Robert Wright's Nonzero

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:15 The new NonZero World 1:24 Headlines 4:39 Stories of the week 17:22 Michael Brendan Dougherty on Pope Francis' foreign policy legacy 18:58 Michael: The pope should be a voice for peace 23:47 A European church no more 27:24 Michael: The Vatican went too far in deal with China 37:10 How the Holy See helped Obama reach out to Cuba 44:40 The pope's moral clarity on Gaza 48:47 A restrainer in the Vatican? Recorded April 25, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/trumps-speech-crackdown-makes-a-quantum https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Trump and Elon’s bad week = good news for Bob… 6:01 …but bad news for Canada's prime minister? 18:23 Trump’s crackdown on speech expands 29:28 Debating embryo-screening ethics 42:24 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 April 24, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Pratap’s bona fides 3:40 How Pratap ran afoul of Modi (and the price he paid) 13:17 Trump vs Modi: compare and contrast 24:14 India’s birth as a multi-ethnic state 38:09 Pratap on how we got Trump (and Modi) 48:45 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Pratap Bhanu Mehta (Indian Express, Princeton University, The Burden of Democracy). Recorded April 22, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Audio of the livestream titled “KOSMOPOLITIKA#2: Where Do We Belong?”—the latest installment in an ongoing (and evolving) collaboration between Nonzero and Psychopolitica. INTRODUCTIONS :4:14 Nikita: Leaving Russia. The psychedelic lineage. Humanity is a trip, not a species21:59 16 years ago, Boris took such a good nap after visiting a sacred Ancient Greek site that he still thinks about it 25:25 In The Dark Places of Wisdom: mystical practices at the root of Western civilization 26:57 What makes us feel we belong: identity & community 31:00 Humanity as a planetary force MEMBER PARTICIPATION PART: 39:15 What makes us feel we belong: values & norms 49:14 What makes us feel we belong: direct experience 52:26 Psychedelics & meditation in service of planetary identity 54:19 “To be” comes from the word "to grow", "am" & "is" from "to breath" 56:32 Rationalists 58:15 How Socrates got himself killed 1:04:30 What makes us feel we belong: awareness of inter-dependence 1:11:30 Gaia, humanity, and AI are 3 generations of planetary forces 1:15:32 Zizians. There's something to be said about dogma 1:17:47 “DMT, death, and nanobots are the same thing, somehow” 1:21:24 Humanity is still being born 1:23:21 Ideas are alive 1:25:59 JFK's "my fellow Americans" address, in which he casts the country as a peer to the citizen 1:30:13 VR brings us back into the body 1:34:33 The human experience is an image that arises from the play of ideas and matter 1:38:30 Agency found in choosing one's metaphors 1:42:15 Ta-Nehisi Coates's The Message 1:47:52 Homeric rhapsodes 1:52:34 Conversation as distributed thinking Nikita Petrov, and Boris Shoshitaishvili. Recorded April 14, 2025. https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Ron violates retirement dress code 2:25 Trump’s “antisemitism crackdown" 14:28 Is the Israel lobby bad for American Jews? 21:53 The disturbing Tufts detention case 28:59 Why don’t more progressive Jews call out the Israel lobby? 34:24 How bad journalism makes antisemitism worse 45:53 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Ron Kampeas (https://ronkampeas.substack.com, Jewish Telegraphic Agency). Recorded April 17, 2025.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Sam's theory of (some of) Trump's tariffs 18:09 The bad scenario and the less bad scenario 22:58 Scott Bessent's radicalism 25:58 Will Trump display the art of the deal? 28:57 China's trade-war strengths 31:48 An intentional end to American hegemony? 36:10 Sam’s defense of chip restrictions 40:28 Heading into Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Samuel Hammond (Foundation for American Innovation, https://www.secondbest.ca/). Recorded April 14, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 Sina's hopes for this weekend's US-Iran talks 4:25 Trump's two-month clock starts ticking 7:09 Iran's growing nuclear leverage 11:20 Trump the dealmaker vs Trump the warmonger 19:14 The myth of a "surgical" military campaign against Iran 28:44 The resurgence of Iran's reformist camp Recorded April 11, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/tariffs-tech-and-the-view-from-china https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Paul is Bob's worthwhile Canadian initiative 4:34 The psycho-logic of Trump’s tariff strategy 15:35 Has Trump exposed structural flaws in America? 21:09 Is Musk saying Navarro is dumber than Ivanka? 28:09 On incest 38:35 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 April 09, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Milton’s epic new comic, “Orson Welles: Warrior of the Worlds” 4:04 Comics culture, then and now 14:02 The real story behind the faux War of the Worlds broadcast 22:07 Why Milton was drawn to Orson Welles 33:33 What (or who) really derailed Welles’s career? 40:07 Will Milton's comic go multimedia? 