EA Forum Podcast (All audio)

Open Philanthropy's Farm Animal Welfare team is hiring! We’re looking for a Program Assistant to support the team's work to reduce the suffering of farmed animals by managing processes, coordinating logistics, and keeping complex administrative projects on track. We’re looking for someone who is: Organized and efficient: able to juggle time-sensitive tasks while keeping longer-term projects on track. We have a high bar for team members’ output, and being efficient will make it much easier to meet those expectations. Detail-oriented: careful with data and processes, with a strong instinct for getting things right and catching mistakes. Service-minded: happy to take on behind-the-scenes operations work that helps the team succeed, even when it's repetitive or unglamorous. You’d be happy to remain in an operations role for at least a couple of years. Motivated by the mission: invested in helping farmed animals. (Formal experience in the field is not needed!) [...] ---Outline:(01:38) Details(02:39) A few final notes--- First published: April 22nd, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/rCczoPiJ4uGr22vYz/open-phil-s-farm-animal-welfare-team-is-hiring-a-program --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

We're thrilled to share the results of our V-March (vegan in March) 2025 campaign! The numbers speak for themselves: - Reached over 7 million people across China - More than 70,000 active engagements through comments and shares - 600+ daily check-ins via our WeChat Mini Program - 341 Sogdian Trees planted (reclaiming approximately 3410㎡ of desert) - 3410.12 RMB donated to the Alashan SEE Ecology AssociationBy Arkadiusz Nowak, Marcin Nobis, Sylwia Nowak, Agnieszka Nobis,Anna Wróbel, Sebastian Świerszcz, Ewelina Klichowska,Iwona Dembicz & Grzegorz Kusza - Arkadiusz Nowak and Marcin Nobs (Eds): Illustrated Flora of Tajikistan and adjacent areas, Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw 2020., CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=128815843 Our survey reveals a powerful impact: - Over 80% of participants plan to continue following a plant-based diet! - Over 70% reported noticeable health improvements - 67% plan to reduce meat intake by 40-80% - 58% stayed fully plant-based throughout the [...] --- First published: April 20th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/hhMudEzbT9Emx3LzX/china-vegan-society-s-v-march-results --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

One year as a Charity Entrepreneur When we founded NOVAH (No Violence At Home) in April 2024 through the Charity Entrepreneurship incubation program, we had a research-backed hypothesis that edutainment (mixing social messages in entertaining content) could effectively reduce domestic violence (technical term: intimate partner violence, IPV). Now, twelve months later, our first radio drama, Twubakane (meaning "Let's build together"), has reached ~30,000 listeners in Rwanda, where 24% of married women experience partner abuse annually. This post reflects on our first year building an intervention from scratch, sharing lessons and surprises along the way that might be valuable for others considering similar paths. In previous posts, we discussed more about the background of NOVAH and its evidence base, and we presented why gender-based violence is becoming a more established and recognized cause area among the EA community The right partners accelerate progress  As a young organization with limited [...] ---Outline:(00:15) One year as a Charity Entrepreneur(01:14) The right partners accelerate progress(02:13) Iterative research to solve unexplored problems(03:51) AI accelerates content production and improves monitoring(05:35) Small-scale M&E is very valuable to steer your program(07:52) A lean model at scale thanks to cyclical work and cheap media(09:08) What keeps us up at night(09:57) What we would have done differently(10:39) How you can support us to reach more people and generate evidence--- First published: April 22nd, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/y92KitaA99AdQm2A7/novah-s-first-year-from-aim-s-research-report-to-airing-our --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

I speak to many entrepreneurial people trying to do a large amount of good through nonprofit organisations. I think this is often an error for four main reasons. Scalability Capital counterfactuals Standards Learning potential Earning to give potentialThese arguments are most applicable to starting high-growth organisations, such as startups.[1] Scalability There is a lot of capital available for startups, and established mechanisms exist to continue raising funds if the ROI appears high. It seems extremely difficult to operate a nonprofit with a budget of more than $30M per year (e.g., with approximately 150 people), but this is not particularly unusual for for-profit organisations. Capital Counterfactuals I generally believe that value-aligned funders are spending their money reasonably well, while for-profit investors are spending theirs extremely poorly (on altruistic grounds). If you can redirect that funding towards high-altruism value work, you could potentially create a much larger delta [...] The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration. --- First published: April 21st, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/wKHzfWoNMSQHxosgz/consider-starting-a-for-profit-company-instead --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Article in Financial Times - Excerpts “Multiple staff from US-based foundations and non-profits told the FT that they expected the Trump administration to end their tax exemptions for projects that involved spending overseas or were focused on climate or racial justice. The likelihood has risen since President Trump threatened this week to remove Harvard's tax exempt status.” It may also affect overseas aids apart from climate. I heard from a well connected friend this may be done via executive orders soon. Not sure how likely it is but seems plausible. US philanthropies and non-profits groups focused on climate change fear that a potential loss of their tax-free status under the Trump administration could imperil their programmes. Concerns have grown that the Trump administration is drafting an executive order on the eve of so-called Earth day next week that would have the effect of ending their tax-exempt [...] --- First published: April 21st, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/pr85LGDeLbGD6YwPz/ft-article-on-potential-charity-regulation-change-in-the-us --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

