Robert Wright's Nonzero

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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, Against Empathy). Recorded February 12, 2025.

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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-Gharbi (Stony Brook University, We Have Never Been Woke, https://musaalgharbi.substack.com/). Recorded January 29, 2025.

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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.

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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 True) and Paul Triolo (Albright Stonebridge Group, https://pstaidecrypted.substack.com/). Recorded February 05, 2025.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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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 Dispatches, To Save Us From Hell). Recorded January 30, 2025.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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0:13 Some brief NonZero World housekeeping 5:37 Trump, China and AI 31:35 Connor's interview with national security law expert Elizabeth Beavers about Trump's use of terror designations

Recorded January 31, 2025.

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0:28 Two theories of Musk’s “salute” 6:18 DeepSeek-R1: Salvo or olive branch? 16:23 The misappropriation of Musk’s AI doomerism 23:43 Is the AI avatar era already upon us? 39:26 Paul fills Bob in on his “empty threat” theory 43:44 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). Recorded January 29, 2025.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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Robert Wright and Connor Echols discuss the panic over R1, a new, open-source AI model from Chinese startup DeepSeek.

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0:28 Peter’s new book, Being Jewish After the Destruction of Gaza 1:42 Is it anti-Semitic to say Israeli policies foster anti-Semitism? 7:24 Zionism’s many meanings 10:44 How are American Jews grappling with Israel-Gaza? 16:44 The Democrats’ Israel bind 24:11 Is all hope lost for a two-state solution? 30:54 Anti-Semitic tropes, the Israel lobby, and Elon’s “gesture” 43:05 The unusual nature of Jewish identity 47:54 How Israel’s defenders get Israel wrong

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Peter Beinart (Jewish Currents, CUNY, https://peterbeinart.substack.com/). Recorded January 22, 2025.

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0:00 Intro 1:35 Natasha's new book, Another World Is Possible: Lessons for America from Around the Globe

Recorded January 14, 2025.

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