Serendipity, weird bets, & cold emails that actually work: Career advice from 16 former guests

Serendipity, weird bets, & cold emails that actually work: Career advice from 16 former guests

How do you navigate a career path when the future of work is uncertain? How important is mentorship versus immediate impact? Is it better to focus on your strengths or on the world’s most pressing problems? Should you specialise deeply or develop a unique combination of skills?

From embracing failure to finding unlikely allies, we bring you 16 diverse perspectives from past guests who’ve found unconventional paths to impact and helped others do the same.

Links to learn more and full transcript.

Chapters:

  • Cold open (00:00:00)
  • Luisa's intro (00:01:04)
  • Holden Karnofsky on just kicking ass at whatever (00:02:53)
  • Jeff Sebo on what improv comedy can teach us about doing good in the world (00:12:23)
  • Dean Spears on being open to randomness and serendipity (00:19:26)
  • Michael Webb on how to think about career planning given the rapid developments in AI (00:21:17)
  • Michelle Hutchinson on finding what motivates you and reaching out to people for help (00:41:10)
  • Benjamin Todd on figuring out if a career path is a good fit for you (00:46:03)
  • Chris Olah on the value of unusual combinations of skills (00:50:23)
  • Holden Karnofsky on deciding which weird ideas are worth betting on (00:58:03)
  • Karen Levy on travelling to learn about yourself (01:03:10)
  • Leah Garcés on finding common ground with unlikely allies (01:06:53)
  • Spencer Greenberg on recognising toxic people who could derail your career and life (01:13:34)
  • Holden Karnofsky on the many jobs that can help with AI (01:23:13)
  • Danny Hernandez on using world events to trigger you to work on something else (01:30:46)
  • Sarah Eustis-Guthrie on exploring and pivoting in careers (01:33:07)
  • Benjamin Todd on making tough career decisions (01:38:36)
  • Hannah Ritchie on being selective when following others’ advice (01:44:22)
  • Alex Lawsen on getting good mentorship (01:47:25)
  • Chris Olah on cold emailing that actually works (01:54:49)
  • Pardis Sabeti on prioritising physical health to do your best work (01:58:34)
  • Chris Olah on developing good taste and technique as a researcher (02:04:39)
  • Benjamin Todd on why it’s so important to apply to loads of jobs (02:09:52)
  • Varsha Venugopal on embracing uncomfortable situations and celebrating failures (02:14:25)
  • Luisa's outro (02:17:43)

Audio engineering: Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, Simon Monsour, and Dominic Armstrong
Content editing: Katy Moore and Milo McGuire
Transcriptions and web: Katy Moore

Jaksot(324)

#219 – Toby Ord on graphs AI companies would prefer you didn't (fully) understand

#219 – Toby Ord on graphs AI companies would prefer you didn't (fully) understand

The era of making AI smarter just by making it bigger is ending. But that doesn’t mean progress is slowing down — far from it. AI models continue to get much more powerful, just using very different m...

24 Kesä 20252h 48min

#218 – Hugh White on why Trump is abandoning US hegemony – and that’s probably good

#218 – Hugh White on why Trump is abandoning US hegemony – and that’s probably good

For decades, US allies have slept soundly under the protection of America’s overwhelming military might. Donald Trump — with his threats to ditch NATO, seize Greenland, and abandon Taiwan — seems hell...

12 Kesä 20252h 48min

#217 – Beth Barnes on the most important graph in AI right now — and the 7-month rule that governs its progress

#217 – Beth Barnes on the most important graph in AI right now — and the 7-month rule that governs its progress

AI models today have a 50% chance of successfully completing a task that would take an expert human one hour. Seven months ago, that number was roughly 30 minutes — and seven months before that, 15 mi...

2 Kesä 20253h 47min

Beyond human minds: The bewildering frontier of consciousness in insects, AI, and more

Beyond human minds: The bewildering frontier of consciousness in insects, AI, and more

What if there’s something it’s like to be a shrimp — or a chatbot?For centuries, humans have debated the nature of consciousness, often placing ourselves at the very top. But what about the minds of o...

23 Touko 20253h 34min

Don’t believe OpenAI’s “nonprofit” spin (emergency pod with Tyler Whitmer)

Don’t believe OpenAI’s “nonprofit” spin (emergency pod with Tyler Whitmer)

OpenAI’s recent announcement that its nonprofit would “retain control” of its for-profit business sounds reassuring. But this seemingly major concession, celebrated by so many, is in itself largely me...

15 Touko 20251h 12min

The case for and against AGI by 2030 (article by Benjamin Todd)

The case for and against AGI by 2030 (article by Benjamin Todd)

More and more people have been saying that we might have AGI (artificial general intelligence) before 2030. Is that really plausible? This article by Benjamin Todd looks into the cases for and against...

12 Touko 20251h

Emergency pod: Did OpenAI give up, or is this just a new trap? (with Rose Chan Loui)

Emergency pod: Did OpenAI give up, or is this just a new trap? (with Rose Chan Loui)

When attorneys general intervene in corporate affairs, it usually means something has gone seriously wrong. In OpenAI’s case, it appears to have forced a dramatic reversal of the company’s plans to si...

8 Touko 20251h 2min

#216 – Ian Dunt on why governments in Britain and elsewhere can't get anything done – and how to fix it

#216 – Ian Dunt on why governments in Britain and elsewhere can't get anything done – and how to fix it

When you have a system where ministers almost never understand their portfolios, civil servants change jobs every few months, and MPs don't grasp parliamentary procedure even after decades in office —...

2 Touko 20253h 14min

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