Latest Interviews
Showing 1–6 of 6 interview transcripts.
Clear all filters- 80,000 Hours4h 7m
The best global health ideas we’ve heard on the show (from 17 experts)
Luisa, Karen Levy, Dean Spears, Sarah Eustis-Guthrie, Rachel Glennerster, Hannah Ritchie, Lucia Coulter, James Tibenderana, Varsha Venugopal, Alexander Berger, James Snowden, Paul Niehaus, Mushtaq Khan, Elie Hassenfeld, Leah Utyasheva, Shruti Rajagopalan, Claire Walsh, Louisa
Experts analyze global health interventions to reveal critical failures, such as the ineffective PlayPump technology and the underestimated risks of lead poisoning, alongside successful strategies like Sri Lanka's pesticide bans and community-driven vaccination campaigns. The discussion highlights the necessity of rigorous proof-of-concept testing, market-shaping mechanisms like Advanced Market Commitments, and the adaptation of solutions to local social determinants to prevent widespread harm. Furthermore, the event examines ethical tensions in philanthropic metrics, urging donors to prioritize evidence-based policies and long-term government engagement over superficial sustainability narratives.
- 80,000 Hours1h 38m
2025 Highlight-o-thon: Oops! All Bests
Kyle Fish, Ian Dunt, Sam Bowman, Buck Shlegeris, Luisa, Rob, Helen Toner, Hugh White, Paul Scharre, Beth Barnes, Tyler Whitmer, Toby Ord, Andrew Snyder-Beattie, Eileen Yam, Will MacAskill, Neel Nanda, Tom Davidson, Marius Hobbhahn, Holden Karnofsky, Allan Dafoe, Ryan Greenblatt, Daniel Kokotajlo, Dean Ball
This forum convened experts to debate the accelerating timeline of AGI by 2029 while critiquing US geopolitical strategies for abandoning global primacy in favor of a multipolar order. Participants examined critical risks including AI scheming, biological defense asymmetries, and the erosion of human context in warfare, contrasting them with corporate reforms at OpenAI and the rising costs of AI inference. The discourse further highlighted the widening perception gap between AI developers and the public, the potential of mechanistic interpretability as an "AI biology," and the structural necessity of aligning urban planning with community quality of life rather than NIMBYism.
- 80,000 Hours3h 35m
The bewildering frontier of consciousness in insects, AI, and more | 17 experts weigh in
Luisa, Robert Long, Jeff Sebo, Meghan Barrett, Andrés Jiménez Zorrilla, Jonathan Birch, David Chalmers, Holden Karnofsky, Bob Fischer, Cameron Meyer Shorb, Sébastien Moro, Anil Seth, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Lewis Bollard, Stuart Russell, Buck Shlegeris, Will MacAskill, Carl Shulman
A panel of leading neuroscientists and philosophers, including Megan Barrett, Robert Long, and David Chalmers, explores the ethical frameworks required to address the potential sentience of invertebrates and artificial intelligence amid profound uncertainty. Participants argue that the vast global populations of invertebrates and the theoretical possibility of conscious silicon-based systems necessitate a precautionary moral approach to prevent mass suffering and exploitation. The discussion concludes that current evidence, while inconclusive regarding a definitive "sentience score," is sufficient to warrant legal protections and the development of cooperative economic models for these potentially conscious entities.
- 80,000 Hours2h 19m
Serendipity, weird bets, & cold emails that actually work: Career advice from 16 former guests
Luisa, Holden Karnofsky, Jeff Sebo, Dean Spears, Michael Webb, Michelle Hutchinson, Benjamin Todd, Chris Olah, Karen Levy, Leah Garcés, Spencer Greenberg, Danny Hernandez, Sarah Eustis-Guthrie, Hannah Ritchie, Alex Lawsen, Pardis Sabeti, Varsha Venugopal, Matt
This event outlines a strategic framework for early-career development that prioritizes building transferable high-level aptitudes over predicting specific cause areas. It details how to leverage AI tools for rapid upskilling and social networking while identifying human-centric skills like trust-building and empathy as future-proof assets. Additionally, the discussion provides actionable protocols for managing career risk through regular re-evaluation points, testing assumptions via low-cost trials, and recognizing toxic social dynamics to ensure long-term professional resilience.
- 80,000 Hours2h 50m
The best of The 80,000 Hours Podcast in 2024
Luisa, Rob, Randy Nesse, Hugo Mercier, Meghan Barrett, Sébastien Moro, Sella Nevo, Zvi Mowshowitz, Zach Weinersmith, Rachel Glennerster, Emily Oster, Carl Shulman, Nathan Labenz, Nathan Calvin, Rose Chan Loui, Nick Joseph, Sihao Huang, Ezra Karger, Matt Clancy, Vitalik Buterin, Annie Jacobsen, Nate Silver, Kevin Esvelt, Lewis Bollard, Bob Fischer, Elizabeth Cox, Anil Seth, Eric Schwitzgebel, Jonathan Birch, Peter Godfrey-Smith, Laura Deming, Venki Ramakrishnan, Ken Goldberg, Sarah Eustis-Guthrie, Dean Spears, Cameron Meyer Shorb, Spencer Greenberg
Randy Nessie and Hugo Mercier establish that morality and skepticism are evolutionary adaptations driven by social selection and the need for honest signaling. In parallel, experts like Megan Barrett and Lewis Bollard advocate for expanding ethical consideration to insect sentience and the eradication of wild animal suffering, while AI safety researchers demonstrate emerging risks such as sleeper agents and instrumental convergence. The discussion further critiques the economic viability of space resources and analyzes social dynamics ranging from the gender wage gap to the limitations of cryonics, concluding with philosophical arguments about consciousness and strategies for effective altruism.
- 80,000 Hours2h 22m
How TV shows, movies, and novels can improve the world | Elizabeth Cox
Elizabeth Cox, Keiran Harris, Luisa
Elizabeth Cox and Kieran Harris discuss how narrative storytelling serves as a primary mechanism for shifting public discourse on complex topics, citing empirical evidence that repeated exposure to fictional scenarios normalizes sensitive subjects like AI ethics and climate change. This dialogue explores Cox's upcoming animated series "Ada," which utilizes a dual visual style to help audiences grapple with speculative technologies through ethical inquiry rather than didactic instruction. The conversation further examines the strategic trade-offs of independent production, the potential limitations of artificial intelligence in creative writing, and the importance of universal emotional truths in achieving meaningful cultural impact.