Culturally Determined

Bob talks about his new book, "The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning." He describes how using AI to research treatment options when he had cancer convinced him of the technology's power. How seriously should we take "doomer" predictions that AI could lead to global catastrophe? Aryeh thinks average people are revolting against the technology, while Bob believes there are ways to use AI to overcome the cognitive biases that plague humanity.Recorded August 4, 2026LINKSBob's new book, "The God Test: Artificial Intelligence and Our Coming Cosmic Reckoning"https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-God-Test/Robert-Wright/9781668061657Aryeh's new Substack newsletter, "Culturally Determined: Links I Like"https://aryehcw.substack.com/Aryeh and Bob discuss the legacy of Bloggingheadshttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/20-years-ago-bloggingheads-was-a-trailblazer-with/id981282353?i=1000735793526"Pacing the Frontier" letterhttps://www.pacingthefrontier.com/New Yorker profile of Sam Altmanhttps://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2026/04/13/sam-altman-may-control-our-future-can-he-be-trustedThe NonZero Newsletterhttps://www.nonzero.org/Nonzero podcasthttps://www.nonzero.org/podcastFollow Bob on Twitter: https://x.com/robertwrighterFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Claire Carusillo discusses her debut novel, "The Responsible Party," which just received a rave review in the New York Times. Claire uses bizarre real events from her family history to tell a comic multigenerational story of shipwrecks, the Chicago suburbs, humidity, and murder. She also discusses Storyboard, her new bookstore/skate shop/coffee shop in Midway, Utah — and the famous "tradwife" influencer who opened a store in the same town.Recorded August 5, 2026LINKSClaire's novel, "The Responsible Party"https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250408631/theresponsibleparty/Claire's new store, Storyboardhttps://www.storyboardmidway.com/NYT on tourists in Midway, Utahhttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/06/09/us/tradwife-ballerina-farm-utah.htmlStoryboard on Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/storyboardmidway/Follow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Phoebe discusses her new nonfiction book, "The Last Straight Woman: On Desiring Men," which critiques the contemporary discourse about female heterosexuality.Recorded June 4, 2026LINKSPhoebe's new book, "The Last Straight Woman: On Desiring Men"https://www.amazon.com/Last-Straight-Woman-Desiring-Men/dp/0771013027Phoebe on what she didn't want the cover to behttps://phoebemaltzbovy.substack.com/p/everything-i-learned-and-didnt-learnThe audiobookhttps://www.audible.com/pd/The-Last-Straight-Woman-Audiobook/B0G24L7BV4?source_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdpPhoebe's post, "Men and women are exactly the same"https://phoebemaltzbovy.substack.com/p/men-and-women-are-exactly-the-sameKristen Roupenian's 2017 short story, "Cat Person"https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/12/11/cat-personPhoebe's Substack, Close-reading the rerunshttps://phoebemaltzbovy.substack.com/Follow Phoebe on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/phoebe.maltz.bovyFollow Phoebe on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/phoebebovy.bsky.socialFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Sarah Wang discusses her debut novel, "New Skin," a dark comedy about a young woman whose mother is addicted to plastic surgery. After a bad nose job ruins the mother's face, she becomes a contestant on a reality show where people with botched plastic surgery compete to win reconstructive surgery. The novel explores class, immigrant lives, the labor of marginalized women, Los Angeles — and is also very funny.Recorded May 8, 2026LINKSSarah's new book, "New Skin"https://www.hachettebookgroup.com/titles/sarah-wang/new-skin/9780316594523/Sarah's Instagram account, @daikonoclasthttps://www.instagram.com/daikonoclast/Follow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Adrian Bonenberger, a writer and Army veteran, is running for governor of Connecticut on a platform of establishing a voluntary state guard. He explains how a state guard would decentralize power to the local level, and how his experience training military volunteers during the Ukraine War informed his view on threats to America and possibilities for a different kind of civic engagement.Recorded March 24, 2026LINKSAdrian's campaign sitehttps://www.bonenbergerforgovernor.com/Adrian's 2023 piece on "Civil War"https://thehill.com/opinion/national-security/4374348-a-second-american-civil-war-wouldnt-look-like-a-movie/Follow Adrian on Twitter: https://x.com/AdrianBonenber1Follow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

On an episode that surely will not make anyone mad, Dave discusses his recent essay on how Jeffrey Epstein used his Jewishness to further his crimes. Aryeh and Dave then debate the merits of staying on Musk's Twitter/X vs. fleeing to cringey Bluesky.Recorded March 6, 2026LINKSDave's piece, "The Line Between Affinity and Conspiracy"https://jewishcurrents.org/the-line-between-affinity-and-conspiracyNYT: "Scams, Schemes, Ruthless Cons: The Untold Story of How Jeffrey Epstein Got Rich"https://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/16/magazine/jeffrey-epstein-money-scams-investigation.htmlTimes of Israel on antisemitic heckler in Californiahttps://www.timesofisrael.com/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-denounces-tax-the-jews-chant-heard-during-protest/Dave's 2108 piece on Woody Allenhttps://jewishcurrents.org/unlearning-woody-allenAryeh and Dave's 2018 conversation about the NYThttps://bloggingheads.tv/videos/51348Follow Dave on Twitter: https://x.com/DavidKlionFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Magdalene Taylor, a senior editor at Playboy Magazine who writes about sexuality and culture, talks about whether we are finally sick of dating apps, whether AI will change social interactions, the forces encouraging men and women to hate each other, the decline of the manosphere, and Trump's strange performance of masculinity.Recorded January 20, 2026LINKSMagdalene's newsletter, "Many Such Cases"https://www.sexual-culture.com/Aryeh and Magdalene's 2021 conversationhttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/juggalos-simps-and-cat-guys-with-magdalene-taylor/id981282353?i=1000517814150NYT on a woman who fell in love with a chatbothttps://www.nytimes.com/2025/12/22/technology/ai-boyfriend-chatgpt.htmlMagdalene's piece, "Do Men Even Like Women Anymore?"https://www.sexual-culture.com/p/do-men-even-like-women-anymoreMagdalene's piece, "Do Women Even Like Men Anymore?"https://www.sexual-culture.com/p/do-women-even-like-men-anymorePuck on young men and Trumphttps://puck.news/why-young-men-are-souring-on-trump/Follow @magdajtaylorFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Adam Gurri, editor-in-chief and cofounder of the website Liberal Currents, discusses his recent piece about the fight against Trump titled "We Are Going to Win." Recorded January 6, 2025LINKSLiberal Currentshttps://www.liberalcurrents.com/Adam's piece, "We Are Going to Win"https://www.liberalcurrents.com/we-are-going-to-win/Adam's piece, "Impeach and Remove the Bastards"https://www.liberalcurrents.com/impeach-and-remove-the-bastards/Reporting on Stephen Miller ordering more ICE arrestshttps://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/white-house/3425297/stephen-miller-eviscerated-ice-officials-deportation-numbers/Adam on "The Reconstruction Papers"https://www.liberalcurrents.com/a-preview-of-a-project-well-pursue-if-fully-funded/Follow Adam on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/adamgurri.liberalcurrents.comFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social

Bob Wright reflects on the legacy of the Bloggingheads.tv, the pioneering website he co-founded in 2005. Aryeh and Bob discuss how the site and the technology that powered it anticipated modern trends in online media. They also consider whether Twitter still has any use for journalists, the pros and cons of Substack, and whether Culturally Determined should pivot back to video. Recorded October 28, 2025LINKSRobert Wright's Nonzero podcasthttps://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/robert-wrights-nonzero/id505824847The Nonzero Newsletterhttps://www.nonzero.org/Max Read on his Substack statshttps://maxread.substack.com/p/four-years-of-read-max-on-substackAndrew Thompson on the economics of Substack and money vs. attentionhttps://components.news/the-desire-distribution/MeaningOfLife.tvhttps://meaningoflife.tv/Follow Bob on Twitter: https://x.com/robertwrighterFollow Aryeh on Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/aryehcw.bsky.social