80,000 Hours Podcast

I’ve learned a lot listening to this podcast and the issues covered are extremely important. However, since this is the primary podcast focusing on these issues, it is crucial to make sure they are being broadcasted effectively. Here’s some improvements: 1. Hosts must push back against guests. Often the hosts will agree and not question the difficult and sometimes dubious steps of the guests. 2. Hosts should have more research into the guests’ topics. I’m sure there are folks in 80k that work in the same field as these guests. Have them host. 3. Balance unrelated content. Some unrelated content helps bring in new listeners, especially when they are big names. Though it’s important not to bury issue focused episodes. (I’ve enjoyed linguists, historians, and philosophers ; though politicians are too vague and uninformative). This was a problem for older 80k, now more unrelated content but especially more content around non-AI would help attract and maintain listeners. I highly recommend listening to this podcast. My improvements don’t dis-recommend, but point to making a frequently great podcast to a consistently great one.

Despite the occasional episode on topics of interest the somewhat recent near total fixation on AI is very unfortunate. The uncritical interview of Jacobsen on nuclear weapons was also a huge red flag.

It makes me want to vomit 🤮 Please go back to making content about how people can make difference in the world. One more podcast about AI and I’m never listening to this again.

The intellectual rigor and humility of the hosts, the incredible guests, and the saliency of the issues discussed make this, bit for bit, the most rewarding and useful podcast out there. Sure it’s longer than most. It’s also better.

This entire episode was written by an AI model, right? Trite and derivative, a continual genuflection towards mediocracy.