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9 July 2025

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Alyssa Rosenberg (The Washington Post) and Scott Meslow (The Week)

On Critic Proof, Alyssa and Scott dissect the shocking Breaking Bad episode “Ozymandias” (contains spoilers). Why are some viewers still rooting for Walter White? They compare Skyler with Carmella Soprano, and Breaking Bad and The Sopranos more generally. What will the show’s ending say about Breaking Bad‘s moral universe? Moving on to the new TV season, Alyssa and Scott eviscerate Dads but are optimistic about Brooklyn Nine-Nine. They discuss whether Masters of Sex represents an evolution of the prestige drama, and close by offering some recommendations for other new shows to watch.

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Recorded:Sep 18    Posted:Sep 19, 2013
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Critic Proof | Sep 19, 2013 | Alyssa Rosenberg & Scott Meslow

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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.

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How power really works in DC

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

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The Truth about Sam Altman

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

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Why Nations Go to War

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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.

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Bibi’s War, America’s Problem?

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

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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.

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Why the Iran attacks undermine US-China trade talks

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

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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.

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OpenAI and the AI Arms Race

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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.

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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.