Robinson's Podcast

Timothy Snyder holds the inaugural Temerty Chair in Modern European History at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Snyder’s work has appeared in forty languages and has received a number of prizes, including the Emerson Prize in the Humanities. Snyder was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, has received the Carnegie and Guggenheim fellowships, and holds state orders from Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland. He is researching a family history of nationalism and finishing a philosophical book about freedom. In this episode, Robinson and Timothy discuss the future of the United States. More particularly, they delve into AI, rebellion, conspiracy theory, our relationship with Russia and Ukraine, Donald Trump, and more. Timothy’s most recent book is On Freedom (Crown, 2024).

Timothy’s Website: https://timothysnyder.org

On Freedom: https://timothysnyder.org/books/

OUTLINE

00:00 Will the United States Cease to Exist?

13:47 Is Trump Breaking the United States Apart?

21:09 Will AI Prevent Armed Rebellion Against the Government?

30:20 Trump, Conspiracy Theories, and the Politics of Small Numbers

39:46 Putin Does Not Think Ukraine Is Real

45:57 What Are Trump’s Soft Spots?

50:26 How Tim Organizes His Thought

57:59 Donald Trump and the Superloser

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s eleventh appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In this episode, Richard and Robinson discuss the ongoing war in Iran, as well as the war in Russia and Ukraine, our cold war with China, and the future possibilities of World War III. Richard’s latest book is Understanding Capitalism (Democracy at Work, 2024).

Understanding Capitalism (Book): https://www.democracyatwork.info/understanding_capitalism

Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com

Economic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdate

OUTLINE

00:00 China, Iran, and the Implosion of the West

13:00 The Irreconcilable Gulf Between Russia and the West

16:01 Europe’s Hard World War II Lesson

21:20 Europe’s Final Collapse Is Coming

28:42 How China Is Methodically Conquering the World

35:44 Russia’s Siberian Advantage

39:15 Marx, War, and Economic Decline

52:39 Why Iran Will Always Control the Strait of Hormuz

01:02:02 How the United States Already Failed in Iran

01:06:37  What the United States Can Learn from the Collapse of the British Empire

01:12:19 Why the War in Iran Will Not Lead to Nuclear War

01:14:44 John Mearsheimer’s Escalation Ladder and the Threat of Nuclear War in Russia

01:29:53 What Would World War Look Like in the 21st Century?

01:36:17 Donald Trump, The Isolator

01:41:40 The Sad Legacy of the League of Nations

01:51:04 Is World War III Inevitable?

Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among many other topics. This is Michael’s Seventh appearance on the show. On past episodes, including with Richard Wolff, he and Robinson have neoliberalism, industrial capitalism, the rentier economy, Marxism, and the role of economics in political history. In this episode, Michael and Robinson talk about debt and the destruction of empires. Michael’s most recent book is Temples of Enterprise (ISLET, 2024). 

Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.com

Temples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dm

OUTLINE

00:00 Keeping Governments Under Control

07:01 Understanding the Church

17:27 Why Debts Grow Too Fast to Be Paid

22:57 Understanding the BRICS

26:50 How Can Countries Get Rich?

32:47 Where Is the United States’ Debt Dragging Us?

46:26 Why Michael Hudson Is Not a Mainstream Economist

48:59 The Historical Approach to Economics

01:06:01 Controlling Governments Through Tax Policy

01:23:55 How Michael Researches

01:33:31 The Myth of Economic Rent

01:38:47 The United States’ Hereditary Oligarchy

01:41:04 Why the United States Can’t Go Bankrupt

01:44:42 Closing Thoughts

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. Jacob Barandes is Senior Preceptor in Physics at Harvard University, where he works widely across the philosophy of physics, with focuses on the foundations of quantum mechanics, the philosophy of spacetime, and the metaphysics of laws. In this episode, Robinson, Jacob, and David discuss Jacob’s novel Indivisibility Approach to quantum mechanics. After beginning with an introduction from David, the conversation touches on the measurement problem, completeness, scientific realism, the purpose of physics, and more. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

Jacob’s Website: https://www.jacobbarandes.com

A Guess at the Riddle: https://a.co/d/6qcsidl

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 The Problem with the Wave Function

05:30 The Indivisibility Approach

17:28 What Is Indivisibility?

