80k After Hours

This is a selection of highlights from episode #190 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Eric Schwitzgebel on whether the US is consciousAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Chapters:Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)Can consciousness be nested? (00:00:18)Are our intuitions useless for thinking about these things? (00:05:45)Do small differences rule out consciousness? (00:09:43)Overlapping consciousnesses (00:13:26)Are we dreaming right now? (00:17:21)Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

This is a selection of highlights from episode #189 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Rachel Glennerster on how “market shaping” could help solve climate change, pandemics, and other global problemsAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Chapters:Luisa's intro (00:00:00)What is market shaping? (00:00:25)Why some countries didn't have COVID vaccines sooner (00:05:04)Designing incentives for pull mechanisms (00:09:12)Using pull mechanisms to get a universal COVID vaccine (00:13:31)Pull mechanisms to incentivise repurposing of generic drugs (00:18:20)Specific interventions versus systemic reform in education (00:23:25)Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

This is a selection of highlights from episode #188 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Matt Clancy on whether science is goodAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Chapters:Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)How could scientific progress be net negative? (00:00:15)Non-philosophical reasons to discount the far-future (00:03:42)How technology generates huge benefits in our day-to-day lives (00:07:54)Can science reduce extinction risk? (00:14:17)Are we already too late to delay the time of perils? (00:18:48)The omnipresent frictions that might prevent explosive economic growth (00:21:59)Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

You can check out the video version of this episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/R9VGbY7CgOIMatt, Bella, and Cody sit down with Julian Hazell to discuss the UK recession, religion, higher education, and whether being an amateur swordfighter should give you the right to vote.

This is a selection of highlights from episode #187 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Zach Weinersmith on how researching his book turned him from a space optimist into a “space bastard”And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Chapters:A potted history of space exploration (00:00:23)Why space settlement (probably) won't make us rich (00:06:07)What happens to human bodies in space (00:11:43)The ethics of space babies (00:16:05)Making babies in space (00:18:40)A roadmap for settling space (00:22:42)Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

This is a selection of highlights from episode #186 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Dean Spears on why babies are born small in Uttar Pradesh, and how to save their livesAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

This is a selection of highlights from episode #185 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Lewis Bollard on the 7 most promising ways to end factory farming, and whether AI is going to be good or bad for animalsAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

This is a selection of highlights from episode #184 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Zvi Mowshowitz on sleeping on sleeper agents, and the biggest AI updates since ChatGPTAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Matt Reardon, Arden Koehler, and Huon Porteous sit down with Dwarkesh Patel to find out how you become a world-famous (among tech intellectuals) podcast host at 23. We also discuss how 80k would have advised 21-year-old Dwarkesh and 80k strategy more broadly.You can check out the video version of this episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/H5px6CQTe8oTopics covered:How did Dwarkesh start landing world-class guests?Why is Bryan Caplan such an easy get?How does Dwarkesh think about ideological labels?Dwarkesh explains his pivot towards AIDo intellectuals matter for progress?Was Microsoft or the Gates Foundation more impactful?Do biographies ever matter more than their subjects?How would 80k have advised young Dwarkesh?What does motivate people in government and what should motivate people in government?Should do-gooders seek power?Should 80k advice always aim at the tails?Are people just layering their simple political memes onto the AI debate?How do you boost people’s agency?How do we feel about self-perceived entrepreneurs?What’s the tradeoff between having the right initiative and having the right ideas?How does 80k’s advice deal with AI timelines?  Are 80k users self-selected for not being the highest potential people?Should you assume that everyone can make it to the extreme tail?In how many areas should 80k have detailed advice?What happened to the EA brand?

This is a cross-post of an interview Rob Wiblin did on Robert Wright's Nonzero podcast in January 2024. You can get access to full episodes of that show by subscribing to the Nonzero Newsletter. They talk about Sam Bankman-Fried, virtue ethics, the growing influence of longtermism, what role EA played in the OpenAI board drama, the culture of local effective altruism groups, where Rob thinks people get EA most seriously wrong, what Rob fears most about rogue AI, the double-edged sword of AI-empowered governments, and flattening the curve of AI's social disruption.And if you enjoy this, you could also check out episode 101 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Robert Wright on using cognitive empathy to save the world. 

