Interviews with fascinating people on science, ethics, and politics.
Episodes
Sunday Aug 18, 2019
Sunday Aug 18, 2019
Eric Levitz is a political analyst and Associate Editor at New York Magazine, where he writes an alarming number of “good takes” on a huge range of topics. I think Eric’s columns are the rare combination of well-written and well-argued. I don’t know of any political columnists who are more empirically grounded. I feel substantially better-informed having read him.
We cover:
The danger of moderation in extraordinary times, the climate crisis and the Green New Deal, how our identities inform our political choices, the time-honored Republican strategy of stoking racial fears to cling to power, why Democrats should wage a vicious class war in 2020, the fallacy of thinking about politics along one dimension, the surprising popularity of some radical left positions, the mind-numbing democratic debates, how Biden could run away with the whole thing, Bernie's decision to lean into the democratic socialist label, how Eric would describe his job, bias and the myth of objectivity in political writing, and Eric's hottest takes.
Links:
Eric's writing:
Moderate Democrats’ Delusions of ‘Prudence’ Will Kill Us All
Tribalism Isn’t Our Democracy’s Main Problem. The Conservative Movement Is.
Democrats Must Reach Out to Moderates in 2020 — By Waging a Vicious Class War
Here’s Who Won (and Lost) the Second Democratic Debate, Night One
Here’s Who Won (and Lost) the Second Democratic Debate, Night Two
Other links:
There’s now an official Green New Deal. Here’s what’s in it.
Video: Fred Hampton on racism and capitalism
Article on last place aversion: Avoiding Last Place: Some Things We Don't Outgrow
Saturday Aug 10, 2019
Saturday Aug 10, 2019
Lewis Bollard leads the Open Philanthropy Project’s strategy for farm animal welfare. He directs roughly $30M in grants annually to nonprofits working to reduce suffering of farmed animals around the world. By virtue of his position, Lewis has deep insight into the state of the farmed animal welfare movement, which we get into in some detail.
Unfortunately, there are some audio issues with this episode- Macbook Airs are the bane of my existence. Otherwise, I think this was a great conversation. Lewis is a world-class expert on this topic, and his passion for the cause is clear.
We cover:
Open Philanthropy’s approach to ending factory farming, the scale, tractability, and neglectedness of factory farming, the transition to plant based meat alternatives, the hierarchy of suffering per calorie, whether you have to be a vegan to be an animal activist, the advocacy campaigns that Open Philanthropy is supporting, America’s role in defending factory farming worldwide, whether factory farming is efficient, whether we need to end capitalism to end factory farming, the psychological challenge of seeing the horror of factory farming in everyday life, undercover farm investigations, civil disobedience and violence in fighting for animal rights, the ethics of pursuing corporate campaigns, criticisms of Open Phil's approach to farmed animal welfare, and, of course, how you can get involved.
Show notes:
Lewis:
His Twitter: https://twitter.com/lewis_bollard
His conversation on the 80,000 Hours Podcast
Effective Altruism Animal Welfare Fund
Other links:
Infographic showing number of animals killed on farms compared to labs and shelters
Amount of animal suffering per calorie for different foods
Video: Baby Pig Fresh Pork Sausage Prank
At Least 3.4 Million Farm Animals Drowned in the Aftermath of Hurricane Florence
Animal Charity Evaluators (ACE)
Books: