Nine: Benjamin Todd on the key ideas of 80,000 Hours

Nine: Benjamin Todd on the key ideas of 80,000 Hours

Author: 80,000 Hours April 12, 2021 Duration: 2:57:13

The 80,000 Hours Podcast is about “the world’s most pressing problems and how you can use your career to solve them”, and in this episode we tackle that question in the most direct way possible.

In 2019 we published a summary of all our key ideas, which links to many of our other articles, and which we are aiming to keep updated as our opinions shift. 

All of us added something to it, but the single biggest contributor was our CEO and today's guest, Ben Todd, who founded 80,000 Hours along with Will MacAskill back in 2012. 

In this conversation from 2020, Ben talks about some common misunderstandings of our advice,  our key moral positions, and a high level overview of what 80,000 Hours generally recommends. 
 

Full transcript, related links, and summary of this interview

This episode first broadcast on the regular 80,000 Hours Podcast feed on March 3, 2020. Some related episodes include:

• #75 – Michelle Hutchinson on what people most often ask 80,000 Hours
Benjamin Todd on varieties of longtermism and things 80,000 Hours might be getting wrong (80k team chat #2)
Benjamin Todd on what the effective altruism community most needs (80k team chat #4)


Series produced by Keiran Harris.



Curious about using evidence and reason to do good better? This curated collection from the Effective Altruism: An Introduction-80,000 Hours podcast offers a direct path into the core ideas of a growing global movement. Instead of a sprawling archive, you get ten essential conversations that cut straight to the heart of how we can use our resources-including our careers-to solve the world's most pressing problems. Each episode in this series is a standalone deep dive, yet together they build a coherent foundation. You'll hear from researchers and practitioners grappling with tough questions: How do we compare the impact of different charitable causes? What does it mean to think on a global scale, or even for future generations? The discussions move beyond theory, touching on practical paths in fields like global health, animal welfare, and safeguarding the long-term future. Compiled by 80,000 Hours, this podcast serves as both a primer and an invitation to deeper thinking. It’s designed for anyone who has wondered if their desire to help can be channeled more strategically, whether you're a student planning a career, a professional considering a pivot, or simply someone intrigued by the intersection of ethics and action. The conversations are rigorous but accessible, blending philosophy with real-world examples to explore what effective altruism actually looks like in practice.
Author: Language: English Episodes: 12

Effective Altruism: An Introduction – 80,000 Hours (April 2021)
Podcast Episodes
Effective altruism in a nutshell [not-audio_url] [/not-audio_url]

Duration: 9:35
'Effective Altruism: An Introduction' is a collection of ten top episodes of The 80,000 Hours Podcast specifically selected to help listeners quickly get up to speed on the school of thought known as effective altruism.H…