This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 Sina's hopes for this weekend's US-Iran talks 4:25 Trump's two-month clock starts ticking 7:09 Iran's growing nuclear leverage 11:20 Trump the dealmaker vs Trump the warmonger 19:14 The myth of a "surgical" military campaign against Iran 28:44 The resurgence of Iran's reformist camp Recorded April 11, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/tariffs-tech-and-the-view-from-china ht...
Apr 11, 2025•37 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Paul is Bob's worthwhile Canadian initiative 4:34 The psycho-logic of Trump’s tariff strategy 15:35 Has Trump exposed structural flaws in America? 21:09 Is Musk saying Navarro is dumber than Ivanka? 28:09 On incest 38:35 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy)...
Apr 09, 2025•45 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Milton’s epic new comic, “Orson Welles: Warrior of the Worlds” 4:04 Comics culture, then and now 14:02 The real story behind the faux War of the Worlds broadcast 22:07 Why Milton was drawn to Orson Welles 33:33 What (or who) really derailed Welles’s career? 40:07 Will Milton's comic go multimedia? 44:23 Heading to Overtime—with Bob in the hot seat Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True)...
Apr 08, 2025•46 min
Audio of the livestream titled “The Psychopolitics of the Noosphere,” the first installment in an ongoing—and evolving—collaboration between Nonzero and Psychopolitica. Robert Wright, Nikita Petrov, and Boris Shoshitaishvili. Recorded April 4, 2025. https://psychopolitica.substack.com/ https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews 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 www.nonzero.org/subscribe...
Apr 07, 2025•2 hr 8 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 The pro-tariff argument: national security, jobs, and leverage 6:58 The four factions shaping US trade policy 11:43 Karthik’s core critique of Trump’s tariff policy 16:18 How tariffs could block development pathways for poor countries 22:52 Is Trump blaming foreign countries for America's own policy mistakes? 30:19 A brutal week for Vietnam Recorded April 04, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https:...
Apr 04, 2025•40 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Reid's new book, "Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future" 8:56 Managing technological transitions 16:33 Using AI to build cognitive empathy 20:25 Shaping the coming AI earthquake 29:02 Reid's notion of "co-opetition" with China 40:06 Geopolitics and AI development 44:53 The US chip war on China 50:01 Heading into Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and...
Apr 03, 2025•55 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Almut’s first-hand acquaintance with authoritarianism 2:24 Trump 2.0’s authoritarian hallmarks 19:37 What should worry us most about Trump 2.0? 26:15 Trump 2.0 vs post-Soviet oligarchy: compare and contrast 33:08 Is Trump an ethno-nationalist? 39:02 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Almut Rochowanski (The Quincy Institute, https://discomfortzone.substack.co...
Apr 02, 2025•42 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 The dueling camps in right-wing foreign policy 10:25 Lessons from the Signal snafu 15:42 Are hawks dominating Trump's foreign policy team? 22:58 Can Congress prevent a war with Iran? 31:13 A "smear campaign" against Danny Davis Recorded March 28, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/the-untold-stories-of-the-signal https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPod...
Mar 28, 2025•39 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Bob and Paul duel over their sleep deficits 5:16 Trump’s Tesla-friendly tariffs 13:16 Who’s favo(u)red to win the Canadian election? 19:56 Tufts and Columbia as authoritarian bellwethers 31:16 Did Bob predict MAGA in 1999? 38:49 God vs Hitler 46:21 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The ...
Mar 28, 2025•49 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 The new JFK documents dump 5:15 The conflict between JFK and the CIA 8:34 The Pentagon false flag plan that JFK vetoed 13:30 How CIA funding shaped the Oswald narrative 17:22 James Jesus Angleton’s handling of Oswald 32:55 Some lies told by CIA officials 42:14 Files the CIA still won’t release Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jefferson Morley (https://jfkfacts.substack.com/, ...
Mar 27, 2025•51 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 Will Trump get locked into war in Yemen? 8:27 Competing instincts in Trump’s foreign policy team 11:16 How should the restraint movement respond to Trump? 15:11 Justin: Trump's pitch-perfect approach to Europe 23:13 What happens if Trump pulls US troops from Europe? Recorded March 20, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/trumps-israel-first-agenda https://twitter.com/NonzeroNe...
Mar 21, 2025•34 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Ross’s new book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious 7:17 An argument for cosmic purpose 14:59 The mysterious persistence of weird s**t 18:34 Does human consciousness point to something bigger? 24:33 Tensions between science and Christian orthodoxy 28:03 A few more words about consciousness 34:50 A few more words about weirdness 41:56 Why doesn’t the weirdness show up in controlled studies? 48:44 Heading to ...
