Robert Wright's Nonzero

Nonzero

4.6 (584)
PHILOSOPHY
UPDATED SEMIWEEKLY

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

1D AGO

How We Mishandled the Covid Pandemic (Robert Wright & Stephen Macedo)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Steve’s book In Covid’s Wake: How Our Politics Failed Us 10:26 Were school closures smart policy? 17:48 The mask mandate question 23:57 Did medical experts get too much say? 30:24 The role of social class and political tribe 37:17 How dissent was suppressed 45:23 Bob takes a jab at Jay Bhattacharya 48:16 Heading to OT: Why Steve wrote the book Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Stephen Macedo (Princeton University, In Covid’s Wake). Recorded September 16, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

55 min
3D AGO

Why the Israel-Palestine Conflict Persists (Robert Wright & Robert Malley)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 The deal Hamas offered Bibi before October 7 12:14 How October 7 changed the landscape 22:58 Why Clinton’s Camp David talks failed 38:08 What Arafat was actually offered at Camp David 46:25 The centrality of the right of return 51:59 Beyond two states 56:21 Heading into OT: Abandoning false optimism is not pessimism Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Robert Malley (Yale - Jackson School of Global Affairs, Tomorrow is Yesterday). Recorded September 23, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

1h 1m
SEP 26

Two Visions of AI Apocalypse (Robert Wright & David Krueger)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:00 How Eliezer Yudkowsky’s new book envisions AI takeover 8:24 Will we ever really know how AI works? 15:10 The “paperclip maximizer” problem revisited 26:13 Will advanced AIs be insatiable? 31:39 David’s alternative takeover scenario: gradual disempowerment 43:31 Can—and should—we keep humans in the loop? 51:46 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and David Krueger (The University of Montréal). Recorded September 24, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

57 min
SEP 23

Israel, Gaza, and Free Speech in America (Robert Wright & Glenn Loury)

0:30 Glenn’s latest book, Self-Censorship 3:55 Why the Manhattan Institute dropped Glenn 13:25 Glenn on Gaza: “I can’t bear it.” 26:52 “Genocide” and other Israel speech code flashpoints 36:26 Has Trump’s anti-antisemitism push chilled campus speech? 42:30 The irony of the antisemitism crackdown 50:48 A few kind and less kind words for Bari Weiss 56:10 Are Israel’s defenders hurting their cause? 1:01:49 Glenn’s next big project Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Glenn Loury (https://glennloury.substack.com/, Brown University, Hoover Institution, Late Admissions). Recorded September 15, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Glenn's Substack: 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

1h 4m
SEP 19

Free Speech After Charlie Kirk (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Free speech after Charlie Kirk 20:28 Tyler Robinson’s strange messages 28:20 How influential was Kirk? 35:59 Do violent video games encourage violence? 48:31 Overtime topics: Paul’s debate triumph, Redford’s legacy, etc. 55:32 Heading into 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 September 18, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

56 min
SEP 16

Tribalism and the Charlie Kirk Killing (Robert Wright & Glenn Loury)

0:28 How this conversation came to be 1:59 What surprised Glenn most about the Kirk killing 8:02 Who (or what) is driving our polarization? 17:03 Cognitive empathy for MAGA 2451 Reacting to Charlie Kirk on affirmative action 43:58 Are we re-running the 1960s? 51:14 Coming up in part 2: Israel-Gaza Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Glenn Loury (https://glennloury.substack.com/, Brown University, Late Admissions, Self-Censorship). Recorded September 15, 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 www.nonzero.org/subscribe

52 min
SEP 12

The Motives of the AI Moguls (Robert Wright & Holly Elmore)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Has the pace of AI progress slowed? 12:25 How the tech CEOs are learning to stop worrying 14:34 Mark Zuckerberg 23:12 Sam Altman 30:23 OpenAI’s attempt to shed its non-profit status 53:29 Dario Amodei 59:51 Heading into Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Holly Elmore (PauseAI US). Recorded September 11, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

1h 3m
SEP 10

Trump’s Epstein Problem and His Authoritarian Slide (Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov)

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 "Would Putin send a weird sexually suggestive birthday greeting to a famous affluent well-connected pedophile?" 5:55 Decoding Trump's message in the greeting 13:19 Conspiracy theories vs official silence 19:14 Why is Ezra Klein content with "We'll never know"? 24:42 Why no president wants to release the Epstein files 26:50 Ghislaine names Clinton and Larry Summers 33:57 Does Epstein kill faith in democracy? 39:07 Trump vs. Putin: Authoritarian playbooks compared 43:18 Will Trumpism outlive Trump? 49:54 David Sacks embraces strongman tactics 56:36 How war changes everything overnight 1:00:59 Trump's Mexico invasion fantasy 1:05:33 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com). Recorded September 09, 2025. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

1h 8m

See All (510)

4.6

out of 5

584 Ratings

Nuance and Wisdom in Every Episode

Aug 29

SnailPal

Robert Wright is a rare voice of true intellectual depth and curiosity. He brings nuance, clarity, and thoughtfulness to complex topics that too often get oversimplified elsewhere. Every conversation feels like an opportunity to learn something meaningful and see the world from a wiser perspective. This is one of the most consistently informative and rewarding podcasts out there.
Poor audio quality

Sep 17

billkee

I love Bob Wright and found his Buddhism book transformational for my life. I don’t understand why this podcast has such worse audio quality than almost any other. Is it a poor quality microphone? I want this feedback to get to the producers so they can fix it.
If only

Sep 6

NicolasAJD

This would be a lot better if at least some episodes were completely free and if Wright didn’t constantly interrupt his interlocutors to derail the conversation.
Refreshing

Aug 1

Sailormoon1485

I love this show because, besides being interesting and enjoyable to listen to generally, it doesn’t feel dogmatic. Even perspectives I agree with totally become cloying when every single word is in service of adhering to that viewpoint.

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