Robert Wright's Nonzero

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org(Overtime audio available to paid subscribers through the player at the top of the page and video version available below the paywall.)1:35 What MSM missed about Carlsons' Putin interview 14:20 Putin’s litany of grievances against the West 22:19 Russia gets the upper hand in Ukraine 30:02 Why Zelensky hasn’t paved the way for peace talks 37:02 Putin’s mafia-inspired approach to negotiations 45:47 Do most Russians support the war? 49:49 Why Zelensky fired his popular top general 54:00 Heading to OvertimeLeonid's article in Al Jazeera: https://www.aljazeera.com/opinions/2024/2/12/putin-is-ready-for-talks-on-ukraine-but-on-his-own-termsRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Leonid Ragozin (Rest of World, West of Providence, Lonely Planet). Recorded February 14, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 An approaching Russia-NATO war? 3:39 Why the Gaza war is a godsend for Putin 13:32 Does Putin really prefer Trump over Biden? 22:52 The point of Putin’s long historical monologue

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org1:57 Nora’s low score on the AI doomer test 8:26 The messy math of AI alignment 13:41 Teaching and (unteaching) concepts to LLMS 18:06 Do we really want human-like AI? 28:48 How the AI “mind” works 40:41 How to change an AI’s mind 53:19 Are LLMs reverse-engineering the human mind? 57:26 Heading to OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nora Belrose (EleutherAI). Recorded January 16, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 Eleuther’s extra open open-source AIs 4:29 Is the human mind a general learning machine? 7:18 Why Nora supports open-source AI 11:42 How could we tell if AIs are conscious? 23:31 The new contender for reinforcement learning supremacy 29:57 Inside the minds of the AI doomers 40:52 Bob’s main sources of AI anxiety

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.orgRobert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling.Read this edition of the Earthling at: https://nonzero.substack.com/p/the-new-lab-leak-evidenceRecorded February 09, 2024.https://twitter.com/NonzeroNewshttps://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:31 Bob’s bad newsletter news for Paul 3:50 Fast Car's moving Grammy moment 9:42 Music, female orgasms, and other evolutionary enigmas 14:22 The Moral Animal turns 30—how has it aged? 17:16 How AI (barely) helps Paul work 19:54 Is America real? 35:55 Bob tries to drag Paul down the JFK rabbit hole 43:38 Lab leak and the trouble with “conspiracy theories” 49:35 Heading to OvertimeRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded February 6, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:31 Effective altruism (EA) and Rob’s 80,000 Hours podcast 3:10 SBF’s fall = EA’s public relations problem 12:13 What went wrong for (and with) SBF? 29:05 Virtue as a utilitarian shortcut 38:39 What drove EA’s longtermist (r)evolution? 46:18 EA, AI, and the miscalculation of existential risk 53:31 Did EA play a role in the OpenAI board drama? 1:01:16 Heading to OvertimeRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Rob Wiblin (80,000 Hours). Recorded January 11, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:31 Another high-synergy collaborative episode 1:42 Do mainstream Israelis support ethnic cleansing? 10:56 Biden’s electoral (mis?)calculations on Israel-Palestine 21:14 What does a left-wing foreign policy vision look like today?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True), Derek Davison (Foreign Exchanges, American Prestige, Discontents), and Daniel Bessner (American Prestige, University of Washington). Recorded Feb 01, 2024.American Prestige on Substack:Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsOvertime titles:0:00 Terminator, Terminator 2, and the JFK assassination 10:46 The shocking scale of Gaza’s physical destruction 17:00 The two biggest fault lines in the Middle East 27:12 Foreign policy restrainers on the right and left 31:53 Why the “Iran-backed militias” phrase is so hypocritical 34:53 The meaning of the ICJ genocide ruling 41:14 Will Netanyahu’s political calculus lead to a wider war?

2:19 How Israelis think about civilian casualties in Gaza 21:15 Is the war spawning a new generation of terrorists? 35:07 Explaining versus justifying bad behavior 50:07 Can Hamas and other extremist groups be moderated? 1:03:40 Is the world biased against Israel? 1:15:13 Cognitive biases that inflame tribal tensions 1:26:37 The “river to the sea” Rorschach test 1:41:31 On the precipice of World War III?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Russ Roberts (Shalem College, EconTalk, Listening to the Sirens, Wild Problems). Recorded January 24, 2024.Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsRuss's podcast: https://www.econlib.org/econtalk/Russ's Substack: https://listeningtothesirens.substack.com/ 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.orgRobert Wright and Andrew Day discuss items from the Earthling. Recorded January 25, 2024.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.orgRobert Wright and Tamler Sommers discuss what you can and can't say about transgender issues.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 October 10, 2023.

2:33 Fear and loathing on the campaign trail 2024 10:16 Haley’s shortcomings, Trump’s cognitive decline 25:1 Who’s the perfect Democrat to run against Biden? 40:48 How Biden could stop the Gaza war 48:29 Why the Houthis are hard to neutralize 1:00:42 Could Trump sabotage the border security deal? 1:17:18 Doctor bots, robo-receipt checkers, and AI optimism 1:33:29 The real problem with America’s elites 1:42:56 Is catastrophe the only thing that can save America? 1:52:23 Bob tries to drag Mickey (back) into the JFK assassination rabbit hole 1:58:52 Has DeSantis destroyed his brand?Mickey's Substack:Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 20, 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