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Robert Wright's Nonzero

Nonzero

Conversations with a series of people who have nothing in common except that program host Robert Wright is curious about what they’re thinking.

www.nonzero.org
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  • 33 episodes
  • a few times a week
  • Avg 1 hr 1 min
  • English

Episodes 33

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  • July 10 · 54 min

    Iran, Israel, and the Future of US Power (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, and Daniel Bessner)

    0:28 Sneak peek: Danny finds flaw in Bob’s AI book 1:42 Is the Iran war fully back on? 6:23 What the war means for the future of US power 19:16 The problem with blaming Bibi 23:33 The push to intertwine the US and Israeli militaries 35:33 What’s Israel’s endgame for the Palestinians? 39:51 The Gulf States’ new reality 45:44 Iran’s plans for the Strait of Hormuz 52:18 Bob’s pitch to Derek—and his other pitch to listeners 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 July 09, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods 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

  • July 7 · 45 min

    Are Russia and NATO Headed for War? (Robert Wright & Leonid Ragozin)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Leonid’s journalistic work, past and present 1:32 Are Russia and NATO headed for war? 14:23 Decoding Putin’s recent signals 21:29 Do European leaders really want the Ukraine war to end? 22:42 Putin’s political psychology 37:11 Why the war matters more to Russia than to the West 39:50 Russia’s non-ethno nationalism 43:11 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Leonid Ragozin (Rest of World, West of Providence, Lonely Planet). Recorded July 06, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

  • July 2 · 47 min

    Are Books Dead? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Preview: Skynet comes for Bob 5:34 Trump‘s endearing AI obsession 7:15 Are books dying? Is AI responsible? 18:52 Skynet (aka Amazon) vs Bob’s book 28:09 The problem with blurbs 33:49 Why Gad Saad’s mad 44:00 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 July 1, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Join NonZero’s Discord server: https://discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF

  • June 30 · 1 hr 23 min

    Is AI Humanity’s Last Exam? (Robert Wright, Curt Mills, and Andrew Day)

    0:28 Grandpa Bob and author Bob 3:54 Why Bob stopped being an AI doom skeptic 7:23 Can AI solve China’s demographic crisis? 14:33 The irony of China’s open-source AI strategy 17:36 Recursive self-improvement and the singularity 23:57 The Burkean conservative case against AI 38:24 Are we becoming AI meat puppets? 46:56 Google Maps, AI, and the death of interhuman reliance 51:48 Was Pete Hegseth’s military strategy written by a chatbot? 57:09 Trump and Iran: Peace? Wider war? Other? 1:10:58 The Rubio-Vance rivalry 1:17:46 Is Rubio sabotaging Iran peace talks? Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Andrew Day (The American Conservative), Curt Mills (The American Conservative). Recorded June 29, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods 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

  • June 26 · 1 hr 2 min

    The God Test: Why artificial intelligence may require a moral upgrade (Executive Functions Chat w/ Jack Goldsmith)

    (Description via Executive Functions Chat podcast) Jack chats with Robert Wright about his forthcoming book, The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. They discuss why Wright views AI through an evolutionary lens, the promises and perils of increasingly capable AI systems, and the prospects for international cooperation—particularly between the U.S. and China—in managing AI-related risks. They also examine Wright’s argument that successfully governing AI may require a modest moral upgrade across society, including individual efforts to preserve cognitive sovereignty and mitigate the biases and tribal instincts that can hinder global cooperation. Mentioned: * Robert Wright, The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning (2026) * “When AI Builds Itself” (Anthropic, June 4, 2026) * “US National Security Agency using Anthropic’s Mythos for cyber attacks,” by Cristina Criddle and Demetri Sevastopulo (Financial Times, June 4, 2026) * “Promoting Advanced Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Security,” (The White House, June 2, 2026) 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

  • June 24 · 38 min

    AI and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning (Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Bob’s pub-day pitch for his new book on AI, The God Test 1:28 Is AI killing the nonfiction star? 5:56 Geoffrey Hinton’s path from AI evangelist to doomer 9:51 The future of books 19:12 Trump vs Anthropic 23:27 Are Ukrainian drone strikes rattling Putin? 32:31 The multiple Putins theory 35:28 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com). Recorded June 23, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Join NonZero's Discord server: https://discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF

  • June 18 · 50 min

    The World After the Iran War (Robert Wright & Joshua Landis)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Was “losing” this war good for America? 6:26 Israel’s post-war situation 9:59 A more stable Middle East? Or less? 18:07 The impact on Iran’s strength 21:43 Has the war empowered Russia and China? 24:39 How modern warfare devalues American military power 27:41 Josh: The Gulf-state power struggle is just beginning 40:48 Are the Palestinians back in the spotlight? 45:35 Where do Israel-US relations go from here? 48:29 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Joshua Landis (University of Oklahoma, SyriaComment.com). Recorded June 17, 2026.

