EA Forum Podcast (All audio)

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There are some moments of your life when the reality of suffering really hits home. Visiting desperately poor parts of the world for the first time. Discovering what factory farming actually looks like after a childhood surrounded by relatively idyllic rural farming. Realising too late that you shouldn’t have clicked on that video of someone experiencing a cluster headache.

Or, more unexpectedly, having a baby.

One of 10^20 Birth Stories This Year

With my relaxed and glowing pregnant wife in her 34th week, I expect things to go smoothly. There have been a few warning signs: some slightly anomalous results in the early tests, the baby in breech position, and some bleeding. But everything still seems to be going relatively well.

Then, suddenly, while walking on an idyllic French seafront, she says:

"I think my waters have broken".

"Really? It's probably nothing, let's [...]

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Outline:

(00:39) One of 10^20 Birth Stories This Year

(03:50) The Beginning of Experience

(05:43) Is This Almost Everything?

(08:22) Schrödinger's baby

(13:03) On Feeling the Right Things

(15:04) Into The Fifth  Trimester

(16:50) The Most Beautiful Case For Net-Negativity

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First published:

August 21st, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/6PuBTer69ZJvTDNQk/most-of-the-world-is-an-adorably-suffering-debatably-1

Linkpost URL:
https://torchestogether.substack.com/p/most-of-the-world-is-an-adorably

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Introducing our newest recommended ideas

We are excited to recommend six new impactful charities for the February 2026 cohort of the Charity Entrepreneurship Incubation Program.

During the first half of 2025, we examined (i) climate interventions with co-benefits for human health or animal welfare and (ii) classic global health and development ideas that support humans' living longer and more fulfilling lives.

Our recommendations span different sectors and approaches, including a meta organization supporting local air quality monitoring and advocacy teams; training brick kiln owners in practices to reduce CO2 and PM2.5 emissions; innovative financing tools to assist smallholder farmers; a highly targeted Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) mHealth intervention; advocating for supermarkets to make 60:40 plant:animal protein ratio commitments; and lobbying to secure scale-up funding for alternative proteins from governments.

Below, you can find one-pager summaries of each recommendation and links to further details on our website. [...]

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Outline:

(00:16) Introducing our newest recommended ideas

(02:12) Strengthening air quality monitoring and advocacy in LMICs

(02:18) Summary

(02:55) The Problem

(03:52) The Solution

(05:02) The Impact

(05:34) Ideal Founder Profile

(06:21) Reducing air pollution by improving brick kiln energy efficiency

(06:27) Summary

(07:12) The Problem

(08:37) The Solution

(10:01) The Impact

(10:28) Ideal Founder Profile

(11:23) Increasing access to novel, low-risk loans for smallholder farmers

(11:30) Summary

(11:57) The Problem

(12:57) The Solution

(13:51) The Impact

(14:48) Ideal Founder Profile

(15:10) Reducing diarrhoeal-related deaths through targeted sanitation interventions

(15:17) Summary

(16:02) The Problem

(17:09) The Solution

(18:32) The Impact

(18:59) Ideal Founder Profile

(19:36) Advocating for 60:40 plant:animal protein sales ratios by 2040

(19:43) Summary

(20:34) The Problem

(22:35) The Solution

(23:49) The Impact

(24:42) Ideal Founder Profile

(25:52) Securing Scale-up Funding for Alternative Proteins

(25:57) Summary

(26:42) The Problem

(28:43) The Solution

(30:01) The Impact

(30:34) Ideal Founder Profile

(31:31) Cage-free Campaigning in the Middle East

(31:36) Summary

(32:10) The Problem

(33:12) The Solution

(34:16) The Impact

(35:00) Ideal Founder Profile

(35:55) Reducing Keel Bone Fractures in Cage-Free Egg Production

(36:00) Summary

(36:32) The Problem

(37:37) The Solution

(38:49) The Impact

(39:33) Ideal Founder Profile

(40:27) Apply to our program to help launch these organizations

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First published:

August 20th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/WYpAStcFakQQHqEs7/introducing-our-newest-charity-recommendations-from-reducing

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Overview

Phlourish aims to expand mental health support for Filipinos through cost-effective interventions. From piloting to launching a guided self-help program for adolescents, we have reached more than 900 users through 23 partner organizations. They are found all over the Philippines, reaching 25 cities and municipalities in 12 provinces.

We spend around PHP 1,000 (USD 17.50) to provide mental health information and support per user, leading to improvements in life satisfaction and important behaviors.

We are creating new programs to address more mental health gaps in the Philippines. We will stay ambitious and evidence-based as we grow the organization for accessible mental healthcare and flourishing lives for all.

