Sean Carroll's Mindscape: Science, Society, Philosophy, Culture, Arts, and Ideas

187 | Andrew Leigh on the Politics of Looming Disasters

Mar 7, 2022

Andrew Leigh, a member of the Australian Parliament and author of "What's the Worst That Could Happen?", dives into the urgent necessity of addressing existential risks like climate change and pandemics. He emphasizes how current political frameworks often fail to tackle unlikely but catastrophic threats. The conversation explores the intersection of policy and public perception, critiques political dismissals of AI risks, and underscores the moral responsibility to future generations. Leigh advocates for proactive measures and bipartisan consensus in the face of looming global challenges.

01:20:38

Episode guests

Andrew Leigh

Highlights

AI Chapters

Episode notes

Is This What People Will Tell You?

00:21

No Politics, No Politicians

00:23

Is There a Partisan Dilemma in Nuclear Disarmament?

02:07

Intro

2min

Navigating Existential Threats

15min

Navigating the Landscape of Catastrophic Risks in Politics

2min

Crisis and Consensus: Balancing Risks

16min

Navigating the Unpredictable Landscape of Natural Disasters

3min

Navigating Risks of Catastrophic Events

16min

Strengthening Global Health Policies and Pandemic Preparedness

3min

Vaccine Distribution and the Politics of Trust

13min

Navigating Energy and AI Risks

11min

10.

Wisdom and Stoicism in Politics

4min

We’re pretty well-calibrated when it comes to dealing with common, everyday-level setbacks. But our brains aren’t naturally equipped for dealing with unlikely but world-catastrophic disasters. Yet such threats are real, both natural and human-induced. We need to collectively get better at anticipating and preparing for them, at the level of political action. Andrew Leigh is an academic and author who now serves in the Parliament of Australia. We discuss how to move the conversation about existential risks from the ivory tower to implementation in real policies.

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Andrew Leigh received his Ph.D. in Public Policy from the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University. He is a member of the Australian House of Representatives representing Fenner. He was previously a professor of economics at Australian National University, and has served as Shadow Assistant Minister for Treasury and Charities. His recent book is What’s the Worst That Could Happen? Existential Risk and Extreme Politics.

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