Marcus Davis on Rethink Priorities

Marcus Davis on Rethink Priorities

Author: The 80,000 Hours team December 13, 2022 Duration: 1:00:54

In this episode of 80k After Hours, Rob Wiblin interviews Marcus Davis about Rethink Priorities.

Links to learn more, highlights and full transcript.

They cover:

  • Interventions to help wild animal
  • Aquatic noise
  • Rethink Priorities strategy
  • Mistakes that RP has made since it was founded
  • Careers in global priorities research
  • And the most surprising thing Marcus has learned at RP


Who this episode is for:

  • People who want to learn about Rethink Priorities
  • People interested in a career in global priorities research
  • People open to novel ways to help wild animals

Who this episode isn’t for:

  • People who think global priorities research sounds boring
  • People who want to host very loud concerts under the sea

Click here to read Rethink Priorities’ Leadership Statement on the FTX situation.


Get this episode by subscribing to our more experimental podcast on the world’s most pressing problems and how to solve them: type ‘80k After Hours’ into your podcasting app. Or read the transcript below.


Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio mastering: Milo McGuire and Ben Cordell
Transcriptions: Katy Moore


From the team behind 80,000 Hours comes 80k After Hours, a companion podcast that ventures beyond the main feed's structured career advice. Here, the researchers and producers gather for more informal, wide-ranging conversations that reflect their ongoing curiosities. You'll hear discussions that dig into the nuances of effective altruism, grapple with complex ideas in philosophy and policy, and explore unexpected topics in culture and science-all through the lens of how we might better understand and improve the world. The tone is conversational and exploratory, often feeling like you're listening in on a lively lunch debate among experts who don't take themselves too seriously. While the core mission of finding impactful ways to do good remains, this podcast allows for the tangents, personal reflections, and deeper dives that don't always fit a standard format. It’s a space for the team to think out loud, test arguments, and share the interesting, sometimes quirky, material they're engaging with in their own work. For listeners of the main show, it offers valuable background and new perspectives; for newcomers, it provides an accessible entry point into a community of ideas focused on practical problem-solving and self improvement. Tune in for a blend of thoughtful documentary-style analysis, societal deep dives, and candid chats that aim to be both intellectually substantive and genuinely enjoyable.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 100

80k After Hours
Podcast Episodes
Actually After Hours #3: Finding the Tail with Dwarkesh Patel [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:35:27
Matt Reardon, Arden Koehler, and Huon Porteous sit down with Dwarkesh Patel to find out how you become a world-famous (among tech intellectuals) podcast host at 23. We also discuss how 80k would have advised 21-year-old…
Robert Wright & Rob Wiblin on the truth about effective altruism [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 2:08:00
This is a cross-post of an interview Rob Wiblin did on Robert Wright's Nonzero podcast in January 2024. You can get access to full episodes of that show by subscribing to the Nonzero Newsletter. They talk about Sam Bankm…
Actually After Hours #2: Coming to America with Joel Becker [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 1:30:46
You can check out the video version of this episode on YouTube at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GFEb8ICWJQQIn this episode of our new podcast project, Matt Reardon, Bella Forristal, and Arden Koehler sit down with Joel…