Robert Wright's Nonzero

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0:00 Mickey mourns the fate of his midterm hopes and dreams 12:14 What the midterm results mean for 2024 19:30 Who wins in a Trump v. DeSantis civil war? 23:44 Bob’s plan to boot Biden from the 2024 ticket 29:41 Will Musk chicken out on his blue check shake-up? 35:46 The Twitter business model Musk may be banking on 46:12 Parrot room preview: Ukraine update; more Twitter business model talk; Metaverse vibe check; Errol Morris’s Leary love story; questioning “blame Trump” midterm post-mortems; is America getting nicer?; Mickey’s ongoing lessons on how to talk to a liberal; critiquing Chamath Palihapitiya’s critiques of journalism

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded November 11, 2022.

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0:00 Signs of the so-called “meaning crisis” 3:50 How John addresses the meaning crisis in his own life 10:04 Bob gets empathy-circled—live! 18:48 How much of the meaning crisis is a crisis of community? 25:29 Wisdom as the antidote to self-deception 40:54 Is technological change outpacing our ability to adapt? 45:48 How and where might new sources of meaning emerge? 53:08 The conundrum of collective intelligence (or how should we talk about demons?) 59:57 Can video games give us meaning? 1:04:05 John: “Enlightenment” that fails to confront cognitive bias is meaningless

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and John Vervaeke (University of Toronto). Recorded October 27, 2022. John Vervaeke's YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCpqDUjTsof-kTNpnyWper_Q

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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

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0:00 Why immigration squishes have Mickey worried about the midterms 7:13 Elon Musk’s bull-in-a-china-shop strategy to owning Twitter 17:26 The conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi 22:33 If Putin didn’t have nukes, would Biden’s Ukraine policy still be dangerous? 31:03 Who is calling the shots in the Biden White House? 41:34 Why Cold War psychology might have less sway over Musk-owned Twitter 47:05 Bob has another baseball quiz for Mickey 53:44 Could Biden’s tech embargo against China backfire horribly? 1:03:20 Parrot Room preview: The odds of a centrist party succeeding in America; Elon’s secret master plan; Bob’s debate with Bret Weinstein; the impact of automation on workers; Bob and Mickey assess the metaverse (via Ready Player One)

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded November 04, 2022.

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1:25 Sam’s Foreign Affairs piece on the importance of Ukraine diplomacy 10:14 What’s Biden’s endgame in Ukraine? 20:06 Sam: Russia has already suffered a strategic defeat 39:59 Did the West play a role in Ukraine’s 2014 revolution? 46:39 Putin says the West is Russia’s real enemy. Does he believe it? 50:26 America’s lack of diplomatic urgency before Putin invaded 57:22 How much pro-Russia sentiment is there in Ukraine?

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Samuel Charap (RAND Corporation, Everyone Loses). Recorded November 01, 2022.

Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65133 Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonzeroPods Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe

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

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0:00 Mickey takes a bite out of midterm “overism” 15:58 How revolutionary will Musk’s Twitter reign be? 28:50 Who quashed the Progressive Caucus’s Ukraine letter? 31:14 What’s holding up diplomacy in Ukraine? 40:32 Is Blob opinion on the war starting to split? 45:02 The cost of US hypocrisy 48:33 The media’s weird coverage of the ‘dirty bomb’ story 54:56 Parrot room preview: implausible dirty bomb scenarios; UK PM’s dramatic early moves; a few words about the late Lucianne Goldberg; an (iffy) argument against lefty state legislature alarmism; Mickey’s labor-relations observations; Xi Jinping and the Hu Jintao removal; illustrating the dangers of war-time overreaction by way of Russian relocation coverage; Joe’s McCarthyism; Russians adopting Ukrainian children; what’s in it for Putin-humiliation-pushers? Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded October 28, 2022. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65124 Twitter: https://twitter.com/bloggingheads Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe

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

1:49 How worried should we be about the “Kessler Syndrome”? 7:46 The nightmare scenario for anti-satellite weapons anarchy13:34 How an attack in space could trigger WWIII25:13 International law is way behind the curve in outer space40:45 Why isn’t the grave threat of space anarchy getting attention?54:10 How the new Cold War makes conflict in space more likely

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Douglas Ligor (Rand Corporation). Recorded October 12, 2022.

Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65094Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonzeroPodsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe

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3:16 Elon Musk’s esoteric insult of former Russian president Medvedev7:22 Russia’s “General Armageddon” gears up for retreat15:43 Is the GOP becoming the anti-war party?22:18 Mickey’s many midterms nightmares 35:41 With Britain's Tories in shambles, will Boris rise again?44:26 Bob: US policy helped create the latest "axis of evil"54:11 Parrot Room preview: Did Bob mischaracterize Mearsheimer?; Kanye West and Elon Musk take over social media; Jon Meacham’s fears for US democracy; what lies beneath LA’s racism row

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded October 21, 2022.

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2:04 What Seth learned from being in Ukraine that you won’t learn from western media 12:32 Was the ouster of Ukraine’s president in 2014 a revolution or a coup?19:45 Could the White House have averted the invasion – and could it end the war now? 37:46 The degree of on-the-ground American involvement in Ukraine and Syria49:32 Why Seth warns of frozen conflict when others predict Ukrainian victory 59:14 The extent of pro-Russian sentiment in eastern Ukraine 1:02:33 Seth: War always means atrocity, so we should avoid wars 1:15:47 Is wartime reporting less objective now than usual?

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Seth Harp (Rolling Stone). Recorded October 18, 2022.

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1:31 What does America not understand about China – and vice versa? 6:14 Signs of Chinese discontent with Xi Jinping 9:41 How the focus on “beating China” distracts the US from other priorities 17:01 Is the US making conflict over Taiwan more likely? 29:01 Jessica: The threat to American democracy comes from within, not from China 41:48 The roots of China’s growing assertiveness on the world stage 53:00 What US and Chinese foreign policy (unfortunately) have in common

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jessica Chen Weiss (Cornell University). Recorded September 28, 2022.

Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65033 Twitter: https://twitter.com/nonzeroPods Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe

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0:00 Why Mickey thinks Evan McMullin could become king of America 8:59 Herschel Walker’s “three bulls” parable 13:24 Is Fetterman ready for the debate stage? 20:45 Biden’s Saudi ask vs. Trump’s Ukraine ask 26:47 The double-edged sword of Ukrainian military success 29:59 Bob amends last week’s "client state" comments 33:18 Bob: The next few weeks will be critical for Ukraine 40:34 Elon and international affairs (cont’d) 46:42 Inflation, China chip wars, and other harbingers of global instability 55:18 Putin’s psyche and realist views of Russia 1:01:52 Parrot room preview: Ukraine’s ironic nuclear war incentives; cancellable L.A. city council commentary?; Who’s the bigger liar: Gore or Biden?; Unflattering Nikki Finke obituaries; PayPal’s crazy new misinformation policy; more Musk talk; what’s new in the Metaverse?; Serial subject’s charges dropped; a damning Maggie Haberman clip?; FiveThirtyEight bias and a point about probability

Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded October 14, 2022.

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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