Must We Discuss Sydney Sweeney? (Robert Wright & Paul Bloom)
Robert Wright's Nonzero
Nonzero
4.7 • 618 Ratings
🗓️ 5 August 2025
⏱️ 52 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
0:28 Substack glory and livestream anxiety 02:58 Reading eugenics into a dopey jeans ad 11:37 Does Sydney Sweeney spell the end of “inclusive marketing”? 15:25 Bob vs. Paul on IQ and “general intelligence” 22:10 Paul reviews the new Billy Joel documentary 28:07 The Epstein prison video snafu: a Bayesian take 37:19 Ghislaine gets a free upgrade
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Paul Bloom (https://smallpotatoes.paulbloom.net, University of Toronto, The Sweet Spot, Against Empathy). Recorded August 04, 2025.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | You're listening to Robert Wright's Non-Zero Podcast. |
| 0:29.3 | Hello, Paul. |
| 0:31.0 | Hello, Robert. |
| 0:32.0 | How are you? |
| 0:33.6 | Oh, can't complain. |
| 0:34.7 | Let me introduce us. |
| 0:35.5 | I'm Robert Wright, publisher of Non-Zero Newsletter. This is a non-zero podcaster, Paul Bloom, publisher of the highly regarded, possibly the most highly regarded potato-based substack, and one of the two best subsstacks called Small Potatoes, and plus a a globe trotting and world famous psychologists. |
| 0:56.7 | We'll get back to that. |
| 0:58.4 | Because once again, your work has gotten attention in elite media. |
| 1:05.0 | Congratulations. |
| 1:06.4 | In the liberal New York Times of all places. |
| 1:09.4 | Let's so boast, Paul. |
| 1:10.7 | Okay. Also, let's so boast, Paul. |
| 1:11.1 | Okay. |
| 1:14.4 | Also, let's keep them in suspense. |
| 1:16.4 | We want to maximize engagement. |
| 1:18.1 | We want them to keep watching the YouTube, |
| 1:20.6 | even after they smash the like button. |
| 1:23.8 | So I did a substack live thing |
| 1:27.0 | with this guy who has the substack Bentham's Bulldog utilitarian. |
| 1:31.5 | We did have a conversation. |
| 1:32.9 | And as you do it, when people hit the light button, hearts fly up. |
... |
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