Michael Hudson is Distinguished Research Professor of Economics at the University of Missouri, Kansas City and President of the Institute for the Study of Long-Term Economic Trends. He researches domestic and international finance, the history of economics, and the role of debt in shaping class stratification, among many other topics. This is Michael’s fifth appearance on the show. He was also a guest on episode 180, where he and Robinson discussed neoliberalism, industrial capitalism, and the rentier economy, and on episode 198, where they discussed Marxism, economic parasites, and contemporary debt cancellation. He has also joined with Richard Wolff. In this episode, Michael and Robinson discuss how the Crusades shaped the future of economics, the role of economics in political history, the current budget of the Republicans, problems with social security, the effects of AI on economics, and more. Michael’s most recent book is Temples of Enterprise (ISLET, 2024).
Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.com
Temples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dm
OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:37 Why Historians Missed How the Crusades Shapes Economics
00:10:39 What Motivated the Crusades?
00:20:09 The Problem of Financing Wars
00:29:23 How The Roman Catholic Church Invented Financial Interest
00:40:08 Importing Jewish Merchants to England
00:45:12 The Intolerance of the Catholic Church
00:48:51 The Origin of Roman Catholic Indulgences
00:58:39 Using Indulgences to Finance the Crusades
01:05:54 Neglecting the Role of Economics in Political History
01:15:43 Finance as the Central Planning Power of Governments
01:18:17 What’s Wrong with the Republicans’ Budget?
01:19:48 The Dark Problem with Social Security
01:26:40 The Conflict Between Finance and Democracy
01:37:19 How the 1 Percent Don’t Contribute to the Economy
01:38:40 How Will AI Impact the Future of Economics?
01:45:55 How Will AI Affect Unemployment Rates?
01:54:18 Will the 1 Percent Need People in an AI Future
01:58:32 How Will AI Affect the Future of Academia?
02:08:59 Papal Financial Control vs The IMF
02:19:37 How the Government Favors the Creditor over the Debtor
02:23:42 The Difference Between the Chinese and American Economies
02:32:37 Global Warming’s Devastating Effects on the Economy
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
In this special episode, Robinson and Karl Zheng Wang co-host at the Yale US-China Forum. Return guests from the show include Slavoj Žižek, Richard Wolff, and Yascha Mounk. Slavoj Žižek is international director of the Birkbeck Institute for the Humanities at the University of London, visiting professor at New York University, and a senior researcher at the University of Ljubljana’s Department of Philosophy. Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. Yascha Mounk is a Professor of the Practice of International Affairs at Johns Hopkins University. He is also a Contributing Editor at the Atlantic, a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations, and the host of The Good Fight podcast. Yannis Varoufakis is a Greek economist and politician, and current Secretary-General of the Democracy in Europe Movement 2025. Robin Visser is Professor in the Department of Asian and Middle Eastern Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where she researches modern Chinese and Sinophone literatures, urban cultural studies, and environmental studies. Pei Wang is Professor in the Chinese History and Culture Program at the University of Hong Kong, where she specializes in comparative philosophy, psychoanalysis, and more. Daniel Mattingly is Professor in the Department of Political Science at Yale University, where he studies the domestic and international politics of authoritarian regimes, with a focus on China.
OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:46 The Future of Europe and China
00:10:40 There Is No Such Thing as Trade Wars, They Are All Class Wars
00:15:50 How Wall Street’s Failures Fueled the Rise of Tech
00:20:02 Why Is There a New Cold War Between the US and China?
00:27:18 Why the United States Is Abandoning Democracy and Why China is Yannis Varoufakis’s Only Hope
00:29:26 Richard Wolff to Yannis Varoufakis: Are We Heading Toward Nuclear War with China?
00:35:58 How Class WARFARE Shaped the World Superpowers CLIP
00:41:01 Is China Capitalism’s Final Form?
00:52:03 Is There Any Way that China and the United Stated Could Avert Conflict?
00:59:16 Varoufakis to Wolff: Is a Tariff Hail Mary Trump’s Only Remaining Option?
01:03:39 Daniel Mattingly on China’s Sociopolitical Organization
01:08:39 How Does Xi Jinping Talk About Socialism?
01:13:47 Yascha Mounk on US-China Competition
01:22:36 Philosophy, Socialism, and Capitalism
01:48:40 Pei Wang on the Hero and Father in US-China Competition
01:54:31 Hero and Father Archetypes in Politics
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Peter Zeihan is a geopolitical analyst, futurist, and best-selling author who researches and strategizes around demography, economics, energy, politics, technology, and security. In this episode, Peter and Robinson focus on revisiting content from his latest book—The End of the World is Just the Beginning—in the context of today’s developments. More particularly, they discuss, Donald Trump, tariffs, ICE Raids, deportations, how demography and geography will affect the future balance of world powers, the impact of AI on global economics, what the end of the world order could look like, Trump’s immigration policies, and more. You can keep up with Peter through his website or YouTube channel, links to which are below.
Peter’s Website: https://zeihan.com
Peter’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@ZeihanonGeopolitics
The End of the World is Just the Beginning: https://a.co/d/bZJES4t
OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:09 Trump and the End of the American-Led World Order
00:06:49 Does AI Change the Economics of the Future?
