The Wright Show (audio)

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 nonzero.substack.

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com1:46 Paul’s new book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind 12:13 Does psychology need more evolutionary thinking? 20:33 Freud and Skinner and parts in between 30:47 Mind-body dualism’s enduring intuitive appeal 33:16 ChatGPT and the human mind: compare and contrast 38:22 Are cognitive biases overblown? 47:59 A brief note about the podcast 51:24 Implicit biases, memory, and other topics covered in the book Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded March 07, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65784Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:00 Mickey celebrates good week for JD Vance, Ron DeSantis 11:37 The Biden admin’s “all sticks, no carrots” approach to foreign policy 15:55 Is China’s plummeting birth rate a problem? 17:16 Will Bibi wag the dog? 31:07 Will AI kill the journalism star? 36:42 Ukraine war update 44:11 Alarmism about a China-Russia axis 47:04 Parrot room preview: more Ukraine; Dilbert creator gets canceled; why the kids aren’t alright; Will student loan cancellation pass Supreme Court muster?; Buy books before it’s too late?; Mickey’s flick pick; wrapping up The Long Goodbye; Lab-leak theory gets a boost; more AI; The real story being Elon’s algorithmic boostRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded March 03, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65772 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: h

00:37 Paul’s new book, Four Battlegrounds: Power in the Age of Artificial Intelligence 11:42 Will AIs replace humans in future wars? 29:24 China as an AI superpower 39:29 Will Beijing spread high-tech authoritarianism globally? 48:51 How useful is the “democracy versus autocracy” framework? 54:01 Why Paul’s worried about a race to the bottom in AI safety 1:00:00 Tom Cruise can’t hold a candle to AI pilots Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Scharre (Center for a New American Security, Army of None, Four Battlegrounds). Recorded February 8, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65750 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 nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:00 Washington Post highlights a cost of US hypocrisy 6:54 Will China push for peace—or fund Russia’s war effort (or both)? 17:49 Can Trump use Biden’s support for Ukraine against him? 28:42 Russia’s offensive, Ukraine’s rope-a-dope 37:59 Bob’s evolving view of America’s role in the Maidan Revolution 44:43 The US vows to back Israel if it attacks Iran 47:32 Parrot Room preview: AI updates; Republicans and Social Security; How Blobbish is Fiona Hill?; Carlos Watson arrested Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded February 23, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65731 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 nonzero.substa

01:25 Coleman’s definition of “wokeness”—and why he’s against it 13:07 Poverty or privilege: Which predicts wokeness among black Americans? 22:46 How much progress has America made since Jim Crow? 32:17 Why writers in particular are haunted by their past 41:59 How racists and criminals are made 51:25 Does "hip-hop culture exist"—and is it bad? 1:02:22 Coleman diversifies his controversy portfolio Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Coleman Hughes (Conversations with Coleman). Recorded February 14, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65724 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 nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 How should Republicans counter Biden’s blue-collar messaging?14:19 The disturbing thing balloon-gate reveals about the Dems23:58 The Fetterman health crisis30:42 Twitter’s Elon algorithm39:52 Are women more conciliatory than men?42:47 Is Biden pushing Zelensky toward the negotiating table?56:29 An underappreciated risk of arming Ukraine59:26 Parrot room preview: Bob drops some hip-hop knowledge; an AI-war reversal and the dangers of “stochastic parrots”; trans activists taking names; Mickey’s quantum-physics-related pitch for Bob’s next book; new Epstein docs Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded February 17, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65703Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to

0:31 Norman’s new book, I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It!: Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom10:26 How Norman exposed a bestselling book as a hoax18:54 The price Norman paid for taking on Alan Dershowitz28:08 What effects has “wokeness” had on academia?33:46 Pronouns and the perils of linguistic prescriptivism47:43 Who's pushing identity politics on the left? And why?57:54 A few unkind words about Bari Weiss1:02:51 Norman: Ibram X. Kendi is a fashion statement not a scholarRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Norman Finkelstein (I Accuse!, I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It!). Recorded February 7, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65684Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: 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 nonzer

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom00:00 Why Biden’s big speech has Bob worried 9:15 Did the US blow up the Nord Stream pipeline? 18:36 Trump accuses DeSantis of grooming 25:46 With friends like Joe Rogan, Ilhan Omar doesn’t need enemies 36:16 The latest from the Twitter Files: new dirt on the Blob 48:45 Biden takes on Xi, seems a little unhinged 56:12 Why more people are concerned about Ukraine’s chances 1:03:30 Parrot Room preview: Did the West block Russia-Ukraine negotiations?; social vs. income equality; reviewing The Long Goodbye; America’s AI arms race; quantum physics; grading Burt Bacharach songs.Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded February 10, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65676Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d li

1:02 Gabor’s new book The Myth of Normal, about trauma and mental and physical illness in modern Western society7:40 Are we all victims of a “toxic” culture?14:09 Gabor’s early years in Nazi- and then Soviet-occupied Hungary21:30 What Gabor thinks standard theories of addiction get wrong24:02 Can trauma ever be a good thing?26:34 Was Bob’s childhood traumatic? And if so, how?39:46 Trauma, attachment, and authenticity46:57 Is modern society hostile to community?53:43 The difference between healthy and unhealthy anger57:32 A primer on “compassionate inquiry”1:02:16 The time Gabor was leading an ayahuasca retreat and got deposed by shamans1:06:53 Gabor on why cognitive empathy is difficult but essential1:12:40 What Gabor sees as the essence of the bookRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Gabor Maté (Scattered Minds, When the Body Says No, In the Realm of Hungry Ghosts). Recorded January 26, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65651Twitter: ht

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:00 Is the 2024 race shaping up to be a political Groundhog Day?16:05 Ilhan Omar and the Israel criticism tightrope29:46 Does the left or right look worse on recent Russiagate disclosures?37:39 A question about the DNC email hack41:46 Ukraine war update: Is time on Russia’s side?48:44 Is the Biden admin angling for a peace deal with Putin?1:00:34 Parrot Room preview: Evil—the show and the concept; the Tyre Nichols killing; Gaetz’s bad idea; AI inquiries; Mickey’s thrilling new Twitter power; untangling quantum entanglement; what happened to hope in politics?Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded February 3, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65640Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d like to discuss

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit nonzero.substack.com2:12 Nikita’s life as a Russian expat in Armenia 7:55 How the Ukraine war is talked about in Russia 15:24 Could Putin fall from power? 25:40 Who left and who stayed in Russia post-mobilization? 37:43 Russia’s role in the Armenia-Azerbaijan crisis 45:21 How the Ukraine war could turn into World War III 50:46 Are “false flag” claims about the Maidan Massacre beyond the pale? 1:01:12 The trouble with the way we talk about war 1:12:28 The role of extremists in mass protestsRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Nikita Petrov (https://psychopolitica.substack.com/). Recorded January 25, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65622Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom00:00 Can AI transcend conventional wisdom? 15:39 Is Trump back as 2024 GOP frontrunner? 24:52 The trouble with “the poor” 27:14 J.D. Vance has Ukraine on the brain 29:46 Ukraine update: How to make sending tanks make sense 46:16 Parrot room preview: Bob’s quasi-lucid dream; Evil corrections; The deep roots of Russian nationalist support for the war; Leon Wieseltier quote critique; DeSantis and black history; should judicial noms know their civics?; Kyrsten Sinema conspiracies; economic vs. social inequality; “exciting” child tax credit news; Israel’s multiple powder kegsRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 27, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65614Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This is a public episode. If you’d lik

This is an unusual issue of the newsletter, and it’s about an unusual conversation I taped yesterday. Normally I don’t send out an issue of NZN for each podcast I post, but I think this is a particularly important conversation—and also a complicated conversation, one that can benefit from a preface. The conversation will go public next week and is available to paid NZN subscribers, like you, now—via this issue of the newsletter (video below, audio above) but also via the Nonzero feed on your podcast app (assuming you’ve set up the special paid subscriber version of that feed in your podcast app; if you haven’t, just click “Listen on” in the upper right corner of this post and follow the instructions).The conversation is with Ivan Katchanovski, a political scientist who grew up in Ukraine, came to the US to do graduate work, and now teaches in Canada, at the University of Ottawa. He is frustrated with the way western media is covering the war in Ukraine and with the way western media depicts Ukraine more broa

