Hear This Idea

Christoph Winter is an Assistant Professor of Law at ITAM in Mexico, a Visiting Scholar in Psychology at Harvard, and the founder of the Legal Priorities Project In our interview, we discuss: A global survey of legal academics about protecting future generations; How constitutional law might best help in this effort; Endangerment law and the "risk of creating a risk"; And lots more! You can read more about the topics we cover in this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/christoph/. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Gillian Hadfield is Director of the Schwartz Reisman Institute for Technology and Society. She is a Professor of Law and Professor of Strategic Management at the University of Toronto. In our interview, we discuss: Why humans invented law, and what Gillian describes as "the demand side" for legal infrastructure; Why social norms continue to be important today and how Ancient Athens managed to use a decentralised system of collective punishment; The case for "regulatory markets" in governing artificial intelligence, and how governments in the 21st Century need to keep up with rapid advances in technology "Silly rules" and why seemingly arbitrary norms are actually really important in creating society's normative infrastructures You can read more about the topics we cover in this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/gillian. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Bryan Caplan is Professor of Economics at George Mason University and the author of Open Borders, The Myth of the Rational Voter, The Case Against Education, and Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids. In our interview, we discuss: Causes of poverty Charter cities The case for open borders Democracy — is it overrated? Why do voters keep choosing bad policies? Do democracies last longer, grow faster, and go to war less? Stable global totalitarianism Should longtermists care more about having more children? Is the cost of subsidising a new life competitive with the cost of saving a life? What the philosopher Michael Huemer gets right How many kids is Bryan counterfactually responsible for? Life lessons from Hairspray and The Room You can read more about the topics we cover this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/bryan. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Ben Todd is the CEO & founder of 80,000 Hours, and helped to start the effective altruism movement. 80,000 Hours is a non-profit that provides free research and support to help people find careers that effectively tackle the world’s most pressing problems. In our interview, we discuss: Why your choice of career could be the most important ethical decision you ever get to make; 80K’s ‘problem, solution, personal fit’ framework for choosing a career; Whether longtermism should be considered a research project or a social movement; The idea of using leverage to multiply the difference you're able to make. Note that if you don't need to hear an introduction to the key ideas of 80,000 Hours, you can skip to about the 34-minute mark. You can read more about the topics we cover this episode's write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/ben. Key links mentioned in the interview: The 80,000 Hours website A (free) weekly career planning course for positive impact The 80,000 Hours 'Key Ideas' series The 80,000 Hours job board The 80,000 Hours Podcast with Rob Wiblin If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. If you want to support the show more directly, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Anders Sandberg is a researcher, futurist, transhumanist and author. He holds a PhD in computational neuroscience from Stockholm University, and is currently a Senior Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford. His research covers the ethics of human enhancement, estimating the capabilities of future technologies, and very long-range futures. In this episode, we talk about The Fermi Paradox: if the universe is so big, where are all the aliens? What is 'transhumanism'? The case for ending ageing The 'reversal test' for eliminating status quo bias Online communities and movement growth You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/anders. There you'll find links to all the videos and articles Anders mentions, plus further reading. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. And if you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Professor Jeffrey Sachs is the Director of the Center for Sustainable Development at Columbia University, President of the UN Sustainable Development Solutions Network, and author of many bestselling books. In this episode, we talk about The need to reform the international financial system; The role of mitigating global catastrophic risk in sustainable development; The importance of expert advice and political leadership. You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/sachs. There you'll find links to all the videos and articles Sachs mentions, plus further reading. If you enjoyed this episode, you might also like some of our other interviews: Eva Vivalt on evidence-based policy; Armond Cohen on climate change; Luke Freeman on Giving What We Can. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. And if you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Matt Ives is a Senior Research Associate in Complex Systems Economic Modelling at the University of Oxford. We discuss the reasons behind the astonishing decline in costs of renewable technologies, especially solar power, and the implications this has for fighting climate change. We also touch on modelling energy systems, financial discolour of climate/transition risks, and complexity economics. You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/matt. There you'll find links to all the videos and books Matt mentions, plus further reading. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Armond Cohen is the executive director of the Clean Air Task Force. CATF has been rated as the most cost-effective climate change charity, including by organisations such as Founder's Pledge, SoGive, and Giving Green. You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/armond. There you'll find links to all the videos and books Armond mentions, plus further reading. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Isabelle Boemeke is a model, digital fashion designer, and the world's first (and only) nuclear power influencer. She makes educational videos as Isodope. You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/isabelle. There you'll find links to all the videos and books Isabelle mentions, plus further reading. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Phil Trammell is a research associate at Oxford's Global Priorities Institute, where he is working at the intersection of economic theory and moral philosophy. In this episode, we discuss his latest working paper about the different ways through which AI might transform the global economy. You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/phil. It's more than just a transcript! If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Anna Alexandrova is a Reader in Philosophy of Science at University of Cambridge. She studies the philosophy of social sciences, focusing on the use (and abuse) of formal models, and the measurement of well-being. Anna is the author of A Philosophy for the Science of Well-Being (2017). You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/anna. It's not a transcript! If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Eva Vivalt is an Assistant Professor in Economics at the University of Toronto. Her work is focused on reducing barriers to evidence-based decision-making, global priorities research, and cash transfers. You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/eva. It's not a transcript! If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free to get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

We were flattered to be invited to discuss longtermism by Ben Chugg and Vaden Masrani from the wonderful Increments podcast. It's not as serious or polished as our interview episodes, but we had heaps of fun trying to figure out where and why we disagree. Increments on Apple podcasts Increments on Spotify Increments on Google podcasts Ben on Twitter — @bennychugg Vaden's website — vmasrani.github.io

Thomas Moynihan is a writer and researcher interested in the history of ideas surrounding existential risk and human flourishing. He completed a PhD on the history of human extinction, and currently works with Oxford's Future of Humanity Institute. His most recent book is called X-Risk: How Humanity Discovered Its Own Extinction. You can read much more about the topics we cover in this episode in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/thomas. It's not a transcript! If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Julia Shvets is an economist at the University of Cambridge and fellow at Christ's College. Her research focuses primarily on micro- and behavioural economics: exploring why people make the decisions they make. In this episode we discuss two of her recent papers. The first is about "overconfidence" — why people often think they are better than they have any reason to be. The second is on "rank incentives" — that is, how much people are inherently motivated by social prestige. We also explore many of the challenges that this research faces, especially what biases lab experiments might have. You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/julia If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Nikhil Krishnan is a lecturer at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Cambridge, and Fellow in Philosophy at Robinson College. He also writes on on history, literature, and culture. His first book, provisionally titled A Terribly Serious Adventure, tells the story of philosophy in Oxford from 1900 to 1960. In this episode, we discussed two broad topics. In the first half, Nikhil relates some of this history of 20th century Oxford philosophy — and, by extension, the history of 'analytic' or 'linguistic' philosophy. In the latter half, we consider some questions about the present and future for academic philosophy, the role of universities, and the place of the peer-reviewed journal. You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/nikhil. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Marcus Daniell is an Olympian tennis player from New Zealand with 5 ATP titles, quarterfinal appearances at both Wimbledon and the Australian Open. He became involved with the Effective Altruism in 2015 and has since donated 5-10% of his annual income to effective organisations. In January of this year, Marcus took the Giving What We Can pledge, committing to donate at least 10% of his annual winnings to effective organisations for the rest of his life. Alongside his tennis career, Marcus is presently completing a Masters in Philosophy. In November 2020, Daniell founded High Impact Athletes, a non-profit organisation connecting athletes and the general public with the most effective, evidence-based non-profits in the world. You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/marcus. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Sebastian Joy is the founding President of ProVeg International, a food awareness organisation working to transform the global food system. He is also a social entrepreneur: having developed several vegan products and helped launch the international 50by40 alliance. In this episode we discuss: [00:01:53] Welcome, Sebastian! [00:07:52] Direct animal advocacy [00:11:48] Career capital [00:14:46] ProVeg International [00:23:42] Corporate engagement and the meat industry [00:26:49] The business of meat [00:36:00] Entrepreneurship [00:45:25] Scaling up organisations [00:48:05] New areas for helping animals [00:51:26] Working within organisations [00:54:12] Closing questions You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/sebastian. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Bruce Friedrich is the co-founder and executive director of The Good Food Institute — a nonprofit that works with scientists, investors, and entrepreneurs to support the development and marketing of cell-cultured and plant-based alternatives to animal food products. In this episode we discuss: [00:02:21] Bruce's path to GFI [00:06:01] Inefficiencies of animal agriculture [00:10:06] Other external harms of animal agriculture [00:18:27] GFI's theory of change [00:27:54] Why focus on affluent markets? [00:32:53] Is regular meat-eating an historical abberation? [00:35:22] Protein alternative research [00:38:49] Plant-based vs cultivated meat [00:42:40] Marketing protein alternatives [00:47:27] Nomenclature [00:49:44] Policy [00:53:46] Why do we need government spending on R&D? [00:57:40] GFI's counterfactual impact [01:01:08] Religious influences [01:04:43] The supreme court [01:09:16] Three book recommendations [01:13:14] Outro You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: earthisidea.com/episodes/bruce. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, feel free get in touch through our website or by using the star rating form on each episode page. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this (e.g. Apple Podcasts_ — it's probably the easiest (free) means of growing the show. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Leah Edgerton and Manja Gärtner are respectively the Executive Director and a Senior Researcher at Animal Charity Evaluators — a non-profit whose mission is to find and promote the most effective ways to help animals. In this episode we discuss: [00:05:27] Why care about Effective Animal Advocacy? [00:09:09] Cognitive dissonance and the meat paradox [00:13:46] What does ACE do? [00:21:10] Measuring effectiveness and doing research [00:30:54] Value of information and capacity building [00:38:37] Working with NGOs [00:48:02] How Animal Advocacy has changed [00:51:14] Hopes for the future [01:00:23] Closing questions You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: https://hearthisidea.com/episodes/ace. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip. Thanks for listening!

