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, economic history, and the role of debt in shaping economies and societies. In this episode, Michael and Robinson discuss the war in Iran and Michael’s prediction that it will cause a global depression. More particularly, they talk about oil and the Strait of Hormuz, which countries Michael thinks will suffer most, his skepticism about the changes the 2026 elections can deliver, and his criticisms of how economists describe the American economy. They also discuss AI and the future of employment, Donald Trump’s foreign policy, China’s role in the international economic order, instability in Europe, and the future of the United States. Michael’s recent book is Temples of Enterprise (ISLET, 2024).Michael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.comTemples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dmOUTLINE00:00 Introduction00:23 Iran War Will Cause a Global Depression10:57 The 2026 Elections Mean Nothing19:45 2026 Voters Can Do Nothing About AI, Israel, or Iran30:51 Economists Are Lying About the State of the Economy38:02 Different Economic Metrics42:25 AI and an Employment Collapse48:35 Trump Is Choking the World's Oil59:32 The Strait of Hormuz1:04:16 The Iran War Will Destroy These Countries First1:12:27 Trump Wants the World to Pay Tribute1:17:43 Is China the Hero?1:28:16 Destabilization in Europe1:37:32 Anti-Protest Drone1:40:20 What Does Chinese Dominance Look Like?1:46:15 Where Does History Go from Here?1:55:39 Where Does the United States Go from Here?Robinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Platypus Economics on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@PlatypusEconomicsJustin Wolfers is Professor of Public Policy and Economics at the University of Michigan, where his research spans macroeconomics, labor economics, political economy, and behavioral economics. He is also affiliated with the Brookings Institution, Peterson Institute for International Economics, and National Bureau of Economic Research, and in 2026 launched Platypus Economics, a new media platform devoted to making economics accessible to a broad audience. In this episode, Robinson and Justin discuss the intersection of economics, technology, and American politics. More particularly, they talk about Elon Musk and the influence of extreme wealth on elections, how artificial intelligence could transform the labor market, whether current economic data accurately reflects Americans’ experiences, and political bias in economics. They also discuss inflation, Justin’s criticisms of the Trump administration’s economic policies, proposed $5,000 checks, and how economic considerations shape political choices.Platypus Economics: https://platypuseconomics.comJustin’s University of Michigan Profile: https://fordschool.umich.edu/faculty/justin-wolfersJustin’s X: https://x.com/JustinWolfersJustin’s Bluesky: https://bsky.app/profile/justinwolfers.bsky.socialPlatypus Economics Newsletter: https://newsletter.platypuseconomics.com00:00 Introduction00:25 Elon Musk Can Buy ANY Election He Wants07:21 AI Could DESTROY Jobs If We Don’t Do This14:28 Is Current Econ Data Misleading?19:36 Political Bias in Economics28:35 Corruption in the Trump Admin36:33 Understanding Inflation and Cheap Candy44:58 Is Trump Personally Responsible for Inflation?51:40 Trump’s 5k Checks Are IDIOTIC LIES56:50 How to Vote If Trump Were on BallotRobinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Jason Stanley is the Bissell-Heyd-Associates Chair in American Studies at the Munk School of Global Affairs & Public Policy at the University of Toronto, where he is also Professor of Philosophy. Before moving to Toronto in 2025, he was the Jacob Urowsky Professor of Philosophy at Yale University. Jason’s work focuses on propaganda, authoritarianism, democracy, free speech, and political language. In this episode, Robinson and Jason discuss Jason’s account of how political propaganda has changed during the Trump era. More particularly, they talk about soft and hard propaganda, social media and political bots, Trump’s political communication, Jason’s decision to leave Twitter and later the United States, and the effects of online attacks. They also discuss artificial intelligence and democracy, the political influence of tech billionaires, Elon Musk and Peter Thiel, and Jason’s transition toward the philosophy of propaganda. Jason’s most recent book is Erasing History: How Fascists Rewrite the Past to Control the Future (Atria/One Signal, 2024).Jason’s Website: https://jasonstanley.orgHow Propaganda Works: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Jason+Stanley+How+Propaganda+WorksErasing History: https://www.amazon.com/s?k=Jason+Stanley+Erasing+HistoryOUTLINE00:00 How Propaganda Has Changed with Donald Trump10:42 Soft and Hard Propaganda13:56 Defining Propaganda25:01 Is Trump Trying to Broaden Popular Support?30:12 Trump Is Ruining Democracy33:15 Social Media is Political Theater for BOTS45:39 Why Jason Left Twitter49:54 Attacks Against Jason on Twitter53:20 The Terrible Cost of Leaving the US01:04:56 How AI Threatens Democracy01:08:26 Tech Billionaires Want to Wipe Out Humanity01:12:02 Elon Musk's Secret Plans 01:14:30 Does Peter Thiel Want All Humans Dead?01:17:37 Jason's Transition to Philosophy of PropagandaRobinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Daron Acemoglu is an Institute Professor of Economics at MIT and a recipient of the 2024 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences, which he shared with Simon Johnson and James Robinson for research on how institutions shape prosperity. He is also the bestselling co-author of Why Nations Fail, The Narrow Corridor, and Power and Progress. In this episode, Robinson and Daron discuss the future of liberal democracy in an age of artificial intelligence. More particularly, they talk about how AI could undermine democratic institutions, whether tech billionaires have accumulated too much power, and why Daron believes current approaches to AI could produce an increasingly unequal, two-tier American society. They also discuss the importance of the 2026 elections, Zohran Mamdani, disagreements between the center and far left, and Daron’s proposal for a renewed “working-class liberalism.” Daron’s latest book is What Happened to Liberal Democracy?: Remaking a Politics of Shared Prosperity (Dutton, 2026).Daron’s Website: https://www.daronacemoglu.comWhat Happened to Liberal Democracy?: https://a.co/d/0f0qGMxtOUTLINE00:00 What Is Liberal Democracy?09:30 How Does AI Undermine Democracy?18:30 Are the Tech Billionaires Out of Control?24:50 AI Is an Existential Threat27:18 How AI Will Turn the USA into a Two-Tier Dystopia35:17 Other Views on AI38:19 Why the 2026 Elections Are So Important for the Left42:30 What Makes Mamdani a Great Politician?45:58 The Far Left vs the Center Left: Who Should Win?52:00 Working Class Liberalism

Why Is the World So Beautiful?: https://a.co/d/0d3LsupANicholas Humphrey is a theoretical psychologist and Emeritus Professor of Psychology at the London School of Economics, where his work has focused on the evolution of intelligence and consciousness. Among his many contributions, he was the first to demonstrate “blindsight” in monkeys, studied mountain gorillas with Dian Fossey, and developed influential theories about the social evolution of intelligence. In this episode, Robinson and Nicholas discuss the evolutionary origins of beauty and why human beings are so drawn to it. More particularly, they talk about rhyme, pattern-recognition, the adaptive value of aesthetic experience, the relationship between beauty and social life, and the methodology of evolutionary psychology. They also discuss whether beauty implies agency or creation, difficult cases for an evolutionary theory of aesthetics, spirituality and transcendence, and why some art is deliberately ugly. Nicholas’s upcoming book is Why Is the World So Beautiful? Our Minds in Search of Nature’s Rhymes (MIT Press, 2026).Nicholas’s Website: https://humphrey.org.ukOUTLINE00:00 Why Is the World So Beautiful?08:48 What Is Rhyme?18:47 The Utility of Beauty24:09 Beauty and Pattern-Recognition34:26 Beauty and Society41:21 The Methodology of Evolutionary Psychology49:20 Creation and Agency56:24 Problem Cases01:02:26 Spirituality and Transcendence01:07:34 Ugly Art