Mar 20, 2025•50 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Jeet’s plans for Canadian resistance 3:30 Trump 2.0: Making “autarkic imperialism” great again? 12:01 The hidden logic of Trump’s tariffs 20:19 The historical roots of Trumpism 34:56 How Trump won the GOP civil war 43:36 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jeet Heer (The Nation). Recorded March 18, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
Mar 19, 2025•46 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:29 Connor’s Cuba adventure 1:41 Chinese-owned Manus AI makes waves 8:35 Is Manus just a fancy ‘wrapper’ for US AI? 15:20 Why Manus makes global AI cooperation more urgent 23:39 Can Trump deport a green card holder over political speech? 34:58 Making sense of Trump's Ukraine strategy Recorded March 14, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/the-real-message-from-chinas-latest https:...
Mar 14, 2025•47 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Does Paul have CDS (Chaos Desensitization Syndrome)? 4:06 Worthwhile Canadian backlash 9:54 Elon’s Tesla problem 15:34 Trump 2.0’s free speech crackdown 18:28 The primal psychology of Trump and Elon 26:10 Bezos and university presidents bow to Trump 36:29 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toront...
Mar 13, 2025•41 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Is the chaos starting to subside? 11:46 Trump’s tariff strategy (or lack thereof)18:56 Trump’s baffling, backfiring Canada obsession 26:01 Elon’s darkly weird grandfather 38:01 Has America gone full oligarchy? 43:16 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Eric Levitz (New York Magazine, Vox). Recorded March 10, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
Mar 11, 2025•45 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 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 Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Derek Davison (Foreign Exchanges, American Prestige, Discontents), and Daniel Bessn...
Mar 07, 2025•29 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 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-hawkism sweep Silicon Valley? 42:08 Can we avoid AI doom without global governance? 57:26 The key points of Dan’s paper 1:04:56 ...
Mar 05, 2025•1 hr 6 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 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 Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Andrew Day (The American Conservative). Recorded March 03, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
Mar 04, 2025•35 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 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 Trump Recorded February 28, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/immortality-and-its-discontents https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
Mar 01, 2025•33 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 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) 36:31 Heading to Overtime—and a special discount deal! Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) a...
Feb 27, 2025•42 min
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 Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jack Goldsmith (Harvard Law School, In Hoffa's Shadow, https://executivefunctions.substack.com/). Recorded...
Feb 25, 2025•1 hr 49 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 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 DC Recorded February 21, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/trumps-very-good-very-bad-week-on https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
Feb 21, 2025•37 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 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 Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nora Belrose (EleutherAI). Recorded February 18...
Feb 19, 2025•51 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:29 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 China Recorded February 12, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/a-very-bad-week-for-ai-safety https://twitter.com/NonzeroNew...
Feb 14, 2025•34 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 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 Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Agai...
Feb 13, 2025•46 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Musa’s track record as Trump-reader and his new book, We Have Never Been Woke 2:19 The reason Trump won—twice 14:49 Messaging that works for the working class 20:58 Has the left lost the faith(ful)? 27:39 Who is wokeness even for? 33:44 Biden’s bad messaging 36:04 Why elites failed to deliver on social justice 51:28 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Musa al...
Feb 10, 2025•55 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:00 Housekeeping 3:20 Making sense of the USAID cuts 15:52 Trump's push for ethnic cleansing in Gaza 24:27 How Trump's tariffs undermine US power 32:54 Deep Research and the AI arms race Recorded February 07, 2025. https://twitter.com/Nonzero Newshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods...
Feb 08, 2025•42 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Paul’s new newsletter, AIStackDecrypted 2:33 Sketchy DeepSeek narratives: debunked 15:15 How connected are DeepSeek and the Chinese government? 27:22 China, Meta, and the open source AI debate(s) 38:58 Paul’s problem with AGI “takeoff” 47:23 The real lesson to take from DeepSeek 55:05 Did the chip war on China really backfire? 59:20 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is ...
Feb 06, 2025•1 hr 1 min
This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Mark’s newsletter, podcast, and Bloggingheads roots 3:45 Is Trump really anti-internationalist? 8:30 Who was the most pro-UN post-Cold-War president? 13:25 Is global governance doomed? 17:16 Scoring the UN’s post-Cold War track record 24:08 ICC and ICJ 101 33:17 Why the WHO matters 39:48 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mark Leon Goldberg (Global Dispatche...
Feb 03, 2025•41 min
