The Wright Show

Feb 03 2025 140 ep. 60 mins 7

The Wright Show 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.

Society & Culture Religion & Spirituality

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Trump vs International Law (Robert Wright & Mark Leon Goldberg)

Feb 03 2025 60 mins

Mark’s newsletter, podcast, and Bloggingheads roots ... Is Trump really anti-internationalist? ... Who was the most pro-UN post-Cold-War president? ... Is global governance doomed? ... Scoring the UN’s post-Cold War track record ... ICC and ICJ 101 ... Why the WHO matters ... Heading to Overtime ...

The China AI Panic (Robert Wright, Connor Echols, and Elizabeth Beavers)

Jan 31 2025 60 mins

Some brief NonZero World housekeeping ... Trump, China and AI ... Connor's interview with national security law expert Elizabeth Beavers about Trump's use of terror designations ...

The AI Tsunami Approaches (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Jan 29 2025 60 mins

Two theories of Musk’s “salute” ... DeepSeek-R1: Salvo or olive branch? ... The misappropriation of Musk’s AI doomerism ... Is the AI avatar era already upon us? ... Paul fills Bob in on his “empty threat” theory ... Heading to Overtime ...

Bonus Episode: The Meaning of the DeepSeek Shock (Robert Wright & Connor Echols)

Jan 28 2025 60 mins

An American Jew Reflects on Gaza (Robert Wright & Peter Beinart)

Jan 27 2025 60 mins

Peter’s new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza ... Is it anti-Semitic to say Israeli policies foster anti-Semitism? ... Zionism’s many meanings ... How are American Jews grappling with Israel-Gaza? ... The Democrats’ Israel bind ... Is all hope lost for a two-state solution? ... Anti-Semitic tropes, the Israel lobby, and Elon’s “gesture” ... The unusual na

American Problems, Global Solutions (Connor Echols & Natasha Hakimi Zapata)

Jan 24 2025 60 mins

Intro ... Natasha's new book, Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe ...

Human Agency vs "Agentic” AI (Robert Wright & Kanjun Qiu)

Jan 23 2025 60 mins

Intro ... Kanjun’s role as CEO of AI research lab Imbue ... Worrying about a “Wall-E world” ... Building human-centric AI agents ... How far away is truly “agentic” AI? ... The road to AI serfdom ... Does the AI revolution call for a psychological revolution? ... Heading to Overtime ...

Trump 2.0 and US Foreign Policy (Robert Wright & Thomas Friedman)

Jan 21 2025 60 mins

Tom’s Pulitzer-Prize hat trick ... Why Beijing is relatively calm about Trump’s reelection ... China hawkism in the AI community ... What’s Trump’s logic re Greenland and Panama? ... On Israel-Palestine, is a two-state solution still possible? ... How a stable ceasefire in Gaza could transform Israeli politics ... Why Trump may be better than Biden on Israel-Palestine ... B

Trump’s Gaza Win, Biden’s Legacy Woes (Andrew Day, Connor Echols, and Robert Wright)

Jan 17 2025 60 mins

News bites ... Gaza ceasefire deep dive ... Bob joins to talk about Biden's legacy and Trump's imminent return to the White House ...

Worthwhile Canadian Humiliation (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Jan 16 2025 60 mins

Bob and Paul battle for audience sympathy ... Canada as 51st state: y’eh or n’eh? ... How Trump-y is Canada’s likely next leader? ... The humiliation theory of American politics ... Trump, Elon, and the two paths to bullying ... Facebook’s free speech about-face ... Heading to Overtime ...