00:14:39 The 2,000,000,000$ Failure of the F-35 Fighter Jet
00:25:00 Why the United States Needs Immigrants
00:33:03 Is There Any Strategy Behind Donald Trump?
00:41:43 Why Food Will Become Weaponized in the Near Future
00:50:39 Why China’s Economy is Doomed to Recession
00:53:55 How Do We Prepare For China’s Collapse?
01:00:37 Trump’s Tariffs and the Fall of America
01:01:54 Was Russia Doomed to Fall Even Before Ukraine?
01:05:51 The Biggest Underestimated Global Conflicts
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
David Kipping is a Professor of Astronomy at Columbia University, where he runs Cool Worlds Lab and researches planets and moons that revolve around stars other than our own, in addition to his own work on the search for—and theorization about—alien life. In this episode, David and Robinson have a wide-ranging conversation about extraterrestrials. They discuss alien civilizations, propulsion, megastructures, Oumuamua, quantum immortality, Dyson spheres, simulation theory, ancient aliens, and much more. David also runs the YouTube channel Cool Worlds Lab, where he has produced many videos on these topics.
Cool Worlds Lab (YouTube): https://www.youtube.com/@CoolWorldsLab
David’s Website: http://davidkipping.co.uk
OUTLINE
00:01:05 Astronomy or Aliens?
00:06:12 How Scientists Get Burned by Alien Research
00:16:52 Three Big Obstacles to UFO Science
00:23:59 What is the Kardashev Scale of Alien Civilizations?
00:30:28 Cloaking Devices
00:33:46 How To Detect Alien Civilizations with Heat Signatures
00:37:21 Other Schemes for Detecting Civilizations
00:47:22 Does Alien Life Need Water to Exist?
00:51:46 Why Would Aliens Have Very Different Technology From Us?
00:55:54 When Did the First Life Form in the Universe?
01:07:23 Is the Universe Filled with Ancient Alien Civilizations?
01:16:45 What Is the Great Filter Hypothesis For Alien Life?
01:19:31 Artificial Intelligence, Aliens, and the End of Humanity
01:25:05 How Rare Is the Creation of Life From Nothing?
01:31:53 Communicating with Extraterrestrials
01:37:28 What Are Alien Megastructures?
01:47:07 Can We Engineer the Sun to Live Longer?
01:51:08 Clark Belt Detection
01:54:35 Should We Look for Alien Life on Exomoons?
02:01:33 Could We Find Alien Life on Planets in the Interstellar Medium?
02:04:34 Future Telescopes
02:13:35 What Is a Warp Drive and Why Can’t We Build One?
02:21:47 On Time Travel and the Best Time Machines
02:26:40 What Are the Best Interstellar Propulsion Technologies?
02:34:07 Was Oumuamua an Alien Spacecraft?
02:43:09 Are the TicTac UFOs Alien Spacecraft?
02:56:58 Do We Live in a Simulation?
03:00:17 What Is Quantum Immortality?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Eliezer Yudkowsky is a decision theorist, computer scientist, and author who co-founded and leads research at the Machine Intelligence Research Institute. He is best known for his work on the alignment problem—how and whether we can ensure that AI is aligned with human values to avoid catastrophe and harness its power. In this episode, Robinson and Eliezer run the gamut on questions related to AI and the danger it poses to human civilization as we know it. More particularly, they discuss the alignment problem, gradient descent, consciousness, the singularity, cyborgs, ChatGPT, OpenAI, Anthropic, Claude, how long we have until doomsday, whether it can be averted, and the various reasons why and ways in which AI might wipe out human life on earth.
The Machine Intelligence Research Institute: https://intelligence.org/about/
Eliezer’s X Account: https://x.com/ESYudkowsky?ref_src=twsrc%5Egoogle%7Ctwcamp%5Eserp%7Ctwgr%5Eauthor
OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:43 The Default Condition for AI’s Takeover
00:06:36 Could a Future AI Country Be Our Trade Partner?
00:11:18 What Is Artificial Intelligence?
00:21:23 Why AIs Having Goals Could Mean the End of Humanity
00:29:34 What Is the Alignment Problem?
00:34:11 How To Avoid AI Apocalypse
00:40:25 Would Cyborgs Eliminate Humanity?
00:47:55 AI and the Problem of Gradient Descent
00:55:24 How Do We Solve the Alignment Problem?
01:00:50 How Anthropic’s AI Freed Itself from Human Control
01:08:56 The Pseudo-Alignment Problem
01:19:28 Why Are People Wrong About AI Not Taking Over the World?
01:23:23 How Certain Is It that AI Will Wipe Out Humanity?
01:38:35 Is Eliezer Yudkowski Wrong About The AI Apocalypse
01:42:04 Do AI Corporations Control the Fate of Humanity?
01:43:49 How To Convince the President Not to Let AI Kill Us All
01:52:01 How Will ChatGPT’s Descendants Wipe Out Humanity?
02:24:11 Could AI Destroy us with New Science?
02:39:37 Could AI Destroy us with Advanced Biology?
