EA Forum Podcast (All audio)

This is a link post.

Just a couple of weeks ago, I hit my two-year mark at Open Philanthropy. I’ve learned a lot over this period, but I’ve been especially surprised by how great the ROI is on AI safety talent development programs after digging into the numbers.

Consider this graph:

I’ve heard at least four examples in the last ~year or so of this dynamic playing out at AI safety organizations that run fellowship programs.1 This amount of applications isn’t the norm per se, but it happens often enough that we literally have an emoji in our Slack called :fellowship-growth: that we use to celebrate these cases.

So yeah, now that I’ve seen how the sausage is made, I’m officially talent development pilled.

A brief case for talent development

Talent gaps are still very much a thing. Key institutions2 ruthlessly compete to hire from a small pool of [...]

---

Outline:

(01:06) A brief case for talent development

(03:27) What to do about this

---

First published:

August 28th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/xWk7ruWrDjtdj6nqG/why-i-m-excited-about-ai-safety-talent-development

Linkpost URL:
https://thirdthing.ai/p/ai-safety-funders-love-this-one-secret

---

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.

High Impact Professionals (HIP) is excited to announce that applications are now open for the next round of our Impact Accelerator Program (IAP). The IAP is a 6-week program designed to equip experienced (mid-career/senior) EA-aligned professionals (not currently working at a high-impact organization) with the knowledge and tools necessary to make a meaningful impact and empower them to start taking actionable steps right away.

To date, the program's high action focus has proven to be successful:

• 55 participants (out of 284 in total) from our first six program rounds have transitioned into high-impact careers, through various paths, including founding new charities, starting founding-to-give companies, and joining high-impact organizations such as GiveWell, Charity Entrepreneurship, ML Alignment & Theory Scholars (MATS), Malaria Consortium, and more;
• an additional 139 participants are taking concrete actions towards a high-impact career, including skilled volunteering roles at high-impact organizations; and
• many participants are donating a meaningful percentage [...]

---

Outline:

(01:47) Program Objectives

(02:18) Program Overview

(04:33) Why Should You Apply?

(05:29) Why Should You Apply?

(06:25) Who Should Apply?

---

First published:

August 28th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/j3LmvcAigXwcPnNGp/applications-open-for-impact-accelerator-program-for-ea-1

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

EA Connect 2025 will take place on 5–7 December

Join EAs from over 75 countries for three days of learning and connection, all from wherever you are in the world. EA Connect 2025 removes the barriers of travel, visas, and geography, making it easier than ever to engage with the global EA community and discover your next steps for impact.

If you've been approved for an EAG, EAGx, or Summit this year, you are extremely likely to be accepted to EA Connect 2025!

Vision for the conference

EA Connect 2025 is our most accessible EA Global conference of the year, designed to help attendees identify their next steps, take meaningful action wherever they are, and strengthen bonds within the global EA community.

Many people living outside major EA hubs face uncertainties about how to get involved:

• They might not have a clear picture of the EA landscape
• They [...]

---

Outline:

(00:12) EA Connect 2025 will take place on 5-7 December

(00:47) Vision for the conference

(01:52) What to expect

(02:25) Mentoring

(03:15) Applications are not open yet--but you can express your interest now.

(03:27) ➡️ Express your interest here

---

First published:

August 27th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/afkQxhZfbXtbzCqNm/save-the-date-ea-connect-2025-1

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is content that The Mission Motor created for our website, but we felt it could potentially benefit some readers here, too. Thanks to Ameer Virani, Haven King-Nobles, and Samantha Kagel for reviewing this post.

Tl;DR

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) is a set of tools and practices that act like your organization's dashboard. It shows what's working, warns when something's off, and steers you toward maximum impact.

Running an organization is hard. You're constantly faced with important, complex questions like:

• Is our political advocacy making an impact?
• Why did we have fewer campaign wins last year?
• Are our documentaries reaching the right audience?
• Who should our vegan outreach be targeting?

How do we answer these questions?

Monitoring, Evaluation, and Learning (MEL) is a set of tools and practices that help you make sense of your programs. It allows you to gather the right data, reflect on what [...]

---

Outline:

(01:29) MEL Process

(02:22) Example en-US-AvaMultilingualNeural__ Vegan DE logo

(04:05) How The Mission Motor Can Help

---

First published:

August 27th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/LvDThdsASP8MnvBR3/monitoring-evaluation-and-learning-a-simple-introduction-1

---

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.

This August marks the 10th anniversary of EA Global! What began as an experiment to bring together a nascent, primarily virtual community has grown into a thriving global conference series that connects thousands of people committed to doing good.

Since 2015, CEA has run 24 EA Global conferences. Our data from 2018 onward shows:

• Over 18,000 total attendees across five cities and online
• An average satisfaction rating of 8.6 out of 10
• Over 155,000 meaningful connections reported by attendees
• High counterfactual value, with attendees rating EAG as 5-6x more valuable than their best alternative use of time (with some estimates reaching up to 15x)

These numbers reflect something we see firsthand at every event: when you bring together people seriously committed to having more impact, remarkable things happen.

To celebrate this anniversary, we asked current and past CEA staff to share memories and reflections from attending (and running!) [...]

---

Outline:

(01:41) Angelina Li, Executive Office

(05:30) Charlotte Darnell, Community Liaison

(07:14) Ollie Rodriguez, AI Events Program Lead

(09:34) Eli Nathan, former EA Global Project Manager

(10:58) en-US-AvaMultilingualNeural__ Event space with Genie boom lift and crew setting up equipment. en-US-AvaMultilingualNeural__ Person in orange beret and safety vest working on MacBook laptop. en-US-AvaMultilingualNeural__ Person in powered wheelchair wearing grey sweatshirt and glasses in office/studio setting. en-US-AvaMultilingualNeural__ Two people engaged in animated conversation at a professional networking event.

(11:39) Julia Wise, Community Health Lead

(12:38) Robert Harling, EA Global Program Lead

(15:46) Frances Lorenz, Events Associate

(19:51) Amy Labenz, Director of Events

---

First published:

August 27th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EKqdapuZPf4JxBQhT/10-years-of-ea-global

---

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.

Context: I’m a senior fellow at Conservation X Labs (CXL), and I’m seeking support as I attempt to establish a program on humane rodent fertility control in partnership with the Wild Animal Initiative (WAI) and the Botstiber Institute for Wildlife Fertility Control (BIWFC). CXL is a biodiversity conservation organization working in sustainable technologies, not an animal welfare organization. However, CXL leadership is interested in simultaneously promoting biodiversity conservation and animal welfare, and they are excited about the possibility of advancing applied research that make it possible to ethically limit rodent populations to protect biodiversity. I think this represents the wild animal welfare community's first realistic opportunity to bring conservation organizations into wild animal welfare work while securing substantial non-EA funding for welfare-improving interventions.

Background

Rodenticides cause immense suffering to (likely) hundreds of millions of rats and mice annually through anticoagulation-induced death over several days, while causing significant non-target [...]

---

Outline:

(01:08) Background

(02:20) Why this approach?

(03:49) Why CXL?

(06:03) Why now, and why me?

(06:59) Budget

(07:52) Next steps

---

First published:

August 27th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EcBjr4Q2AtoTLcKXp/high-impact-and-urgent-funding-opportunity-rodent-fertility

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a link post.

[Study authors: Adam Elga, Jian-Qiao Zhu, Thomas L. Griffiths]

Summary: When asked to divide a fixed budget to fight several independent existential risks, experimental participants did not allocate enough resources to the risks with lowest probability of survival.

Excerpts:

if we face catastrophes with survival probabilities of 4% and 40%, it is more valuable to increase the probability of surviving the first catastrophe from 4% to 9% than it is to increase the probability of surviving the second catastrophe from 40% to 80% (since we care about the product of the survival probabilities and 9% ⋅ 40% > 4% ⋅ 80%). This dependence of optimal allocations on baseline chances of survival is a distinctive and somewhat counterintuitive feature of situations in which incentives are multiplicative (Lewis et al., 2023; Lewis & Simmons, 2020). [Reference added 2025-08-24: Ord 2020, Appendix D]

But

on average people allocated [...]

---

First published:

August 25th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/nwS7CyjziwxM76MrE/research-people-do-not-allocate-enough-resources-to-risks

Linkpost URL:
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cognition.2025.106216

---

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.

On Tuesday, 21st October, a coalition of UK animal advocacy organisations (UK Voters for Animals, Animal Equality UK, The Humane League UK, Animal Rising, and Open Cages UK) is hosting a mass lobby day in Westminster to advocate for banning cages for farmed animals in UK.

The opportunity: We're aiming to bring 100+ UK residents[1] and voters to Parliament for meetings with their MPs about legislating to ban cages for farmed animals. The UK still confines millions of animals to cages each year: egg-laying hens, farrowing crates for sows (mother pigs), individual calf pens, and cages for other birds.

This is a critical time in the UK, with the Government currently drafting their animal welfare strategy, a recent debate in Parliament about banning cages, high public support for our ask, and our closest trading partner, the EU, has signalled their intention to ban cages.

Event details [...]

---

First published:

August 27th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EajDyGEmzLR2DQWGZ/uk-mass-lobby-day-to-end-cages-on-the-21st-october

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a link post.

In our work so far, the Nucleic Acid Observatory has focused on the technical core of a pathogen-agnostic early warning system: how do you go from sample to detection? This has included developing new sample processing protocols, designing and implementing computational algorithms, and efficacy modeling. We’ve recently received funding from Open Philanthropy to expand our scope: we’re now aiming to take on the problem of early warning from end to end. This means ensuring systems are in place to detect novel threats, and that detection leads to effective response. To support this expanded mission, we’re hiring for four roles, with referral bonuses of up to $6k per role:

• A Head of Partnerships to help us deploy our technology by securing funding and collaborations to build a comprehensive biosurveillance network. This role will focus on winning governmental and commercial contracts while expanding our sample collection [...]

---

First published:

August 25th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/7zMZ7S3enPXurrc4x/the-nao-is-hiring-for-partnerships-response-virology-and-wet

Linkpost URL:
https://naobservatory.org/blog/hiring-q2-2025

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

I told someone recently I would respect them if they only worked 40 hours a week, instead of their current 50-60.

What I really meant was stronger than that.

I respect people who do the most impactful work they can — whether they work 70 hours a week because they can, 30 hours so they can be home with their kid, or 15 hours because of illness or burnout.

I admire those who go above and beyond. But I don’t expect that of everyone. Working long hours isn’t required to earn my respect, nor do I think it should be the standard that we hold as a community. I want it to be okay to say "that doesn't work for me".

It feels like donations: I admire people who give away 50%, but I don’t expect it. I still deeply respect someone who gives 10% to the [...]

---

First published:

August 26th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qFsqawmgRjxXkA7eF/you-re-enough

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.