Daniel Bessner—historian and co-host of the American Prestige podcast—joins Robert Wright to discuss his new book, Imperialist Realism, which argues that Americans have lost faith in the project of US global hegemony, yet still can’t imagine a plausible alternative. Overtime: Is Bob a de facto Marxist?
Scott Aaronson—quantum computing expert and former AI alignment researcher—joins Robert Wright to discuss how AI hastens the quantum computing revolution, how it might illuminate quantum physics, and related philosophical questions (free will, consciousness, etc.) Plus: Could an AI slowdown avert global catastrophe?
Robert Wright and Liron Shapira, host of the Doom Debates podcast, discuss this week’s stock market jitters, Google’s new interactive world model, and why Liron sometimes spends $1,000 in a day on AI agents. Plus: the Binance hack, an AI audit of two star economists, Anthropic’s financial prospects, and whether AI could crack the math behind encryption.
Robert Wright and Paul Bloom discuss Nathan Fielder’s new Elizabeth Holmes documentary—and whether Fielder is a comic genius, a dick, or both. Plus: Alex Gibney’s new Elon doc, and a sneak preview of Paul’s date with an AI companion.
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.