02:47:29 How Will AI Actually Destroy Humanity?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Norman Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department, and is best known for his research on Israel and Palestine. Norman also appeared on episodes 192, 218, 228, and 244, where he addressed the facts and fictions generated by the Israel-Hamas War, October 6th, allegations of genocide and apartheid, Hezbollah, the Holocaust, and more. In this episode, Robinson and Norman discuss Trump, the current state of Gaza, the fate of Palestine, wokeness, Bernies Sanders, Chuck Schumer, antisemitism, free speech, and other topics. Norman’s most recent book is I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom (Sublation Media, 2023).
Norman’s Website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com
OUTLINE
00:01:11 Norman’s Predictions for the War
00:10:12 Trump and the End of the Ceasefire
00:14:29 Why Didn’t The Democrats Strike a Ceasefire in Israel?
00:25:50 A Jeremy Corbin Witch Hunt?
00:29:52 On Wokeness and DEI
00:54:01 Bernie Sanders and the Working Class
00:57:16 Bernie Sanders, Chuck Schumer, and Anti-Semitism
01:04:17 Is Trump a Slave to Money, Power, and Putin?
01:11:02 Is Chuck Schumer’s Definition of Anti-Semitism Terrible?
01:19:52 Free Speech and Academia
01:24:34 How Norman Feels About Being Academically Canceled
01:27:45 On Noam Chomsky’s Deceptiveness
01:29:42 More on the Cancelation
01:34:13 How Should We Define Anti-Semitism?
01:43:45 What Should We Do With Holocaust Deniers?
01:47:14 On W.E.B Du Bois
01:58:31 On Race and IQ
02:01:35 Suppression of Free Speech
02:09:02 How to Prevent Another Holocaust
02:18:18 Chuck Schumer is Wrong About Media Echo Chambers
02:22:01 How to Fight Violent Hate
02:35:58 On Chuck Schumer’s Backstory and the Holocaust
02:40:05 Cleaning the Augean Stables of Gaza Scholarship
02:46:21 What Changed on October 7th
02:48:59 Gaza Is Already Rubble: What’s Next?
Chris Hedges is a Pulitzer Prize–winning author and journalist who was a foreign correspondent for fifteen years for The New York Times. He has covered numerous wars across the decades, written many books—including America: The Farewell Tour and American Fascists: The Christian Right and the War on America—and has been involved in work for prisoner advocacy. In this episode, Robinson and Chris discuss Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and the rise of American fascism. More particularly, they address comparisons between Trump and Hitler, DOGE, the new crisis for the Democratic Party, Israel and Palestine, the Christian far right, Marxism, and more. Chris’s latest book is A Genocide Foretold (Penguin Random House, 2025).
Chris’s YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/@chrishedgeschannel?si=XIMAFyQFmWGoYyuO
The Chris Hedges Report Substack: https://chrishedges.substack.com
A Genocide Foretold: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/786808/a-genocide-foretold-by-chris-hedges/
OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:00:59 PTSD and Weightlifting
00:06:49 The Decline of the American Empire
00:11:10 The Strongest Dimension of Trump’s Presidency
00:17:20 Was Hitler a Better Speaker than Trump?
00:19:54 How the Democratic Party Sold Out the Working Class
00:22:21 Elon Musk and the Oligarchic Takeover of America
00:28:26 Is Elon Musk Wrong About the Efficiency of Government?
00:31:02 What Is the Deep State?
00:42:46 Is Donald Trump at War with the Deep State?
00:49:23 Infiltrating the Far Right Christian Community
00:54:04 Becoming a Minister
00:57:27 The Christian Right and the Fascist State
01:06:26 The Problem of Evil
01:10:31 On Sadism and the Decline of Empires
01:17:35 Why the Christian Right Supports Israel
01:20:20 How Does Trump Think of Israel?
01:27:38 On How the CIA Attempted to Recruit Him
01:31:06 Is Israel Still Committing Genocide in Gaza?
01:40:25 Chris’s New Book
01:46:24 On His Time with Hamas
01:55:01 Journalism vs Academia
01:58:28 Is Zionism Anti-Semitism?
02:04:52 How to Read the Bible
02:12:01 Where Does Integrity Come From?
02:22:26 Dehumanization in Palestine
02:26:15 On Marxism and Elon Musk
02:31:16 The Farewell Tour
02:35:34 On Trump’s Love of TV
02:37:50 On Reporting the Middle East
02:39:56 Russia and Ukraine
02:42:59 Growing Wealth Disparities in the United States
02:46:56 Fascist Attacks on Education
02:51:39 The Dark Future of the Press
02:57:30 Could the American Empire Be Revived?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s eighth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In his last appearance, episode #243, he and Robinson discussed 2025 and the first weeks of Trump’s presidency, as well as what’s to come. More particularly, they discuss the irrelevance of Donald Trump, his domestic and global policies, China, narratives on the right and left, and the future of the United States. In this episode, they continue the discussion by diving deeper into recent events, Doge, Elon Musk, the relationship between Trump and Hitler, and important historical Marxists. Richard’s latest book is Understanding Capitalism (Democracy at Work, 2024).
Understanding Capitalism (Book): https://www.democracyatwork.info/understanding_capitalism
Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com
Economic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdate
OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:27 What Do Trump and Hitler Have in Common?
