EA Forum Podcast (All audio)

Introduction

Four years ago, I commissioned as an Officer in the UK's Royal Navy. I had been engaging with EA for four years before that and chose this career as a coherent part of my impact-focused career plan, and I stand by that decision.

Early next year, I will leave the Navy. This article is a round-up of why I made my choices, how I think military careers can sensibly align with an EA career, and the theories of impact I considered along the way that don't hold water. Military service won't be the right call for most in this community, but it could be for some. Hopefully, this is informative for those people. Furthermore, I spent a whole year being trained in leadership. Someone I met at an EAGx conference said the offhand nugget of Military Leadership 101 wisdom I gave them was the "best advice I received [...]

---

First published:

April 10th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/f6XmkJ9PWFfn9GvqD/ea-reflections-on-my-military-career

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Summary

In this article, I estimate the cost-effectiveness of five Anima International programs in Poland: improving cage-free and broiler welfare, blocking new factory farms, banning fur farming, and encouraging retailers to sell more plant-based protein. I estimate that together, these programs help roughly 136 animals—or 32 years of farmed animal life—per dollar spent. Animal years affected per dollar spent was within an order of magnitude for all five evaluated interventions.

I also tried to estimate how much suffering each program alleviates. Using SADs (Suffering-Adjusted Days)—a metric developed by Ambitious Impact (AIM) that accounts for species differences and pain intensity—Anima's programs appear highly cost-effective, even compared to charities recommended by Animal Charity Evaluators.

However, I also ran a small informal survey to understand how people intuitively weigh different categories of pain defined by the Welfare Footprint Institute. The results suggested that SADs may heavily underweight brief but intense suffering. Based [...]

---

Outline:

(02:16) Background

(02:46) Results

(05:57) Explanations of the programs

(08:59) Why these estimates are very uncertain

(13:48) Animal welfare metric

(16:42) Comparison to SADs

(19:42) Comparison to other charities

(19:47) Comparisons of SADs estimates

(20:54) Comparisons of cage-free estimates

(24:26) For how many years do reforms have an impact?

(25:21) Cage-free

(29:45) Broilers

(31:18) Stop the farms

(32:57) Fur farms

The original text contained 8 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

April 10th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/sLYSa7MyuDKxreN5h/cost-effectiveness-of-anima-international-poland-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.

In our recent strategy retreat, the GWWC Leadership Team recognised that by spreading our limited resources across too many projects, we are unable to deliver the level of excellence and impact that our mission demands.

True to our value of being mission accountable, we've therefore made the difficult but necessary decision to discontinue a total of 10 initiatives. By focusing our energy on fewer, more strategically aligned initiatives, we think we’ll be more likely to ultimately achieve our Big Hairy Audacious Goal of 1 million pledgers donating $3B USD to high-impact charities annually. (See our 2025 strategy.)

We’d like to be transparent about the choices we made, both to hold ourselves accountable and so other organisations can take the gaps we leave into account when planning their work. As such, this post aims to:

• Inform the broader EA community about changes to projects & highlight opportunities to carry [...]

---

Outline:

(02:28) Giving What We Can Canada

(06:17) Effective Altruism Australia funding partnership

(08:45) Giving What We Can Groups

(11:00) Giving Games

(12:53) Charity Elections

(17:00) Effective Giving Meta evaluation and grantmaking

(19:11) Giving What We Can Donor Lottery

(21:30) Translations

(23:56) Hosted Funds

(25:53) New licensing of the GWWC brand

The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

April 10th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/f7yQFP3ZhtfDkD7pr/gwwc-is-retiring-10-initiatives

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

We are excited to share a summary of our 2025 strategy, which builds on our work in 2024 and provides a vision through 2027 and beyond!

Background

Giving What We Can (GWWC) is working towards a world without preventable suffering or existential risk, where everyone is able to flourish. We do this by making giving effectively and significantly a cultural norm.

Focus on pledges

Based on our last impact evaluation[1], we have made our pledges – and in particular the 🔸10% Pledge – the core focus of GWWC's work.[2] We know the 🔸10% Pledge is a powerful institution, as we’ve seen almost 10,000 people take it and give nearly $50M USD to high-impact charities annually. We believe it could become a norm among at least the richest 1% — and likely a much wider segment of the population — which would cumulatively direct an enormous quantity of financial resources [...]

