Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

---

Robert Wright and American Prestige hosts Derek Davison and Daniel Bessner discuss the latest Middle East developments—including whether Trump and Iran can reach a peace deal, who's winning the Hormuz blockade duel, and what it all means for America’s global standing. Plus: Is Anthropic's Mythos really scary?

Subscribe to The NonZero Newsletter at: nonzero.org/subscribe
Exclusive Overtime discussion: nonzero.org/p/iran-and-the-demise-of-us-hegemony
Join NonZero's Discord server: discord.com/invite/Zy4jAhTQMF

0:00 Teaser
1:02 Trump’s Middle East chaos continues
6:04 Is Iran more about America’s hegemony or Israel’s?
13:22 Who will win the Hormuz blockade duel?
23:11 Ukraine, China, and the drone wars
27:58 America’s “emergency” emergency
32:11 Is an Iran peace deal possible?
43:34 Overtime preview: The Anthropic Mythos scare

Discussed in Overtime:
Anthropic’s new AI: mythos vs reality.
RIP the intellectual?
Is Bob feeling la revolución?
Danny’s devastating antisemitism riposte.
JD Vance, the Pope, and Clavicular.
On Christian-Islamic theological relations.

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True), Derek Davison (Foreign Exchanges, American Prestige, Discontents), and Daniel Bessner (American Prestige, University of Washington). Recorded April 16, 2026.

American Prestige on SupportingCast: https://americanprestige.supportingcast.fm/listen

Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods