Omar and the Israel criticism tightrope29:46 Does the left or right look worse on recent Russiagate disclosures?37:39 A question about the DNC email hack41:46 Ukraine war update: Is time on Russia’s side?48:44 Is the Biden admin angling for a peace deal with Putin?1:00:34 Parrot Room preview: Evil—the show and the concept; the Tyre Nichols killing; Gaetz’s bad idea; AI inquiries; Mickey’s thrilling new Twitter power; untangling quantum entanglement; what happened to hope in politics?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded February 3, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65640Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com2:12 Nikita’s life as a Russian expat in Armenia 7:55 How the Ukraine war is talked about in Russia 15:24 Could Putin fall from power? 25:40 Who left and who stayed in Russia post-mobilization? 37:43 Russia’s role in the Armenia-Azerbaijan crisis 45:21 How the Ukraine war could turn into World War III 50:46 Are “false flag” claims about the Maidan Massacre beyond the pale? 1:01:12 The trouble with the way we talk about war 1:12:28 The role of extremists in mass protestsRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com/). Recorded January 25, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65622Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom00:00 Can AI transcend conventional wisdom? 15:39 Is Trump back as 2024 GOP frontrunner? 24:52 The trouble with “the poor” 27:14 J.D. Vance has Ukraine on the brain 29:46 Ukraine update: How to make sending tanks make sense 46:16 Parrot room preview: Bob’s quasi-lucid dream; Evil corrections; The deep roots of Russian nationalist support for the war; Leon Wieseltier quote critique; DeSantis and black history; should judicial noms know their civics?; Kyrsten Sinema conspiracies; economic vs. social inequality; “exciting” child tax credit news; Israel’s multiple powder kegsRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 27, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65614Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d lik

This is an unusual issue of the newsletter, and it’s about an unusual conversation I taped yesterday. Normally I don’t send out an issue of NZN for each podcast I post, but I think this is a particularly important conversation—and also a complicated conversation, one that can benefit from a preface. The conversation will go public next week and is available to paid NZN subscribers, like you, now—via this issue of the newsletter (video below, audio above) but also via the Nonzero feed on your podcast app (assuming you’ve set up the special paid subscriber version of that feed in your podcast app; if you haven’t, just click “Listen on” in the upper right corner of this post and follow the instructions).The conversation is with Ivan Katchanovski, a political scientist who grew up in Ukraine, came to the US to do graduate work, and now teaches in Canada, at the University of Ottawa. He is frustrated with the way western media is covering the war in Ukraine and with the way western media depicts Ukraine more broa

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom1:22 The alphas of the world gather in Davos12:42 Mickey buys a blue check, dresses up to celebrate 15:47 Does Russia have Ukraine on the defensive? 28:14 How serious is the threat of US government debt default? 34:40 Biden’s chances in 2024 47:54 Parrot Room preview: David Crosby passes away; Alec Baldwin charged with manslaughter; the issue that could destroy woke-ism; college after affirmative action; a false flag in Ukraine?; More Elon news; loyalty oath at Sundance; Bob reviews Top Gun: Maverick Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 20, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65572 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus epis