Robert Wright's Nonzero

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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 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 OvertimeRobert 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 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 OvertimeRobert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Connor Leahy (ControlAI). Recorded October 16, 2026. Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 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 OvertimeRobert 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

This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit www.nonzero.org0:28 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 ChinaRobert 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