The Effective Altruism community has encouraged a range of different approaches to doing good over time. Initially there was more focus on frugality as a way to increase how much you could donate, which was mostly supplanted by emphasis on earning more. In late 2015 this started to shift towards doing things that are directly useful, which accelerated in 2021. Then the market fell in 2022, FTX turned out to be a fraud, and there haven't been new donors near the scale of Open Phil / Good Ventures. Among many changes, people are thinking more about frugality again: the less you can live on, the more you can stretch a given amount of funding. [1] To encourage myself to live more frugally and to give an example of what I thought was a pretty fulfilling life at relatively low cost for the US, I used to calculate numbers [...] --- First published: April 20th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/hYzpFJEwttBjtCjEW/spending-on-ourselves --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Editorial note This report is a “shallow” investigation, as described here, and was commissioned by Open Philanthropy and originally produced by Rethink Priorities from September to October 2024. Open Philanthropy does not necessarily endorse our conclusions, nor do the organizations represented by those who were interviewed. Our report focuses on exploring health systems strengthening (HSS) as a potential new cause area for Open Philanthropy. We examined a range of interventions to improve health system performance, analyzed case studies of successful systems in low- and middle-income countries, and highlighted promising opportunities for philanthropic funding. We reviewed the scientific and gray literature and spoke with six experts to describe the state of the field as of late 2024. In early 2025, we revised the report for publication; we also added a short addendum based on a second round of interviews with a different group of experts to incorporate updates related [...] ---Outline:(00:12) Executive summary(00:16) Scope(00:40) Research process(01:34) Key findings(07:02) Key uncertainties(08:17) Health systems strengthening as a cause area(08:21) Shortcomings in LMIC health systems are large and comparatively neglected(14:44) What is health systems strengthening?(16:57) A taxonomy of typical HSS interventions(22:05) Challenges in evaluating HSS interventions and their cost-effectiveness(24:30) Country case studies: Lessons from high-performing health systems(27:39) Bangladesh(31:33) Thailand(35:32) Ethiopia(41:09) Ghana(44:33) Kerala(47:31) Valuable case studies recommended by experts(48:14) Rwanda(49:27) Sri Lanka and Cuba(49:53) South Africa(50:35) Vietnam(50:55) Highlighted HSS interventions(50:59) Our research and prioritization process(55:29) Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)(55:34) What is it?(56:56) Reasons in favor(59:22) Reasons against(01:01:06) Crucial considerations(01:02:13) Potential grants(01:02:40) Our take(01:04:03) Supervision and mentorship for IMCI providers(01:04:09) What is it?(01:04:47) Reasons in favor(01:07:44) Reasons against(01:08:39) Potential grants(01:10:07) Our take(01:10:59) Community health workers (CHW) / service extensions and health posts(01:11:06) What is it?(01:12:17) Reasons in favor(01:15:26) Reasons against(01:17:30) Crucial Considerations(01:19:43) Potential grants(01:21:03) Our take(01:21:38) Social accountability interventions / Community score cards(01:21:44) What is it?(01:22:23) Reasons in favor(01:25:36) Reasons against(01:26:57) Crucial Considerations(01:27:40) Potential grants(01:28:20) Our take(01:29:14) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)(01:29:19) What is it?(01:30:46) Reasons in favor(01:32:23) Reasons against(01:33:13) Crucial Considerations(01:34:15) Potential grants(01:34:28) Our take(01:35:05) Drug delivery system reform(01:35:09) What is it?(01:36:11) Reasons in favor(01:38:13) Reasons against(01:40:28) Crucial considerations(01:41:31) Potential grants(01:42:47) Our take(01:43:19) Interventions discussion(01:43:23) Our impression from the studied interventions(01:45:22) Leadership & governance(01:47:01) Health workforce(01:48:25) Financing(01:49:47) Health information(01:51:35) Supply chain strengthening(01:52:20) Service delivery(01:53:51) Other recommendations from experts(01:56:04) Spotlight on two implementing organizations(01:57:48) mPharma(01:57:51) What is it and what does it do?(02:00:01) How well does it work?(02:01:14) Our takes(02:02:29) Last Mile Health(02:02:33) What is it and what does it do?(02:04:22) How well does it work?(02:05:50) Our takes(02:06:24) Recommendations for further exploration(02:08:51) Higher-level takes on health systems strengthening(02:10:43) Reasons HSS interventions might be more effective than vertical programs(02:10:50) Broader, longer-term, and leveraged impact(02:11:45) Resilience to respond to crises(02:13:12) Reduction of duplication and administrative overhead(02:14:02) Addendum: Reflections on USAID withdrawal and emerging gaps in HSSThe original text contained 44 footnotes which were omitted from this narration. --- First published: April 19th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/c7b4Dmu84QHfD6cLK/health-systems-strengthening --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

James Özden and Sam Glover at Social Change Lab wrote a literature review on protest outcomes[1] as part of a broader investigation[2] on protest effectiveness. The report covers multiple lines of evidence and addresses many relevant questions, but does not say much about the methodological quality of the research. So that's what I'm going to do today. I reviewed the evidence on protest outcomes, focusing only on the highest-quality research, to answer two questions: Do protests work? Are Social Change Lab's conclusions consistent with the highest-quality evidence? Here's what I found: Do protests work? Highly likely (credence: 90%) in certain contexts, although it's unclear how well the results generalize. [More] Are Social Change Lab's conclusions consistent with the highest-quality evidence? Yes—the report's core claims are well-supported, although it overstates the strength of some of the evidence. [More] Introduction This [...] ---Outline:(01:16) Introduction(04:07) Studies on real-world protest outcomes(09:12) Madestam et al. (2013) on Tea Party protests(12:09) Placebo tests(13:42) Wasow (2020) on 1960s civil rights protests(15:12) Klein Teeselink & Melios (2021) on 2020 Black Lives Matter protests(17:42) Failed placebo tests(19:54) Larreboure & González (2021) on the Womens March(22:18) Hungerman & Moorthy (2023) on Earth Day(25:13) Meta-analysis(33:05) Potential problems with the research(33:09) Spatial autocorrelation(34:22) Publication bias(38:27) Data fabrication(40:17) Data errors(41:25) Will the results generalize?(42:18) Meta-concerns with this meta-analysis(43:01) Are Social Change Labs claims justified?(43:06) Broad claims(48:36) Claims about individual studies(52:02) Conclusion(52:51) Source code(52:59) Appendix A: Additional tables(57:18) Appendix B: Methodological revisions(59:38) Appendix C: Comparing the strength of evidence to saturated fat research--- First published: April 18th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/do-protests-work-a-critical-review --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO. ---Images from the article:Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try Pocket Casts, or another podcast app.

Need help planning your career? Probably Good's 1-1 advising service is back! After refining our approach and expanding our capacity, we’re excited to once again offer personal advising sessions to help people figure out how to build careers that are good for them and for the world. Our advising is open to people at all career stages who want to have a positive impact across a range of cause areas—whether you're early in your career, looking to make a transition, or facing uncertainty about your next steps. Some applicants come in with specific plans they want feedback on, while others are just beginning to explore what impactful careers could look like for them. Either way, we aim to provide useful guidance tailored to your situation. Learn more about our advising program and apply here. Also, if you know someone who might benefit from an advising call, we’d really appreciate [...] --- First published: April 18th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/e48MankJ2QzLbFXwZ/relaunching-our-1-1-career-advising-services --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a link post. My PhD is in evolutionary biology, and I spent much of my time learning and thinking about genetic governance mechanisms like meiosis. I find myself wanting a link to share on these concepts, so I'm publishing some old writing I did in 2022 that makes the comparison. Gradient descent and natural selection are analogous Gradient descent can be compared to natural selection. Both are optimization algorithms. But while gradient descent is only decades old as part of the field of machine learning (ML), natural selection is the reason complex living beings like human readers exist. Are there any lessons we can learn about alignment by looking at the products of natural selection? Oly Sourbut has written up a set of conditions under which natural selection and gradient descent are equivalent, i.e., where the same inputs will lead to the same outputs under both algorithms [...] ---Outline:(00:32) Gradient descent and natural selection are analogous(01:38) Gradient descent can be hacked(03:09) There is something like gradient hacking in biology: meiotic drive(05:34) How meiotic drive works(08:30) Recombination is the major genetic alignment technology(09:46) Examples of meiotic drive(17:46) Losing the ability to do meiosis is a death sentence for a species(19:45) Acknowledgments--- First published: April 18th, 2025 Source: https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qX6swbcvrtHct8G8g/genes-did-misalignment-first-comparing-gradient-hacking-and Linkpost URL:https://hollyelmore.substack.com/p/genes-did-misalignment-first-comparing --- Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.