Joe Henrich is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University. His research focuses on cultural evolution, human psychology, sociality, prestige, cooperation, and the emergence of complex societies. In this episode, Robinson and Joe discuss how culture transformed human evolution and enabled our species to build increasingly large and complex societies. More particularly, they talk about the tools of paleoanthropology, hunter-gatherer societies, the rise of massive cities, and why Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic—or WEIRD—people are psychologically unusual. They also discuss dominance hierarchies, attractiveness and prestige, the evolution of morality, and the importance of punishment in human societies. Joe’s most recent popular book is The WEIRDest People in the World: How the West Became Psychologically Peculiar and Particularly Prosperous (Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2020).Joe’s Website: https://henrich.fas.harvard.eduThe WEIRDest People in the World: https://amzn.to/3F3wUY7OUTLINE00:00 Tools of Paleoanthropology07:31 Two Hunter-Gatherer Societies13:12 How Culture Enabled Massive Cities19:08 The WEIRDEST People in the World25:59 Dominance Hierarchies35:40 Attractiveness and Prestige46:01 The Evolution of Morality52:33 PunishmentRobinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

Richard Wrangham is the Ruth Moore Professor of Biological Anthropology, Emeritus, at Harvard University. A primatologist and biological anthropologist, he has studied wild chimpanzees in Uganda since 1987 and is known for his work on human evolution, the origins of violence, and the role of cooking in shaping our species. In this episode, Robinson and Richard discuss how humans diverged from our primate ancestors and the evolutionary importance of learning to control fire. More particularly, they talk about Richard’s cooking hypothesis, how cooking may have transformed the human brain and body, the relationship between fire and culture, and what chimpanzee behavior can teach us about the origins of human violence. Richard’s books include Catching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human, Demonic Males: Apes and the Origins of Human Violence, and The Goodness Paradox: The Strange Relationship Between Virtue and Violence in Human Evolution.Richard’s Harvard Profile: https://heb.fas.harvard.edu/people/richard-w-wranghamCatching Fire: How Cooking Made Us Human: https://a.co/d/0iaxEBhyOUTLINE00:00 Puzzles Posed by Human Beings09:32 The Cooking Hypothesis17:54 Cooking and the Brain22:12 Diverging From Our Ancestors28:27 Playing with Fire35:19 How Cooking Shaped Culture51:29 What Does Chimpanzee Warfare Look Like?01:04:50 Chimpanzee vs Human ViolenceRobinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.

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/0593537998OUTLINE00:00 Dan’s Interest in Human Evolution04:43 Why Our Heads Don’t Topple Over When We Run07:41 Human Evolution and “Fed Up”10:40 Understanding the Evolution of the Human Diet19:12 Our Last Common Ancestors with Chimpanzees30:05 Evolutionary Changes in the Gut38:51 Homo Sapiens and the Paleolithic Diet48:18 The Transformative Power of Cooking54:30 The Most Important Diets59:19 Why Are Junk Foods So Appealing?01:03:19 Weight LossRobinson 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.comAdam’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/adammockler/Adam’s YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/@adammocklerAdam’s TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@adammocklerAdam’s X: https://x.com/adammocklerrOUTLINE00:45 Adam’s Expertise10:53 Adam’s Liberal Values14:30 Why Independent Media Beats Legacy Media18:26 Clipping Is the New Canvassing20:39 The Battle for the Attention Economy26:06 How to Win Elections in 202631:16 What Constraints Are There on Independent Media?38:44 On Charlie Kirk, Conspiracies, and Death Threats41:46 What Is Nick Fuentes Doing Right?47:18 Gavin Newsom’s Media Strategy, Explained52:46 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_capitalismRichard’s Website: https://www.rdwolff.comEconomic Update: https://www.democracyatwork.info/economicupdateMichael’s Website: https://michael-hudson.comTemples of Enterprise: https://a.co/d/a3c53dmOUTLINE00:00 Is Capitalism Evolving into Socialism?07:20 Is Today the Post-Colonial Period?18:10 How Colonialism Divided the World28:54 China and the Revenge of Feudalism41:06 Productive vs Unproductive Labor49:24 Overcoming the “Discipline” of Academia01:01:17 The Danger of Education01:13:19 Will the United States Break Up?01:21:22 Why the EU and NATO Will Break Up01:29:15 Why Michael Believes the US Will Remain United01:38:37 Trump’s Army and the Militarized Police01:46:49 Is the US Turning into a Police State?01:48:49 The Choice Before a Declining EmpireRobinson Erhardt researches symbolic logic and the foundations of mathematics at Stanford University, where he is also a JD candidate in the Law School.