80k After Hours

Highlights: #218 – Hugh White on why Trump is abandoning US hegemony – and that’s probably good

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 22 Jul 2025 14:14:15 +0000

For decades, US allies have slept soundly under the protection of America’s overwhelming military might. Donald Trump — with his threats to ditch NATO, seize Greenland, and abandon Taiwan — seems hell-bent on shattering that comfort.

But according to Hugh White — one of the world's leading strategic thinkers, emeritus professor at the Australian National University, and author of Hard New World: Our Post-American Future — Trump isn't destroying American hegemony. He's simply revealing that it's already gone.

These highlights are from episode #218 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Hugh White on why Trump is abandoning US hegemony – and that’s probably good, and include:

America has been all talk, no action when it comes to China and Russia (00:39)
How Trump has significantly brought forward the inevitable (05:14)
Westerners always underestimate what China can achieve (10:32)
We live in a multipolar world; we've got to make a multipolar world work (15:47)
Trump is half-right that the US was being ripped off (19:06)
Europe is strong enough to take on Russia, except it lacks nuclear deterrence (22:27)
A multipolar world is bad, but better than the alternative: nuclear war (28:50)
Taiwan's position is essentially indefensible — and the rest of the world needs to be honest with them about that (33:24)
AGI may or may not overcome existing nuclear deterrence (39:16)

These aren't necessarily the most important or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #217 – Beth Barnes on the most important graph in AI right now — and the 7-month rule that governs its progress

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 26 Jun 2025 17:12:23 +0000

AI models today have a 50% chance of successfully completing a task that would take an expert human one hour. Seven months ago, that number was roughly 30 minutes — and seven months before that, 15 minutes.

These are substantial, multi-step tasks requiring sustained focus: building web applications, conducting machine learning research, or solving complex programming challenges.

Today’s guest, Beth Barnes, is CEO of METR (Model Evaluation & Threat Research) — the leading organisation measuring these capabilities.

These highlights are from episode #217 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Beth Barnes on the most important graph in AI right now — and the 7-month rule that governs its progress, and include:

Can we see AI scheming in the chain of thought? (00:00:34)
We have to test model honesty even before they're used inside AI companies (00:05:48)
It's essential to thoroughly test relevant real-world tasks (00:10:13)
Recursively self-improving AI might even be here in two years — which is alarming (00:16:09)
Do we need external auditors doing AI safety tests, not just the companies themselves? (00:21:55)
A case against safety-focused people working at frontier AI companies (00:29:30)
Open-weighting models is often good, and Beth has changed her attitude about it (00:34:57)

These aren't necessarily the most important or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #216 – Ian Dunt on why governments in Britain and elsewhere can’t get anything done – and how to fix it

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 27 May 2025 14:41:03 +0000

When you have a system where ministers almost never understand their portfolios, civil servants change jobs every few months, and MPs don’t grasp parliamentary procedure even after decades in office — is the problem the people, or the structure they work in?

Political journalist Ian Dunt studies the systemic reasons governments succeed and fail. And in his book How Westminster Works …and Why It Doesn’t, he argues that Britain’s government dysfunction and multi-decade failure to solve its key problems stems primarily from bad incentives and bad processes.

These highlights are from episode #216 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Ian Dunt on why governments in Britain and elsewhere can’t get anything done – and how to fix it, and include:

Rob's intro (00:00:00)
The UK is governed from a tiny cramped house (00:00:08)
Replacing political distractions with departmental organisation (00:02:58)
The profoundly dangerous development of "delegated legislation" (00:06:42)
Do more independent-minded legislatures actually lead to better outcomes? (00:09:08)
MPs waste much of their time helping constituents with random complaints (00:12:50)
How to keep expert civil servants (00:15:44)
Unlikely heroes in the House of Lords (00:18:33)
Proportional representation and other alternatives to first-past-the-post (00:22:02)

These aren't necessarily the most important or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #215 – Tom Davidson on how AI-enabled coups could allow a tiny group to seize power

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 16 May 2025 15:00:13 +0000

Throughout history, technological revolutions have fundamentally shifted the balance of power in society. The Industrial Revolution created conditions where democracies could dominate for the first time — as nations needed educated, informed, and empowered citizens to deploy advanced technologies and remain competitive.

Unfortunately, there’s every reason to think artificial general intelligence (AGI) will reverse that trend.

In a new paper, Tom Davidson — senior research fellow at the Forethought Centre for AI Strategy — argues that advanced AI systems will enable unprecedented power grabs by tiny groups of people, primarily by removing the need for other human beings to participate.

These highlights are from episode #215 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Tom Davidson on how AI-enabled coups could allow a tiny group to seize power, and include:

"No person rules alone" — except now they might (00:00:13)
The 3 threat scenarios (00:06:17)
Underpinning all 3 threats: Secret AI loyalties (00:10:15)
Is this common sense or far-fetched? (00:13:46)
How to automate a military coup (00:17:41)
If you took over the US, could you take over the whole world? (00:22:44)
Secret loyalties all the way down (00:26:27)
Is it important to have more than one powerful AI country? (00:29:59)
What transparency actually looks like (00:33:08)

These aren't necessarily the most important or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #214 – Buck Shlegeris on controlling AI that wants to take over – so we can use it anyway

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 18 Apr 2025 15:05:36 +0000

Most AI safety conversations centre on alignment: ensuring AI systems share our values and goals. But despite progress, we’re unlikely to know we’ve solved the problem before the arrival of human-level and superhuman systems in as little as three years.

So some — including Buck Shlegeris, CEO of Redwood Research — are developing a backup plan to safely deploy models we fear are actively scheming to harm us: so-called “AI control.” While this may sound mad, given the reluctance of AI companies to delay deploying anything they train, not developing such techniques is probably even crazier.

These highlights are from episode #214 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Buck Shlegeris on controlling AI that wants to take over – so we can use it anyway, and include:

What is AI control? (00:00:15)
One way to catch AIs that are up to no good (00:07:00)
What do we do once we catch a model trying to escape? (00:13:39)
Team Human vs Team AI (00:18:24)
If an AI escapes, is it likely to be able to beat humanity from there? (00:24:59)
Is alignment still useful? (00:32:10)
Could 10 safety-focused people in an AGI company do anything useful? (00:35:34)

These aren't necessarily the most important or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Off the Clock #8: Leaving Las London with Matt Reardon

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 01 Apr 2025 18:34:56 +0000

Watch this episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/fJssGodnCQg

Conor and Arden sit down with Matt in his farewell episode to discuss the law, their team retreat, his lessons learned from 80k, and the fate of the show.

Highlights: #213 – Will MacAskill on AI causing a “century in a decade” — and how we’re completely unprepared

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 25 Mar 2025 14:59:49 +0000

The 20th century saw unprecedented change: nuclear weapons, satellites, the rise and fall of communism, third-wave feminism, the internet, postmodernism, game theory, genetic engineering, the Big Bang theory, quantum mechanics, birth control, and more. Now imagine all of it compressed into just 10 years.

That’s the future Will MacAskill — philosopher and researcher at the Forethought Centre for AI Strategy — argues we need to prepare for in his new paper “Preparing for the intelligence explosion.” Not in the distant future, but probably in three to seven years.

These highlights are from episode #213 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Will MacAskill on AI causing a “century in a decade” — and how we’re completely unprepared, and include:

Rob's intro (00:00:00)
A century of history crammed into a decade (00:00:17)
What does a good future with AGI even look like? (00:04:48)
AI takeover might happen anyway — should we rush to load in our values? (00:09:29)
Lock-in is plausible where it never was before (00:14:40)
ML researchers are feverishly working to destroy their own power (00:20:07)
People distrust utopianism for good reason (00:24:30)
Non-technological disruption (00:29:18)
The 3 intelligence explosions (00:31:10)

These aren't necessarily the most important or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And 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

Highlights: #212 – Allan Dafoe on why technology is unstoppable & how to shape AI development anyway

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 12 Mar 2025 15:00:16 +0000

Technology doesn’t force us to do anything — it merely opens doors. But military and economic competition pushes us through. That’s how Allan Dafoe — director of frontier safety and governance at Google DeepMind — explains one of the deepest patterns in technological history: once a powerful new capability becomes available, societies that adopt it tend to outcompete those that don’t. Those who resist too much can find themselves taken over or rendered irrelevant.

These highlights are from episode #212 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Allan Dafoe on why technology is unstoppable & how to shape AI development anyway, and include:

Who's Allan Dafoe? (00:00:00)
Astounding patterns in macrohistory (00:00:23)
Are humans just along for the ride when it comes to technological progress? (00:03:58)
Flavours of technological determinism (00:07:11)
The super-cooperative AGI hypothesis and backdoors (00:12:50)
Could having more cooperative AIs backfire? (00:19:16)
The offence-defence balance (00:24:23)

These aren't necessarily the most important or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And 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

Off the Clock #7: Getting on the Crazy Train with Chi Nguyen

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 13 Jan 2025 15:44:13 +0000

Watch this episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/IRRwHCK279E

Matt, Bella, and Huon sit down with Chi Nguyen to discuss cooperating with aliens, elections of future past, and Bad Billionaires pt. 2.

Check out:

Matt’s summer appearance on the BBC on funding for the arts
Chi’s ECL Explainer (get in touch to support!)

Highlights: #211 – Sam Bowman on why housing still isn’t fixed and what would actually work

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 06 Jan 2025 16:01:17 +0000

Economist and editor of Works in Progress Sam Bowman isn’t content to just condemn the Not In My Back Yard (NIMBY) mentality behind rich countries' construction stagnation. He wants to actually get a tonne of stuff built, and by that standard the strategy of attacking ‘NIMBYs’ has been an abject failure. They are too politically powerful, and if you try to crush them, sooner or later they crush you.

So Sam lays out three alternative strategies in our full interview with him — including highlights like:

Rich countries have a crisis of underconstruction (00:00:19)
The UK builds shockingly little because of its planning permission system (00:04:57)
Overcoming NIMBYism means fixing incentives (00:07:21)
NIMBYs aren't wrong: they are often harmed by development (00:10:44)
Street votes give existing residents a say (00:16:29)
It's essential to define in advance who gets a say (00:24:37)
Property tax distribution might be the most important policy you've never heard of (00:28:55)
Using aesthetics to get buy-in for new construction (00:35:48)
Locals actually really like having nuclear power plants nearby (00:44:14)
It can be really useful to let old and new institutions coexist for a while (00:48:27)
Ozempic and living in the decade that we conquered obesity (00:53:05)
Northern latitudes still need nuclear power (00:55:30)

These highlights are from episode #211 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Sam Bowman on why housing still isn’t fixed and what would actually work. These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org. (And you may have noticed this episode is longer than most of our highlights episodes — let us know if you liked that or not!)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #210 – Cameron Meyer Shorb on dismantling the myth that we can’t do anything to help wild animals

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 13 Dec 2024 17:02:53 +0000

We explored the cutting edge of wild animal welfare science our full interview with Cameron Meyer Shorb, executive director of Wild Animal Initiative, including highlights like:

One concrete example of how we might improve wild animal welfare (00:00:16)
How many wild animals are there, and which animals are they? (00:04:24)
Why might wild animals be suffering? (00:08:40)
The objection that we shouldn't meddle in nature because nature is good (00:12:25)
Vaccines for wild animals (00:17:37)
Gene drive technologies (00:20:50)
Optimising for high-welfare landscapes (00:24:52)

These highlights are from episode #210 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Cameron Meyer Shorb on dismantling the myth that we can’t do anything to help wild animals. These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And 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

Highlights: #209 – Rose Chan Loui on OpenAI’s gambit to ditch its nonprofit

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 11 Dec 2024 16:21:18 +0000

Nonprofit legal expert Rose Chan Loui lays out the legal case and implications of OpenAI's attempt to shed its nonprofit parent. This episode is a selection of highlights from our full interview with Rose, including:

How OpenAI carefully chose a complex nonprofit structure (00:00:26)
The nonprofit board is out-resourced and in a tough spot (00:04:09)
Is control of OpenAI 'priceless' to the nonprofit in pursuit of its mission? (00:06:47)
Control of OpenAI is independently incredibly valuable and requires compensation (00:11:06)
It's very important that the nonprofit gets cash and not just equity (00:16:06)
How the nonprofit board can best play their hand (00:21:20)

These highlights are from episode #209 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Rose Chan Loui on OpenAI’s gambit to ditch its nonprofit. These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And 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

Highlights: #208 – Elizabeth Cox on the case that TV shows, movies, and novels can improve the world

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 05 Dec 2024 16:06:19 +0000

Elizabeth Cox — founder of the independent production company Should We Studio — makes the case that storytelling can improve the world. This episode is a selection of highlights from our full interview with Elizabeth, including:

Keiran’s intro (00:00:00)
Empirical evidence of the impact of storytelling (00:00:16)
The hits-based approach to storytelling (00:03:35)
Debating the merits of thinking about target audiences (00:07:48)
Ada vs other approaches to impact-focused storytelling (00:13:15)
Why animation? (00:18:56)
How long will humans stay relevant as creative writers, given AI advances? (00:22:40)

These highlights are from episode #208 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Elizabeth Cox on the case that TV shows, movies, and novels can improve the world. These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And 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

Highlights: #207 – Sarah Eustis-Guthrie on why she shut down her charity, and why more founders should follow her lead

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 02 Dec 2024 15:39:12 +0000

Charity founder Sarah Eustis-Guthrie has a candid conversation about her experience starting and running her maternal health charity, and ultimately making the difficult decision to shut down when the programme wasn’t as impactful as they expected. This episode is a selection of highlights from our full interview with Sarah:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
What it's like to found a charity (00:00:14)
Yellow flags and difficult calls (00:03:17)
Disappointing results (00:06:28)
The ups and downs of founding an organisation (00:08:37)
Entrepreneurship and being willing to make risky bets (00:12:58)
Why aren't more charities shutting down? (00:16:50)
How to think about shutting down (00:19:39)

These highlights are from episode #207 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Sarah Eustis-Guthrie on why she shut down her charity, and why more founders should follow her lead. These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And 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

Highlights: #206 – Anil Seth on the predictive brain and how to study consciousness

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 15 Nov 2024 22:04:20 +0000

Neuroscientist Anil Seth explains how much we can learn about consciousness by studying the brain in these highlights from our full interview — including:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
How our brain interprets reality (00:00:15)
How our brain experiences our organs (00:04:04)
What psychedelics teach us about consciousness (00:07:37)
The physical footprint of consciousness in the brain (00:12:10)
How to study the neural correlates of consciousness (00:15:37)

This is a selection of highlights from episode #206 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Anil Seth on the predictive brain and how to study consciousness. These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode!

And 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

Highlights: #205 – Sébastien Moro on the most insane things fish can do

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 12 Nov 2024 16:19:43 +0000

Science writer and video blogger Sébastien Moro blows our minds with the latest research on fish consciousness, intelligence, and potential sentience.

This is a selection of highlights from episode #205 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Sébastien Moro on the most insane things fish can do. These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode.

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
The ingenious innovations of Atlantic cod (00:00:19)
The mirror test triumph of cleaner wrasses (00:05:46)
The astounding accuracy of archerfish (00:10:30)
The magnificent memory of gobies (00:14:25)
The tactical teamwork of the grouper and moray eel (00:17:42)
The remarkable relationships of wild guppies (00:22:01)
Sébastien's take on fish consciousness (00:26:48)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #204 – Nate Silver on making sense of SBF, and his biggest critiques of effective altruism

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 30 Oct 2024 14:12:03 +0000

Election forecaster Nate Silver gives his takes on: how effective altruism could be better, the stark tradeoffs we faced with COVID, whether the 13 Keys to the White House is "junk science," how to tell whose election predictions are better, and if venture capitalists really take risks.

This is a selection of highlights from episode #204 of The 80,000 Hours Podcast: Nate Silver on making sense of SBF, and his biggest critiques of effective altruism. These aren't necessarily the most important, or even most entertaining parts of the interview — so if you enjoy this, we strongly recommend checking out the full episode.

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Rob’s intro (00:00:00)
Is anyone doing better at "doing good better"? (00:00:29)
Is effective altruism too big to succeed? (00:02:19)
The stark tradeoffs we faced with COVID (00:06:02)
The 13 Keys to the White House (00:07:53)
Can we tell whose election predictions are better? (00:11:40)
Do venture capitalists really take risks? (00:16:29)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: Luisa and Keiran on free will, and the consequences of never feeling enduring guilt or shame

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 21 Oct 2024 15:00:52 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from our April 2023 episode with host Luisa Rodriguez and producer Keiran Harris on 80k After Hours. 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:

Luisa and Keiran on free will, and the consequences of never feeling enduring guilt or shame

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Keiran’s intro (00:00:00)
Jerk Syndrome (00:00:53)
The basic case for free will being an illusion (00:05:10)
Feeling bad about not being a different person (00:08:29)
Implications for the criminal justice system (00:10:57)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #203 – Peter Godfrey-Smith on interfering with wild nature, accepting death, and the origin of complex civilisation

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 18 Oct 2024 15:00:57 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #203 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:

Peter Godfrey-Smith on interfering with wild nature, accepting death, and the origin of complex civilisation

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
Thinking about death (00:00:24)
Uploads of ourselves (00:05:32)
Against intervening in wild nature (00:12:36)
Eliminating the worst experiences in wild nature (00:16:15)
To be human or wild animal? (00:21:46)
Challenges for water-based animals (00:27:38)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Off the Clock #6: Starting Small with Conor Barnes

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 15 Oct 2024 15:31:47 +0000

Watch this episode on YouTube! https://youtu.be/yncw2T77OAc

Matt, Bella, and Huon sit down with Conor Barnes to discuss unlikely journeys, EA criticism, discipline, timeless decision theory, and how to do the most good with a degree in classics.

Check out:

Conor’s 100 Tips for a Better Life: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/7hFeMWC6Y5eaSixbD/100-tips-for-a-better-life
Conor’s writing: https://parhelia.conorbarnes.com/
Zvi on timeless decision theory: https://www.lesswrong.com/posts/scwoBEju75C45W5n3/how-i-lost-100-pounds-using-tdt

Highlights: #202 – Venki Ramakrishnan on the cutting edge of anti-ageing science

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 14:53:40 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #202 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:

Venki Ramakrishnan on the cutting edge of anti-ageing science

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
Is death an inevitable consequence of evolution? (00:00:15)
How much additional healthspan will the next 20 to 30 years of ageing research buy us? (00:03:10)
The social impacts of radical life extension (00:05:46)
Could increased longevity increase inequality? (00:10:06)
Does injecting an old body with young blood slow ageing? (00:14:23)
Freezing cells, organs, and bodies (00:18:35)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #201 – Ken Goldberg on why your robot butler isn’t here yet

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 30 Sep 2024 14:18:05 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #201 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:

Ken Goldberg on why your robot butler isn’t here yet

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
Moravec's paradox (00:00:22)
Successes in robotics to date (00:03:51)
Why perception is a big challenge for robotics (00:07:02)
Why low fault tolerance makes some skills extra hard to automate (00:12:29)
How might robot labour affect the job market? (00:17:19)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #200 – Ezra Karger on what superforecasters and experts think about existential risks

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 18 Sep 2024 14:06:00 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #200 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:

Ezra Karger on what superforecasters and experts think about existential risks

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
Why we need forecasts about existential risks (00:00:26)
Headline estimates of existential and catastrophic risks (00:02:43)
What explains disagreements about AI risks? (00:06:18)
Learning more doesn't resolve disagreements about AI risks (00:08:59)
A lot of disagreement about AI risks is about when AI will pose risks (00:11:31)
Cruxes about AI risks (00:15:17)
Is forecasting actually useful in the real world? (00:18:24)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #199 – Nathan Calvin on California’s AI bill SB 1047 and its potential to shape US AI policy

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 12 Sep 2024 17:35:49 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #199 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 Calvin on California’s AI bill SB 1047 and its potential to shape US AI policy

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
Why we can't count on AI companies to self-regulate (00:00:21)
SB 1047's impact on open source models (00:04:24)
Why it's not "too early" for AI policies (00:07:54)
Why working on state-level policy could have an outsized impact (00:11:47)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #198 – Meghan Barrett on challenging our assumptions about insects

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 09 Sep 2024 15:15:12 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #198 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:

Meghan Barrett on challenging our assumptions about insects

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
Size diversity (00:00:16)
Offspring, parental investment, and lifespan (00:03:18)
Headless cockroaches (00:06:13)
Is self-protective behaviour a reflex? (00:08:50)
If insects feel pain, is it mild or severe? (00:11:54)
Evolutionary perspective on insect sentience (00:16:53)
How likely is insect sentience? (00:20:25)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #197 – Nick Joseph on whether Anthropic’s AI safety policy is up to the task

