Navigating Audience Engagement in Complex Themes

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