25:13 The Measurement Problem

32:18 The Incompleteness of Jacob’s Theory

42:20 Completing the Theory

47:12 Realism in Quantum Mechanics

01:03:13 The Fundamental Task of Physics

01:10:57 The Structure of the Indivisibility Theory

01;22:26 Summarizing and Calculating

01:40:01 The Game of Fundamental Physics

01:46:31 Can Bohmian Mechanics Work?

01:56:26 A Version Including David’s Theory

02:04:49 What Is the Wave Function?

02:15:33 Where We’ve Ended Up

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist and Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University. Paul works on quantum mechanics, astrophysics, and cosmology, with emphasis on the origin and early stages of the universe, the quantum properties of black holes and the nature of time. He is interested in the nature and origin of life – including extraterrestrial life – beyond Earth, and in complex systems. In this episode of Robinson’s Podcast, Paul and Robinson discuss the second revolution in quantum mechanics. Among other things, they dig into the origin of quantum theory, how we should interpret it, various quarks of quantum physics, such as teleportation and entanglement, quantum computing, and more. Paul’s recent book is Quantum 2.0 (Pelican, 2025).

Quantum 2.0: https://a.co/d/0ckzsWav

OUTLINE

00:00 Why Quantum Mechanics?

11:59 How Should We Interpret Quantum Mechanics?

22:22 Complexity and Quantum Theory

30:59 What Will Be the Next Quantum Revolution?

39:59 The Next Generation of Quantum Technology?

49:47 Can Quantum Teleportation Move Macroscopic Objects?

52:47 Supercomputers vs Quantum Computers

01:04:16 The Fine-Tuning Problem?

01:12:37 Do We Have a Scientific Theory of Life?

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Priyamvada Natarajan is the Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics at Yale University, where she is also the Chair of Astronomy. Priya researches broadly across astrophysics and cosmology; some topics she has worked on include gravitational lensing, black hole physics, the philosophy of science, and dark matter. In this conversation, Priya and Robinson largely stick to the latter. They discuss her interest in cosmology writ large, as well as how the scientific community tackles the unknown. Priya’s most recent book is Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas that Reveal the Cosmos (Yale, 2016).

Mapping the Heavens: https://a.co/d/02HPcMB1

OUTLINE

00:00 A Paradox of Cosmology

06:16 Investigating Invisibilia

11:25 The Sociology of Astrophysics

16:52 Phenomenology in Physics

19:47 What Is the Mystery of Dark Matter?

29:07 The Problem of Dark Energy

36:38 Models and Simulations

46:17 Modifying the Standard Model to Explain Dark Matter

58:20 The Crisis in Dark Matter

01:12:22 Alternative Explanations of Dark Matter

01:19:51 Fine-Tuning and the Multiverse

01:25:24 Black Holes

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. In this episode, Robinson and Tim discuss the nature of philosophy. More particularly, they discuss philosophy’s origin, its connections to physics, what characterizes some of its well-known sub disciplines, and some of its biggest problems. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.

Tim’s Website: www.tim-maudlin.site

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 The Beginning of Philosophy

06:53 Where Physics and Philosophy Diverged

14:07 Quantum Gravity

18:30 Physicists and Philosophers on Space and Time

23:10 Is Metaphysics Different From Physics?

34:54 Why Don’t Universities Have Departments of Metaphysics?

49:27 Are Numbers Real?

01:07:50 What Are Continental and Analytic Philosophy?

01:14:58 The Age-Old Puzzle of the Statue and the Clay

01:28:05 What Is Epistemology?

01:38:57 Is the World Around Us an Illusion?

01:49:13 What Are the Biggest Open Problems in Philosophy?

01:57:00 A John Bell Institute Update

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Craig Callender is Professor of Philosophy and Co-Director of the Institute for Practical Ethics at UC San Diego, where he is a leading philosopher of science and physics. Craig also appeared on episode 73, in which he and Robinson discussed pseudoscience and conspiracy theories, and epidote 114, where he, Robinson, and Tim Maudlin discussed the philosophy of time, including the reality of the past, present, and future, the direction of time, its relationship to relativity and quantum mechanics, and time travel. In this episode, Robinson and Craig turn to a different assortment of topics. They talk about disinformation, lab-grown meat, de-extinction, scientific communication, quantum mechanics, and the Tolman-Ehrenfest Effect.

Craig’s Website: https://www.craigcallender.com

OUTLINE

00:00 Craig’s Interest in Lab-Grown Meat

04:25 Disinformation and the Philosophy of Science

18:18 The Root of the Error

23:43 The Importance of Science Communication

31:12 What Is De-Extinction?

47:28 What Is the Tolman-Ehrenfest Effect?

1:00:00 Tolman-Ehrenfest, Continued

01:15:07 A Philosopher’s Perspective

01:23:05 What Is The Problem with Quantum Mechanics?

01:24:56 What’s the Best Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics?

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Nate Soares is the President of the Machine Intelligence Research Institute, and plays a central role in setting MIRI’s vision and strategy. Soares has been working in the field for over a decade, and is the author of a large body of technical and semi-technical writing on AI alignment, including foundational work on value learning, decision theory, and power-seeking incentives in smarter-than-human AIs. Prior to MIRI, Soares worked as an engineer at Google and Microsoft, as a research associate at the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and as a contractor for the US Department of Defense. In this episode, Nate and Robinson discuss the problems of AI from the ground up. They touch on how AI is trained, why it will surpass human intelligence, why this is dangerous, how it could wipe out humankind, and more. Nate’s recent book, co-written with Eliezer Yudkowsky, is If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies (Little, Brown and Company, 2025).

If Anyone Builds It, Everyone Dies

Nate’s X: https://x.com/So8res

MIRI: https://intelligence.org

OUTLINE

00:00 Nate’s Existential Dread

07:11 What’s the REAL Problem with Artificial Intelligence?

11:39 How Is AI Trained?

17:15 The Vital Importance of Interpreting AI

20:53 Why AI Will Soon Surpass Human Intelligence

32:58 Why Solving the AI Alignment Problem is Crucial to Human Survival

38:40 Will AI Render Human Software Engineers Obsolete?

48:03 Does It Make Sense to Say AI Has Goals?

01:00:02 Why AI Consciousness Is Unimportant

01:11:33 How, Realistically, Could AI Wipe Out Humanity?

01:35:27 A Sci-Fi (But Realistic) AI Doomsday Scenario

01:44:34 Is There Hope that Humans Will Survive AI?

Norman's Upcoming Book, Gaza's Gravediggers: https://orbooks.com/catalog/gazas-gravediggers/

Norman Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department, and is best known for his research on Israel and Palestine.  Norman also appeared on episodes 192, 218, 228, 244, and 250, where he addressed the facts and fictions generated by the Israel-Hamas War, October 6th, allegations of genocide and apartheid, Hezbollah, the Holocaust, and more. In this episode, Robinson and Norman discuss Trump, Netanyahu, Putin, the wars in Ukraine and Iran, and more. Norman’s new book is Gaza’s Gravediggers: An Inquiry into Corruption in High Places (OR Books, 2026).

Norman’s Website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com

OUTLINE

00:00 No Investigation, No Right to Speak

02:15 Why the War with Iran is Unjustified

09:07 Israel Violated Article II of the UN Charter

13:44 Will the Iran War the End the World in Nuclear War?

21:03 Why Trump Is Underestimating Iran

30:55 How Israel and the United States Tried to Deceive the World About Iran

38:27 Is Israel’s Mentality “Homicidal”?

44:43 What’s Less Justified: Putin’s War on Ukraine or Netanyahu’s on Iran?

01:00:00 More on Ukraine

01:12:31 What Should We Make of Joe Kent?

01:21:00 More on Kent

Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.