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 05 Sep 2024 14:16:28 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #197 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:

Nick Joseph on whether Anthropic’s AI safety policy is up to the task

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights:

Rob's intro (00:00:00)
What Anthropic's responsible scaling policy commits the company to doing (00:00:17)
Why Nick is a big fan of the RSP approach (00:02:13)
Are RSPs still valuable if the people using them aren't bought in? (00:05:07)
Nick's biggest reservations about the RSP approach (00:08:01)
Should Anthropic's RSP have wider safety buffers? (00:11:17)
Alternatives to RSPs (00:14:57)
Should concerned people be willing to take capabilities roles? (00:19:22)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #196 – Jonathan Birch on the edge cases of sentience and why they matter

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 30 Aug 2024 14:26:22 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #196 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:

Jonathan Birch on the edge cases of sentience and why they matter

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Chapters:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
The history of neonatal surgery without anaesthetic (00:00:23)
Overconfidence around disorders of consciousness (00:03:17)
Separating abortion from the issue of foetal sentience (00:07:26)
The cases for and against neural organoids (00:11:30)
Artificial sentience arising from whole brain emulations of roundworms and fruit flies (00:15:45)
Using citizens' assemblies to do policymaking (00:22:00)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #195 – Sella Nevo on who's trying to steal frontier AI models, and what they could do with them

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 19 Aug 2024 18:56:28 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #195 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:

Sella Nevo on who's trying to steal frontier AI models, and what they could do with them

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Chapters:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
Why protect model weights? (00:00:23)
SolarWinds hack (00:03:51)
Zero-days (00:08:16)
Side-channel attacks (00:11:45)
USB cables (00:15:11)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #194 – Vitalik Buterin on defensive acceleration and how to regulate AI when you fear government

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 12 Aug 2024 14:54:47 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #194 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:

Vitalik Buterin on defensive acceleration and how to regulate AI when you fear government

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Chapters:

Rob’s intro (00:00:00)
Vitalik's "d/acc" alternative (00:00:14)
Biodefence (00:05:31)
How much do people actually disagree? (00:09:49)
Distrust of authority is a big deal (00:15:09)
Info defence and X's Community Notes (00:19:35)
Quadratic voting and funding (00:26:22)
Vitalik's philosophy of half-assing everything (00:30:32)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #193 – Sihao Huang on the risk that US–China AI competition leads to war

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 31 Jul 2024 13:43:23 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #193 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:

Sihao Huang on the risk that US–China AI competition leads to war

And 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 advanced is Chinese AI? (00:00:25)
Is China catching up to the US and UK? (00:05:14)
Could China be a source of catastrophic AI risk? (00:07:50)
AI enabling human rights abuses and undermining democracy (00:13:53)
China's attempts at indigenising its semiconductor supply chain (00:18:14)
How the US and UK might coordinate with China (00:20:32)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #192 – Annie Jacobsen on what would happen if North Korea launched a nuclear weapon at the US

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 25 Jul 2024 14:54:28 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #192 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:

Annie Jacobsen on what would happen if North Korea launched a nuclear weapon at the US

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Chapters:

Luisa’s intro (00:00:00)
The minutes after an incoming nuclear attack is detected (00:00:22)
Deciding whether to retaliate (00:04:24)
Russian misperception of US counterattack (00:07:37)
The nuclear launch plans that would kill millions in neighbouring countries (00:11:38)
The war games that suggest escalation is inevitable (00:15:31)
A super-electromagnetic pulse (00:19:12)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Off the Clock #5: Leaving 80k with Maria Gutierrez Rojas

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 23 Jul 2024 17:14:03 +0000

You can check out the video version of this episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/AUuEaYltONg

Matt, Bella, and Cody sit down with Maria Gutierrez Rojas to discuss the 80k’s aesthetics, religion (again), bad billionaires, and why it’s hard to be an org that both gives advice and has opinions.

Highlights: #191 (Part 2) – Carl Shulman on government and society after AGI

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 19 Jul 2024 15:33:45 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #191 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:

Carl Shulman on government and society after AGI

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Chapters:

How AI advisors could have saved us from COVID-19 (00:00:05)
Why Carl doesn't support enforced pauses on AI research (00:06:34)
Value lock-in (00:12:58)
How democracies avoid coups (00:17:11)
Building trust between adversaries about which models you can believe (00:24:00)
Opportunities for listeners (00:30:11)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #191 (Part 1) – Carl Shulman on the economy and national security after AGI

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 11 Jul 2024 13:30:20 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #191 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:

Carl Shulman on the economy and national security after AGI

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Chapters:

Intro (00:00:00)
Robot nannies (00:00:23)
Key transformations after an AI capabilities explosion (00:05:15)
Objection: Shouldn't we be seeing economic growth rates increasing today? (00:10:28)
Objection: Declining returns to increases in intelligence? (00:16:09)
Objection: Could we really see rates of construction go up a hundredfold or a thousandfold? (00:20:58)
Objection: "This sounds completely whack" (00:26:10)
Income and wealth distribution (00:30:02)

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour, Milo McGuire, and Dominic Armstrong

Highlights: #190 – Eric Schwitzgebel on whether the US is conscious

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 21 Jun 2024 14:08:10 +0000

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 conscious

And 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

Highlights: #189 – Rachel Glennerster on how “market shaping” could help solve climate change, pandemics, and other global problems

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 12 Jun 2024 13:53:08 +0000

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 problems

And 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

Highlights: #188 – Matt Clancy on whether science is good

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 06 Jun 2024 13:44:36 +0000

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 good

And 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

Off the Clock #4 (fka Actually After Hours): One Boxing with Julian Hazell

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 03 Jun 2024 17:31:07 +0000

You can check out the video version of this episode on YouTube at https://youtu.be/R9VGbY7CgOI

Matt, 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.

Highlights: #187 – Zach Weinersmith on how researching his book turned him from a space optimist into a “space bastard”

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 28 May 2024 15:19:20 +0000

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

Highlights: #186 – Dean Spears on why babies are born small in Uttar Pradesh, and how to save their lives

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 15 May 2024 23:19:35 +0000

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 lives

And 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

Highlights: #185 – Lewis Bollard on the 7 most promising ways to end factory farming, and whether AI is going to be good or bad for animals

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 02 May 2024 18:25:50 +0000

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 animals

And 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

Highlights: #184 – Zvi Mowshowitz on sleeping on sleeper agents, and the biggest AI updates since ChatGPT

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 25 Apr 2024 19:19:01 +0000

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 ChatGPT

And 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

Actually After Hours #3: Finding the Tail with Dwarkesh Patel

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 23 Apr 2024 17:00:31 +0000

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/H5px6CQTe8o

Topics 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 AI
Do 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?

