This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:34 Preamble: The OpenAI drama and this conversation 3:46 Where Dan falls on the AI doomer spectrum 6:42 Is safe AI possible without international cooperation? 12:38 Are we selecting AI for truth or engagement? 25:53 Using “psychology” to understand—and control—AI 31:08 The worrisome Darwinian dynamics of AI development 40:37 Life after an AI takeover 51:52 How structural incentives make AI safety harder Robert Wright...
Nov 24, 2023•57 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:33 Tom’s new book, Getting Russia Right 2:13 Does Putin want to take more territory before talking peace? 12:35 Putin’s "messianic" transformation 22:41 America’s failed effort to Americanize Russia 32:46 Does the US focus too much on other nations’ internal affairs? 41:10 The 2004 event that sunk US-Russia relations 49:16 Why Tom supports a diplomatic reset Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonz...
Nov 20, 2023•54 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 1:51 Susan’s new book, Overreach: How China Derailed Its Peaceful Rise 7:28 China’s turn to more assertive policies in 2007 15:30 The well-intentioned reform that produced big authoritarian consequences 25:20 How public opinion influences autocratic leaders 31:53 Xi Jinping’s purge of suspect officials 41:52 Does Beijing feel threatened by America? 48:20 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolutio...
Nov 16, 2023•53 min
3:07 Will Israel-Palestine cost Biden the election? 12:20 What Hamas hoped to accomplish on October 7 24:30 The surprising origins of cancel culture 32:00 Matt defends his ratioed tweet 44:41 The persistent psychological impact of the Holocaust 55:53 Is a one-state solution realistic? 1:16:50 What Ukrainians and Palestinians have in common 1:26:43 Anti-Palestine sentiment and Christian Zionism in America 1:36:09 How the current crisis could lead to war with Iran 1:45:35 Bob gives Matt podcasting...
Nov 15, 2023•1 hr 49 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from The Earthling. Read this edition of the Earthling at: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/the-river-to-the-sea-rorschach-test Recorded November 10, 2023.
Nov 11, 2023•20 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 3:30 Is Paul Bloom the next Tony Robbins? 10:47 Things to know about the noosphere 19:34 How Bob and Paul work 28:58 What Michael Lewis’s SBF bio reveals about SBF (and Michael Lewis) 35:46 SBF and Elon Musk: compare and contrast 38:34 Are SBF’s parents to blame? 42:28 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloo...
Nov 10, 2023•46 min
2:49 Ron’s initial reaction to the October 7 atrocities 8:38 How Israel’s far right undermined Israel’s national security 17:40 Support for the Gaza war in Israel 26:34 The trouble with “eradicating” Hamas 32:23 How American Jews are responding to recent events 43:06 Post-October-7 prospects for solving Israel-Palestine 53:09 The rhetorical abuse of the Holocaust 57:37 The origins and meaning of “From the river to the sea…” 1:10:06 Could the Gaza war cost Biden the election? 1:17:16 Competing vi...
Nov 07, 2023•1 hr 30 min
2:23 What Iran hopes to gain from the Israel-Hamas war 9:29 Did Hamas expect such a massive retaliation from Israel? 16:54 Why Israel’s campaign in Gaza could backfire 22:24 What Hezbollah is and how it got started 33:52 Does Israel have an exit strategy in Gaza? 46:53 Why the Arab world might unite in the years ahead 56:32 How China could benefit from the current crisis 1:02:52 Why the US hasn’t pushed harder to resolve Israel-Palestine 1:09:44 Is a one-state solution the best path forward? 1:1...
Nov 03, 2023•1 hr 35 min
3:06 The significance of Jerusalem in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict 13:09 Will the current crisis explode into a wider war? 17:30 Israel’s ultra-nationalist minister of national security 26:41 Settler attacks intensify in the West Bank 40:43 The two-state solution is dead—can it be revived? 56:51 Has Israel lost the support of western young people? 1:04:15 What Hamas hoped to accomplish on October 7 1:15:03 How hopelessness drives support for Hamas 1:23:30 Can one-state aspirations produce a ...
Oct 31, 2023•1 hr 28 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from The Earthling. Read this edition of the Earthling at: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/israel ... Recorded October 27, 2023....