44:23 Heading to Overtime—with Bob in the hot seat Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Milton Lawson (https://milton.substack.com/, Orson Welles: Warrior of the Worlds). Recorded March 24, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Audio of the livestream titled “The Psychopolitics of the Noosphere,” the first installment in an ongoing—and evolving—collaboration between Nonzero and Psychopolitica. Robert Wright, Nikita Petrov, and Boris Shoshitaishvili. Recorded April 4, 2025. https://psychopolitica.substack.com/ https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 The pro-tariff argument: national security, jobs, and leverage 6:58 The four factions shaping US trade policy 11:43 Karthik’s core critique of Trump’s tariff policy 16:18 How tariffs could block development pathways for poor countries 22:52 Is Trump blaming foreign countries for America's own policy mistakes? 30:19 A brutal week for Vietnam Recorded April 04, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/elon-musks-nasa-takeover https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Reid's new book, "Superagency: What Could Possibly Go Right with Our AI Future" 8:56 Managing technological transitions 16:33 Using AI to build cognitive empathy 20:25 Shaping the coming AI earthquake 29:02 Reid's notion of "co-opetition" with China 40:06 Geopolitics and AI development 44:53 The US chip war on China 50:01 Heading into Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Reid Hoffman (Greylock Partners, Inflection AI, Impromptu, Superagency). Recorded March 26, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Almut’s first-hand acquaintance with authoritarianism 2:24 Trump 2.0’s authoritarian hallmarks 19:37 What should worry us most about Trump 2.0? 26:15 Trump 2.0 vs post-Soviet oligarchy: compare and contrast 33:08 Is Trump an ethno-nationalist? 39:02 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Almut Rochowanski (The Quincy Institute, https://discomfortzone.substack.com/). Recorded April 1, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 The dueling camps in right-wing foreign policy 10:25 Lessons from the Signal snafu 15:42 Are hawks dominating Trump's foreign policy team? 22:58 Can Congress prevent a war with Iran? 31:13 A "smear campaign" against Danny Davis Recorded March 28, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/the-untold-stories-of-the-signal https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Bob and Paul duel over their sleep deficits 5:16 Trump’s Tesla-friendly tariffs 13:16 Who’s favo(u)red to win the Canadian election? 19:56 Tufts and Columbia as authoritarian bellwethers 31:16 Did Bob predict MAGA in 1999? 38:49 God vs Hitler 46:21 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 March 27, 2025.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 The new JFK documents dump 5:15 The conflict between JFK and the CIA 8:34 The Pentagon false flag plan that JFK vetoed 13:30 How CIA funding shaped the Oswald narrative 17:22 James Jesus Angleton’s handling of Oswald 32:55 Some lies told by CIA officials 42:14 Files the CIA still won’t release Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jefferson Morley (https://jfkfacts.substack.com/, Snow-Storm in August). Recorded March 26, 2024. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:30 Will Trump get locked into war in Yemen? 8:27 Competing instincts in Trump’s foreign policy team 11:16 How should the restraint movement respond to Trump? 15:11 Justin: Trump's pitch-perfect approach to Europe 23:13 What happens if Trump pulls US troops from Europe? Recorded March 20, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/trumps-israel-first-agenda https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Ross’s new book, Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious 7:17 An argument for cosmic purpose 14:59 The mysterious persistence of weird s**t 18:34 Does human consciousness point to something bigger? 24:33 Tensions between science and Christian orthodoxy 28:03 A few more words about consciousness 34:50 A few more words about weirdness 41:56 Why doesn’t the weirdness show up in controlled studies? 48:44 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Ross Douthat (The New York Times, The Decadent Society, Believe). Recorded March 18, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Jeet’s plans for Canadian resistance 3:30 Trump 2.0: Making “autarkic imperialism” great again? 12:01 The hidden logic of Trump’s tariffs 20:19 The historical roots of Trumpism 34:56 How Trump won the GOP civil war 43:36 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jeet Heer (The Nation). Recorded March 18, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:29 Connor’s Cuba adventure 1:41 Chinese-owned Manus AI makes waves 8:35 Is Manus just a fancy ‘wrapper’ for US AI? 15:20 Why Manus makes global AI cooperation more urgent 23:39 Can Trump deport a green card holder over political speech? 34:58 Making sense of Trump's Ukraine strategy Recorded March 14, 2025. Read this week's edition of the Earthling: https://www.nonzero.org/p/the-real-message-from-chinas-latest https://twitter.com/NonzeroNews https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods