Robert Wright's Nonzero

Mar 07 2025 424 ep. 62 mins 1.4k

Robert Wright's Nonzero Podcast artwork

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

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Trump’s Disruptive Foreign Policy (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, and Daniel Bessner)

Mar 07 2025 29 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 What could go right with Trump’s foreign policy? 8:11 Trump’s Bibi-pleasing Middle East path 13:49 How would Europe-led defence of Europe work? 15:55 What most miss about the Oval Office blowup 19:44 Has relying on America doomed Ukraine? 26:53 Heading to OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolut

Mutually Assured AI Malfunction (Robert Wright & Dan Hendrycks)

Mar 05 2025 66 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 Dan’s new paper, “Superintelligence Strategy” 2:58 “Mutually assured AI malfunction” 7:46 Does China see America’s AI policy as a grave threat? 14:45 How likely is US-China conflict over superintelligence? 25:26 How America’s chip war makes war over Taiwan more likely 33:45 Why did China

Trump vs. Zelensky: The Morning After (Robert Wright & Andrew Day)

Mar 03 2025 35 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 Andrew’s new gig (and gifts) 3:38 Play-by-play of the Oval Office blowup 9:28 Zelensky’s and Trump’s obsessions 16:55 What are Russia’s red lines? 26:36 Guaranteeing Ukraine’s (and Europe’s) security 33:49 Heading to OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is Tru

How to Slash the Pentagon Budget | NonZero World feat. Julia Gledhill

Feb 28 2025 32 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:30 Introduction 2:21 How the Pentagon budget got so big 6:55 How to cut $60 billion in military spending this year 15:11 The privatization of weapons acquisitions 19:12 Prospects for military budget reform under TrumpRecorded February 28, 2025.Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzer

Hockey, Trump, and Other US-Canada Issues (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Feb 27 2025 41 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 Paul’s cold take on US-Canada relations 4:38 How representative is representative government, really? 11:36 Bob’s plan to end hockey fights 17:24 A worthwhile Canadian initiative to dump Musk 21:55 What makes James Bond James Bond? 32:05 Bob’s reign as TV analysis king continues (claims Bob) 36:

Trump 2.0 and the Law (Robert Wright & Jack Goldsmith)

Feb 25 2025 109 mins

0:28 Jack’s experience with presidential power 1:56 Unpacking Trump’s Pentagon and DOJ purges 10:57 Which legal battles could Trump win? 19:39 The Trump-Musk chaos: bug or feature? 27:07 How Trump is putting “unitary executive theory” into practice 36:34 Is a unitary executive unconstitutional? 50:33 Heading to OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddh

Trump: Peacemaker or Chaos Agent? | NonZero World feat. Robert Wright

Feb 21 2025 36 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:30 Intro and housekeeping 2:02 Trump's very good, very bad week on Ukraine 13:18 Trump vs his foreign policy team? 19:42 Great-power competition and its discontents 24:32 Musk runs roughshod over DCRecorded February 21, 2025.Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/trumps-very

Interpreting AI’s Acceleration (Robert Wright & Nora Belrose)

Feb 19 2025 50 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 Nora’s work on AI alignment and interpretability 2:21 Is *a* singularity near? 9:52 Nora: AI may take my job within two years 14:56 The reason(ing) behind AI’s latest acceleration 24:14 Thinking through the “chain-of-thought” process 41:44 AI “thinking” vs human thinking 47:21 Heading to O

The Perils of a New Cold War | NonZero World feat. Van Jackson

Feb 14 2025 33 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:29 Van's new book, The Rivalry Peril 2:28 What policymakers forget about the first Cold War 12:54 The roots of the US-China cold war 19:33 The end of globalization and the rise of economic nationalism 26:54 How rivalry deepens inequality in both the US and ChinaRecorded February 12, 2025.Read this week's

Canada vs Trump, OpenAI vs Google (and Musk) (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Feb 12 2025 45 mins

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 The newly united state of Canada 9:21 What’s Elon’s endgame? 17:32 Ross Douthat gives doubting Paul pause 22:56 Which AI ad won the Super Bowl? 31:57 The real stakes of Elon’s OpenAI bid 38:27 Trump 2.0's free speech hypocrisy 44:14 Heading to OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God