Nonzero 팟 캐스트

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 00:00 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 correc…

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 …

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 1:22 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 passe…

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 cogniti…

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 …

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 t…

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 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.…

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 Universit…

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Bob hoodwinks the fashion police 3:54 Predictions for the new year 11:53 The pros and cons of “nepotocracy” 14:05 Predictions for the new year (cont’d) 19:45 Impromptu Ukraine war update 21:51 The top 3(ish) stories of 2022 28:59 Is Twitter salvageable? 44:20 The true threat of Twi…

2:27 The legacy of free trade in America 4:55 Adam’s new book Opening Up by Cracking Down, about the repression of union activism in developing countries 18:17 Car bombing and other ways Argentina subdued labor in the 80's 28:08 Why did the US open up trade so early? 33:03 The quasi-dystopian law India used to break strikes in the 90’s 38:12 Undera…

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 00:00 Has the tide turned against Elon—and against Twitter? 12:55 Elon accuses Fauci of funding research that killed millions 26:42 Bob sees signs that the “Twitter files” journalism is biased 40:24 Why now might be a good time for Ukraine diplomacy 44:51 Parrot Room preview: SBF news; …

0:51 What Anders didn’t like about Bob’s Washington Post op-ed on Russia-Ukraine11:19 Was Putin always bent on invading Russia’s neighbors? 19:13 Bob and Anders debate NATO expansion 29:37 Should the West encourage regime change in Russia? 36:55 Are the US and NATO “fighting Russia to the last Ukrainian”? 46:09 The causes and consequences of Ukrain…

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 A brief message from Bob0:55 Why Mickey thinks the first installment of the Twitter Files was a something-burger8:05 What Bob thinks Taibbi (and Musk) flubbed18:26 Do the files show a pro-Dem bias in pre-Musk Twitter?25:19 Ukraine war update42:24 Parrot Room preview: an (unwitting)…

0:00 Mónica’s book I Never Thought of It That Way, about how to have “bridge-building” conversations 1:41 Why Mónica’s immigrant parents support(ed) Trump 7:02 Barriers to getting bridge-building buy-in 15:37 Understanding vs. the need to be understood 21:58 Bridge-building 101 27:39 Is understanding a slippery slope to excusing? 33:35 The underrat…

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 00:40 Would a Biden re-election bid spell doom for Dems? 06:54 Opening the Ron DeSantis black box 13:48 Bob’s Washington Post piece on Russia-Ukraine diplomacy 21:56 Is it too early to write off Herschel Walker? 27:50 Sam Bankman-Fried’s bipartisan approach to corrupting politics 31:52 …

2:35 Eric’s new book We Are Not One, about changing American Jewish attitudes toward Israel over the years 7:28 Jewish-American identity before its “Zionization” 10:01 Why fewer young American Jews are feeling the pro-Israel vibe 15:25 Israel in American politics 23:04 The “Israel as apartheid state” debate 35:28 How the 1960’s defined Jewish visio…

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 The (totally selfless) reasons Mickey wants an SBF clawback 5:11 Did Semafor fumble its big SBF-Elon scoop? 14:55 Mickey’s clawback campaign (cont’d) 18:31 Origins of Mickey’s (alleged) Ben Smith vendetta revealed! 27:36 Is Musk destroying his town square? Robert Wright (Blogginghe…

2:22 Paul’s upcoming book, Psych: The Story of the Human Mind 18:42 Bob’s upcoming book, tk 24:27 Are psychopaths high in (cognitive) empathy? 33:29 How good are we at perspective taking—and how can we get better? 40:28 Elon Musk’s apparent cognitive empathy deficit 49:57 Is cognitive empathy a biological adaptation? 1:06:10 Is it even possible to …

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Why Mickey’s not unhappy about the midterm results 7:12 Can Trump go the distance against DeSantis? 11:48 The Pelosi era ends 18:54 Zelensky invites NATO to join the war 24:48 Is a peace deal on the horizon in Ukraine? 33:27 Elon update 39:47 SBF's fall takes wind out of the sails …

00:00 The time Harry stood up for editorial integrity 4:34 Can Alex Jones get a Mastodon account? 11:30 Choosing the best Mastodon community for you 22:19 Why dunking on people is harder on Mastodon 38:45 Should Elon Musk be worried? 48:54 How social media platforms fail 52:49 The (anti-)ideological tenor of Mastodon so far 57:35 Is moving from Twi…

This is the second lecture of Robert Wright’s “Buddhism & Modern Psychology” course, originally offered on Coursera through Princeton University. Lecture Two: The Buddhist Prescription * The Eightfold Path * Meditation * Mindfulness Meditation and the Brain * Can Our Feelings Be Trusted Next lecture: This is a public episode. If you’d like to discu…

This is the first lecture of Robert Wright’s “Buddhism & Modern Psychology” course, originally offered on Coursera through Princeton University. Lecture One: The Buddhist Diagnosis * Introduction: Religious Buddhism and ‘Secular’ Buddhism * Feelings and Illusions * The First Two Noble Truths * Evolutionary Psychology and the First Two Noble Truths …

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Mickey mourns the fate of his midterm hopes and dreams 12:14 What the midterm results mean for 2024 19:30 Who wins in a Trump v. DeSantis civil war? 23:44 Bob’s plan to boot Biden from the 2024 ticket 29:41 Will Musk chicken out on his blue check shake-up? 35:46 The Twitter busines…

0:00 Signs of the so-called “meaning crisis” 3:50 How John addresses the meaning crisis in his own life 10:04 Bob gets empathy-circled—live! 18:48 How much of the meaning crisis is a crisis of community? 25:29 Wisdom as the antidote to self-deception 40:54 Is technological change outpacing our ability to adapt? 45:48 How and where might new sources…

Subscribe to The Parrot Room at https://patreon.com/parrotroom 0:00 Why immigration squishes have Mickey worried about the midterms 7:13 Elon Musk’s bull-in-a-china-shop strategy to owning Twitter 17:26 The conspiracy theory about the attack on Paul Pelosi 22:33 If Putin didn’t have nukes, would Biden’s Ukraine policy still be dangerous? 31:03 Who …