Robert Wright's Nonzero

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 The SBF and Trump indictments: compare and contrast 8:32 Is DeSantis tanking? 15:25 How the Tennessee House controversy could boost Biden 24:06 Unpacking progressive wins in Wisconsin and Chicago 30:58 Is Twitter becoming a banana republic? 49:04 Ukraine war (and NATO) update 59:12 Parrot room preview: Russian pro-war blogger’s strange assassination; Jill Biden’s basketball misstep; Clarence Thomas’s controversial trips; Amazon against anti-woke reviews; M3GAN, the alignment problem, and more AI talk; GM’s EV blunder; Matt Taibbi vs. Mehdi Hasan; Dershowitz on EpsteinRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded April 07, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65962Twitter: 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.org00:51 Paul’s book, The World Crisis and International Law7:25 Should we demand that other countries be as liberal as we are?20:06 What went wrong in Russia after the Soviet Union fell?33:32 How post-Cold war consensus gave way to global fragmentation39:29 Can international law prevent techno-authoritarianism?48:12 Paul’s skepticism about international law57:44 How the knowledge economy could lead to a Chinese TrumpRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Stephan(University of Virginia, The World Crisis and International Law). Recorded March 15, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65935Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom00:00 A common conundrum: How to pay off your porn-star mistress 11:38 Ways to make Ron DeSantis seem human 20:49 Bob: The newest AI has cognitive empathy 28:01 How Cold War II makes AI more dangerous 35:47 Why are traditional American values in decline? 49:20 What foreign policy elites say about Russia-Ukraine behind closed doors 57:07 Parrot Room preview: Something smart Zelensky said; US think tank advocates murder; how the Nashville shooting was reported; Musk makes another Twitter policy change; why Elizabeth Holmes was ahead of her timeRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 31, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65924 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

1:26 Is ChatGPT capable of “theory of mind”5:39 Is it like anything to be ChatGPT?7:44 ChatGPT passes a cognitive empathy test with flying colors.13:19 ChatGPT analyzes cognitive empathy.17:17 ChatGPT flatters Bob22:36 How ChatGPT uses cognitive empathy in everyday life.A transcript of this conversation is available here: Robert Wright’s simulated voice generated using Play.ht. “ChatGPT” simulated voice generated using Descript. 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.org0:00 Bob and David reminisce about Bloggingheads3:26 David’s book, American Psychosis: A Historical Investigation of How the Republican Party Went Crazy 9:18 Are Russiagaters moving the goalposts? 20:10 What the Trump team knew about Russian meddling 36:05 The missing “collusion” piece of the Russiagate puzzle 46:54 Why David thinks Russiagate's biggest critics are perpetuating a hoax 58:08 If Russiagaters are right, why didn’t Trump do Russia many favors?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and David Corn (Mother Jones, Russian Roulette, American Psychosis). Recorded March 16, 2023.

0:00 Bob: On foreign policy, there is no real Ron DeSantis 10:28 The difference between right-restrainers and left-restrainers 22:33 The dangerous politics of indicting Trump 29:17 Trump’s new plan to take out the deep state 36:12 Is the war turning in Ukraine’s favor? 47:31 Why did DeSantis change the pronunciation of his name? 53:16 Parrot Room preview: Everything Everywhere All At Once speaks to Bob; SVB fallout not over; banning the word “woke”; Camaro goes out of production—or does it?; likelihood of Covid lab-leakRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 24, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65879 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:00 Richard’s banking and business bona fides 2:51 Was the Silicon Valley Bank crash a harbinger of worse to come? 10:06 What actually caused SVB’s collapse? 18:46 Richard: SVB failed risk management 101 31:41 Costs and benefits of the SVB bailout 38:13 The Fed’s oft-forgotten original role 43:32 Did the deregulation SVB lobbied for doom it? 45:09 Overtime preview: Richard’s career highlights; cognitive empathy in commerce; how to hire like a boss; and more! Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Richard Vague (Gabriel Investments, The Next Economic Disaster). Recorded March 21, 2023. Richard's article about the SVB crash in Democracy Journal: https://democracyjournal.org/arguments/the-svb-failure-why-it-happened-and-what-it-means/ Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65853 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:00 Mickey’s mind-bending analogy between romance and politics 5:11 Bob triggered by DeSantis’s “territorial dispute” line about Russia-Ukraine 21:29 How to prevent the next bank collapse? 32:03 Was “wokeness” behind SVB’s demise? 36:56 Ukraine war update 47:53 Are Democrats ditching Israel? 51:50 Winners and losers of Iran-Saudi détente 58:15 Parrot room preview: Mickey’s quibble with Bob’s AI piece; SBF news; Silicon Valley’s campaign to ban TikTok; the sad state of the Metaverse; RIP Jim Gordon; Summer of Soul; Is DeSantis too wine-track? Too beer-track? Who cares?; New segment: Brushes with GreatnessRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 17, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65843Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe 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

Guest John von Neumann, inventor of game theory and polymath. Topics include: early life as a mathematical prodigy, foundational contributions to quantum physics, building the atomic bomb, influence on Turing and modern computing, brushes with totalitarianism, unfinished work on comparing computers and the brain, deathbed conversion, and more.

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom4:24 Biden’s soak-the-rich budget: big news or borefest? 16:03 How Biden insulting Xi Jinping endangers Ukraine 23:38 Bob finds another reason Biden shouldn’t run for re-election 27:54 Ukraine war update 35:53 Nordstream’s hobbyist saboteurs 43:05 Tucker Carlson outed as anti-Trump phony 52:00 Parrot Room preview: Gavin Newsom takes on Walgreens; Twitter community notes annoy Mickey; Semafor's China racket; Bob’s Washington Post lab leak piece; Peter Thiel’s techno-optimism Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 10, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65808 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe 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