Robert Wright's Nonzero

Alan's new book, Breaking News: The Remaking of Journalism and Why It Matters Now ... Alan on taking over the Guardian in 1995, at the dawn of the web ... Was giving news away for free the "original sin" of online journalism? ... Pros and cons of different media funding models ... The downsides of having lots of subscribers and traffic ... Alan: The British press has failed on Brexit ... A few kinds words about social media ... How the Guardian uses "open journalism" ... Will we soon enter a post-newspaper future? ...

Catherine's new book, How to Be an Epicurean ... How Epicureanism is like and unlike utilitarianism ... How the ancient Epicureans viewed nature and reality ... Comparing Epicureanism with its big rival, Stoicism ... On suffering and death ... Epicurean influence on post-Enlightenment science and philosophy ...

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Jay's new book, Enlightenment by Trial and Error ... Why Jay embarked on a path of mysticism ... Ayahuasca, unitive experiences, and bad trips ... Jews who are "religious but not spiritual" ... Finding “real happiness” through meditation ... Varieties of enlightening experience ... What’s distinctive about Jewish mysticism? ... The things Jay still takes from Judaism ...

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A new study says empathy can increase political polarization ... How empathy operates in today’s political environment ... Is cognitive empathy a form of intelligence? ... The Machiavellian uses of cognitive empathy ... A counterproductive #Resistance view of Trump supporters ... Paul doesn't understand how anyone can still support Trump ... Why "dehumanization" isn't the real problem ... Paul's core message: "Don't listen to your heart" ...

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The many ways that Twitter is mismanaged ... Bob vs. Mickey on impeachment ... Is there any evidence of Biden's guilt? ... Bob accuses Mickey of defending Trump's Iran policy ... Mickey: "I'm not sure I want four more years of this" ... A thought experiment about bribery and sex ... Debating whether to identify the whistleblower ... What are the odds of conviction? ... Which Democrat should Trump most fear? ... Mickey floats the prison gang theory of Epstein's death ...

Michael's new book, Canyon Dreams: A Basketball Season on the Navajo Nation ... Michael: "Rez ball" is defined by speed and fluid movement ... What life is like on the Navajo reservation ... The syncretism of traditional and Christian religion among the Navajo ... The waning of traditional Navajo culture and belief ... Why leaving the reservation can be so difficult ... What the basketball team means to the players and their families ... Has commercialization made sports better? ... The preposterous state of bigtime college sports ...

Jack's discovery that his stepfather Chuckie was illegally surveilled by the feds ... J. Edgar Hoover and the origins of FBI surveillance ... Robert F. Kennedy's war on Jimmy Hoffa ... Jack: Prosecutorial discretion is one of the government's most dangerous powers ... Jack's challenge to Bush's post-9/11 surveillance program ... How Chuckie's experience weighed on Jack's conscience ... Did the Bush administration fan the flames of fear to accomplish its goals? ... Jack offers some praise and criticism for Edward Snowden ...

Why Pope John Paul II did not like Roger's book Jesus Symbol of God ... Roger's new book, Faith and Evolution: Grace-Filled Naturalism ... The intractability of the problem of evil ... Ways to understand God not as a big person in the sky ... Is natural selection an instrument of divine creation? ... Roger's heterodox view of Jesus of Nazareth ... Roger's problem with original sin ... What is a "grace-filled naturalism"? ...

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Jack's new book, In Hoffa's Shadow ... Jimmy Hoffa's real accomplishments as a labor leader ... Chuckie O'Brien, Jack's stepfather and Hoffa's right-hand man ... The conventional story: Chuckie delivered Hoffa to his killers ... Jack's early belief in Chuckie's innocence and later estrangement from him ... Why Hoffa was killed ... Reasons to think Chuckie was falsely accused ... Why Chuckie has kept the code of omertà ... The mafia and moral relativism ...

Why many intelligent people think we're living in a simulation ... The philosophical argument that you're probably not real ... How cosmic rays might (and might not) reveal that reality is fake ... Preston's dire warning against trying to determine if we're in a simulation ... Is the simulation hypothesis non-falsifiable? ... Is "the simulation" just religion for atheists? ...

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