Oct 28, 2023•23 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 1:18 Why Leonid considers his nationality “journalist” 8:40 How the West alienated Russia 14:36 Are Russia’s pro-Ukraine “liberals” actually far right? 25:30 How Putin is responding to Israel's war on Hamas 35:25 Are western experts more clear-minded about Israel-Hamas than Russia-Ukraine? 39:47 Is Ukraine at risk of losing significant amounts of territory? 50:51 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The...
Oct 27, 2023•55 min
2:06 Why hasn’t the ground invasion happened yet? 8:22 Do conditions in Gaza make terrorism more likely? 16:37 Palestinian violence compared to Israeli violence 27:05 Did Israel really offer the Palestinians a state two decades ago? 32:43 Does Hamas have much support in the West? 39:55 What should be done about Hamas? 51:09 Israel’s blockade of Gaza and strategy of massive retaliation 58:27 Indignities suffered by Palestinians in the West Bank 1:08:21 Should West Bank Palestinians focus on deman...
Oct 25, 2023•1 hr 17 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Recorded October 20, 2023.
Oct 21, 2023•36 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:34 The Unspeakeasy, the newest arm of the Meghan-industrial complex 7:53 Meghan’s prestigious place in Parrot Room history 11:20 Has wokeness won? 19:48 How common is anti-semitism on the left? 32:40 Israel-Palestine’s destructive non-zero-sum dynamics 50:02 Meghan’s highly therapeutic Unspeakeasy retreats Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Meghan Daum (https://m...
Oct 20, 2023•1 hr 3 min
2:05 Israel’s military plans for northern Gaza 5:05 How does international law apply to Israel and Hamas? 16:15 The first casualty of war is truth 24:50 Do Israel’s actions in Gaza constitute ethnic cleansing? 32:06 The evolving definition of genocide 39:36 How the US and Israel helped Hamas seize power 50:18 America’s ill-fated push for Arab-Israeli normalization 53:17 The hazards of overreacting to Hamas’s attack 1:01:26 How western media has covered the conflict so far Robert Wright (Blogging...
Oct 16, 2023•1 hr 8 min
Recorded October 13, 2023. This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.nonzero.org/subscribe
Oct 14, 2023•1 hr 8 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:33 Paul’s humble new ventures with Substack and Nonzero 6:07 Israel-Palestine, exploitative media, and the pitfalls of empathy 19:04 Paul’s plaudits for Mickey and the Parrot Room 22:11 Elon Musk and Derek Parfit: compare and contrast 29:24 Is there a method to Musk’s mad genius? 36:01 The radical rationalism that forged SBF 43:07 How real is implicit bias? 55:48 How real is SBF? 58:25 Heading to Overtime Robert Wrig...
Oct 13, 2023•1 hr 1 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org (Overtime segment and American Prestige discount subscription link available to paid subscribers below the paywall.) 0:33 Nonzero/American Prestige cocktail with a hybrid episode twist 2:23 Was Hamas’s attack a predictable response to conditions in Gaza? 14:43 Did Biden’s foreign policy make the attack more likely? 25:20 America’s unstrategic Middle East strategy 30:35 Can anything good come out of the current crisis? ...
Oct 09, 2023•1 hr 16 min
1:52 Important reminder about the Friday podcast 3:33 Sam Bankman-Fried’s plan to stop Trump 8:20 Biden’s new policy: Build the wall! 17:28 Why is life expectancy dropping for some demographics in America? 20:07 Should Democrats have helped Kevin McCarthy remain speaker? 27:28 The Blob starts to think like Bob on Russia-Ukraine 34:45 Should the US impose conditions on aid to Ukraine? 45:08 What war with China over Taiwan would look like 49:12 Parrot Room preview: McCarthyism at the news outlet S...
Oct 07, 2023•1 hr 1 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org (Overtime segment available to paid subscribers below the paywall.) 2:16 Has Biden abandoned longstanding US policy on Taiwan? 9:31 The sobering results of recent US-China war games 19:33 Would China ever accept defeat in Taiwan? 28:17 Why the US might bomb Taiwan’s microchip factories 34:44 How war over Taiwan could unfold 48:33 Lyle: DC think tanks are underestimating China's military 55:43 Heading to Overtime Robert...
Oct 03, 2023•58 min
0:33 Mickey, the man from the future, times out on this week’s quiz 8:00 Winners, losers, and bigger losers of the GOP debate 20:18 Semafor’s Iran influence exposé: (semi-)exposed! 28:04 How is Menendez still standing? Mickey has a theory 33:15 Bad socio-economic omens for Biden’s 2024 bid 39:05 Ukraine war update 45:47 Is elite opinion on immigration shifting? 52:23 Next week: The final Parrot Room Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey ...
