EA Talks Journalism and accurately communicating EA ideas | Rob Wiblin, Michael Levine, and Kelsey Piper
A journalist, podcaster and communications expert talk about how to best explain EA ideas to the public — maximising understanding and minimising frustration.
Rob Wiblin studied both genetics and economics at the Australian National University (ANU), graduating top of his class and being named Young Alumnus of the Year in 2015. He worked as a research economist in various Australian Government agencies, and then moved to the UK to work at the Centre for Effective Altruism, first as Research Director, then Executive Director, then Research Director for 80,000 Hours. He was founding board Secretary for Animal Charity Evaluators and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Shapers Community. A guide to his work is available on his personal site and he regularly offers unsolicited opinions on Facebook and Twitter.
Michael Levine leads Open Philanthropy’s work on communications, including interactions with the news media. Previously, Mike covered Congress for Honolulu Civil Beat, researched economic issues for Pew’s American Cities Project, helped California government agencies pass ballot measures, and designed and executed communications strategies for charities and foundations large and small. He has been working with Open Philanthropy since 2015 and became Communications Officer in 2017.
Kelsey Piper attended Stanford University, where she majored in computer science. At Stanford she discovered effective altruism, becoming a member of Giving What We Can and pledging to donate 30% of her lifetime income to charity, as well as founding a campus advocacy organization. Since 2018, Piper has written the Vox column Future Perfect, which covers “the most critical issues of the day through the lens of effective altruism”. Piper is concerned about global catastrophic risks, and treats journalism as a way to popularize these risks and advance the cause of addressing them, which is part of effective altruism’s broader concern regarding the relevance of immediate action. Specifically, Piper has discussed the possibility that society is living on a historical precipice, where immediate action needs to be taken to avoid global catastrophic risks, and what implications that has for effective altruism and her own journalism.
Click here to see Rob’s presentation on Jargon.
Effective Altruism is a social movement dedicated to finding ways to do the most good possible, whether through charitable donations, career choices, or volunteer projects. EA Global conferences are gatherings for EAs to meet. You can also listen to this talk along with its accompanying video on YouTube.