Robert Wright & Rob Wiblin on the truth about effective altruism

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 04 Apr 2024 17:57:54 +0000

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.

Highlights: #183 – Spencer Greenberg on causation without correlation, money and happiness, lightgassing, hype vs value, and more

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 18:56:22 +0000

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 more

And 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

Highlights: #182 – Bob Fischer on comparing the welfare of humans, chickens, pigs, octopuses, bees, and more

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 26 Mar 2024 19:23:23 +0000

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 more

And 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

Christian Ruhl on why we're entering a new nuclear age — and how to reduce the risks

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 21 Mar 2024 20:06:53 +0000

"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 Ruhl

In 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 Harris
Audio Engineering Lead: Ben Cordell
Technical editing: Ben Cordell and Milo McGuire
Content editing: Katy Moore, Luisa Rodriguez, and Keiran Harris
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

“Gershwin – Rhapsody in Blue, original 1924 version” by Jason Weinberger is licensed under creative commons

Highlights: #181 – Laura Deming on the science that could keep us healthy in our 80s and beyond

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 20 Mar 2024 18:08:32 +0000

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 beyond

And 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

Actually After Hours #2: Coming to America with Joel Becker

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 18 Mar 2024 17:04:49 +0000

You can check out the video version of this episode on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFEb8ICWJQQ

In 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_bkr

Here'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/archive

You 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 America
American politics being justified in its savagery
Joel’s review of our famous podcast on depression and anxiety
The FTX fellows and visitors programme in the Bahamas
The [vampiric?] energy of America
Is sports net negative?
Living in filth and eschewing the typical mind fallacy
How much should we be working on our meta-preferences?
Arden on being CEO of 80,000 Hours
Ruminating on the powers of non-aphantastics
Why do kids want to draw?
Are people sleeping on crayons?
Our favourite foundational EA materials

Highlights: #180 – Hugo Mercier on why gullibility and misinformation are overrated

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 11 Mar 2024 19:18:12 +0000

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 overrated

And 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

Highlights: #179 – Randy Nesse on why evolution left us so vulnerable to depression and anxiety

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 26 Feb 2024 20:27:01 +0000

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 anxiety

And 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

Actually After Hours #1: Bean Counting with Chana Messinger

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 19 Feb 2024 07:52:16 +0000

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.

Highlights: #178 – Emily Oster on what the evidence actually says about pregnancy and parenting

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 15 Feb 2024 20:26:31 +0000

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 parenting

And 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

Highlights: #177 – Nathan Labenz on recent AI breakthroughs and navigating the growing rift between AI safety and accelerationist camps

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 07 Feb 2024 20:29:18 +0000

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 camps

And 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

Highlights: #146 – Robert Long on why large language models like GPT (probably) aren’t conscious

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 25 Jan 2024 19:45:20 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #146 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:

Robert Long on why large language models like GPT (probably) aren’t conscious

And 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

Highlights: #176 – Nathan Labenz on the final push for AGI, understanding OpenAI’s leadership drama, and red-teaming frontier models

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 15 Jan 2024 20:24:00 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #176 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 the final push for AGI, understanding OpenAI’s leadership drama, and red-teaming frontier models

And 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

Highlights: #175 – Lucia Coulter on preventing lead poisoning for $1.66 per child

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 09 Jan 2024 20:06:44 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #175 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:

Lucia Coulter on preventing lead poisoning for $1.66 per child

And 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

Highlights: #174 – Nita Farahany on the neurotechnology already being used to convict criminals and manipulate workers

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 03 Jan 2024 21:26:11 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #174 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:

Nita Farahany on the neurotechnology already being used to convict criminals and manipulate workers

And 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

Highlights: #173 – Jeff Sebo on digital minds, and how to avoid sleepwalking into a major moral catastrophe

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 18:04:14 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #173 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:

Jeff Sebo on digital minds, and how to avoid sleepwalking into a major moral catastrophe

And 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

Career review: AI safety technical research

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 12 Dec 2023 15:25:46 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Benjamin Hilton reads his AI safety technical research career review.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out:

The AI safety starter pack
Our problem profile on AI risk
The 80,000 Hours Podcast on Artificial Intelligence (a collection of 10 key AI episodes from our podcast)

Edited by Simon Monsour.

Highlights: #147 – Spencer Greenberg on stopping valueless papers from getting into top journals

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 01:04:13 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #147 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 stopping valueless papers from getting into top journals

And 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

Benjamin Todd on the history of 80,000 Hours

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 01 Dec 2023 21:22:37 +0000

"The very first office we had was just a balcony in an Oxford College dining hall. It was totally open to the dining hall, so every lunch and dinner time it would be super noisy because it'd be like 200 people all eating below us. And then I think we just had a bit where we just didn't have an office, so we worked out of the canteen in the library for at least three months or something. And then it was only after that we moved into this tiny, tiny room at the back of an estate agent off in St Clement’s in Oxford. One of our early donors came and we gave him a tour, and when he came into the office, his first reaction was, 'Is this legal?'" — Benjamin Todd

In this episode of 80k After Hours — recorded in June 2022 — Rob Wiblin and Benjamin Todd discuss the history of 80,000 Hours.

Links to learn more.

Chapters:
• Cold open (00:00:00)
• Rob's intro (00:00:44)
• Ben's origin story (00:04:07)
• The birth of 80k (00:12:23)
• The early vision for 80k (00:30:12)
• The general vibe in the EA community back then (00:37:35)
• How 80k evolved (00:48:46)
• Trips to Thailand and China (01:13:00)
• Setting up several programmes (01:17:48)
• Moving to California (01:24:54)
• 80k strengths (01:33:49)
• Why Ben left the CEO position (01:39:03)
• The future of 80,000 Hours (01:42:06)
• Rob's outro (01:45:09)

Who this episode is for:

People who work on or plan to work on promoting important ideas in a way that's similar to 80,000 Hours
People who work at organisations similar to 80,000 Hours
People who work at 80,000 Hours

Who this episode isn’t for:

People who, if asked if they’d like to join a dinner at 80,000 Hours where the team reminisce on the good old days, would say, “Sorry, can’t make it — I’m washing my hair that night”

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ryan Kessler and Ben Cordell

"Gershwin - Rhapsody in Blue, original 1924 version" by Jason Weinberger is licensed under creative commons

Highlights: #172 – Bryan Caplan on why you should stop reading the news

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 30 Nov 2023 23:33:00 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #172 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:

Bryan Caplan on why you should stop reading the news

And 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

Highlights: #148 – Johannes Ackva on unfashionable climate interventions that work, and fashionable ones that don’t

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 27 Nov 2023 19:20:36 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #148 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:

Johannes Ackva on unfashionable climate interventions that work, and fashionable ones that don’t

And 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

Highlights: #171 – Alison Young on how top labs have jeopardised public health with repeated biosafety failures

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 21 Nov 2023 18:58:56 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #171 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:

Alison Young on how top labs have jeopardised public health with repeated biosafety failures

And 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

Highlights: #170 – Santosh Harish on how air pollution is responsible for ~12% of global deaths — and how to get that number down