---

Outline:

(00:20) Background

(00:37) Focus on pledges

(01:29) Introducing our BHAG

(02:10) Working towards our BHAG

(03:01) Laying the foundations for scalable growth

(03:55) Looking towards the future

(04:18) BHAG FAQ:

The original text contained 4 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

April 10th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/aPFGarxoS8pvboKFD/announcing-our-2025-strategy

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

s meanIntroduction

There are many reasons why people fail to land a high-impact role. They might lack the skills, don’t have a polished CV, don’t articulate their thoughts well in applications[1] or interviews, or don't manage their time effectively during work tests. This post is not about these issues. It's about what I see as the least obvious reason why one might get rejected relatively early in the hiring process, despite having the right skill set and ticking most of the other boxes mentioned above. The reason for this is what I call context, or rather, lack thereof.

On professionals looking for jobs

It's widely agreed upon that we need more experienced professionals in the community, but we are not doing a good job of accommodating them once they make the difficult and admirable decision to try transitioning to AI Safety.

Let's paint a basic picture that I understand [...]

---

Outline:

(00:49) On professionals looking for jobs

(02:51) What I mean by context

(03:28) Understanding the landscape

(04:11) Previous involvement in the movement

(04:41) Understanding concepts

(05:52) Familiarity with thought leaders and their work

(07:06) Understanding culture

(07:51) Visualising your journey in AI Safety

(08:58) Understand hiring practices

(11:10) What you can do

(11:27) Networking

(12:10) Improve your epistemics

(12:25) Signaling value-alignment

(13:48) Team up with high-context young people:

(14:17) Be patient and persistent:

(14:47) Which roles does the context-thesis apply to?

(15:41) On seniority

(16:29) Conclusion

The original text contained 7 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

April 10th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/b82SLXwEHRCs3TFJA/why-experienced-professionals-fail-to-land-high-impact-roles

---

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.

Introduction

This payout report covers the Animal Welfare Fund's grantmaking from January 1, 2025 to March 31, 2025 (3 months). It follows the previous October–December 2024 payout report.

As mentioned in the 2024 review and the previous payout report, the Animal Welfare Fund (AWF) made a conscious decision to increase transparency and prioritize more frequent communications about our work. As part of those efforts, we've resumed regular publication of detailed payout reports after previously reducing our public reporting to focus fund manager capacity on grant evaluations. With additional support now in place, we've streamlined our reporting process to provide comprehensive information about our grants and their intended impact. Given that these are recent grants, outcome data will not be included in the initial payout reports. We plan to share these reports quarterly to keep the community informed of our grantmaking activities.

Update to private grant reporting
While we [...]

---

Outline:

(03:24) Highlighted Grants

(09:08) Grants Funded with AWF's Partners

(10:23) All Grants We Made During This Time Period

The original text contained 1 footnote which was omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

April 9th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ynGCFGjb9tCMXo8ex/animal-welfare-fund-payout-recommendations-from-january-to

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

Animal advocacy aims to systematically reduce suffering and ultimately transform our relationship with other sentient beings. Some advocates have proposed Precision Livestock Farming (PLF) (the application of AI, automation, and monitoring systems to animal agriculture) as a potential pathway to improved welfare. This post presents a systems-level analysis of why supporting PLF, despite apparent short-term benefits, is counterproductive to long-term movement goals.

The Optimization Trap: How PLF Entrenches Factory Farming

When evaluating interventions, we must consider not just immediate welfare impacts but system-level effects across time. PLF represents a classic case of "technological lock-in" with three key reinforcing mechanisms:

1. Economic Reinforcement Through Efficiency Gains

PLF fundamentally alters the cost structure of animal agriculture by:

• Reducing mortality rates (a direct economic benefit to producers)
• Lowering labor costs through automation (enabling further scaling)
• Optimizing feed conversion ratios (improving profitability)
• Minimizing resource waste (extending viability in resource-constrained environments)

These economic [...]