Peter Singer is a moral philosopher and public intellectual, most widely known for his writings about animal ethics and global poverty. In this episode we discuss: [00:00:00] Introduction [00:01:43] Background — Peter Singer introduces himself. [00:02:16] Speciesism — Defining the term, and explaining the case against speciesism. [00:06:55] Wild Animal Suffering — hould we intervene to reduce suffering in nature? [00:09:00] Weighing and Ending Animal Lives — Are all animal lives equal? What, if anything, is wrong with (painlessly) killing animals? [00:13:20] Ignoring Animals: Why did thinkers of the past apparently neglect the moral worth of animals? Why is animal ethics relatively new? [00:16:50] History of Western Attitudes to Animals—Can we trace the origins of contemporary attitudes to animals back to ancient Greece and Judeo-Christian values? [00:21:07] Counterfactual Impact of Animal Advocacy [00:24:10] The Power of Moral Argument [00:25:00] The Schwitzgebel Study [00:29:30] What should we do now? — Are veganism and vegetarianism all-or-nothing decisions? Or is it worth choosing a more incremental pathway? [00:32:25] The case for Human Challenge Trials [00:35:46] Trade-off between Lives and Well-being in Lockdowns — Can the cure for the pandemic be worse than the disease? How would we know? [00:42:07] Moral Realism — Parfit's 'Future Tuesday Indifference' [00:46:10] Other Moral Systems — What about egalitarianism or prioritarianism? [00:49:10] Controversial ideas [00:52:28] Journal of Controversial Ideas [00:54:35] What have you changed your mind about? [00:55:57] Book Recommendations [00:57:18] Where to Find PS Online You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: https://hearthisidea.com/episodes/peter. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip at www.tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Luke Freeman is the Executive Director of Giving What We Can. Before this, he was a entrepreneur and marketing specialist, including co-founding Positly. In this episode we discuss: [00:01:52] Background: History of EA [00:04:02] Luke's story: Discovering EA [00:09:30] Foreign Aid: Myths and valid critiques [00:14:58] Evidence: RCTs and the ITN framework [00:20:12] News: "Man bites dog" [00:26:35] GWWC: Taking the pledge [00:43:43] Donations: Risk and hidden zeros [00:46:41] GWWC: Common misconceptions [00:51:34] Entrepreneurship: Positly and WEIRD science [00:54:31] Tech: Market for Donations [01:05:46] Final questions: Change in mind and book recommendations You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: https://hearthisidea.com/episodes/luke If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip at https://www.tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Dr Sriya Iyer is a Reader in Economics at the University of Cambridge and fellow of St Catharine’s College. Her research applies the tools of economics to topics such as religion, development, and education. In this episode we discuss: [00:02:14] Introduction: Sriya Iyer [00:03:08] Background: What is the economics of religion? [00:07:25] Wealth: The Secularization Hypothesis (and why it's wrong) [00:12:02] Growth: Weber's Protestant work ethic [00:14:43] Demography: Religion and fertility in India [00:21:39] Fieldwork: Doing surveys in the developing world [00:29:31] Competition: Temples providing non-religious services [00:36:39] Signaling: The Club Good Model of Religion [00:44:00] Education: Religious versus secular schooling [00:47:42] Religious riots: The Political Economy of Hatred in India [01:02:57] Other research: Beliefs, experimental economics, and Islamic institutions [01:06:51] Social Capital: Trust, reciprocity, bonding versus bridging [01:09:41] Future of the field: Religion, Covid-19, and mental health [01:14:50] Final questions: Change in mind and book recommendations You can read much more on these topics in our accompanying write-up: https://hearthisidea.com/episodes/sriya If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving us a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip at https://www.tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Dr S. J. Beard is a research associate at the Centre for the Study of Existential Risk at the University of Cambridge, and an AHRC/BBC New Generation Thinker. With a background in philosophy, he works on ethical problems relating to the long-term future of humanity, as well as evaluating extreme technological risks. In this episode we discuss: [2:00] Existential risks defined in brief; [4:45] SJ's background; [12:30] What made philosopher Derek Parfit so influential; [17:30] What is the repugnant conclusion? [22:12] What is the non-identity problem? [28:40] Meeting Parfit; [34:20] Why SJ chose a career in existial risk research; [36:43] What existential risk research looks like; [45:58] How can we estimate the probability of catastrophes with no strict precedents? [56:52] Under what circumstances could climate change cause a collapse of global civilization? [1:07:52] Why SJ ran as an MP for the Liberal Democrats; [1:17:25] Is academia broken? How can we fix it? [1:23:23] Why SJ changed his mind about whether COVID is a potential global catastrophe You can read much more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/Simon. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip at https://www.tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Dr Jessie Munton is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Cambridge, whose philosophical research spans perception, psychiatry, and bias. In this episode we discuss: How to think about statistical generalisations that deal with demographic groups; How accurate beliefs about them can go wrong when we 'project' from bare statistics; How the salience and ordering of information relates to prejudice; How search engines can help or hinder 'cognitive flexibility'. You can read much more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/Jessie. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip at https://www.tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Carolina Alves is the Joan Robinson Research Fellow in Heterodox Economics at Girton College, Cambridge and a co-founder of D-Econ. Her work mostly focuses on macroeconomics and international political economy. In this episode we discuss: - You can read much more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/Carolina. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this. If you want to support the show more directly and help us keep hosting these episodes online, consider leaving a tip at https://www.tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Jaime Sevilla Molina is a visiting researcher at the Center for the Study of Existential Risk, and is beginning a PhD studying Bayesian reasoning. Previously, he was a Research Fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute, and his academic background is in mathematics and computer science. In this episode we discuss: How the social sciences infer causation from natural experiments; Evidence for 'cultural persistence', particularly in the context of the Atlantic slave trade; What is forecasting, and why does it matter? Why is good forecasting so hard to come by? What are the likely implications of quantum computing for cryptography, drug discovery, and AI? You can read much more on this episode's accompanying write-up hearthisidea.com/episodes/Jaime. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're still just starting out and it would really help listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Sanjay Joshi is the co-founder and CEO of SoGive, a non-profit which evaluates the impact and cost-effectiveness of UK charities. In this episode we discuss The meaning and neglectnedness of cost-effectiveness in the charity space; Why incentives differ so much between companies and nonprofits; Misconceptions about admin costs and senior pay in charities; SoGive's 'two-question framework' for evaluating charity's outcomes; Advice for nonprofit entrepreneurship You can read much more on this episode's accompanying write-up hearthisidea.com/episodes/Sanjay. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it would really help listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Eve McCormick is the co-director of Effective Altruism Cambridge and a grant recipient from the Centre for Effective Altruism. In this episode we discuss What 'effective altruism' is all about; Philosphical arguments for doing the most good; Key concepts and cause areas; Common criticisms You can read much more on this episode's accompanying write-up hearthisidea.com/episodes/Eve. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it would really help listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Dr Toke Aidt is Director of Studies in Economics at Jesus College, Cambridge as well as Director of the Keynes Fund. In this episode we discuss Why some economists believe corruption can be a force for good, or at least a lesser evil Why Toke believes this view does not hold up to scrutiny And how self-reinforcing cycles of corruption can make tackling it very hard (but also rewarding) You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up (which we highly recommend!) hearthisidea.com/episodes/Toke. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it would really help listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Neel Nanda is a final year maths undergraduate at the University of Cambridge, and a gold medalist in the International Mathematical Olympiad. He teaches regularly – from revision lectures to a recent ‘public rationality’ workshop. Neel is also an active member in rationalist and effective altruism communities. In this episode we discuss How to view self-improvement and optimising your goals Forming good habits through the 'TAPs' technique How to build effective plans by using our 'inner simulator' and 'pre-hindsight' You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/neel. You can also read Neel's teaching notes for his planning workshop here. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Also, Neel has created an anonymous feedback form for this episode, and he would love to hear any of your thoughts! Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it would really help listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

