31 January 2023
Artificial intelligence and conventional wisdom
Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus discuss the shortcomings of ChatGPT.
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In this video:
- Can AI transcend conventional wisdom?
- Is Trump back as 2024 GOP frontrunner?
- The trouble with “the poor”
- J.D. Vance has Ukraine on the brain
- Ukraine update: How to make sending tanks make sense
- 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 kegs
A false flag in Ukraine?
Political scientist Ivan Katchanovski argues that the 2014 Maidan massacre was perpetrated mainly by snipers from far-right groups in hopes that the government would be blamed.
Biden’s chances in 2024
Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus debate the odds of reelection.
The false promise of net zero emissions
Glenn Loury and physicist Steven Koonin discuss how the push to halt carbon emissions obscures the limits of climate science.
Biden’s Classified Docs Scandal
Mishandled classified documents. Grounded planes. Gas stoves. Have Democrats lost their edge already in 2023? Bill Scher and Matt K. Lewis discuss in this week’s DMZ.
Did Bob Gates and Condoleezza Rice miss a chance to prevent the Ukraine war?
Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus discuss the issue.
Goodbye Norma Desmond
Bill Scher and Matt K. Lewis discuss McCarthy’s election to House Speaker. Plus: The debt limit showdown, Dem in-fighting on immigration, and is Trump’s star fading?
Is Musk a “great man” of tech history?
Robert Wright and Mickey Kaus debate the value of the Twitter owner’s societal and historical contributions.
The Revolt against the elites
Glenn Loury and political philosopher Michael Sandel discuss working-class resentment against elites that gave rise to Trump’s presidency.
The Glenn Show
Is another Harlem Renaissance possible?
Glenn Loury and John McWhorter discuss the achievements of the Harlem Renaissance writers and how they compare to the mindset of contemporary Black Studies programs.
The DMZ
Pat Buchanan Retires
On this week’s DMZ, Bill Scher and Matt K. Lewis discuss the legacy of the newly-retired Pat Buchanan. Plus: Is White Lotus conservative?; The debt limit showdown; and will Haley take on Trump?
Nonzero (The Wright Show)
Pitfalls of perspective taking
Robert Wright and meditation teacher Josh Summers discuss some of the challenges of employing cognitive empathy in daily life.
The Glenn Show
The unified field theory of non-whiteness
In this excerpt from their 2022 “best of” episode, Glenn Loury and John McWhorter discuss the possible fragmentation of a political coalition of “people of color” in the US.
Nonzero (The Wright Show)
Did America’s own illegal interventions make Russia’s invasion more likely?
Robert Wright and Slate columnist Fred Kaplan debate the issue.
The Glenn Show
Against the victim mentality
