#68 - Will MacAskill on the paralysis argument, whether we're at the hinge of history, & his new priorities
You’re given a box with a set of dice in it. If you roll an even number, a person's life is saved. If you roll an odd number, someone else will die. Each time you shake the box you get $10. Should you...
24 Jan 20203h 25min
#44 Classic episode - Paul Christiano on finding real solutions to the AI alignment problem
Rebroadcast: this episode was originally released in October 2018. Paul Christiano is one of the smartest people I know. After our first session produced such great material, we decided to do a seco...
15 Jan 20203h 51min
#33 Classic episode - Anders Sandberg on cryonics, solar flares, and the annual odds of nuclear war
Rebroadcast: this episode was originally released in May 2018. Joseph Stalin had a life-extension program dedicated to making himself immortal. What if he had succeeded? According to Bryan Caplan ...
8 Jan 20201h 25min
#17 Classic episode - Will MacAskill on moral uncertainty, utilitarianism & how to avoid being a moral monster
Rebroadcast: this episode was originally released in January 2018. Immanuel Kant is a profoundly influential figure in modern philosophy, and was one of the earliest proponents for universal democracy...
31 Dec 20191h 52min
#67 – David Chalmers on the nature and ethics of consciousness
What is it like to be you right now? You're seeing this text on the screen, smelling the coffee next to you, and feeling the warmth of the cup. There’s a lot going on in your head — your conscious exp...
16 Dec 20194h 41min
#66 – Peter Singer on being provocative, effective altruism, & how his moral views have changed
In 1989, the professor of moral philosophy Peter Singer was all over the news for his inflammatory opinions about abortion. But the controversy stemmed from Practical Ethics — a book he’d actually rel...
5 Dec 20192h 1min
#65 – Ambassador Bonnie Jenkins on 8 years pursuing WMD arms control, & diversity in diplomacy
"…it started when the Soviet Union fell apart and there was a real desire to ensure security of nuclear materials and pathogens, and that scientists with [WMD-related] knowledge could get paid so that...
19 Nov 20191h 40min
#64 – Bruce Schneier on how insecure electronic voting could break the United States — and surveillance without tyranny
November 3 2020, 10:32PM: CNN, NBC, and FOX report that Donald Trump has narrowly won Florida, and with it, re-election. November 3 2020, 11:46PM: The NY Times and Wall Street Journal report that so...
25 Okt 20192h 11min