---

Outline:

(00:42) The Optimization Trap: How PLF Entrenches Factory Farming

(01:03) 1. Economic Reinforcement Through Efficiency Gains

(02:19) 2. Accelerated Industry Consolidation and Monopolization

(04:06) 3. Regulatory Capture Through Technical Complexity

(05:08) Global Expansion, Not Reduction

(06:23) Expected Utility Analysis: Weighing Counterfactuals

(06:36) Counterfactual 1: Redirecting Resources to Alternative Proteins

(07:19) Counterfactual 2: Legislative and Corporate Campaigns

(07:54) The Dangerous Difference: PLF vs. Traditional Welfare Reforms

(09:34) Direct Harms and Reduced Accountability

(09:46) Direct Harms:

(10:52) Accountability Issues:

(11:46) Game Theory Analysis: Strategic Implications

(12:59) Quantifying the Net Impact

(14:04) Tactical Engagement: Restricting PLF Without Reinforcing It

(16:15) Conclusion

---

First published:

April 4th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/DGubFvoCxQYKANHRn/why-promoting-precision-livestock-farming-plf-is-a-strategic

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

I am sad.

People saying EA is dead.
EAs dissociating with EA.
"An outdated term"
Outrageous. But is it?

I am sad.

Sam, what have you done to us?
What have we done to ourselves by playing along?
Ambition is useful. But where has humility gone?

I am sad.

Should I even?...
Instead of being proud to be a part of this...
...should my EA org even admit being EA?
What will people think of it?
Is EA a PR hazard now?

I am sad.

Doubting whether EA is even good.
How has it come to this?
EA was supposed to be a beacon.
The light in a world many people consider dark.

The spoils of power.
The spoils of not living up to our own standards.
What can be build can crumble.

I am sad.

Everyone jumping the meme train. We have created our own ladders of prestige [...]

---

First published:

April 8th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/roDM9eHG84MXFd2QL/i-am-sad

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.

This is a Forum Team crosspost from Substack.
Matt would like to add: "Epistemic status = incomplete speculation; posted here at the Forum team's request"

When you ask prominent Effective Altruists about Effective Altruism, you often get responses like these:

For context, Will MacAskill and Holden Karnofsky are arguably, literally the number one and two most prominent Effective Altruists on the planet. Other evidence of their ~spouses’ personal involvement abounds, especially Amanda's. Now, perhaps they’ve had changes of heart in recent months or years – and they’re certainly entitled to have those – but being evasive and implicitly disclaiming mere knowledge of EA is comically misleading and non-transparent. Calling these statements lies seems within bounds for most.[1]

This kind of evasiveness around one's EA associations has been common since the collapse of FTX in 2022, (which, for yet more context, was a major EA funder that year and [...]

---

Outline:

(03:32) Why can't EAs talk about EA like normal humans (or even normal executives)?

(05:54) Coming of age during the Great Awokening

(07:15) Bad Comms Advice

(08:22) Not understanding how words work (coupled with motivated reasoning)

(11:05) Trauma

The original text contained 5 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

April 8th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/6NCYo7RFYfkEjLAtn/ea-adjacency-as-ftx-trauma

---

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.

TL;DR 

I founded an EA university group by myself in a country where only a handful of people had heard about EA. In just one year, the group grew from a single person into a close-knit community led by a 9-person organizing team and volunteers who host a multitude of programs.

The key to this was a strong onboarding process that helped members take ownership, build connections, and grow the group. Here are some actions that helped me to have a better onboarding process:

• Actively look for people who could be Highly Engaged EAs (HEAs) in your events.
• Have 1-1s with potential HEAs and make them think about group organizing.
• Offer a low-barrier entry to the group organizing with “Trial Board Membership” or something similar.
• Set the norms, values, and responsibilities of the group clearly from the very start.
• Give real ownership.
• Actively mentor the new organizers.
• [...]

---

Outline:

(01:37) Intro

(02:47) Scouting

(04:05) 1-1s

(04:24) 1-1s help you develop personal relationships:

(04:55) 1-1s create an opportunity to appreciate the most engaged members.

(05:47) 1-1s create an opportunity for potential HEAs to start thinking about group organizing.

(07:06) Trial Board Membership

(10:08) 1-1s - For Trial Board Membership

(10:45) Good norms and practices at the very start

(10:59) Board Member Responsibilities:

(11:21) Group Norms:

(12:20) Sustainable Group Organizing Norms:

(15:18) Ownership

(17:43) Mentorship

(19:19) Board Meetings

(21:37) In-Depth EA Program

(22:25) Bonuses

(22:32) Make new organizers read EA CB resources

(23:24) Whatsapp Groups

(24:35) Board Special Casual Events

(25:11) Resources

The original text contained 2 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.

---

First published:

April 4th, 2025

Source:

https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/WEBnMBmgKbJqKiy6u/untitled-draft-uuk5

---

Narrated by TYPE III AUDIO.