Robert Wright's Nonzero

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0:28 Will the Iran war supercharge antisemitism? 8:49 Varieties of Israeli-Jewish conflation 14:23 The Epstein effect 16:08 Tucker v. Israel vs Fuentes v. Israel 23:14 Does MSM have a pro-Israel bias? 27:14 The ADL’s counterproductive speech policing 34:58 Heading to Overtime

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Peter Beinart (Jewish Currents, CUNY, https://peterbeinart.substack.com/). Recorded March 09, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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0:00 Marco Rubio’s Israel faux pas 3:28 What are Trump’s new goalposts? 10:23 The regime after Khamenei 14:36 Can a regime be changed by air strikes alone? 20:49 Will Turkey be drawn in? 25:18 The logic of Iran’s response 31:32 The pathetic European (and Canadian) response 34:58 Heading into Overtime

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Derek Davison (Foreign Exchanges, American Prestige, Discontents), and Daniel Bessner (American Prestige, University of Washington). Recorded March 05, 2026.

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0:28 Spain: the one country that got it right 1:56 When US rhetoric starts sounding like the Kremlin 3:07 Nukes, regime change, military threat—pick one 4:05 Rubio’s “ridiculous” explanation for attacking Iran 5:20 Iran’s restraint: from Soleimani to Khamenei 9:55 Trump had leverage over Bibi. He didn’t use it. 12:22 Is this Israel’s war or America’s? 14:40 Tommy Vietor goes after the ADL—a political first 19:30 How fear sells papers and starts wars 24:33 The nuclear deal: the last thing America got right 25:04 Nikita: Trump’s dopamine addiction to “starting s**t” 29:19 How the Iran strike buried the Anthropic story 37:59 Does Israel want a stable Middle East? 39:35 Heading to Overtime

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com). Recorded March 03, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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0:28 Why is Trump threatening Iran, really? 10:51 What’s the strategic logic behind striking? 16:00 Trump vs Bibi on Gaza 20:44 How would—and could—Iran respond? 30:42 What a post-regime-collapse Iran could look like 36:25 Josh: Trump has painted himself into a corner 39:16 Is a new “axis of resistance” against Israel emerging ? 48:01 Heading to Overtime

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Joshua Landis (University of Oklahoma, SyriaComment.com). Recorded February 23, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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0:28 Holly’s call-out campaign 3:28 Holly: Don’t believe the Amanda Askell puff pieces 11:49 Is Amanda a bad person? 21:59 How Dario’s false dichotomies accelerate the AI race 30:19 The only Anthropic through-line is “winning” 38:54 Did Dario subvert Effective Altruism? 42:43 The end of the AI safety fig leaf 46:29 Heading into Overtime: The pros and cons of naming and shaming

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Holly Elmore (PauseAI US, https://hollyelmore.substack.com/). Recorded February 18, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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0:28 A paywall bait masterclass 7:41 Is Paul feeling the AI acceleration? 15:30 The Freddie deBoer AI challenge 25:53 What would a true AI revolution look like? 31:21 Bob: We’re failing the AI test 39:29 Has AI really made much of a difference? 50:29 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 16, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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0:28 Recap: how MAGA's domestic and foreign policy fit together as one project 8:31 MAGA reframed as a response to a felt lack of agency 11:50 AI is about to make that loss of agency universal 12:58 The first technology we're actually transferring agency to 17:05 What Claude Code is doing to Nikita's creative process 22:02 Will people use their free time well — or sit on a couch and inject heroin? 2436 Why Spanish festival culture might survive AI better than anyone 30:12 Bots on the street, humans in the parlor: the future of online spaces 37:24 Reading a comment and being depressed by both possibilities

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com). Recorded February 12, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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0:24 Is Tim feeling the AI acceleration? 6:47 Claude Code: decrypted 12:54 Has AGI already arrived? 20:38 Moltbook: Skynet rising? Or hot air? 24:48 The various “singularities” 31:34 Where Tim looks for signs of the singularity 41:10 Heading to Overtime

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Timothy B. Lee (Full Stack Economics, Understanding AI, AI Summer). Recorded February 9, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

1:22 Army brats and media empires 2:40 Is war with Iran imminent? 5:34 Trump’s “red line” trap 11:22 Are we underestimating Iran? 19:50 Israel and the “clean break” memo 26:25 Rubio as deep state puppet master 32:47 Trump’s AI report card 36:38 The race for superintelligence 42:33 Is AI an existential threat? 54:14 Will AI trigger mass unemployment? 1:01:28 Chip restrictions as war starters 1:04:43 Does Xi think his Taiwan window is closing?

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Andrew Day (The American Conservative), and Curt Mills (The American Conservative). Recorded February 04, 2026.

Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org

0:28 How Bob’s and Paul’s names wound up in the Epstein Files 7:37 Epstein’s double option play 13:36 Power brokers after Epstein 18:13 Understanding Moltbook 25:50 Bob on the “big question” Moltbook raises 35:24 Paul: What planet are Emily Bender and Alex Hanna on? 38:36 Heading into Overtime: Friends in the Epstein Files, the strangest thing Bob’s ever done for money and more.

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 02, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods