The Trump Doctrine (Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov)
Episode description
This episode includes an Overtime segment that’s available to paid subscribers. If you’re not a paid subscriber, we of course encourage you to become one. If you are a paid subscriber, you can access the complete conversation either via the audio and video on this post or by setting up the paid-subscriber podcast feed, which includes all exclusive audio content. To set that up, simply grab the RSS feed from this page (by first clicking the “...” icon on the audio player) and paste it into your favorite podcast app. If you have trouble completing the process, check out this super-simple how-to guide.
Join NonZero’s newly established Discord server: https://discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMFLink to schedule chat with Nikita: https://calendly.com/psychopolitica/office-hours
0:00 Teaser 1:55 Trump on drug cartels: “We’re gonna kill them. They’re gonna be like, dead.” 4:31 Venezuela: Regime change disguised as drug war 5:44 Marco Rubio holds all the foreign policy power 8:24 Trump Doctrine candidate #1: “Jump at the chance to use force” 11:37 Trump Doctrine candidate #2: Monroe 2.0 17:36 Roy Cohn’s philosophy: “It is a nation of men, not laws” 22:22 Bob: There’s value in hypocrisy 30:02 Trump is paving the way for a more competent tyrant 31:46 Could Trump actually be good for the world? 36:37 Trump the comedian 42:17 Heading to Overtime: Bob’s mysterious invitation-only conference
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com). Recorded October 27, 2025.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Overtime titles:
How to network when you hate networking.The Non-Zero mission and Peter Thiel’s “Antichrist.”What dreams are for.Nikita’s dream about the nature of modern media.
Overtime video: