Daniel Lieberman is the Edwin M. Lerner II Professor of Biological Sciences and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University, where he studies the evolution of the human body and its relevance to health. In this episode, Robinson and Dan discuss the evolution of the human diet. More particularly, they talk about our last common ancestors with chimpanzees, how changes in the gut shaped human evolution, what Homo sapiens actually ate during the Paleolithic, and the transformative role of cooking. They also discuss whether there is such a thing as a natural human diet, why junk food is so appealing, and what an evolutionary perspective can teach us about weight loss and eating well. Dan’s latest book is Fed Up: What Evolution Reveals About Food, Diet, Health, and Eating Well (Knopf, 2026).

Fed Up: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0593537998

OUTLINE

00:00 Dan’s Interest in Human Evolution

04:43 Why Our Heads Don’t Topple Over When We Run

07:41 Human Evolution and “Fed Up”

10:40 Understanding the Evolution of the Human Diet

19:12 Our Last Common Ancestors with Chimpanzees

30:05 Evolutionary Changes in the Gut

38:51 Homo Sapiens and the Paleolithic Diet

48:18 The Transformative Power of Cooking

54:30 The Most Important Diets

59:19 Why Are Junk Foods So Appealing?

01:03:19 Weight Loss

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Adam Mockler is a liberal political commentator, YouTube host, and digital media creator who has become one of the most prominent Gen Z voices in American political media. He hosts The Adam Mockler Show and has built an audience of more than two million subscribers on YouTube, where he produces daily political commentary and reporting. In this episode, Robinson and Adam discuss the changing relationship between politics, media, and the internet. More particularly, they talk about Adam’s liberal values, why independent media can outperform legacy media, the battle for attention online, how clipping has become a new form of political canvassing, and what Democrats need to do to win elections in 2026. They also discuss Charlie Kirk, political conspiracy theories and death threats, what Nick Fuentes is doing effectively as a communicator, Gavin Newsom’s media strategy, and whether Generation Alpha speaks a fundamentally different political language.

Adam’s Website: https://www.adammockler.com

Adam’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adammockler/

Adam’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@adammockler

Adam’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adammockler

Adam’s X: https://x.com/adammocklerr

OUTLINE

00:45 Adam’s Expertise

10:53 Adam’s Liberal Values

14:30 Why Independent Media Beats Legacy Media

18:26 Clipping Is the New Canvassing

20:39 The Battle for the Attention Economy

26:06 How to Win Elections in 2026

31:16 What Constraints Are There on Independent Media?

38:44 On Charlie Kirk, Conspiracies, and Death Threats

41:46 What Is Nick Fuentes Doing Right?

47:18 Gavin Newsom’s Media Strategy, Explained

52:46 Does Gen Alpha Speak a New Political Language?

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

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 twelfth appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. 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 eighth appearance on the show. In this episode, Robinson, Richard, and Michael discuss colonialism and the death of modern nations. More particularly, they discuss the evolution of capitalism toward socialism, whether colonialism has officially ended, Russia, China, Israel, Iran, Trump, Putin, and the United States. Richard’s latest book is Understanding Capitalism (Democracy at Work, 2024). Michael’s most recent book is Temples of Enterprise (ISLET, 2024). 

Understanding Capitalism (Book): https://www.democracyatwork.info/understanding_capitalism

Richard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.com

Economic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdate

Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.com

Temples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dm

OUTLINE

00:00 Is Capitalism Evolving into Socialism?

07:20 Is Today the Post-Colonial Period?

18:10 How Colonialism Divided the World

28:54 China and the Revenge of Feudalism

41:06 Productive vs Unproductive Labor

49:24 Overcoming the “Discipline” of Academia

01:01:17 The Danger of Education

01:13:19 Will the United States Break Up?

01:21:22 Why the EU and NATO Will Break Up

01:29:15 Why Michael Believes the US Will Remain United

01:38:37 Trump’s Army and the Militarized Police

01:46:49 Is the US Turning into a Police State?

01:48:49 The Choice Before a Declining Empire

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Steve Keen is an economist and was most recently Head of the School of Economics, History and Politics at Kingston University in London. He has done research on a wide variety of topics, including Marxist economics, debt, complexity theory, and systems dynamics. In this episode, Steve and Robinson discuss his economic framework in relation to wars around the globe. More particularly, the discuss the importance of oil in the Iran War, the cold war with China, the war in Ukraine, and more.

OUTLINE

00:00 The Crucial Importance of Oil in the Iran War

08:54 Systems Dynamics and Economics

14:22 How Much Inflation Will the Iran War Cause?

18:17 Will the Iran War Cause Famine?

28:56 Conspiracy and the Iran War

30:48 Tariffs and Trade Deficits

46:03 Will Trump’s Tariffs Bring Manufacturing Back to the United States

52:49 Steve’s Motivation

59:25 The Crucial Flaw in Marxism

01:12:43 Understanding the War in Ukraine’s Impact on Europe

01:16:38 On Putin’s Motivations in Ukraine

01:26:32 Understanding Trump through Narcissistic Personality Disorder

01:32:52 Trump and the Takeover of Venezuela

01:38:11 Economists Misunderstand Everything About China

01:53:01 Why Will China Survive Global Warming?

01:57:18 AI and the Future Economics of the World

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Timothy Snyder holds the inaugural Temerty Chair in Modern European History at the Munk School of Global Affairs and Public Policy at the University of Toronto. Snyder’s work has appeared in forty languages and has received a number of prizes, including the Emerson Prize in the Humanities. Snyder was a Marshall Scholar at Oxford, has received the Carnegie and Guggenheim fellowships, and holds state orders from Estonia, Lithuania, and Poland. He is researching a family history of nationalism and finishing a philosophical book about freedom. In this episode, Robinson and Timothy discuss the future of the United States. More particularly, they delve into AI, rebellion, conspiracy theory, our relationship with Russia and Ukraine, Donald Trump, and more. Timothy’s most recent book is On Freedom (Crown, 2024).

Timothy’s Website: https://timothysnyder.org

On Freedom: https://timothysnyder.org/books/

OUTLINE

00:00 Will the United States Cease to Exist?

13:47 Is Trump Breaking the United States Apart?

21:09 Will AI Prevent Armed Rebellion Against the Government?

30:20 Trump, Conspiracy Theories, and the Politics of Small Numbers

39:46 Putin Does Not Think Ukraine Is Real

45:57 What Are Trump’s Soft Spots?

50:26 How Tim Organizes His Thought

57:59 Donald Trump and the Superloser

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

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 eleventh appearance on Robinson’s Podcast. In this episode, Richard and Robinson discuss the ongoing war in Iran, as well as the war in Russia and Ukraine, our cold war with China, and the future possibilities of World War III. 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 China, Iran, and the Implosion of the West

13:00 The Irreconcilable Gulf Between Russia and the West

16:01 Europe’s Hard World War II Lesson

21:20 Europe’s Final Collapse Is Coming

28:42 How China Is Methodically Conquering the World

35:44 Russia’s Siberian Advantage

39:15 Marx, War, and Economic Decline

52:39 Why Iran Will Always Control the Strait of Hormuz

01:02:02 How the United States Already Failed in Iran

01:06:37  What the United States Can Learn from the Collapse of the British Empire

01:12:19 Why the War in Iran Will Not Lead to Nuclear War

01:14:44 John Mearsheimer’s Escalation Ladder and the Threat of Nuclear War in Russia

01:29:53 What Would World War Look Like in the 21st Century?

01:36:17 Donald Trump, The Isolator

01:41:40 The Sad Legacy of the League of Nations

01:51:04 Is World War III Inevitable?

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 Seventh appearance on the show. On past episodes, including with Richard Wolff, he and Robinson have neoliberalism, industrial capitalism, the rentier economy, Marxism, and the role of economics in political history. In this episode, Michael and Robinson talk about debt and the destruction of empires. 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 Keeping Governments Under Control

07:01 Understanding the Church

17:27 Why Debts Grow Too Fast to Be Paid

22:57 Understanding the BRICS

26:50 How Can Countries Get Rich?

32:47 Where Is the United States’ Debt Dragging Us?

46:26 Why Michael Hudson Is Not a Mainstream Economist

48:59 The Historical Approach to Economics

01:06:01 Controlling Governments Through Tax Policy

01:23:55 How Michael Researches

01:33:31 The Myth of Economic Rent

01:38:47 The United States’ Hereditary Oligarchy

01:41:04 Why the United States Can’t Go Bankrupt

01:44:42 Closing Thoughts

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

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. Jacob Barandes is Senior Preceptor in Physics at Harvard University, where he works widely across the philosophy of physics, with focuses on the foundations of quantum mechanics, the philosophy of spacetime, and the metaphysics of laws. In this episode, Robinson, Jacob, and David discuss Jacob’s novel Indivisibility Approach to quantum mechanics. After beginning with an introduction from David, the conversation touches on the measurement problem, completeness, scientific realism, the purpose of physics, 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.