Sep 29, 2023•54 min
2:02 Senator Bob Menendez accused of brazen corruption6:46 The issue that could sink Trump's campaign17:29 Unpacking the mystery of America’s open border24:47 Is Biden worried about a coup by Democratic Party elites?34:35 Ukraine’s international support shows signs of waning44:54 Democrats downgrade Senate dress code49:48 Parrot Room preview: Marty Peretz’s new book; UAW strike; insidious AI sexbots Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey ...
Sep 23, 2023•53 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 1:37 Azerbaijan attacks Nagorno-Karabakh 6:28 Preview of this week’s Biden-Zelensky meeting in DC 16:26 Does the new technology of war favor defense? 24:26 Is Zelensky thinking clearly about Ukraine’s military chances? 30:09 What Anatol learned from his discussions with wounded Ukrainian soldiers 36:34 If the US pushed for peace, would Putin be ready to make a deal? 48:08 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Blogginghead...
Sep 19, 2023•50 min
2:38 Walter Isaacson’s Elon-Ukraine walk-back 7:01 Debating Biden replacement theories 16:02 Bob’s hurricane-induced bandwidth problems 20:03 Biden’s age-induced bandwidth problems 30:48 Ukraine war update 40:48 Mitt Romney bows out 51:11 The smoke-filled room shortage 56:28 Parrot room preview: UAW strike; JFK assassination revelation; Where in the world is Tim Scott’s girlfriend?; Poverty stat controversy; knives out for Noem; Bob’s agent on Bob; Mickey’s fashion corner Robert Wright (Blogging...
Sep 16, 2023•1 hr
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org (Overtime segment available to paid subscribers below the paywall.) 1:23 Almut’s work as a feminist activist in the former Soviet Union 11:53 How economic anxiety helped tear Ukraine apart 23:12 The very complex coalition behind the Maidan Revolution 30:24 Could wiser European Union policy have averted the Russia-Ukraine conflict? 37:11 Queer feminists and the ultra-right in Ukraine 48:20 The nature of Ukrainian nation...
Sep 12, 2023•1 hr 2 min
Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:42 Nikki Haley beats Biden in new poll 8:14 How big is Ukraine’s military "breakthrough"? 15:35 Signs that Russia is ready for peace talks 26:49 Why are Americans feeling down on the economy? 33:52 DeSantis takes care of business in hurricane-wrecked Florida 41:06 Are the punishments for January 6 rioters too severe? 51:42 How much time is there for a formidable Democrat to challenge Biden for the nomination? 56:57 Bob and Mickey m...
Sep 09, 2023•1 hr 9 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org (Overtime segment available to paid subscribers below the paywall.) 0:33 Tim’s article explaining large language models 03:23 Do LLMs reverse engineer the human mind? 11:24 GPT’s mesmerizing emergent properties 17:43 The ‘T’ in Chat-GPT 30:33 How AI models evolve during training 41:59 Human intelligence compared to artificial intelligence 49:10 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, ...
Sep 05, 2023•52 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org Seems like only last week I was saying there wouldn’t be a Nonzero Newsletter sent out today, owing to the end-of-summer quasi-vacation granted to hard-working NZN staffers. And it’s true that the Earthling, the weekend edition of NZN, is skipping this week and next. However, yesterday I had a conversation that was so timely and interesting that I figured I’d share some transcript excerpts—below—with NZN subscribers. T...
Aug 28, 2023•1 hr
Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:33 Mickey gets a C on the news quiz 10:11 Prigozhin postmortem: Is Putin’s regime more secure now? 17:31 The Ukraine war as “politics by other means” 20:24 The good, the bad, and the ugly of the GOP debate 25:45 Will the indictments help Trump in the general election? 34:21 Parrot room preview: Why Bob finds Vivek scary and “Rich Men North of Richmond” icky; Extraordinary Attorney Woo; Hurricane Hilary hype; retail “shrink” hits th...
Aug 26, 2023•38 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:33 Has David’s grim outlook on the climate changed? 20:15 How “global warming” became “climate change” 13:38 What wilder wildfires signal about the environment 25:02 Which climate measures are the surest bet? 31:41 Climate science’s time-scale problem 39:03 The pros and cons of carbon capture 48:20 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and David Wall...
Aug 22, 2023•52 min
