The Politics Show23 Sep 2023

The philosopher and the crypto king: Sam Bankman-Fried and the effective altruism delusion | Audio Long Read

At the time of writing, the crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried is due to stand trial on 3 October 2023. He stands accused of fraud and money-laundering on an epic scale through his currency exchange FTX. Did he gamble with other people’s money in a bid to do the maximum good?

In this week’s long read, the New Statesman’s associate editor Sophie McBain examines the relationship between Bankman-Fried and the Oxford-based effective altruism (EA) movement. The billionaire was a close associate and supporter of William MacAskill, the Scottish moral philosopher who many consider EA’s leader. It was MacAskill who had persuaded him – and many other young graduates – to earn more, in order to give more. But how much money was enough – and what should they spend it on? Was EA just “a dumb game we woke Westerners play”, as Bankman-Fried told one journalist?

In conversations with EA members past and present, McBain hears how the movement was altered by its enormous wealth. As the trial of its biggest sponsor approaches, will effective altruism survive – or be swallowed by its more cynical Silicon Valley devotees?

Written and read by Sophie McBain.

This article originally appeared in the 22-28 September 2023 edition of the New Statesman; you can read the text version here.

If you enjoyed listening to this episode, you might also like Big Tech and the quest for eternal youth, by Jenny Kleeman.

LISTEN AD-FREE:

📱Download the New Statesman app

MORE FROM THE NEW STATESMAN:

❓ Ask a question – we answer them every Friday

⏰ Get our daily politics newsletter every morning

✍️ Enjoy the best of our writing via email every Saturday

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Denne episoden er hentet fra en åpen RSS-feed og er ikke publisert av Podme. Den kan derfor inneholde annonser.

Episoder(1449)

Is Zack Polanski too "online"?

For some time, Zack Polanski’s tenure as Green Party leader had been largely characterised as a success. But he’s been having a turbulent time in recent weeks. He was accused of inciting violence with...

3 Aug 31min

Chris Philp goes GONZO in the English Channel | Weekly roundup

The best day of Andy Burnham's life, Chris Philp goes gonzo in the Channel, and more climate change denial in a burning country.Anoosh Chakelian and Will Dunn round up some stories you might have miss...

1 Aug 34min

The Burnham comms and policy blitz

Andy Burnham’s policy and comms blitz powers on - he is setting out his intentions early, and with a very different style than his predecessor.Meanwhile, on his second week, his government is fully ap...

30 Jul 1h 12min

Can the UK turn its life sciences strengths into global leadership?

This New Statesman podcast episode has been fully funded by argenx and features an edited panel discussion recorded at the New Statesman’s Igniting Growth Conference.The UK has world-leading science, ...

29 Jul 17min

Gary Lineker wants to pay more tax. What's stopping him?

Anoosh and Will are back for their weekly politics round up, this week includes: the tired spectacle of a new prime minister, Wes Streeting's hot mic moment, Gary Lineker's plea for higher taxes, and ...

25 Jul 32min

Burnham's cabinet

It’s day 4 of Prime Minister Andy Burnham’s premiership.His cabinet is now appointed - With some notable appointments to the top jobs, plenty of reshuffling, and some loyal Starmer-ites out.The PM has...

23 Jul 44min

Prime Minister Andy Burnham

Today, Keir Starmer made his way from No 10 to Buckingham Palace to officially resign as Prime Minister.He was closely followed by his replacement, Andy Burnham, who is currently in his first few hour...

20 Jul 32min

Starmer bows out

Keir Starmer has bowed out of his role as Prime Minister. At his final PMQs, an unusually convivial tone was struck.As Starmer's political career draws to a close, Will Dunn and Tom McTague discuss hi...

18 Jul 50min