How To Want Better Things

HTWBT
  • 5.0 (1)
  • Self-Improvement

A podcast about careers, ambition, and in extreme cases, making slightly better decisions than you would have otherwise. We cover the research on job satisfaction, ambition, effective forecasting, and the various ways humans talk themselves into and out of things. Ocassionally informative.

  1. May 15

    It Always Gets Done

    On the productivity hazards of knowing yourself too well

    37 min

  2. May 5

    James and Martha vs the Replacement Rate

    We discuss whether having children is good, bad, or just inevitable if the World Cup goes well. A budding astrophysicist explains protostars to four-year-olds.

    32 min

  3. May 1 ·  Bonus

    Not Me Though

    2 seasons in and the crew remains undefeated in wasting our listeners' time. This week: mandatory statistics requirements, the case for & against extended lives (feat. modern day Genghis Khan), and why parenting courses might be a bad idea.

    37 min

  4. Apr 27

    Appendix Donor

    A reasonably coherent conversation about the multiplier effect, and the gap between what you do and what you convince others to do. The same logic applies to vegetarianism, advocacy, and seat belt diplomacy in the Balkans.

    34 min

  5. Apr 22

    Fish Employees (bonus)

    We read the worst LinkedIn posts we could find. A fish. And a chicken.

    38 min

  6. Apr 21

    Charity Skydiving

    This week we start with a genuinely embarrassing British skydiving fundraisers and end up somewhere around the expected value of your vote, Dutch tax policy, and a bunk bed assassination attempt.

    22 min

  7. Apr 18

    Project Fortress

    An 80,000 Hours thought experiment and a physics major who has made peace with all possible futures. The important thing is that America's GDP triples.Plus: who would you vote for in 2028?

    36 min

  8. Apr 14

    Give The Dolphins Their Turn

    The gang goes through a bit of a divorce. A conversation progress about civilizational progress, moral obligation, and the optimal use of bone mass.

    41 min
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A podcast about careers, ambition, and in extreme cases, making slightly better decisions than you would have otherwise. We cover the research on job satisfaction, ambition, effective forecasting, and the various ways humans talk themselves into and out of things. Ocassionally informative.

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