Uploaded December 2025 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago

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Robert Wright talks with Sam Tanenhaus, author of a sweeping new biography of Buckley, about the conservative icon’s influence and impact, from moving the GOP rightward to foreshadowing the age of Trump and Tucker Carlson.

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0:00 Teaser
0:53 Sam’s epic new biography of William F. Buckley
5:56 Was Buckley the original Tucker Carlson?
12:38 Buckley's paradoxical upbringing
22:39 How Yale turned Buckley into a “counter-intellectual”
36:11 Was Buckley racist or tribalist or what?
54:48 Buckley v. the Civil Rights Act
1:03:46 Heading to Overtime

Discussed in Overtime:
What Bob most admires about Buckley.
Buckley is to Birchers as Tucker is to Groypers?
Was Buckley guided more by principle or pragmatism?
Buckley’s favorite enemy.
Why did Buckley go to bat for a killer?
The Buckley moment that (almost) won Bob over.

Robert Wright (Nonzero, The Evolution of God, Why Buddhism Is True) and Sam Tanenhaus (Louis Armstrong: Musician, Whittaker Chambers: A Biography, Buckley: The Life and Revolution That Changed America). Recorded November 25, 2025.

Twitter: twitter.com/NonzeroPods