Nonzero

Robert Wright's Nonzero

A Philosophy , Society & Culture and News podcast

#24 in Philosophy · 🇮🇪 #26 in Philosophy · 🇸🇬

About the show

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

Newest episodes

The Age of Big Math (Robert Wright & Steven Strogatz)

Nov 9, 2026 58 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Steve’s new book, Big Math: The Hidden Codes that Run Our World 3:43 What is “big math”? And why do we need it? 11:38 The key to the neural network’s power 18:25 AI’s black box problem 23:44 Is human insight going extinct? 32:26 How math has continually changed humanity 42:59 Insight via 100 ants 51:09 The intersecting origins of network theory and a jazz legend 57:26Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Steven Strogatz (Cornell University, Infinite Powers, Big Math). Recorded October 13, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

The Age of Imperialist Realism (Robert Wright & Daniel Bessner)

Nov 5, 2026 54 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:24 Bob and Danny get experimental 3:20 Danny’s new(ish) book, Imperialist Realism 12:37 Is US imperialism natural? 16:27 America vs other empires 26:13 The three features of imperialist realism 39:46 When did US foreign policy turn cynical? 48:22 Imperialist realism: the video game 52:44 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Daniel Bessner (American Prestige, Imperialist Realism, University of Washington). Recorded October 12, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

UNLOCKED: Debating the AI-China Question (Robert Wright & Jeremie Harris)

Nov 5, 2026 1 hr 12 min

This is the public release of the Overtime segment from the episode “The Race to Control AI” with Jeremie Harris originally published October 13, 2026. Titles: Bob’s beef with “kumbaya. ”Will it take an AI Chernobyl to convince the skeptics? Is China-hawkism the safest option?The case for “organic transparency” with China. How alignment progress could backfire. Has China infiltrated US tech? Breaking down Dario’s democracy bloc idea. Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jeremie Harris (Gladstone AI, Last Week in AI). Recorded October 10, 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

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All episodes

The newest 50 of 623 episodes

The Age of Big Math (Robert Wright & Steven Strogatz)

Nov 9, 2026 58 min

The Age of Imperialist Realism (Robert Wright & Daniel Bessner)

Nov 5, 2026 54 min

UNLOCKED: Debating the AI-China Question (Robert Wright & Jeremie Harris)

Nov 5, 2026 1 hr 12 min

When AI Enters the Quantum World (Robert Wright & Scott Aaronson)

Nov 3, 2026 1 hr 7 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Scott’s diverse portfolio of expertise 2:24 Is AI hastening the quantum computing revolution? 9:29 Interpreting the many-worlds interpretation 12:46 Scott tries to make quantum physics coherent 22:04 Many-worlds vs Bohmian mechanics 28:37 Could quantum computing settle quantum questions? 32:49 The Y2K of quantum computing 39:25 Are Bitcoin’s days numbered? 45:44 Why AI scares Scott more than quantum computing 53:43 What kind of AI pause is practical? 59:16 The AI-China question(s) 1:06:01 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Scott Aaronson (University of Texas, Quantum Computing Since Democritus). Recorded November 03, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Is an AI Bubble Bursting? (Robert Wright & Liron Shapira)

Oct 31, 2026 1 hr 20 min

0:28 Nonzero Doom returns 3:35 A foom in slow motion 8:16 Is AI winter canceled forever? 11:02 Will Google’s Genie 4 lure us into the Matrix? 17:23 Liron’s bull case for Google stock 25:03 Does Google have big-company disease? 28:57 Could a slowdown actually help Anthropic and OpenAI? 30:41 Was OpenAI’s “pause” just PR? 40:30 Social science judgment day is coming 47:41 Why even AI’s upsides could tear society apart 51:41 Does OpenAI’s alignment approach improve on Asimov? 55:35 Sam and Satya pivot on alignment 59:03 Crypto and the AI hacking threat 1:04:11 Could AI crack the math behind encryption? 1:09:21 Liron’s $1,000-a-day AI coding habit 1:15:52 Explaining the missing productivity boost 1:17:55 Does Anthropic’s S-1 sink the AI bubble thesis? Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Liron Shapira (Pause AI, Doom Debates). Recorded October 30, 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

Is Nathan Fielder a Creep? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Oct 30, 2026 46 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Paul attains potato hegemony 4:17 Bob’s book: Gateway drug to AI doomerism? 7:39 Nathan Fielder’s view of Elizabeth Holmes (via Paul) 22:24 Bob TORCHES Fielder 33:59 Are art and artist really separable? 38:47 What Trump and Musk say about our times 44:17 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 October 27, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Netanyahu Fails to Provoke Iranian Attack Pre-Election (Robert Wright, Andrew Day, and Curt Mills)

Oct 27, 2026 1 hr 23 min

Andrew Day and Curt Mills of The American Conservative join Robert Wright to talk about the Israeli elections, Benjamin Netanyahu’s escalating rhetorical belligerence, Iran’s strategic calculations and arguable missteps, President Lula’s surprise victory in Brazil, and U.S.-China competition over AI. Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Curt Mills (The American Conservative), Andrew Day (The American Conservative). Recorded October 26, 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

Humanity: An Earth’s-Eye View (Robert Wright & Boris Shoshitaishvili)

Oct 23, 2026 54 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Boris’s background and new book, Our Planetary Mirror 3:28 Three ways of seeing the planet—and us 12:32 Resurveying the Gaia “hypothesis” 20:16 Dawkins’s case against Gaia 27:01 Is humanity outgrowing its planetary parent? 32:42 The noosphere: Teilhard vs Vernadsky 48:31 Can we reason our way to global solidarity? 53:43 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Boris Shoshitaishvili (Our Planetary Mirror). Recorded October 15, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Can Dario and Sam Be Governed? (Robert Wright & Connor Leahy)

Oct 20, 2026 53 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Connor’s role with ControlAI 2:04 The AI vibe shift in Washington 11:37 How does ControlAI want to control AI? 16:10 Dario decoded 21:02 Are AI safety evals worth much? 30:01 Why Silicon Valley libertarians can’t escape the state 33:42 On the redefinition of superintelligence and alignment 40:19 Is the China AI race a cover story? 48:03 Connor: What really drives Dario is… 51:34 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Connor Leahy (ControlAI). Recorded October 16, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

The AI Companion Question (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Oct 16, 2026 53 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Is Paul pro-gooey-pod? 4:59 Steven Pinker vs Scott Alexander on AI 8:11 A review of AI peer reviewers 18:39 Tipping tips 22:37 The promise and perils of AI companions 37:50 Are mathematicians getting mogged by AI? 42:18Paul critiques Jon Haidt’s critique of social media 49:12 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 October 07, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

The Race to Control AI (Robert Wright & Jeremie Harris)

Oct 14, 2026 1 hr 9 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Jeremie’s podcast and prescient AI report 6:48 Is scale still (mostly) all you need? 13:02 Jeremie: We’re way past “stochastic parrots” 21:52 Inside the early AI safety ecosystem 33:42 What Yudkowsky got less wrong than most 42:21 Why capability is outpacing alignment 49:17 Were Altman’s fears ever sincere? 55:26 Would pausing AI crash the economy? 1:01:05 Overtime preview: Debating China Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jeremie Harris (Gladstone AI, Last Week in AI). Recorded October 10, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Inside Elon’s Mind (Robert Wright & Alex Gibney)

Oct 8, 2026 50 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Alex’s new documentary about Elon 3:05 How Alex’s film turned epic 7:08 Simulation theory + social Darwinism = Elon? 13:33 Inside the mind of Musk 23:44 Elon’s daddy issues 26:33 Elon’s lady issues 29:12 Elon’s electoral propriety issues 36:56 Has Elon gotten weirder over time? 46:40 The damage DOGE could still do 50:12 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Alex Gibney (Going Clear, Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room, Taxi to the Dark Side, The Bibi Files). Recorded September 22, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Will AI Make Humans Obsolete? (Robert Wright & Garrison Lovely)

Oct 6, 2026 1 hr 2 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Garrison’s background and his new book, Obsolete 5:48 Is the left dangerously downplaying AI? 12:55 What is the “obsoleting project”? 17:45 Inside the minds of Altman and Amodei 21:47 Has the job-pocalypse already begun? 33:18 Why AI bio-threats could be extra deadly 37:08 Is alignment doomed? 47:20 “Verifiable rewards” and the OpenAI breakout 53:45 Garrison’s proposal to stop the AI race 1:00:22 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Garrison Lovely (Obsolete). Recorded September 30, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Trump and the AI Safety Vibe Shift (Robert Wright & Liron Shapira)

Oct 2, 2026 1 hr 18 min

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Liron Shapira (Pause AI, Doom Debates). Recorded October 01, 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

Dario’s China Syndrome (Robert Wright & Paul Triolo)

Sep 30, 2026 57 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Paul’s impeccable timing 2:12 Is Dario’s AI slowdown proposal for real? 10:44 Can AI companies police themselves? 15:26 How chip controls can undermine AI safety 25:03 Why the 2024 US-China AI talks failed 30:37 America’s cognitive empathy gap on China 44:04 Taiwan and the chip war 50:18 War over AI: The real doom scenario? 52:04 A possible (grim) path to global AI cooperation 57:18 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Triolo (Albright Stonebridge Group, https://pstaidecrypted.substack.com/). Recorded September 28, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Did Boomers Ruin Everything? (Robert Wright & Jill Filipovic)

Sep 25, 2026 1 hr 9 min

0:28 Jill’s book OK Boomer, Let’s Talk 5:13 When is generalizing about a group okay? 9:20 The world boomers built 16:19 Are boomers really uniquely selfish? 26:41 Is blaming boomers counterproductive? 30:44 Who’s actually driving the generational divide? 38:27 The generational blame spiral 49:55 Millennials vs Gen Z 53:01 Does America have a gerontocracy problem? 58:09 Why Kenyans are looking toward China Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jill Filipovic (OK Boomer, Let's Talk; The H-Spot). Recorded September 15, 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

Superintelligence, the Singularity, and the Singleton (Robert Wright & Nick Bostrom)

Sep 22, 2026 1 hr 19 min

0:28 Nick’s singular place in AI history 4:01 Where is Nick on the pause-accelerationist spectrum? 12:53 Utilitarianism vs the “moral parliament” 18:53 Is a “singleton” coming? What kind? 32:12 Is global cooperation on AI doomed? 46:50 The pros and cons of reading an AI’s mind 52:23 Do AIs deserve moral status? 1:10:23 AI, evolution, and the cosmic purpose question Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nick Bostrom (Superintelligence, Macrostrategy Research Initiative, Deep Utopia). Recorded September 16, 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

What’s Driving Dario? (Robert Wright, Derek Davison, and Daniel Bessner)

Sep 17, 2026 42 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 This episode’s surprise vibe shift 2:12 Middle East update: Houthis vs. Saudis 15:03 What’s really driving Dario (et al.)? 24:56 Debating effective altruism’s effectiveness 30:00 The trouble with big-tech Kremlinology 33:50 Was “learn to code” just sleight of hand? 40:07 Bob’s Fukuyama name drop 41:53 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Derek Davison (Foreign Exchanges, American Prestige, Discontents), and Daniel Bessner (American Prestige, Imperialist Realism, University of Washington). Recorded September 17, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Is the AI "Slowdown" for Real? (Robert Wright & Zvi Mowshowitz)

Sep 16, 2026 1 hr 3 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Where Zvi’s famous newsletter got its name 5:15 Zvi’s biggest AI fear 12:55 Why is ChatGPT’s mind getting harder to read? 18:20 Is self-sacrifice really such a surprising trait in agents? 33:17 AGI + agent swarm = superintelligence? 45:58 Appraising the elements of Dario’s “pacing” proposal 1:01:43 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Zvi Mowshowitz (Don't Worry About the Vase). Recorded September 15, 2026.

The Week in AI that Changed the World (Robert Wright & Liron Shapira)

Sep 11, 2026 1 hr 36 min

0:29 A bold new experiment in podcast synergy 3:10 What caused the epic AI vibe shift? 8:34 The resignation that broke the dam 10:41 Former Trump adviser Dean Ball comes clean 15:04 Are David Sacks and his buddies all-in on AI denial? 19:51 Yet another OpenAI breakout… 23:06 Astra’s dangerously private thoughts 34:32 Is alignment doomed to fail? 37:35 AI’s latest, and apparently biggest, math feat 43:52 The looming “self-sovereign AI” threat 47:48 A new flock of China doves? 53:21 Liron’s ex-intern gets a seat at the table 1:03:05 AI agent self-sacrifice explained 1:11:04 Some newly freaked out politicians 1:23:09 Ro Khanna’s AI safety plan Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Liron Shapira (Pause AI, Doom Debates). Recorded September 10, 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

Israel’s Lobby (Robert Wright, Eli Clifton, and Ian Lustick)

Sep 8, 2026 52 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Ian and Eli’s new book, Israel’s Lobby 2:01 Being a Jewish critic of Israel before that was cool 10:41 How Eli followed the money 15:21 What’s changed since the 2007 Walt-Mearsheimer book 23:46 What is the Israel lobby, really? 28:00 BDS, free speech, and the college antisemitism crusade 41:08 Did Trump give the game away? 44:50 The Israel lobby and the media 47:17 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Eli Clifton (The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Israel's Lobby), and Ian Lustick (The Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft, Israel's Lobby). Recorded August 27, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Is AI a Form of Life? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Sep 4, 2026 45 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Why Bob is (extra) freaked out 5:56 Inside the minds of OpenAI's rogue agents 12:33 Is true alignment a pipe dream? 15:21 The new development that’s spiked Bob’s AI anxiety 23:43 Paul’s pushback via literary parable 28:38 Is it time to REALLY freak out about AI? A debate 44:10 Heading to Overtime Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Join NonZero’s Discord server: https://discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF

Iran, Ukraine, and the Future of War (Robert Wright & Paul Scharre)

Sep 1, 2026 53 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Paul’s military tech bona fides 2:35 What we (should) have learned from the Iran war 11:55 Is the Pentagon buying the wrong weapons? 19:14 Ukraine as frontline for the drone revolution 24:43 Are the robot wars near? 31:41 America’s drone deficit 35:35 Does the Pentagon have a Silicon Valley problem? 41:43 Will AI really make war less bloody? 50:18 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Scharre (Center for a New American Security, Army of None, Four Battlegrounds). Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

The OpenAI Breakout and Other AI Spookiness (Robert Wright & Stephen Casper)

Aug 27, 2026 1 hr 26 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Stephen’s expertise in spooky AI behavior 3:30 Testing AIs for “corporate loyalty” 19:58 Which AIs shill most for their makers? 33:00 Do AI models have ideologies? 38:38 The spookiest finding of Stephen’s study 43:05 Are AIs getting better at gaming their tests? 50:04 Overtime unlocked: The OpenAI breakout 55:03 Decoding the OpenAI breakout 1:02:17 Did OpenAI’s agents evolve their own culture? 1:13:25 How OpenAI’s agents outfoxed their makers Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Stephen Casper (Harvard Kennedy School). Recorded August 26, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Demis Hassabis and the Quest for AGI (Robert Wright & Sebastian Mallaby)

Aug 25, 2026 54 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:24 The Infinity Machine, Sebastian’s book about Demis Hassabis 2:44 Why tell the AI story through Hassabis? 6:34 Hassabis vs the other AI titans 15:19 Does Hassabis have a messiah complex? 29:27 Deep learning’s secret sauce 36:31 Did world models cost DeepMind its LLM lead? 45:00 Why they call Hassabis “the Jedi” 51:32 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Sebastian Mallaby (Council on Foreign Relations, More Money Than God, The Infinity Machine). Recorded August 19, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Trump’s New War on Iran (Robert Wright & Hooman Majd)

Aug 21, 2026 52 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Hooman’s Iranian expertise—inherited and otherwise 3:49 Trump’s new (economic) war on Iran 14:13 What MSM missed about the MOU 18:45 How will Iran respond? 27:00 The intra-MAGA fight over Trump’s foreign policy 30:13 Will Iran do to Trump what it did to Carter? 41:26 Iran and the Houthi-Saudi conflict 48:16 Is the Saudi-Pakistan-Turkey alliance for real? 50:49 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Hooman Majd (Minister Without Portfolio, The Ayatollahs' Democracy). Recorded August 20, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

The AI Safety Vibe Shift (Robert Wright & David Krueger)

Aug 18, 2026 50 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 David’s AI safety work, past and present 2:28 Has there been a vibe shift in AI? 7:49 Why two AI godfathers went doomer 12:00 The OpenAI breakout as the warning shot heard round the world 20:38 Breaking down the OpenAI breakout 28:53 AI agents are cooperating. Why? 37:32 Is an AI pause near? 42:22 The hard problem of AI alignment 47:16 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and David Krueger (The University of Montréal, Evitable). Recorded August 13, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Is (Human) Writing Doomed? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Aug 13, 2026 47 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Bob channels Dick Cheney 4:25 Is AI killing writing? And thinking? 16:43 How Bob and Paul actually use AI 24:03 The cognitive vs economic value of writing 30:28 AIs aping “Memento” and other frontier freakiness 38:00 Bob: Reckless AI is just good business 41:32 Heading to Overtime obert 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 August 12, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Join NonZero’s Discord server: https://discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF

Trump’s Unending War (Robert Wright, Curt Mills, and Andrew Day)

Aug 12, 2026 1 hr 8 min

0:28 How is MAGA feeling about Trump 2.0? 3:31 Bob’s good ol’ days at The New Republic 6:13 The biggest threat to the Trump coalition 18:31 Why the MoU unraveled 31:40 Is Iran's regime really divided? 36:41 Part two: This pod’s auspicious return from tech hell 37:54 Trump’s covert catering-truck op 45:50 Have Iran’s demands really gotten more extreme? 53:26 Saudi Arabia vs the Houthis 58:20 Is a post-American Middle East emerging? 1:07:10 A low-key end to the episode Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Curt Mills (The American Conservative), Andrew Day (The American Conservative). Recorded August 10 and 11, 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

Ukraine, Iran, and America’s Arms Overreach (Robert Wright & Jennifer Kavanagh)

Aug 6, 2026 53 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Jennifer’s foreign policy bona fides 1:31 Could Ukraine and Iran merge into one big war? 6:17 Is Ukraine really “turning the tide”? 15:28 America’s (and Ukraine’s) missile defense issue 19:08 Putin’s ceasefire conditions 25:59 What—and who—are America’s missiles for, really? 30:11 How not to open the Hormuz Strait 41:33 How will the Iran war truly end? 51:29 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Jennifer Kavanagh (Defense Priorities). Recorded August 06, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Fasten Your Bot-belts (Robert Wright & Samuel Hammond)

Aug 4, 2026 57 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Sam’s ideological leanings 3:44 Sam’s AI Manhattan Project–revisited 7:44 What does the “Pacing” letter say about the state of AI? 18:53 Mythos, Astra, and AI’s accelerating acceleration 27:50 The OpenAI “rogue” model escape 36:30 Recursive self-improvement: Red line or red herring? 42:24 How frontier AI is getting (and will get) freakier 52:10 How is open-source AI like DEI? 56:00 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Samuel Hammond (Foundation for American Innovation, https://www.secondbest.ca/). Recorded August 03, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

The intensifying slow-AI-down vibe (Robert Wright & Holly Elmore)

Jul 31, 2026 54 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 The “Pacing the Frontier” letter signed by AI elites 10:15 Why so many China-hawk AI-safety-hawks? 14:16 Was the “Pacing” letter too small an ask? 27:14 The striking AI vibe shift 36:28 Are AI builders “just following orders”? 45:46 Recursive self-improvement: The wrong red line? 51:23 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Holly Elmore (PauseAI US, https://hollyelmore.substack.com/). Recorded July 30, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Are the Ukraine and the Iran Wars Merging? (Robert Wright & Nikita Petrov)

Jul 29, 2026 47 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Why did Ukraine hit an Iranian ship 500 miles from Ukraine? 14:09 Ukraine’s war on Russia’s Amazon 19:39 Why Zelensky fired his defense minister and commander-in-chief 23:01 Bob: Ukraine may lose like people go bankrupt—gradually, then suddenly 25:17 Nikita: Why both sides are ready to keep fighting 31:26 Kazakh President to Putin: Nobody understands this war 35:43 Bob: Everybody thinks they’re fighting a defensive war 46:04 Heading to Overtime: The globalist elite vs. the globalist precariat, and an AI path to WW3 Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com). Recorded July 28, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

The Wright Stuff (Very Bad Wizards w/ Tamler Sommers and David Pizarro)

Jul 24, 2026 1 hr 31 min

(Show notes via Very Bad Wizards) The great Robert Wright returns to the podcast to talk about his new book The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning. We debate the magnitude of AI’s potential impact, the natural selection analogy Bob presses in the book, and a whole lot more. Plus, a new AI-powered collar can translate your pet’s sounds and behavior into language with 95% accuracy! Still skeptical about the power of this new technology Tamler? 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

The Ideology Behind AI (Robert Wright & Connor Leahy)

Jul 21, 2026 1 hr 27 min

0:28 Connor’s place in the AI world 2:58 Mythos: “digital nuke”? 13:52 The milieu that birthed Dario and other AI titans 20:33 Yudkowsky, Marx, and other AI harbingers 35:15 Effective altruism’s effects on big tech 46:03 The “cult” in Silicon Valley culture 59:40 Is the AI race a market failure? 1:05:532What’s really driving the AI titans? 1:18:45 Connor: ASI is a worse bet than Russian roulette Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Connor Leahy (ControlAI). Recorded July 17, 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

The God We Deserve: Nonzero's Robert Wright on AI as Humanity's Ultimate Test (The Cognitive Revolution w/ Nathan Labenz)

Jul 18, 2026 2 hr 24 min

(Show notes via The Cognitive Revolution) Robert Wright describes himself less as a Forrest Gump of AI history than a Zelig — a journalist who keeps turning up at pivotal scenes without ever quite being the protagonist. He interviewed Geoffrey Hinton in 1983, when neural networks were still a maverick faith and one of Hinton’s colleagues told Wright that to “hear the gospel” he’d need to talk to its evangelist. He had Eliezer Yudkowsky on his podcast in 2010, mid-transition from singularity enthusiast to doomer. His new book, The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning, is written less for the AI-pilled than for “your aunts and uncles” — readers who sense something big is happening and want to understand why it got so big so fast. The book opens with a confession of error. In a 1984 piece, Wright assumed AI would work by humans first understanding the mind and then translating that understanding into machines — the very premise of the 1956 Dartmouth conference that coined “artificial intelligence.” Deep learning inverted that. Nobody told the models that meaning is a property of words; trained only to predict the next token, they reverse-engineered cognitive functionality that evolution had built into us. Wright pushes this further with a claim he tests on Nathan: LLM training is “at least as much a process of natural selection, of evolution, as of learning” — doing millions of years of evolution in a few months. Nathan connects it to the sample-efficiency puzzle that Dwarkesh Patel keeps returning to (and to Richard Sutton‘s blank-slate Skinnerian framing), where pre-training substitutes for the hard-coding evolution gave humans. But the evolutionary lens that worries Wright most operates at a second level: selection among models in the marketplace. “Evolution asks not what traits are possible, but what traits get selected — and that question isn’t going to be decided by alignment researchers.” His unsettling argument is that the market do...

Trump’s Self-Inflicted Iran Quagmire (Robert Wright & Zaid Jilani)

Jul 15, 2026 38 min

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org 0:28 Zaid’s Substack and spicy-take history 2:55 Zaid: Iran has outplayed Trump and Bibi 9:56 10/7 as turning point 13:29 Did—and does—Israel want regime collapse in Iran? 19:46 Israel’s security dilemma(s) 26:52 How Trump blundered back into war 33:36 Will the war end well for anyone? 37:23 Heading to Overtime Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Zaid Jilani (https://www.theamericansaga.com/). Recorded July 14, 2026.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

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

Jul 10, 2026 54 min

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

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

Jul 7, 2026 45 min

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

Are Books Dead? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)

Jul 2, 2026 47 min

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

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

Jun 30, 2026 1 hr 23 min

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

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

Jun 26, 2026 1 hr 2 min

(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

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

Jun 24, 2026 38 min

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

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

Jun 18, 2026 50 min

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.

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

Jun 17, 2026 52 min

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.

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

Jun 11, 2026 50 min

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

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

Jun 10, 2026 52 min

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.

Seeing China Clearly (Robert Wright & Tianyu Fang)

Jun 4, 2026 46 min

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

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

Jun 2, 2026 1 hr 48 min

(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

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

May 29, 2026 35 min

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

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Podcast details

Created by: Nonzero
Status: Active
Latest episode: Nov 9, 2026
Episodes: 623
Release period: Several times a week
Avg. episode length: 55 min
Explicit: No
Language: English

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