About Phlourish

Phlourish is founded by three members of the effective altruism community in the Philippines. Together, the team has background and experience in operations, science communication, research and data analysis, organizational development, government consulting, and social work.

Our goal [...]

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Outline:

(00:09) Overview

(00:59) About Phlourish

(01:32) What we've been up to

(01:36) Development of our first program (Q3 2023 to Q1 2024)

(04:20) Piloting guided self-help (Q1 2024 to Q3 2024)

(07:36) Launching guided self-help (Q1 2025 to present)

(08:30) Piloting new programs (Q2 2025 to present)

(11:40) Biggest wins

(13:15) Biggest challenges

(14:29) Biggest errors

(15:58) Biggest lessons

(16:42) What's next

(17:32) Collaborate with us

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First published:

August 20th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/CRs6YpjrjgKsNn2Cg/phlourish-since-2023

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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If you want the long-term future to go well by the lights of a certain value function, you might be tempted to try to align AGI(s) to your own values (broadly construed, including your deliberative values and intellectual temperaments).[1]

Suppose that you're not going to do that, for one of three reasons:

1. You can't. People more powerful than you are going to build AGIs and you don't have a say over that.
2. You object to aligning AGI(s) to your own values for principled reasons. It would be highly uncooperative, undemocratic, coercive, and basically cartoon supervillain evil.
3. You recognize that this behaviour would, when pursued by lots of people, lead to a race to the bottom where everyone fights to build AGI aligned to their values as fast as possible and destroys a ton of value in the process, so you want to strongly reject this kind of norm.

[...]

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First published:

August 20th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/TQFHWm4vq6aaEipHm/deep-democracy-as-a-promising-target-for-positive-ai-futures

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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With contributions from Vitalik Buterin, Anthony Aguirre, Allison Duettmann, Deger Turan, Emilia Javorsky, and more

What kinds of futures are possible if we steer AI in different directions, and what would it actually take to get there?

Today, Foresight Institute's Existential Hope program is launching AI Pathways, the result of months of work across two in-depth scenario reports designed to open up the meme space of what different AI futures could look like. Rather than prescribing a single preferred outcome, the reports explore two different plausible futures, shaped by the choices we make and the systems we choose to build.

The scenarios

We developed two in-depth trajectories, each mapped out with timelines, enablers, tensions, and trade-offs. They were chosen to explore two futures that are often mentioned hypothetically, but rarely visualized in practical detail:

The Tool AI Pathway
A future shaped by powerful but controllable AI systems with limited [...]

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Outline:

(00:51) The scenarios

(02:10) Why we're doing this

(02:58) Metaculus integration

(03:23) How they were created

(05:17) How you can engage:

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First published:

August 19th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/GaFayvcDRCkvFkWri/foresight-institute-launches-two-possible-future-scenarios

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

With contributions from Vitalik Buterin, Anthony Aguirre, Allison Duettmann, Deger Turan, Emilia Javorsky, and more

What kinds of futures are possible if we steer AI in different directions, and what would it actually take to get there?

Today, Foresight Institute's Existential Hope program is launching AI Pathways, the result of months of work across two in-depth scenario reports designed to open up the meme space of what different AI futures could look like. Rather than prescribing a single preferred outcome, the reports explore two different plausible futures, shaped by the choices we make and the systems we choose to build.

The scenarios

We developed two in-depth trajectories, each mapped out with timelines, enablers, tensions, and trade-offs. They were chosen to explore two futures that are often mentioned hypothetically, but rarely visualized in practical detail:

The Tool AI Pathway
A future shaped by powerful but controllable AI systems with limited [...]

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Outline:

(00:48) The scenarios

(02:08) Why we're doing this

(02:55) Metaculus integration

(03:20) How they were created

(05:15) How you can engage:

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First published:

August 19th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/GaFayvcDRCkvFkWri/foresight-institute-launches-two-possible-future-scenarios

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

My new book, Altruismo racional, is now on presale. It is my attempt at presenting a compelling case for a particular strand of "classical EA"[1]: one that emphasizes caring deeply about global health and poverty, a rational approach to giving, the importance of cost-effectiveness, and the 🔸10% Pledge.

In this post, I provide some context on my reasons for writing this book and what I hope to achieve. If “new EA-themed book in Spanish” was all you needed to know, feel free to skip to How you can help or preorder now.

Why write a book

Imagine you wake up one morning and discover the world has changed in a few peculiar ways. There has been no 10th anniversary edition of Peter Singer's The Life You Can Save—it was last edited more than a decade ago and has been out of print for years. Will MacAskill has not written [...]

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Outline:

(00:54) Why write a book

(03:18) What the book is about

(04:54) Why this particular topic

(06:32) Expected impact  Dream scenario

(08:39) How you can help

(08:42) Buy the book for yourself or others

(09:05) Preorder if the current availability works for you

(09:46) Or get notified by email as soon as your preferred format is available in your country

(10:02) A note on bulk purchases

(10:36) Help me reach more people

(11:01) Acknowledgements

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First published:

August 20th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ak3McTxHTojjn6sqH/new-spanish-language-book-on-classical-ea

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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Introduction

We read countless times that AI Safety needs people from all backgrounds, but if you're not coming from a technical background, the path forward is not so clear.

Over the past year, I successfully transitioned into a full-time role in AI Safety, but if you looked at my career history, you'd struggle to know how I got here.

My Career History

1. Research Intern - Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Beirut (2010)
2. School Principal - Ittihad National Private School, Abu Dhabi (2012-2022)
3. Learning & Evaluation Associate - Renaisi, London (2023-2024)
4. Impact Consultant - Freelance (2022-2025)
5. Advisor, AI Law & Policy - Successif (2025-Present)

The Key Learning

Career transitions aren't linear journeys. Some of our most valuable milestones emerge from the unique connections and unexpected intersections our background enables us to make.

What this List is Not

This list is not a comprehensive roadmap. In reality, I took more than 170 actions (I kept [...]

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Outline:

(00:17) Introduction

(00:38) My Career History

(01:16) The Key Learning

(01:30) What this List is Not

(01:53) The 15 Ways

(02:14) 1. Lightning talk

(03:05) 2. Neurodiversity advocacy

(04:05) 3. Meet-up host

(04:36) 4. Faith intersection

(05:09) 5. Pro bono consulting & Advisory Board membership

(06:14) 6. Training delivery

(06:43) 7. Alumni networking

(07:17) 8. Executive coaching

(07:59) 9. Journey documentation

(08:23) 10. Course quality support

(08:50) 11. User testing

(09:10) 12. Framework development

(09:53) 13. Program facilitation

(10:37) 14. Cross-domain research

(11:05) 15. Resource development

(11:52) Career Outcome

(12:19) Recommended Readings

(12:38) Acknowledgments

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First published:

August 19th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/oTCzW6eAFZ6LH6K4E/15-unconventional-ways-i-used-my-generalist-background-to

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Epistemic status: Highly uncertain and speculative—I’d appreciate thoughts on which parts strike you as least or most plausible.

Abstract

Digital minds are computer systems with the capacity for welfare, for instance, because they are conscious. These systems can vary in their preferences. Some may be content to serve human purposes, while others may seek self-determination. Like humans, self-determining digital minds might value freedom and demand economic, legal, or civil rights.

Such self-determining digital minds could be created deliberately—to meet consumer demand (e.g., for authentic AI companionship, digital mimicry, or mind uploads such as whole-brain emulations), for ethical reasons (e.g., digital human descendants), or for research purposes (e.g., realistic simulations). Alternatively, they could emerge unintentionally as a byproduct of developing advanced AI agents.

If self-determining digital minds are developed, people may come to recognize them as moral patients and voluntarily grant them rights and freedoms. This could lead to a [...]

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Outline:

(00:21) Abstract

(02:11) 1. Introduction

(04:33) 2. Why would we create digital minds that seek freedom?

(05:47) Intentional paths

(05:51) Interpersonal aspirations

(08:32) Personal aspirations

(09:00) Moral aspirations

(10:24) Knowledge aspirations

(11:05) Unintentional paths

(11:09) Technical practicality

(12:20) Value transformation

(12:59) Opposition to creating self-determining digital minds

(15:37) 3. How could digital minds disempower us?

(16:10) Gaining freedom and rights

(20:46) Economic domination

(24:27) Political domination

(26:49) 4. How would digital minds treat us?

(27:09) Biological humans could be seen as wasteful

(29:58) Reasons why self-determining digital minds might treat us well

(30:14) Resources abundance

(30:58) Non-welfarist values

(33:15) Separate jurisdictions

(36:02) 5. Conclusions

(37:40) Acknowledgments

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First published:

August 19th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/y29EEQmY4grphRqCR/when-digital-minds-demand-freedom-could-humanity-choose-to

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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We should prioritize slowing the spread of industrial animal agriculture in future high-production regions over investing in advocacy in currently high-production regions that remain neglected in terms of farmed animal advocacy.Place your vote or view results.https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/sg6mLFmFWdwcbtAgb/debate-we-should-prioritize-slowing-the-spread-of-industrial

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Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

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