331 episodes

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

nonzero.substack.com

Robert Wright's Nonzero Nonzero

    • Society & Culture
    • 4.0 • 1 Rating

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

nonzero.substack.com

    Gaza, Biden, and Trump (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, Daniel Bessner)

    Gaza, Biden, and Trump (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, Daniel Bessner)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com

    00:43 The Nonzero-American Prestige apocalypse aversion project 2:02 Are Bob, Derek, and Danny surprised the Gaza war is still going on? 5:06 Biden’s simple political calculus on Gaza 13:42 Would Trump greenlight the ethnic cleansing of Gaza? 25:45 Israel’s plan (or lack thereof) for post-war Gaza 32:23 Heading to Overtime
    Overtime topics: 
    An inside view of The New Republic at its peak. Ideological engineering at The Atlantic. Russian sanctions and an antisemitic chill fall over Danny. Does “fascism” mean anything?
    (Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods)

    • 35 min
    GPT-4o, AI Companions, and the Metaverse (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

    GPT-4o, AI Companions, and the Metaverse (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com

    1:23 Bob’s sage status rises 4:18 GPT-4o: harbinger of the Metaverse? 13:53 Does sentience matter for AI companionship? 25:48 The promise and perils of social AI 33:46 How LLMs flip the script on computing 39:05 Heading to Overtime—and a special announcement!
    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 May 20, 2024.
    Overtime titles:
    43:10 AI and porn (through an evo-psych lens) 55:08 Is sex passé? 1:03:21 Google’s new AI-boosted search; Bob’s and Paul’s SEO prowess 1:10:30 Are the OpenAI resignations really a bad sign for AI safety? 1:14:31 Bob and Paul compare their p(doom)s 1:26:34 Sci-fi TV to see (and skip)

    • 43 min
    Overton Windows Ep. 4: Israel-Palestine After October 7

    Overton Windows Ep. 4: Israel-Palestine After October 7

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com

    4:08 How the Overton window is shifting after October 7 9:59 Israel’s 9/11, Israel’s overreaction, and liberal Zionism 15:22 The power of the Israel lobby
    Discussed in Overtime:How “pro-Israel” actions may undermine Israel.“From the river to the sea…” and other controversies.US and Israeli media coverage of the Gaza war.Free speech warriors turn speech code enforcers.
    Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Tamler Sommers (Very Bad Wizards, University of Houston, Why Honor Matters). Recorded May 14, 2024.
    Nonzero Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Very Bad Wizards: https://verybadwizards.com/

    • 26 min
    In Defense of AI Doomerism (Robert Wright & Liron Shapira)

    In Defense of AI Doomerism (Robert Wright & Liron Shapira)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com

    0:24 Why this pod’s a little odd 2:50 Ilya Sutskever and Jan Leike quit OpenAI—part of a larger pattern? 10:20 Bob: AI doomers need Hollywood 16:26 Does an AI arms race spell doom for alignment? 20:40 Why the “Pause AI” movement matters 24:54 AI doomerism and Don’t Look Up: compare and contrast 27:23 How Liron (fore)sees AI doom 33:18 Are Sam Altman’s concerns about AI safety sincere? 39:46 Paperclip maximizing, evolution, and the AI will to power question 51:34 Are there real-world examples of AI going rogue? 1:07:12 Should we really align AI to human values? 1:15:27 Heading to Overtime
    Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Liron Shapira (Pause AI, Relationship Hero). Recorded May 06, 2024. Additional segment recorded May 15, 2024.
    Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

    • 1 hr 17 min
    Has Antisemitism Surged? (Robert Wright & Eli Lake)

    Has Antisemitism Surged? (Robert Wright & Eli Lake)

    2:20 How Jews fit—or don’t—into universities’ DEI regimes 10:55 What do controversial pro-Palestine chants really mean? 18:24 When does criticism of Israel become antisemitic? 26:41 The Israel lobby’s influence on Congress and academia 34:13 Do pro-Israel donors unwittingly inflame antisemitism? 41:22 Evidence of increasing antisemitism 49:49 Was Ilhan Omar’s “all about the Benjamins” tweet antisemitic? 57:07 Bob criticizes Bari Weiss, Bill Ackman, and an Eli tweet 1:07:12 Balancing concerns about free speech and antisemitism 1:14:14 Are Israelis too fatalistic about antisemitism for their own good?
    Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Eli Lake (The New York Sun, Clements Center, The Re-Education, The Free Press). Recorded May 13, 2024.
    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 nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

    • 1 hr 18 min
    Are the Pro-Palestine Protests Working? (Earthling Unplugged)

    Are the Pro-Palestine Protests Working? (Earthling Unplugged)

    This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com

    Robert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling.
    Read this edition of the Earthling: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/protest-tips-from-boomers
    Recorded May 10, 2024.
    https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

    • 28 min

Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5
1 Rating

1 Rating

Top Podcasts In Society & Culture

I Said What I Said
Carousel Network
The HonestBunch Podcast
Glitch Africa
To My Sisters
Courtney Daniella Boateng & Renée Kapuku
Philosophize This!
Stephen West
What Now? with Trevor Noah
Spotify Studios
Stay By Plan
SBP Media

You Might Also Like

Very Bad Wizards
Tamler Sommers & David Pizarro
Decoding the Gurus
Christopher Kavanagh and Matthew Browne
The Glenn Show
Glenn Loury
The Dishcast with Andrew Sullivan
Andrew Sullivan
The Michael Shermer Show
Michael Shermer
The Good Fight
Yascha Mounk

More by Bloggingheads.tv

Bloggingheads.tv: Drezburt
Bloggingheads.tv
Culturally Determined
Aryeh Cohen-Wade
Bloggingheads.tv: The DMZ
Bloggingheads.tv
The Glenn Show
Glenn Loury
Bloggingheads.tv
Bloggingheads.tv