One: Holden Karnofsky on times philanthropy transformed the world & Open Phil's plan to do the same

One: Holden Karnofsky on times philanthropy transformed the world & Open Phil's plan to do the same

Author: 80,000 Hours April 13, 2021 Duration: 2:36:04

The Green Revolution averted mass famine during the 20th century. The contraceptive pill gave women unprecedented freedom in planning their own lives. Both are widely recognised as scientific breakthroughs that transformed the world. But few know that those breakthroughs only happened when they did because of a philanthropist willing to take a risky bet on a new idea.

Holden Karnofsky has been studying philanthropy’s biggest success stories because he’s Executive Director of Open Philanthropy, a major foundation which gives away over $200 million a year — and he’s hungry for big wins.

In this conversation from 2018 Holden explains the philosophy of effective altruism and how he goes about searching for giving opportunities that can do the most good possible.

Full transcript, related links, and summary of this interview

This episode first broadcast on the regular 80,000 Hours Podcast feed on February 27, 2018. Some related episodes include:

• #41 – David Roodman on incarceration, geomagnetic storms, & becoming a world-class researcher
• #37 – GiveWell picks top charities by estimating the unknowable. James Snowden on how they do it.
• #10 – Dr Nick Beckstead on how to spend billions of dollars preventing human extinction


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
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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 su…