  • June 17 · 52 min

    The US-China AI Race (Robert Wright & Ryan Fedasiuk)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 A brief message from Bob 1:39 Ryan’s tech policy bona fides 4:17 Is true “recursive self-improvement” near? 9:04 AI agents as strategic empathy machines 15:15 Is a global AI pause possible? 23:29 Mutually assured destruction vs mutually assured AI malfunction 35:14 The case against global AI governance 38:53 Mythos as seen from China 50:39 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Ryan Fedasiuk (The American Enterprise Institute). Recorded June 08, 2026.

  • June 11 · 50 min

    The AI Lobby’s Dirty Tricks (Robert Wright & Tyler Johnston)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 2:21 The Midas Project and the OpenAI files 11:57 What’s “Build American AI” up to? 20:38 Nathan Leamer, astroturfer and sock puppeteer 28:42 Greg Brockman, AI lobby bankroller 34:51 Astroturfing the China panic 39:29 Is OpenAI an innocent bystander? 48:09 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Tyler Johnston (The Midas Project). Recorded June 09, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

  • June 10 · 52 min

    The Secret of AI’s Power (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Whose baby is cuter? 3:13 Bob’s new book on AI, The God Test 10:16 Varieties of AI awe 13:47 Geoffrey Hinton’s vision 18:14 How LLMs do more than predict and parrot 21:44 How powerful will AI get? 26:20 Can AI’s impact be predicted? 31:12 Taking doomerism seriously 3817 The AI governance dilemma 49:06 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 June 3, 2026.

  • June 4 · 46 min

    Seeing China Clearly (Robert Wright & Tianyu Fang)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 How Tianyu became a “China explainer” 2:59 American vs Chinese exceptionalism 7:53 What you can and can’t say in China 18:16 Is the government more accountable in the US or China? 26:47 How China sees America 36:16 The one-child policy and its consequences 42:37 Tianyu: The biggest misconception about China is… 46:04 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Tianyu Fang (New America). Recorded June 02, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Join NonZero's Discord server: https://discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF

  • June 2 · 1 hr 48 min

    AI, Evolution, and The God Test (Increments Podcast w/ Ben Chugg, Vaden Masrani, and Robert Wright)

    (Description via Increments Podcast:) Did you ever see the video of two regular people trying to fight Eddie Hall, the strongest man on earth? Ben and Vaden bring that same energy to this conversation, where they gang up on Robert Wright on the subject of his forthcoming book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. Bob is a sport about it (well, there was no choice really: we have an advanced copy of his book that we’re holding hostage) and there are only one or two black eyes by the end. Subscribe to Robert Wright’s podcasting empire NonZero on youtube and substack. And go buy one of his many books. We discuss * Whether Bob was the OG podcaster * Is there a directionality to evolution? * Where Bob is on the AI fear and awe spectrum * Whether LLMs have decoded the meaning in language * Is AI best viewed as a tool or as superintelligence? * AI-as-slingshot analogy References * The God Test by Robert Wright * Nonzero by Robert Wright * William Paley and his pocket watch * The Blind Watchmaker by Richard Dawkins * Our conversation with Scott Aaronson Recorded April 28th, 2026. 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

  • May 29 · 35 min

    Trump’s Iran War Merry-Go-Round (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, and Daniel Bessner)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Is NonZero or American Prestige the better podcast? AI weighs in 4:38 The state of the US-Iran war. Or is it peace? 18:16 Has Trump already lost the midterms? Does he care? 24:40 The Russia-Ukraine war (and Eric Schmidt) 29:47 What the latest Iran war strikes signal 31:28 Overtime preview: Nuland’s “monsters,” zombie blobsters, Barak Ravid, Bari Weiss, “killzones,” and the Pope vs AI 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 May 28, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Showing 21–33 of 33 episodes