Uploaded June 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Trans-Pacific tech watcher Tianyu Fang joins Robert Wright to take a close look at China—including how the government works (and doesn’t), online censorship, how China sees AI and the chip war, the legacy of the one-child policy, and more. Plus: Silicon Valley’s hawkish turn.
Exclusive Overtime discussion: nonzero.org/p/seeing-china-clearly-robert-wright
Join NonZero's Discord server: discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF
Subscribe to The NonZero Newsletter at: nonzero.org/subscribe
0:00 Teaser
0:45 How Tianyu became a “China explainer”
3:15 American vs Chinese exceptionalism
8:09 What you can and can’t say in China
18:32 Is the government more accountable in the US or China?
27:03 How China sees America
36:32 The one-child policy and its consequences
42:53 Tianyu: The biggest misconception about China is…
46:20 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
Chinese vs American surveillance.
What China has that America doesn’t.
How China sees AI.
Dario Amodei: China-hawk via God complex?
Is China all-in on open-weight AI?
How Silicon Valley went from hippie to hawkish.
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Tianyu Fang (New America). Recorded June 02, 2026.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
Trans-Pacific tech watcher Tianyu Fang joins Robert Wright to take a close look at China—including how the government works (and doesn’t), online censorship, how China sees AI and the chip war, the legacy of the one-child policy, and more. Plus: Silicon Valley’s hawkish turn.
Exclusive Overtime discussion: nonzero.org/p/seeing-china-clearly-robert-wright
Join NonZero's Discord server: discord.gg/Zy4jAhTQMF
Subscribe to The NonZero Newsletter at: nonzero.org/subscribe
0:00 Teaser
0:45 How Tianyu became a “China explainer”
3:15 American vs Chinese exceptionalism
8:09 What you can and can’t say in China
18:32 Is the government more accountable in the US or China?
27:03 How China sees America
36:32 The one-child policy and its consequences
42:53 Tianyu: The biggest misconception about China is…
46:20 Heading to Overtime
Discussed in Overtime:
Chinese vs American surveillance.
What China has that America doesn’t.
How China sees AI.
Dario Amodei: China-hawk via God complex?
Is China all-in on open-weight AI?
How Silicon Valley went from hippie to hawkish.
Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Tianyu Fang (New America). Recorded June 02, 2026.
Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods
