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20 July 2025

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Why China Won’t Invade Taiwan

Connor Echols and Dan Grazier discuss the horrible difficulty of invading Taiwan—and the reasons why Washington keeps playing up the threat to Taipei. Play entire video

How power really works in DC

Connor Echols talks to best-selling author Barry Eisler about his new novel, The System.

The Truth about Sam Altman

Robert Wright and Timothy B. Lee, author of the Understanding AI newsletter, discuss what two new biographies reveal about the OpenAI CEO.

Why Nations Go to War

Robert Wright speaks to Alex Jordan and Courtney Rawlings, hosts of the Quincy Institute’s new Always at War podcast, about the structural and psychological causes of international conflict—and of US military interventions in particular.

Bibi’s War, America’s Problem?

Robert Wright and Connor Echols discuss whether the US will be dragged into Israel’s conflict with Iran.

Why the Iran attacks undermine US-China trade talks

Jake Werner of The Quincy Institute and Connor Echols discuss the latest developments in the US-China trade war.

OpenAI and the AI Arms Race

Robert Wright and Steven Adler—former safety researcher at OpenAI—discuss what it was like at the firm as Chat-GPT emerged, whether the chip war on China is smart, Dario Amodei’s grand geopolitical strategy, and more.

An Anti-Blob Debate on Iran, Gaza, and China

Andrew Day and Curt Mills of the American Conservative join Robert Wright to discuss the latest Iran nuclear deal developments, Trump’s Israel-Gaza approach, US-China through a Buchananite lens, and more.

Trump’s Attack on Independent Thought

Harvard political scientist Stephen Walt and Robert Wright discuss the Trump administration’s efforts to suppress critical thought at Harvard and elsewhere.

Nonzero (The Wright Show)

An American Scholar in China

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Neysun Mahboubi joins Connor Echols to discuss his experience bringing American students and scholars to China—including one meeting in which his student pressed a Chinese official on human rights.

Nonzero (The Wright Show)

Can Trump get Iran back to the table?

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Connor Echols discusses the latest on the US-Iran crisis with Alan Eyre, a distinguished fellow at the Middle East Institute and a former core member of the US team that negotiated the 2015 Iran deal.

Nonzero (The Wright Show)

Why Bibi Always Needs More War

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Robert Wright and Oscar-winning documentarian Alex Gibney discuss Alex’s new film The Bibi Files, Netanyahu’s corruption trial, and the mysteries of Elon Musk.

Nonzero (The Wright Show)

Elon’s Abject Surrender

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Robert Wright and psychologist Paul Bloom discuss the roots of the Trump-Musk blowup, why Elon caved, and whether he can recover from the fallout.

Nonzero (The Wright Show)

Should Trump give up on Ukraine?

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Jennifer Kavanagh tells Connor Echols why it may be time for the US to walk away from Ukraine peace talks.

Nonzero (The Wright Show)

Trump’s Venezuela dilemma

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Francisco Rodriguez joins Connor Echols to discuss how a return to “maximum pressure” on Venezuela could backfire on Trump and drive more immigration to the US.