00:09:42 Is This the Democratic Party’s Worst Crisis?
00:14:58 Is Trump’s Economic Policy a Hail Mary?
00:26:29 The Mexican Deportation Crisis
00:30:19 Global Retaliation Against American Tariffs
00:33:29 America’s Big Mistake with Russian Sanctions
00:40:50 Trump’s Big TikTok Mistake
00:47:05 How Adolf Hitler Came to Power in Germany
01:08:40 Does Elon Musk Symbolize the End of America?
01:16:07 How Bosses Lie When They Fire You
01:23:08 On Elon Musk’s Chainsaw Public Relations Disaster
01:28:52 On the Drowning American Empire
01:34:36 On Elon Musk and the Self-Destruction of Tesla
01:39:27 Feudalism, Communism, and the Death of Capitalism
01:46:22 Does China Represent a New Breed of Capitalism?
01:55:16 What Can the United States Do to Beat China?
02:03:46 What Makes Mao an Important Marxist?
02:17:56 Richard Wolff’s Mediocre Ivy League Education
02:23:59 How Mao Made the China of Today
02:40:39 The Myth of European Global Dominance
02:52:08 On Antonio Gramsci and Mussolini
02:57:03 Why Is Gramsci One of the Great Marxists?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Dr. Nolan is the Rachford and Carlota A. Harris Professor in the Department of Pathology at Stanford University School of Medicine. He has published over 350 research articles and is the holder of 50 US patents, and has been honored as one of the top 25 inventors at Stanford University. He specializes in groundbreaking cancer and immunotherapy research. Yet Garry is also a world-renowned UAP investigator and Executive Director of the Board at the Sol Foundation, one of whose unofficial mottos is: Science, Policy, and Public Education for a Post-UAP World. In this episode, Robinson and Garry discuss the evidence that aliens exist and have already visited Earth. More particularly, they discuss various hypotheses about what aliens are—interdimensional travelers, visitors from other planets, Boltzmann Brains, and others—the Atacama Mummy, Garry’s own UFO encounter, the relationship between aliens and national security, the Pentagon Videos, the Fermi Paradox, and more. Keep up with Garry through X and the Sol Foundation.
Garry’s X Account: https://x.com/GarryPNolan
The Sol Foundation: https://thesolfoundation.org
OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:01:23 Garry’s Interest in Aliens
00:05:03 How Garry’s Medical Research Turned into Alien Investigations
00:14:44 The Alien Controversy Around the Atacama Mummy
00:24:08 What Is the Definitive Proof for Aliens?
00:29:34 What Are UAPs
00:32:46 What Are Interdimensional Aliens??
00:36:03 What Are Ultraterrestrial Aliens?
00:40:01 The Time-Traveling Alien Hypothesis
00:41:13 The Angry-Monkey Alien Hypothesis
00:43:35 The Panspermia Alien Hypothesis
00:48:20 Could Intelligent Aliens Have Come to Earth?
00:54:50 Garry’s Background in Genetics
00:57:13 Does Extraterrestrial Life Need Air and Water to Live?
01:07:16 What Is the Fermi Paradox?
01:15:56 UFOs and Government
01:22:23 Garry’s UAP Experience
01:35:27 On Telepathy and Paranormal Abilities
01:39:31 On the Credibility of Alien Witnesses
01:41:34 Does the Government Suppress UFO Reports?
01:49:11 Why Are Aerospace Companies Hiding UFO Data?
01:51:53 Does the Government Possess Alien Metals?
01:58:29 Is Knowledge of Aliens a National Security Threat?
02:02:15 On Alien Abductions and Animal Mutilations
02:06:28 The Violent Changes to Brains Exposed to UFOs
02:17:56 Garry’s Top Secret Clearance
02:19:15 The Truth About the Tic-Tac UFO Incident
02:37:25 What Is the Skywatcher UAP Contact Program?
02:46:01 The Sol Foundation
02:58:24 Why Alien Research Can Prevent Nuclear War
03:02:03 What Are Transmedium Alien UAPs?
03:04:50 Are UAPs Biological Threats?
03:06:31 On Avi Loeb’s Pioneering UAP Research
03:12:49 Is Jacques Vallee One of the Most Important Alien Researchers?
03:18:17 What Should You Tell Someone Who Doesn’t Believe in Aliens?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is Tim’s seventh appearance on the show. He last appeared on episode 237 for a masterclass on Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, explaining it from the ground up and elucidating some common misconceptions. In this episode Tim returns for a discussion of another of Einstein’s major impacts on physics: his theory of general relativity. More particularly, Tim and Robinson discuss black holes, time, paradoxes of distance, Penrose diagrams, figures like Leonard Susskind and Richard Feynman, the curvature of space, and more. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.
Tim’s Website: www.tim-maudlin.site
The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org
00:00:42 An Extended Prelude
00:05:08 Naming Names
00:10:02 The Difference Between Quantum Mechanics and General Relativity
00:13:46 Einstein on General Relativity and Metric
00:27:21 More on Coordinates
00:40:26 A Novel Coordinate System
00:46:25 What Is Special Relativity?
00:50:30 The Conflict Between Quantum Theory and Relativity
01:02:00 Doing Physics with Geometry
01:12:38 Geometry and Special Relativity
01:30:20 More on Geometry and Relativity
01:36:19 Lorentz Frames
01:46:56 Simultaneity
02:02:03 John Bell and Special Relativity
02:11:00 Paradoxes of Distance
02:22:12 A Penrose Diagram
02:27:47 Introducing General Relativity
02:32:23 The Most Important Experiment About Gravity
02:45:52 Changing the Geometry of Spacetime
02:55:28 Curvature of Space
03:02:03 Be Careful with Diagrams in Science
03:05:45 The Basic Idea of General Relativity
03:10:23 The Equivalence Principle
03:19:40 Clocks and Gravity
03:28:09 Richard Feynman on General Relativity
03:37:00 The Cosmological Constant
03:41:56 What Are Black Holes?
03:50:45 What Steven Weinberg Got Wrong About General Relativity
04:01:01 Black Holes and the Centrifugal Force Paradox
04:06:32 Curved Black Holes and Gödel Spacetime
04:19:34 The John Bell Institute
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Leonard Susskind is Felix Block Professor of Physics at Stanford University. Along with other accomplishments, he is among the fathers of such revolutionary concepts in physics as string theory, black hole complementarity, the holographic principle, and the string-theoretic landscape. He was also the guest on episode #217, where he and Robinson discussed the fine-tuning problem and the physics of the multiverse. In this episode, Leonard and Robinson get into another topic—black holes and the information paradox. More particularly, they talk about important figures like Stephen Hawking and Gerard ’t Hooft, singularities, chaos, whether the cosmos is a hologram, the end of the universe, and more. For further details, check out Leonard’s book on the title: The Black Hole War (Back Bay Books, 2009).
The Black Hole War: https://a.co/d/3eTOHoZ
The Theoretical Minimum: https://theoreticalminimum.com
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
05:21 Black Holes and the War Between Relativity and Quantum Mechanics
11:18 Is The Singularity at the Heart of a Black Hole Real?
21:51 Demystifying the Puzzle of Quantum Information
28:27 What Does The Famous Phrase “It From Bit” Mean?
38:47 Can Information Be Stored on the Surface of a Black Hole?
47:11 Was Stephen Hawking a Good Physicist?
56:21 How Will The Universe End?
1:00:49 What Is the Black Hole Information Paradox?
1:10:47 What Is the Holographic Principle?
1:20:01 How Leonard Susskind Won the Black Hole War Against Stephen Hawking
1:25:09 What Is the Infamous AdS/CFT Correspondence?
1:32:29 Is Physics in a Deep Crisis?
1:39:29 Are String and M-Theory Totally Wrong?
1:43:05 Is String Theory the Theory of Everything?
1:47:43 Is String Theory a Failure?
1:50:15 Does Our World Have Extra Dimensions?
1:53:34 Could Our World Be a Hologram?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Norman Finkelstein received his PhD from the Princeton University Politics Department, and is best known for his research on Israel and Palestine. In this episode, Norman and Robinson sit down for a discussion about Donald Trump, the latest from Israel, Palestine, and Gaza, and the dying Left. Norman also appeared on episode 192, where he and Robinson discussed allegations of genocide and apartheid, Hamas and Hezbollah, and connections between the war and the Holocaust. Norman was also featured on episode 218, where he addressed the facts and fictions generated by the Israel-Hamas War, and episode 228, which was all about October 6th. Norman and Robinson also discuss Mehdi Hassan, Noam Chomsky, Christopher Hitchens, the Holocaust, Apartheid, Joan Peters, Julia Sebutinde, the Mossad, Sheryl Sandberg, Destiny, Lex Fridman, Bill Ackman, Alan Dershowitz, and more. Norman’s most recent book is I’ll Burn That Bridge When I Get to It! Heretical Thoughts on Identity Politics, Cancel Culture, and Academic Freedom (Sublation Media, 2023).
Norman’s Website: https://www.normanfinkelstein.com
OUTLINE
00:00:00 Introduction
00:07:25 Mehdi Hassan: The Working Class is Stupid
00:12:59 How Far Will the Supreme Court Go with Donald Trump?
00:21:49 Why Bernie Sanders Appeals to the Common Man
00:38:12 How Did Identity Politics Help Trump Win?
00:46:02 The Joy of Stereotypes
01:01:23 Why the People Loved Bernie Sanders and Trump
01:06:16 Noam Chomsky, Philosopher King
01:11:16 Christopher Hitchens Was Not a Serious Intellectual
01:20:58 Norman’s Parents Hate For Religion After the Holocaust
01:34:06 A Lex Fridman and Destiny Conspiracy
01:37:12 Norman’s Family and the Holocaust
01:45:43 Why Jews Stopped Caring About the Holocaust
01:54:43 Why Norman Never Had a Bar Mitzvah
02:02:52 Why Norman’s Parents Hated Germans and Poles
02:11:22 Comparing Gaza to the Holocaust
02:16:48 Comparing Gaza to Apartheid South Africa
02:24:41 Corruption Over Genocide in Palestine
02:27:05 On the Colossal Joan Peters Palestine Hoax
02:30:16 On Norman’s Time as a Maoist
02:39:35 The Corruption of Julia Sebutinde at the International Court of Justice
02:42:25 Does the Mossad Blackmail Public Figures?
02:52:49 Sheryl Sandberg and the War Crime “Israeli Propaganda Machine”
03:05:19 On Accusations of Sex Crimes on October 6th
03:18:12 On His Mortal Feud With Alan Dershowitz
03:31:19 On Bill Ackman and the Pro-Israel American Billionaire Class
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Richard Wolff is Professor Emeritus of Economics at the University of Massachusetts Amherst and a visiting professor at The New School, where he works on economics in the Marxist tradition. This is Richard’s seventh appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In his last appearance, episode #230, he and Robinson discussed Richard’s arguments against electing Donald Trump for president, as well as his analysis of the election. In this episode, Richard and Robinson talk about 2025 and the first weeks of Trump’s presidency, as well as what’s to come. More particularly, they discuss the irrelevance of Donald Trump, his domestic and global policies, China, narratives on the right and left, and the future of the United States. Richard’s latest book is Understanding Capitalism (Democracy at Work, 2024).
Understanding Capitalism (Book): https://www.democracyatwork.info/understanding_capitalism
Class Theory and History (Book): https://a.co/d/ht4trZN
Understanding the 2024 Elections (Article): https://asiatimes.com/2024/08/capitalism-mass-anger-and-2024-elections/
Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com
Economic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdate
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
05:48 Three Months Later: Why Did Trump Defeat Harris?
08:34 How the Left Can Defeat Donald Trump
12:57 Donald J. Trump Is a Naughty Boy
15:06 Why Kamala Harris Lost the Election
16:27 Why Trump Won the Longshoremen’s Union (Because the Left Failed Them)
25:23 Is Victor Davis Hanson Wrong About the Elites’ War on the Working Class?
36:31 Did West Coast Elites Cause the LA Wildfire Disaster (Is Victor Davis Hanson Wrong?)?
42:26 Why Richard Wolff Enjoys Tucker Carlson
47:02 Can Psychoanalysis and the Subconscious Explain Donald Trump’s Victory?
54:32 Why Unemployment Tanked Harris in the Election
59:45 Deep Seek, The Chinese Phenomenon
1:05:31 The Astonishing Story of How China Came to Dominate Elon Musk Over Electric Cars
1:13:25 Donald Trump’s Huge Misunderstanding About Tariffs
1:17:44 Donald Trump’s Irrational Bluster Tactics
1:20:04 Richard Wolff Exposes Donald Trump’s Contradictions About Immigration
1:34:23 The Marxist Truth About Why Immigrants Are a Gift to the United States
1:41:37 The Weakness of the American Empire
1:44:34 Why Trump’s Policies Will Increase Illegal Mexican Immigration and Drug Trafficking
1:47:58 Should Trump Make Canada the 51st State?
1:51:04 How Elites Rejected Donald Trump and Created the Man He Became
1:54:45 On Larry Summers’s Debacle at Harvard (And How Donald Trump Did It Better)
1:59:25 Why Donald Trump Wants to Take the Panama Canal (And the Actual Best Reason to Control It)
2:02:33 How American Neocons Failed to Stop China From the World Superpower
2:13:29 How the BRICS Are Drastically Outperforming the American Economy
2:20:14 On Europe’s Impending Economic Doom
2:25:18 Is There a Fatal Contradiction in Trump’s Climate Policy?
2:30:03 On Donald Trump’s Anti-Elitist, Anti-DEI Rhetoric
2:33:20 How Will AI Affect China and America’s Economic War?
2:43:19 How Elon Musk is Only an Unsuccessful Bureaucrat
2:45:04 How China’s Communist Government Is More Efficient than the United States’s
2:48:11 Why the United States Is the Aggressor Against China
2:51:10 Why Trump Thinks We Should Conquer Greenland
3:02:18 On China’s Number One Global Priority
3:09:41 What Marxists Learned from the Failure of the Soviet Union
3:15:23 Some Key Lessons from Marx’s Kapital
3:21:56 On How History Will Overwhelm Trump In the Next Four Years
3:26:30 Donald Trump and the Gulf of America
3:28:28 Why We Should Expect More of the Same from Donald Trump
3:32:26 On His Hope For a Brighter Future From the Left
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Victor Davis Hanson is a renowned classicist, military historian, and political commentator. He is the Martin and Illie Anderson Senior Fellow in Residence in Classics and Military History at the Hoover Institution, Stanford University. Among numerous other awards, Victor was presented with the National Humanities Medal in 2007. Victor most recently appeared on episode #231, which came out just before the 2024 election, and where he made a case to vote for Donald Trump. In this episode, Robinson and Victor discuss the results of the election and President Trump’s inauguration. More particularly, they talk about the biggest challenges he will face as president, the class- and culture war in the United States, Trump’s rhetorical abilities, the California wildfires, and geopolitics, including our relationships with China, Canada, Russia, and the Middle East. Keep up with Victor on Twitter, through his website, and on his podcast, The Victor Davis Hanson Show.
