Edouard Mathieu on Our World in Data Hear This Idea

    • Social Sciences

A full writeup of this episode, including references and a transcript, is available on our website: hearthisidea.com/episodes/mathieu

Edouard Mathieu is the Head of Data at Our World in Data (OWID), a scientific online publication that focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality.

We discuss:


What Ed learned from working with governments and the WHO
A simple change the WHO could make to radically improve how countries share data for the next pandemic
The idea of 'experimental longtermism'
How Ed is thinking about collecting data on transformative artificial intelligence and other potential existential risks
Figuring out the impact of making everyone slightly better-informed
Lessons for starting a career in impact-oriented data science
And finally... Ed's favourite OWID chart

If you have any feedback, you can get a free book for filling out our new feedback form. You can also get in touch through our website or on Twitter. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. Thanks for listening!

A full writeup of this episode, including references and a transcript, is available on our website: hearthisidea.com/episodes/mathieu

Edouard Mathieu is the Head of Data at Our World in Data (OWID), a scientific online publication that focuses on large global problems such as poverty, disease, hunger, climate change, war, existential risks, and inequality.

We discuss:


What Ed learned from working with governments and the WHO
A simple change the WHO could make to radically improve how countries share data for the next pandemic
The idea of 'experimental longtermism'
How Ed is thinking about collecting data on transformative artificial intelligence and other potential existential risks
Figuring out the impact of making everyone slightly better-informed
Lessons for starting a career in impact-oriented data science
And finally... Ed's favourite OWID chart

If you have any feedback, you can get a free book for filling out our new feedback form. You can also get in touch through our website or on Twitter. Consider leaving us a review wherever you're listening to this — it's the best free way to support the show. Thanks for listening!