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom1:22 The alphas of the world gather in Davos12:42 Mickey buys a blue check, dresses up to celebrate 15:47 Does Russia have Ukraine on the defensive? 28:14 How serious is the threat of US government debt default? 34:40 Biden’s chances in 2024 47:54 Parrot Room preview: David Crosby passes away; Alec Baldwin charged with manslaughter; the issue that could destroy woke-ism; college after affirmative action; a false flag in Ukraine?; More Elon news; loyalty oath at Sundance; Bob reviews Top Gun: Maverick Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 20, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65572 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 epis

0:00 Challenges in applying cognitive empathy in daily life11:32 Two types of self-awareness—and their links to cognitive empathy17:38 Josh’s recent (mis)adventures in cognitive empathy31:29 Can self-awareness make conflicts manageable?49:01 The relationship between concentration and insight meditation55:56 Literature and the cultivation of cognitive empathy58:49 Understanding one’s self vs. understanding others1:11:12 The ice cube theory of human nature1:16:00 Cognitive empathy’s role in building “mindfulness 3.0”Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Josh Summers (The Power of Mindfulness, joshsummers.net). Recorded January 12, 2023.Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65549 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 nonzero.substack.com/subs

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 2:16 Anti-gas-stove tyranny – or slow news week? 6:27 Biden’s classified docs scandal is a “granfalloon in search of a MacGuffin led by a wrang-wrang” 20:09 Did Bob Gates and Condoleezza Rice miss a chance to prevent the Ukraine war?28:21 Is the war turning in Russia’s favor? 37:05 The prospects for peace negotiations 45:56 Parrot Room preview: Biden’s pivot to help the working class; Does AI have a liberal bias?; Has woke peaked?; Matthew Yglesias' style section profile; Jeff Beck, Lisa Marie Presley, and Blake Hounshell pass away; White Lotus; Mickey’s new conspiracy theory about Kevin McCarthy. Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 13, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65535 Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods Facebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingheads/ Podcasts: https://bloggingheads.tv/subscribe This i

2:17 Why are so many people (including Fred) down on John Mearsheimer? 15:21 Bob: Explaining bad behavior is not the same as justifying it 30:16 How the US eroded international law—and why it matters 44:16 Did US policy make Russia’s invasion of Ukraine more likely? 58:06 NATO’s role in Ukraine before the invasion 1:21:31 How would the US respond to a China-Mexico military alliance? 1:34:08 Henry Kissinger’s peace proposal 1:42:38 Impediments to productive debate on US foreign policy Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Fred Kaplan (Slate, Dark Territory). Recorded January 5, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65508Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: 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 nonzero.substack.com/subscribe

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom0:00 Mickey’s guide to the House Speaker drama10:29 What vexes Bob about the House Speaker vote19:19 Why Damar Hamlin’s injury wouldn’t have happened in the old days26:40 Biden’s new good cop, bad cop immigration plan32:56 Why keep sanctioning Venezuela (or Cuba, or Syria, or Iran, etc.)?38:21 Elon and the trouble with “great man” theories of tech progress44:02 Is Twitter’s new views feature a boon or b******t?59:01 Ukraine war update1:08:38 Parrot room preview: The Matt Schlapp sex scandal; Jason DeParle on welfare; Mickey’s case against “unity”; More calls for a Semafor clawback; an SBF-AIPAC connection; a second Epstein-Harvard connection; The White LotusRobert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Mickey Kaus (kausfiles, The End of Equality). Recorded January 6, 2023. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65496Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPodsFacebook: https://facebook.com/bloggingh

In this classic interview, Robert Wright and Daniel Dennett discuss consciousness, free will, being good without belief in God, and whether natural selection could have a larger purpose. Robert Wright (Bloggingheads.tv, The Evolution of God, Nonzero, Why Buddhism Is True) and Daniel Dennett (Consciousness Explained, Freedom Evolved, Tufts University). Recorded 2003. Comments on BhTV: http://bloggingheads.tv/videos/65485Twitter: https://twitter.com/bloggingheadsFacebook: 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 nonzero.substack.com/subscribe