Victor’s Website: https://victorhanson.com
Victor’s Twitter: https://twitter.com/VDHanson
The Victor Davis Hanson Show: https://art19.com/shows/the-victor-davis-hanson-show
The End of Everything: https://a.co/d/46O0mMB
The Case for Trump: https://a.co/d/8Bf0OdC
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
00:53 Victor’s Biggest Worries For Donald Trump’s Presidency
06:38 Donald Trump, The Troll
10:53 Should Donald Trump and the United States Annex Greenland and Canada?
12:50 Will President Donald Trump Take Over the Panama Canal?
14:57 Why the World Fears Donald Trump
17:53 Are the CIA and FBI More Damaging to the United States than Donald Trump?
25:33 The Ideological Disease that Caused the California Wildfire Disaster
28:33 How Victor’s Life Was Saved by Three Hispanic Women
30:08 Is Donald Trump the Problem with America, or Something Else?
32:13 The Real Reason People Hate Donald Trump
34:04 Victor Davis Hanson’s Rude Awakening at Stanford from University Elites
37:43 How California’s Incompetence Destroyed Its Own Water Supply
45:16 Did California Elites Cause the Los Angeles Wildfire Disaster?
50:48 Why Competence Defeated Ideology in Trump’s 2024 Election Victory
54:41 Does Donald Trump Have an Incompetent Cabinet?
1:04:45 Who’s More Competent? Blue Collar Americans or Bicoastal Elites?
1:07:07 Is China Trump’s Biggest Challenge?
1:11:44 Will the Middle East Finally See Peace Under Trump?
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Raphael Bousso is the Chancellor’s Chair in Physics at the Berkeley Center for Theoretical Physics, where he leads the Bousso Group in research on quantum gravity and quantum information. He is a renowned string theorist famous also for his development of the string theoretic landscape and the Bousso bound in holography. In this episode, Robinson and Raphael talk about the foundations of quantum mechanics and whether or not there are any deep mysteries within the theory that remain to be solved, and whether philosophical discussion of these issues is overblown. More particularly, they get into what quantum theories tell us about the world, whether we need different interpretations of quantum mechanics, whether the final theory of the universe will be quantum mechanical, how quantum mechanics connects to cosmology, the multiverse, and quantum gravity, and more. The Bousso Group: https://lightsheet.berkeley.edu OUTLINE 00:00 Introduction 00:58 Raphael’s Interest in the Interpretations of Quantum Mechanics 06:11 What Does Quantum Mechanics Tell Us About the World? 19:43 Just What Is an Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics? 26:17 Are There Serious Holes in Quantum Mechanics? 31:01 Schrödinger’s Cat 45:11 UV Completion 48:57 Will The Final Theory of Physics Be Quantum Mechanical? 58:00 How Cosmology Might Help Answer Questions About Quantum Mechanics 1:13:44 String Theory and the Multiverse 1:20:39 How the Multiverse Can Explain Probability 1:30:01 Will the Foundations of Quantum Mechanics Help Us Solve Quantum Gravity? Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Robinson’s Podcast #240 - Peter Godfrey-Smith: Cuttlefish, Octopuses, and the Consciousness of Mysterious Minds
Peter Godfrey-Smith is a professor in the School of History and Philosophy of Science at the University of Sydney. He has also taught at Stanford University and Harvard University. Among other topics, he has researched the philosophy of biology and mind, and is very well-known for his book Other Minds: The Octopus, The Sea, and the Deep Origins of Consciousness (FSG, 2016). In this episode, Peter and Robinson discuss that book, as well as his latest, Living on Earth (William Collins, 2024). More particularly, they discuss cuttlefish, octopuses, consciousness, metaethics, and animal welfare.
Peter’s Website: https://petergodfreysmith.com
Living on Earth: https://a.co/d/9MvUFHV
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
01:10 Scuba Diving with Cuttlefish and Octopuses
09:43 Why Did Creatures Evolve Nervous Systems?
16:18 Why Did Conscious Minds Evolve?
27:23 Why Do We Believe that Other Animals Have Minds?
36:49 Do Shrimp or Fish Feel Pain?
47:01 What’s It Like to Be an Octopus?
57:32 What Is Metaethics?
1:04:57 First-Order Ethics
1:08:12 Is It Morally Acceptable to Eat Animals?
1:16:04 What Does Peter Eat?
1:29:49 Future Work
Ned Block is Silver Professor at New York University in the Departments of Philosophy and Psychology, where he works on the philosophy of mind, the philosophy of neuroscience, and cognitive science. In this episode, Robinson and Ned discuss some of the titans he studied under, ChatGPT and the nature of artificial intelligence, the Turing Test, androids, consciousness, the connection between seeing and thinking, blindsight, change blindness, and more. Ned’s most recent book is The Border Between Seeing and Thinking (OUP, 2023).
Ned’s Website: https://www.nedblock.us
The Border Between Seeing and Thinking: https://a.co/d/fqVb7gj
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
00:53 Ned’s Entry into Philosophy of Mind
02:08 On Hilary Putnam, John Rawls, and Philippa Foot
08:10 Can ChatGPT Do Multiplication?
10:57 Does Noam Chomsky Understand ChatGPT?
13:11 Is the Turing Test Completely Wrong?
17:52 On Daniel Dennett
23:46 On Michael Graziano and the Attention Schema Theory of Consciousness
26:03 Are Animals Conscious?