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 14 Nov 2023 20:05:54 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #170 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:

Santosh Harish on how air pollution is responsible for ~12% of global deaths — and how to get that number down

And 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

Highlights: #169 – Paul Niehaus on whether cash transfers cause economic growth, and keeping theft to acceptable levels

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 10 Nov 2023 19:21:41 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #169 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:

Paul Niehaus on whether cash transfers cause economic growth, and keeping theft to acceptable levels

And 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

Highlights: #168 – Ian Morris on whether deep history says we’re heading for an intelligence explosion

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 08 Nov 2023 23:58:31 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #168 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:

Ian Morris on whether deep history says we’re heading for an intelligence explosion

And 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

Highlights: #167 – Seren Kell on the research gaps holding back alternative proteins from mass adoption

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 06 Nov 2023 20:58:29 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #167 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:

Seren Kell on the research gaps holding back alternative proteins from mass adoption

And 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

Highlights: #166 – Tantum Collins on what he’s learned as an AI policy insider at the White House, DeepMind and elsewhere

The 80,000 Hours team — Sat, 04 Nov 2023 00:45:15 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #166 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:

Tantum Collins on what he’s learned as an AI policy insider at the White House, DeepMind and elsewhere

And 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

Highlights: #165 – Anders Sandberg on war in space, whether civilisations age, and the best things possible in our universe

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 01 Nov 2023 19:25:22 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #165 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:

Anders Sandberg on war in space, whether civilisations age, and the best things possible in our universe

And 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

Highlights: #164 – Kevin Esvelt on cults that want to kill everyone, stealth vs wildfire pandemics, and how he felt inventing gene drives

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 30 Oct 2023 22:36:32 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #164 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:

Kevin Esvelt on cults that want to kill everyone, stealth vs wildfire pandemics, and how he felt inventing gene drives

And 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

Highlights: #163 – Toby Ord on the perils of maximising the good that you do

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 25 Oct 2023 22:06:16 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #163 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:

Toby Ord on the perils of maximising the good that you do

And 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

Highlights: #162 – Mustafa Suleyman on getting Washington and Silicon Valley to tame AI

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 24 Oct 2023 01:50:38 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #162 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:

Mustafa Suleyman on getting Washington and Silicon Valley to tame AI

And 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

Highlights: #161 – Michael Webb on whether AI will soon cause job loss, lower incomes, and higher inequality — or the opposite

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 19 Oct 2023 17:48:51 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #161 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:

Michael Webb on whether AI will soon cause job loss, lower incomes, and higher inequality — or the opposite

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #160 – Hannah Ritchie on why it makes sense to be optimistic about the environment

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 17 Oct 2023 20:40:00 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #160 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:

Hannah Ritchie on why it makes sense to be optimistic about the environment

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #159 – Jan Leike on OpenAI’s massive push to make superintelligence safe in 4 years or less

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 09 Oct 2023 21:27:18 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #159 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:

Jan Leike on OpenAI’s massive push to make superintelligence safe in 4 years or less

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #158 – Holden Karnofsky on how AIs might take over even if they’re no smarter than humans, and his four-part playbook for AI risk

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 06 Oct 2023 20:45:45 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #158 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:

Holden Karnofsky on how AIs might take over even if they’re no smarter than humans, and his four-part playbook for AI risk

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #157 – Ezra Klein on existential risk from AI and what DC could do about it

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 26 Sep 2023 19:35:54 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #157 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:

Ezra Klein on existential risk from AI and what DC could do about it

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #156 – Markus Anderljung on how to regulate cutting-edge AI models

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 22 Sep 2023 19:06:08 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #156 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:

Markus Anderljung on how to regulate cutting-edge AI models

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #155 – Lennart Heim on the compute governance era and what has to come after

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 15 Sep 2023 19:20:51 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #155 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:

Lennart Heim on the compute governance era and what has to come after

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #154 – Rohin Shah on DeepMind and trying to fairly hear out both AI doomers and doubters

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 12 Sep 2023 00:45:29 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #154 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:

Rohin Shah on DeepMind and trying to fairly hear out both AI doomers and doubters

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Alex Lawsen on avoiding 10 mistakes people make when pursuing a high-impact career

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 06 Sep 2023 23:27:30 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Luisa Rodriguez and Alex Lawsen discuss common mistakes people make when trying to do good with their careers, and advice on how to avoid them.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

Taking 80,000 Hours’ rankings too seriously
Not trying hard enough to fail
Feeling like you need to optimise for having the most impact *now*
Feeling like you need to work directly on AI immediately
Not taking a role because you think you’ll be replaceable
Constantly considering other career options
Overthinking or over-optimising career choices
Being unwilling to think things through for yourself
Ignoring conventional career wisdom
Doing community work even if you’re not suited to it

Who this episode is for:

People who want to pursue a high-impact career
People wondering how much AI progress should change their plans
People who take 80,000 Hours’ career advice seriously

Who this episode isn’t for:

People not taking 80k's career advice seriously enough
People who've never made any career mistakes
People who don't want to hear Alex say "I said a bunch of stuff, maybe some of it's true" every time he's on the podcast

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer and editor: Keiran Harris
Audio Engineering Lead: Ben Cordell
Technical editing: Milo McGuire and Dominic Armstrong
Additional content editing: Luisa Rodriguez and Katy Moore
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Highlights: #153 – Elie Hassenfeld on two big picture critiques of GiveWell’s approach, and six lessons from their recent work

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 28 Aug 2023 19:30:14 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #153 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:

Elie Hassenfeld on two big picture critiques of GiveWell’s approach, and six lessons from their recent work

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Get this episode by subscribing to our podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type ‘80,000 Hours’ into your podcasting app. Or read the transcript.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #152 – Joe Carlsmith on navigating serious philosophical confusion

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 08 Aug 2023 19:52:23 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #152 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:

Joe Carlsmith on navigating serious philosophical confusion

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Get this episode by subscribing to our podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type ‘80,000 Hours’ into your podcasting app. Or read the transcript.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #151 – Ajeya Cotra on accidentally teaching AI models to deceive us

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 02 Aug 2023 19:07:32 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #151 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:

Ajeya Cotra on accidentally teaching AI models to deceive us

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Get this episode by subscribing to our podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type ‘80,000 Hours’ into your podcasting app. Or read the transcript.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour and Milo McGuire

Highlights: #150 – Tom Davidson on how quickly AI could transform the world

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 25 Jul 2023 21:12:26 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #150 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:

Tom Davidson on how quickly AI could transform the world

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Get this episode by subscribing to our podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type ‘80,000 Hours’ into your podcasting app. Or read the transcript.

Highlights put together by Milo McGuire and Simon Monsour

Hannah Boettcher on the mental health challenges that come with trying to have a big impact

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 19 Jul 2023 17:35:49 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Luisa Rodriguez and Hannah Boettcher discuss various approaches to therapy, and how to use them in practice — focusing specifically on people trying to have a big impact.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

The effectiveness of therapy, and tips for finding a therapist
Moral demandingness
Internal family systems-style therapy
Motivation and burnout
Exposure therapy
Grappling with world problems and x-risk
Perfectionism and imposter syndrome
And the risk of over-intellectualising

Who this episode is for:

High-impact focused people who struggle with moral demandingness, perfectionism, or imposter syndrome
People who feel anxious thinking about the end of the world
80,000 Hours Podcast hosts with the initials LR

Who this episode isn’t for:

People who aren’t focused on having a big impact
People who don’t struggle with any mental health issues
Founders of Scientology with the initials LRH

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio Engineering Lead: Ben Cordell
Technical editing: Dominic Armstrong
Content editing: Katy Moore, Luisa Rodriguez, and Keiran Harris
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Highlights: #149 – Tim LeBon on how altruistic perfectionism is self-defeating

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 13 Jul 2023 00:55:13 +0000

This is a selection of highlights from episode #149 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:

Tim LeBon on how altruistic perfectionism is self-defeating

And if you're finding these highlights episodes valuable, please let us know by emailing podcast@80000hours.org.

Get this episode by subscribing to our podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type ‘80,000 Hours’ into your podcasting app. Or read the transcript.

Highlights put together by Simon Monsour

Operations management in high-impact organisations (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 01 Jun 2023 18:53:37 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Perrin Walker reads Benjamin Todd and Roman Duda's career review on operations management.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out our 80,000 Hours Podcast episodes with Tara Mac Aulay and Tanya Singh.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Editing and narration: Perrin Walker
Audio proofing: Katy Moore

What is social impact? A definition (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 17 May 2023 20:35:16 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Perrin Walker reads Benjamin Todd's article on social impact.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out our article on why not to take a harmful career even if you think it’ll do more good.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Editing and narration: Perrin Walker
Audio proofing: Katy Moore

How to make tough career decisions (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 03 May 2023 22:34:51 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Perrin Walker reads Benjamin Todd's article on how to make tough career decisions.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out our review of how to become happier and more productive in any job (including how to network).

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Editing and narration: Perrin Walker
Audio proofing: Katy Moore

Luisa and Keiran on free will, and the consequences of never feeling enduring guilt or shame

The 80,000 Hours team — Sat, 22 Apr 2023 01:47:04 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Luisa Rodriguez and Keiran Harris chat about the consequences of letting go of enduring guilt, shame, anger, and pride.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

Keiran’s views on free will, and how he came to hold them
What it’s like not experiencing sustained guilt, shame, and anger
Whether Luisa would become a worse person if she felt less guilt and shame, specifically whether she’d work fewer hours, or donate less money, or become a worse friend
Whether giving up guilt and shame also means giving up pride
The implications for love
The neurological condition ‘Jerk Syndrome’
And some practical advice on feeling less guilt, shame, and anger

Who this episode is for:

People sympathetic to the idea that free will is an illusion
People who experience tons of guilt, shame, or anger
People worried about what would happen if they stopped feeling tons of guilt, shame, or anger

Who this episode isn’t for:

People strongly in favour of retributive justice
Philosophers who can’t stand random non-philosophers talking about philosophy
Non-philosophers who can’t stand random non-philosophers talking about philosophy

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Milo McGuire
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Career review: Journalism (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 24 Mar 2023 22:21:06 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Perrin Walker reads Cody Fenwick's journalism career review.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out historian Daniel Strieff's compilation of more than 20 highly influential pieces of journalism in US history.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Editing and narration: Perrin Walker
Audio proofing: Katy Moore

Luisa and Robert Long on how to make independent research more fun

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 14 Mar 2023 05:44:09 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Luisa Rodriguez and Robert Long have an honest conversation about the challenges of independent research.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

Assigning probabilities when you’re really uncertain
Struggles around self-belief and imposter syndrome
The importance of sharing work even when it feels terrible
Balancing impact and fun in a job
And some mistakes researchers often make

Who this episode is for:

People pursuing independent research
People who struggle with self-belief
People who feel a pull towards pursuing a career they don’t actually want

Who this episode isn’t for:

People convinced that their research is perfect
Angus Hübelschmidt — the president and sole member of the Rob Wiblin Fan Club who refuses to listen to another Rob speak

You can find their longer conversation on why large language models like GPT (probably) aren't conscious over on the original 80,000 Hours Podcast feed.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ben Cordell and Milo McGuire
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

China-related AI safety and governance paths (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 23 Feb 2023 22:25:01 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Perrin Walker reads our career review of China-related AI safety and governance paths.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out Benjamin Todd and Brian Tse's article on Improving China-Western coordination on global catastrophic risks.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Editing and narration: Perrin Walker
Audio proofing: Katy Moore

Anonymous advice: If you want to reduce AI risk, should you take roles that advance AI capabilities? (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Fri, 20 Jan 2023 21:33:48 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Perrin Walker reads 11 anonymous responses to the question: "if you want to help prevent an AI-related catastrophe, should you be open to roles that also advance AI capabilities, or steer clear of them?"

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out our original anonymous answers series, the highlights of which were released on the original 80,000 Hours Podcast feed.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Editing and narration: Perrin Walker
Audio proofing: Katy Moore

Is climate change the greatest threat facing humanity today? (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 11 Jan 2023 22:06:50 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Perrin Walker reads Benjamin Hilton's problem profile on climate change.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out CarbonBrief, which has a range of excellent content and updates on climate change.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Editing and narration: Perrin Walker
Audio proofing: Katy Moore

Marcus Davis on Rethink Priorities

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 12 Dec 2022 23:02:52 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Rob Wiblin interviews Marcus Davis about Rethink Priorities.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

Interventions to help wild animal
Aquatic noise
Rethink Priorities strategy
Mistakes that RP has made since it was founded
Careers in global priorities research
And the most surprising thing Marcus has learned at RP

Who this episode is for:

People who want to learn about Rethink Priorities
People interested in a career in global priorities research
People open to novel ways to help wild animals

Who this episode isn’t for:

People who think global priorities research sounds boring
People who want to host very loud concerts under the sea

Click here to read Rethink Priorities’ Leadership Statement on the FTX situation.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type ‘80k After Hours’ into your podcasting app. Or read the transcript below.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Milo McGuire and Ben Cordell
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Preventing catastrophic pandemics (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Tue, 25 Oct 2022 17:17:17 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Perrin Walker reads Arden Koehler and Benjamin Hilton's problem profile on preventing catastrophic pandemics.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out our full profile on Reducing global catastrophic biological risks, by Gregory Lewis.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Editing and narration: Perrin Walker
Audio proofing: Katy Moore

Kuhan Jeyapragasan on effective altruism university groups

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 21 Sep 2022 21:02:24 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Rob Wiblin interviews Kuhan Jeyapragasan about effective altruism university groups.

From 2015 to 2020, Kuhan did an undergrad and then a master's in maths and computer science at Stanford — and did a lot to organise and improve the EA group on campus.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

Rob and Kuhan cover:

The challenges of making a group appealing and accepting of everyone
The concrete things Kuhan did to grow the successful Stanford EA group
Whether local groups are turning off some people who should be interested in effective altruism, and what they could do differently
Lessons Kuhan learned from Stanford EA
The Stanford Existential Risks Initiative (SERI)

Who this episode is for:

People already involved in EA university groups
People interested in getting involved in EA university groups

Who this episode isn’t for:

People who’ve never heard of ‘effective altruism groups’
People who’ve never heard of ‘effective altruism’
People who’ve never heard of ‘university’

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ryan Kessler
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Career review: Founder of new projects tackling top problems (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 12 Sep 2022 18:30:36 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Habiba Islam reads Benjamin Todd's career review on founding new projects tackling top problems.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

You might also want to check out these relevant pieces:

The growth of effective altruism: what does it mean for our priorities and level of ambition? — Benjamin Todd
Notes on good judgement and how to develop it — Benjamin Todd
What we learned from a year incubating longtermist entrepreneurship — Rebecca Kagan, Jade Leung, Ben Clifford

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Beppe Rådvik and Ben Cordell

Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla on the Shrimp Welfare Project

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 05 Sep 2022 20:59:10 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Rob Wiblin interviews Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla about the Shrimp Welfare Project, which he cofounded in 2021. It's the first project in the world focused on shrimp welfare specifically and now has six full-time staff.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

The evidence for shrimp sentience
How farmers and the public feel about shrimp
The scale of the problem
What shrimp farming looks like
The killing process, and other welfare issues
Shrimp Welfare Project’s strategy
History of shrimp welfare work
What it’s like working in India and Vietnam
How to help

Who this episode is for:

People who care about animal welfare
People interested in new and unusual problems
People open to shrimp sentience

Who this episode isn’t for:

People who think shrimp couldn’t possibly be sentient
People who got called ‘shrimp’ a lot in high school and get anxious when they hear the word over and over again

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ben Cordell and Ryan Kessler
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Space governance (Article)

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 30 Jun 2022 14:08:05 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Fin Moorhouse reads his problem profile on space governance.

Here’s the original piece if you’d like to learn more.

If you want to hear more from Fin, you should check out his podcast Hear This Idea, which showcases new thinking in philosophy, the social sciences, and effective altruism. And you can see a bunch of other things he's up to on his website.

You might also want to check out these relevant pieces:

Space governance is important, tractable and neglected — Tobias Baumann
An Informal Review of Space Exploration
How cost-effective are efforts to detect near-Earth-objects? — Toby Newberry

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Beppe Rådvik and Ben Cordell

Clay Graubard and Robert de Neufville on forecasting the war in Ukraine

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 25 May 2022 22:03:49 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Rob Wiblin interviews Clay Graubard and Robert de Neufville about forecasting the war between Russia and Ukraine.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

Their early predictions for the war
The performance of the Russian military
The risk of use of nuclear weapons
The most interesting remaining topics on Russia and Ukraine
General lessons we can take from the war
The evolution of the forecasting space
What Robert and Clay were reading back in February
Forecasters vs. subject matter experts
Ways to get involved with the forecasting community
Impressive past predictions
And more

Who this episode is for:

People interested in forecasting
People interested in the war in Ukraine
People who prefer to know how likely they are to die in a nuclear war

Who this episode isn’t for:

People who’d hate it if a friend said they were 65% likely to come out for drinks
People who’d prefer if their death from nuclear war was a total surprise

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ben Cordell
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Michelle and Habiba on what they’d tell their younger selves, and the impact of the 1-1 team

The 80,000 Hours team — Wed, 09 Mar 2022 17:42:43 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours — Rob continues to interview his 80,000 Hours colleagues Michelle Hutchinson and Habiba Islam about the 1-1 team.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

This is the second of a two-part interview. You can find the first part on the original 80,000 Hours Podcast feed.

In this part, they cover:

Whether just encouraging someone young to aspire to more than they currently are is one of the most impactful ways to spend half an hour
How much impact the one-on-one team has, the biggest challenges they face as a group, and different paths they could have gone down
Whether giving general advice is a doomed enterprise
And more

Who this episode is for:

Young people interested in 80,000 Hours
People curious about the inner-workings of the 1-1 team
People who left the first part wanting more

Who this episode isn’t for:

People who left the first part wanting less
People who like up-to-date movie recommendations

Want to get free one-on-one advice from our team? We're here to help.

We’ve helped thousands of people formulate their plans and put them in touch with mentors.

We've expanded our ability to deliver one-on-one meetings so are keen to help more people than ever before. If you're a regular listener to the show we're especially likely to want to speak with you.

Learn about and apply for advising.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ben Cordell
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Alex Lawsen on his advice for students

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 22:16:26 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Keiran Harris interviews 80,000 Hours advisor (and former high school teacher) Alex Lawsen about his advice for students.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

When half-assing something is a good idea
When you should actually learn things vs. just trying to seem smart
Why you should shift your focus over the academic year
Novel tips for preparing for exams
What to do if you struggle with motivation
What to do when you have bad teachers
How students should think about exploring and experimenting
Bad approaches to learning
How to think about personal goals
When to start thinking about your career seriously
And more.

Who this episode is for:

Students, parents, and teachers
People who know a student, parent, or teacher
People with an interest in improving education

Who this episode isn’t for:

People with no interest in improving education
People who get mad when an 80,000 Hours podcast doesn’t feature Rob Wiblin

Our 1-1 team can talk to you about career options, make introductions in your chosen fields, and help you work out next steps on a free careers call. Apply now.

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ryan Kessler
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Rob and Keiran on the philosophy of The 80,000 Hours Podcast

The 80,000 Hours team — Mon, 28 Feb 2022 22:14:52 +0000

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Rob Wiblin and Keiran Harris are interviewed by Kearney Capuano and Aaron Bergman of the new podcast ‘All Good’ about what goes on behind-the-scenes at the 80,000 Hours Podcast.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

We cover:

The history and philosophy of The 80,000 Hours Podcast
The nuts and bolts of how we make the show
Rob’s bad habits as an interviewer
Topics we try to avoid
Critiques of the show
The pros and cons of podcasting vs. other mediums
Our position in the effective altruism community
Whether there’s an optimism bias in the EA community
Unifying themes of Rob and Keiran’s careers
Advice for other podcasters
And more

Who this episode is for:

Fans of The 80,000 Hours Podcast
New podcasters
Two 80,000 Hours employees who love the sound of their own voice

Who this episode isn’t for:

People who’ve never heard of The 80,000 Hours Podcast
People who only want to learn about more important topics
People who hate podcasts

Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type 80k After Hours into your podcasting app.

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Ben Cordell
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Introducing 80k After Hours

The 80,000 Hours team — Thu, 24 Feb 2022 23:47:37 +0000

80k After Hours is a podcast by the team that brings you The 80,000 Hours Podcast.

Here Rob Wiblin and Keiran Harris briefly explain what to expect from the new show.