George Rosenfeld is the founder of May Week Alternative, an initiative encouraging students to donate a significant amount of money to an effective charity. In our longest episode yet, we discuss: George’s inspiration for starting MWA; What he has learned about growing and sustaining a student-based charity; The psychology of what gets people to join the movement and donate their own money; The myths and misperceptions surrounding what it means to have a positive impact, and the most credible ways to do so. And a lot more besides! If you’re interested in starting a charitable movement, or in how to use your career or time to do more good, then I hope you’ll find this especially useful. You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/george. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it would really help listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Professor Diane Coyle, CBE, is an economist and co-directs the Bennett Institute for Public Policy. Her current focus is on the digital economy and competition policy. She is the author of more than 15 economics books, and creator of the popular 'Enlightened Economics' blog. In this episode, we talk about the effects of digital monopoloes. How different are they from other kinds of monopoly? Is there anything new or concerning about their use of big data and algorithm-tailored adverting? And should we try to break them up? You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/diane. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please also consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it would really help listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea. Thanks for listening!

Dan Williams is a research fellow in philosophy at the University of Cambridge. His research addresses how various forms of irrationality and bias can be socially adaptive. How might false political beliefs and conspiracy theories have a useful 'signalling' purpose? And do we always know the reasons why we form our own beliefs? You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up: hearthisidea.com/episodes/dan. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it (really) helps listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea.

Kent Berridge is a distinguished professor of psychology and neuroscience at the university of Michigan and the joint recipient of the 2019 Grawemeyer Award for psychology. Through experiments on rodents, his research addresses questions about how pleasure is generated in the brain, the relation of fear to desire, and what causes addiction. You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it (really) helps listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a beer at tips.pinecast.com/jar/hear-this-idea.

Show Notes Tads is an undergraduate economist at St John’s College, Cambridge and current Director of the Cambridge Development Initiative. His dissertation looks at how behavioural economics can help explain patterns in gym membership. You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it (really) helps listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a drink here.

Show Notes Dr Vasileios Kotsidis is a teaching and research fellow in economics at St Catherine’s College, Cambridge. His research applies methods from game theory and other formal models in economics to social interactions with strategic motives. You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it (really) helps listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a drink here.

Show Notes Tobias Cremer is a PhD student in Politics and International Studies. His thesis examines the relationship between right-wing populism and religion in Western Europe and North America. You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it really helps listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a drink here.

Show Notes Dr Bateman is a fellow in economics at Gonville & Caius college Cambridge. Her research encompasses economic history, macroeconomics, and feminism. You can read more on this episode's accompanying write-up. If you have any feedback or suggestions for future guests, please get in touch through our website. Please consider leaving a review on Apple Podcasts or wherever you're listening to this; we're just starting out and it (really) helps listeners find us! If you want to support the show more directly, you can also buy us a drink here.

What is Hear This Idea? Hear This Idea is a podcast showcasing new thinking from the University of Cambridge and beyond. It is hosted by two undergrad students, Fin and Luca. This university, like so many others, is filled with academics who have fascinating things to say. We thought their work and research deserve hearing outside the lecture hall. We want this podcast to be a starting point for more people to find out about these ideas, whether you are a student looking to learn beyond your course or just curious to learn something completely new. We also just wanted an excuse to talk to some interesting people for an hour. So even if you’re not a philosopher, you might be interested in the ethics of future people, of how we measure happiness, or the philosophy of addiction and self-deception. And even if you’re not an economist, you may want to learn more about the Industrial Revolution and how women contributed to the birth of modern economic growth. Each episode is an in-depth interview where we ask academics to explain their field and their research. If topics are technical or in the weeds, we ask them to walk us through it first. Every episode also has an accompanying write-up that we publish on our website. So if you find a topic that piqued your interest, you have an article filled with links, readings, and book recommendations. Our guests have mainly come from the social sciences and philosophy, because that is what we study, but we are happy to invite any guest on who has something interesting to say. You can listen to the episodes by following the links here, and you can read the write-ups here. Do please get in touch (through our social media accounts) if you have any comments or suggestions for future guests. Thanks for finding us, and we hope you enjoy the podcast!