This is a selection of highlights from episode #183 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Spencer Greenberg on causation without correlation, money and happiness, lightgassing, hype vs value, and moreAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

This is a selection of highlights from episode #182 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Bob Fischer on comparing the welfare of humans, chickens, pigs, octopuses, bees, and moreAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

"We really, really want to make sure that nuclear war never breaks out. But we also know — from all of the examples of the Cold War, all these close calls — that it very well could, as long as there are nuclear weapons in the world. So if it does, we want to have some ways of preventing that from turning into a civilisation-threatening, cataclysmic kind of war. And those kinds of interventions — war limitation, intrawar escalation management, civil defence — those are kind of the seatbelts and airbags of the nuclear world. So to borrow a phrase from one of my colleagues, right-of-boom is a class of interventions for when “shit hits the fan.” —Christian RuhlIn this episode of 80k After Hours, Luisa Rodriguez and Christian Ruhl discuss underrated best bets to avert civilisational collapse from global catastrophic risks — things like great power war, frontier military technologies, and nuclear winter.Links to learn more, summary, and full transcript.They cover:How the geopolitical situation has changed in recent years into a “three-body problem” between the US, Russia, and China.How adding AI-enabled technologies into the mix makes things even more unstable and unpredictable.Why Christian recommends many philanthropists focus on “right-of-boom” interventions — those that mitigate the damage after a catastrophe — over traditional preventative measures.Concrete things policymakers should be considering to reduce the devastating effects of unthinkable tragedies.And on a more personal note, Christian’s experience of having a stutter.Who this episode is for:People interested in the most cost-effective ways to prevent nuclear war, such as:Deescalating after accidental nuclear use.Civil defence and war termination.Mitigating nuclear winter.Who this episode isn’t for:People interested in the least cost-effective ways to prevent nuclear war, such as:Coating every nuclear weapon on Earth in solid gold so they’re no longer functional.Creating a TV show called The Real Housewives of Nuclear Winter about the personal and professional lives of women in Beverly Hills after a nuclear holocaust.A multibillion dollar programme to invent a laser beam that could write permanent messages on the Moon, and using it just once to spell out #nonukesnovember.Chapters:The three-body problem (00:04:11)Effect of AI (00:07:58)What we have going for us, and not (00:13:32)Right-of-boom interventions (00:17:50)Deescalating after accidental nuclear use (00:24:23)Civil defence and war termination (00:30:40)Mitigating nuclear winter (00:37:07)Planning for a postwar political environment (00:40:19)Experience of having a stutter (00:53:52)Christian’s archaeological excavation in Guatemala (01:09:51)Producer: Keiran HarrisAudio Engineering Lead: Ben CordellTechnical editing: Ben Cordell and Milo McGuireContent editing: Katy Moore, Luisa Rodriguez, and Keiran HarrisTranscriptions: Katy Moore“Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue, original 1924 version” by Jason Weinberger is licensed under creative commons

This is a selection of highlights from episode #181 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Laura Deming on the science that could keep us healthy in our 80s and beyondAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

You can check out the video version of this episode on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFEb8ICWJQQIn this episode of our new podcast project, Matt Reardon, Bella Forristal, and Arden Koehler sit down with Joel Becker to find out what’s great about America, what was not so great about FTX, and invite you to port back to the time when Arden might have been CEO.You can learn more about Joel's current projects at https://joel-becker.com/ and follow him on Twitter at https://twitter.com/joel_bkrHere's where to find episode #100 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast on dealing with anxiety, depression, and imposter syndrome: https://80000hours.org/podcast/episodes/depression-anxiety-imposter-syndrome/Matt also beseeches you to listen to Joe Carlsmith already: https://joecarlsmith.substack.com/archiveYou can also find Joel’s best friend and Matt’s former flatmate Mr. Mushu at https://www.instagram.com/its_mr.mushu/Further topics include:All possible reasons militate in favour of moving to AmericaAmerican politics being justified in its savageryJoel’s review of our famous podcast on depression and anxietyThe FTX fellows and visitors programme in the BahamasThe [vampiric?] energy of AmericaIs sports net negative?Living in filth and eschewing the typical mind fallacyHow much should we be working on our meta-preferences?Arden on being CEO of 80,000 HoursRuminating on the powers of non-aphantasticsWhy do kids want to draw?Are people sleeping on crayons?Our favourite foundational EA materials

This is a selection of highlights from episode #180 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Hugo Mercier on why gullibility and misinformation are overratedAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

This is a selection of highlights from episode #179 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Randy Nesse on why evolution left us so vulnerable to depression and anxietyAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Matt, Bella, and Cody sit down with Chana Messinger to find out what she does, how to insulate ourselves from harsh realities, and whether pub trivia is complete waste of time.You can find Chana’s long-defunct blog at: https://themerelyreal.wordpress.com/ Update February 20, 2024: The 'steelman' bounty has been claimed!You can also find a full video of this episode here.

This is a selection of highlights from episode #178 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Emily Oster on what the evidence actually says about pregnancy and parentingAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

This is a selection of highlights from episode #177 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast.These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — and if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode:Nathan Labenz on recent AI breakthroughs and navigating the growing rift between AI safety and accelerationist campsAnd if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong