Robert Wright — Non-Zero-Sum Thinking on the World Stage

For this edition of The Glenn Show, I’m joined by someone who may be familiar to long-time viewers: Bob Wright. Bob is a distinguished journalist and the author of many books, including The Moral Animal, Nonzero, and Why Buddhism is True. He also happens to be the co-founder of Bloggingheads, the platform on which The Glenn Show was born and has flourished. In our conversation, Bob walks us through the early days of Bloggingheads and the flash of inspiration that led him to create the site. We then move on to discuss Bob’s ideas about evolution and international relations, and how they’re influenced by game theory (something I know a bit about). Bob’s ideas about the nature of conflict and cooperation have a number of implications for combating the sort of nasty political tribalism that we see so much today, both domestically and internationally. Of course, more non-zero sum thinking could possibly help us turn down the temperature in conflicts over race in the US, which would be a welcome change. And finally, we turn our attention to new developments in the relationship between The Glenn Show and Bloggingheads. Both Bob and I are excited about what’s to come! A New Home for TGS The video for this episode is hosted on my own new YouTube channel, which will soon become the home of The Glenn Show. I invite you to subscribe to this channel (and click the bell button!) now so that you don't miss future offerings. This newsletter will continue to publish as usual with the same benefits for subscribers. This post is free and available to the public. To receive early access to TGS episodes, Q&As, and other exclusive content and benefits, click below. 0:00 Subscribe to The Glenn Show on YouTube 0:26 The origins of Bloggingheads 11:30 Non-zero-sum thinking on the global stage 20:30 Bob: We’re not focusing on the most pressing foreign policy dilemmas 29:13 Bridging the globalist vs. nationalist divide 34:13 Could more cognitive empathy ease racial tensions? 45:00 Changes afoot for The Glenn Show and Bloggingheads Links and Readings Bloggingheads.tv The Wright Show Bob’s Substack newsletter, The Nonzero Newsletter The Nonzero Newsletter, “The Last Word on GWOT” Bob’s book, The Moral Animal: Why We Are the Way We Are: The New Science of Evolutionary Psychology Bob’s book, Nonzero: The Logic of Human Destiny Bob’s book, Why Buddhism Is True: The Science and Philosophy of Meditation and Enlightenment This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit glennloury.substack.com/subscribe