30:51 Does ChatGPT Pass the Turing Test?
36:53 Mary in the White Room
41:16 The Blockhead Thought Experiment
45:53 How to Show that ChatGPT Is Dumb
48:51 Why Can’t ChatGPT Reason About Images?
51:48 How to Create an Android
55:10 What Is Thought?
1:00:13 Susan Carey
1:03:19 Are There Different Kinds of Consciousness?
1:05:10 On Psychoanalysis
1:06:08 What Are Blindsight and Change Blindness?
1:11:38 The Difference Between Seeing and Thinking
1:16:03 Was Helen Keller Conscious?
1:18:39 Are Salmon Conscious?
1:20:58 What Are the Dominant Theories of Consciousness?
1:27:35 Do We Know What Consciousness Is?
1:31:25 Functionalism and Mental Properties
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Barry Loewer is Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at Rutgers. Before that he did his PhD in philosophy at Stanford. Barry works largely in the philosophy of physics, the philosophy of science, and metaphysics. This is Barry’s third appearance on the show. He was last on episode 189 with David Albert, in which Robinson, David, and Barry discussed David and Barry’s joint program known as “The Mentaculus”, which they use to solve many problems in the foundations of physics, from probability to the direction of time. In this episode, Barry and Robinson discuss the philosophical foundations of science, touching on the relationship between science and pseudoscience, Karl Popper, string theory, scientific realism, and many other important debates and figures. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.
The Probability Map of the Universe: https://a.co/d/4XoYTMY
The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
7:53 On Pseudoscience and Astrology
11:40 Falsification as a Criterion of Science
16:40 Is String Theory Pseudoscience?
20:14 On Marxism
24:45 What Is Scientific Realism?
34:35 On Hilary Putnam
42:16 Science Vs Metaphysics
48:32 Time in Science and Metaphysics
52:38 On Fundamentalia
56:01 On Reductionism
1:00:04 On Consciousness and Emergence
1:04:56 On Causation
1:25:52 On Time Travel
1:28:29 On Explanation and Thermodynamics
1:39:23 On Free Will
1:47:00 The Laws of Nature
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is Tim’s seventh appearance on the show. He last appeared on episode 210 with David Albert for a discussion of the measurement problem in quantum mechanics. In this episode, Tim and Robinson talk about Albert Einstein’s theory of special relativity, explaining it from the ground up and elucidating some common misconceptions. More particularly, they get into Einstein’s magnificent mind, how special relativity displaced the theory of the ether, absolute and relative space, the speed and nature of light, the possibility of time travel, relativistic quantum mechanics, and more. If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.
Tim’s Website: www.tim-maudlin.site
The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org
OUTLINE
00:00 Introduction
01:59 The Amazing Fertility of Einstein's Mind
08:50 The Mysterious Ether and Why It Isn't All Around Us
25:01 Einstein Versus Relative and Absolute Space
29:58 The Single Most Important Experiment in Physics
45:23 Special Relativity and Absolute Space
53:56 The Conceptual Clarity of Genius Physicists
1:01:05 A Thought Experiment to Explain Einstein's Theory of Special Relativity
1:13:48 Is the Speed of Light an Illusion?
1:23:33 Richard Feynman's Big Mistake About Einstein
1:34:23 On Einstein and the Possibility of Time Travel
1:42:53 Is Special Relativity Compatible with Quantum Mechanics?
1:49:55 Relativistic Bohmian Mechanics
1:57:00 Does Anything Move Faster than Light?
1:59:03 The John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University.
David Albert is the Frederick E. Woodbridge Professor of Philosophy at Columbia University, director of the Philosophical Foundations of Physics program at Columbia, and a faculty member of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. This is David’s ninth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. He last appeared on episode 221 to discuss the measurement problem of quantum mechanics. In this episode, David gives a pedagogical and introductory overview of the problem of time’s arrow, which is one of the most enduring of all physical and philosophical puzzles. David’s most recent book is A Guess at the Riddle (2023). If you’re interested in the foundations of physics, then please check out the JBI, which is devoted to providing a home for research and education in this important area. Any donations are immensely helpful at this early stage in the institute’s life.
A Guess at the Riddle: https://a.co/d/6qcsidl
The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org
OUTLINE
00:58 The Tension Between Past and Future in Physics
8:56 The Arrow of Time in Life and Physics
12:26 The Three Arrows of Time
18:12 Entropy and the Direction of Time
29:12 Thermodynamics and the Problem of the Past
38:26 Why Do We Remember the Past But Not the Future?
48:46 Two Ways to Understand the Past
1:04:21 Why Can We Affect the Future But Not the Past
1:17:51 Why Can Agents Control the Future but not the Past?
1:26:57 Can the Laws of Quantum Physics Be Run Backward?
1:33:11 The Connection Between the Foundations of Quantum Physics and Statistical Mechanics
1:41:53 Cosmology and the Past Hypothesis
1:44:25 Why are Left and Right Different from Past and Future?
1:49:28 The Difference Between Space and Time
1:57:14 Is Time a Fundamental Part of Reality?
1:59:14 Future Work
Robinson’s Website: http://robinsonerhardt.com
Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University