Jacob’s Website: https://www.jacobbarandes.com

A Guess at the Riddle: https://a.co/d/6qcsidl

The John Bell Institute: https://www.johnbellinstitute.org

OUTLINE

00:00 The Problem with the Wave Function

05:30 The Indivisibility Approach

17:28 What Is Indivisibility?

25:13 The Measurement Problem

32:18 The Incompleteness of Jacob’s Theory

42:20 Completing the Theory

47:12 Realism in Quantum Mechanics

01:03:13 The Fundamental Task of Physics

01:10:57 The Structure of the Indivisibility Theory

01;22:26 Summarizing and Calculating

01:40:01 The Game of Fundamental Physics

01:46:31 Can Bohmian Mechanics Work?

01:56:26 A Version Including David’s Theory

02:04:49 What Is the Wave Function?

02:15:33 Where We’ve Ended Up

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Paul Davies is a theoretical physicist and Regents’ Professor at Arizona State University. Paul works on quantum mechanics, astrophysics, and cosmology, with emphasis on the origin and early stages of the universe, the quantum properties of black holes and the nature of time. He is interested in the nature and origin of life – including extraterrestrial life – beyond Earth, and in complex systems. In this episode of Robinson’s Podcast, Paul and Robinson discuss the second revolution in quantum mechanics. Among other things, they dig into the origin of quantum theory, how we should interpret it, various quarks of quantum physics, such as teleportation and entanglement, quantum computing, and more. Paul’s recent book is Quantum 2.0 (Pelican, 2025).

Quantum 2.0: https://a.co/d/0ckzsWav

OUTLINE

00:00 Why Quantum Mechanics?

11:59 How Should We Interpret Quantum Mechanics?

22:22 Complexity and Quantum Theory

30:59 What Will Be the Next Quantum Revolution?

39:59 The Next Generation of Quantum Technology?

49:47 Can Quantum Teleportation Move Macroscopic Objects?

52:47 Supercomputers vs Quantum Computers

01:04:16 The Fine-Tuning Problem?

01:12:37 Do We Have a Scientific Theory of Life?

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Priyamvada Natarajan is the Joseph S. and Sophia S. Fruton Professor of Astronomy and Professor of Physics at Yale University, where she is also the Chair of Astronomy. Priya researches broadly across astrophysics and cosmology; some topics she has worked on include gravitational lensing, black hole physics, the philosophy of science, and dark matter. In this conversation, Priya and Robinson largely stick to the latter. They discuss her interest in cosmology writ large, as well as how the scientific community tackles the unknown. Priya’s most recent book is Mapping the Heavens: The Radical Scientific Ideas that Reveal the Cosmos (Yale, 2016).

Mapping the Heavens: https://a.co/d/02HPcMB1

OUTLINE

00:00 A Paradox of Cosmology

06:16 Investigating Invisibilia

11:25 The Sociology of Astrophysics

16:52 Phenomenology in Physics

19:47 What Is the Mystery of Dark Matter?

29:07 The Problem of Dark Energy

36:38 Models and Simulations

46:17 Modifying the Standard Model to Explain Dark Matter

58:20 The Crisis in Dark Matter

01:12:22 Alternative Explanations of Dark Matter

01:19:51 Fine-Tuning and the Multiverse

01:25:24 Black Holes

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Tim Maudlin is Professor of Philosophy at NYU and Founder and Director of the John Bell Institute for the Foundations of Physics. In this episode, Robinson and Tim discuss the nature of philosophy. More particularly, they discuss philosophy’s origin, its connections to physics, what characterizes some of its well-known sub disciplines, and some of its biggest problems. 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 The Beginning of Philosophy

06:53 Where Physics and Philosophy Diverged

14:07 Quantum Gravity

18:30 Physicists and Philosophers on Space and Time

23:10 Is Metaphysics Different From Physics?

34:54 Why Don’t Universities Have Departments of Metaphysics?

49:27 Are Numbers Real?

01:07:50 What Are Continental and Analytic Philosophy?

01:14:58 The Age-Old Puzzle of the Statue and the Clay

01:28:05 What Is Epistemology?

01:38:57 Is the World Around Us an Illusion?

01:49:13 What Are the Biggest Open Problems in Philosophy?

01:57:00 A John Bell Institute Update

Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.