RABBITHOLE

Vanessa A. Bee, Sparky Abraham, Oren Nimni, Pete Davis
  • 5.0 (12)
  • POLITICS
  • UPDATED WEEKLY
RABBITHOLE

On this podcast we plumb the depths of often-obscure debates that divide people along unexpected political lines, questioning fundamental assumptions about things like money, school, consent, and courts. Your non-expert hosts will interview a series of actual experts to learn what is up for debate, and to try to come to some conclusions for ourselves. Follow us down these rabbit holes. It won't be graceful, but you might enjoy the trip.

  1. 03/10/2023

    Pete Davis on "Join Or Die" and the Power of Community

    For our very special 40th episode of Rabbithole, we're taking a break from our current series to interview our very own Pete Davis, who co-wrote, co-directed, and narrated the documentary "Join or Die," ahead of the film's world premiere at SXSW this weekend. The documentary is an in-depth look at the works of political scientist Robert Putnam, whose works including 2000's "Bowling Alone" connect the decline in participation in clubs, religious groups, and other social organizations to the present crises in American democracy. In this episode, Dan and Sparky have a chat with Pete about what went into making the documentary, working with Bob, and why it's great to become a 'joiner.'

    55 min

  2. 02/24/2023

    Is Effective Altruism Right? #7: Jonathan Ben-Menachem

    On today's episode, Pete and Dan talk with Jonathan Ben-Menachem, a sociology Ph.D student at Columbia University studying the politics of American criminalization, about his November 2022 essay "Effective Altruism is a political nightmare," and his critiques of the methods and assumptions behind 'effective' charities, based on his understanding of social science research methods.

    51 min

  3. 02/08/2023

    Is Effective Altruism Right? #6: Adly Templeton

    In today's episode, Pete and Dan speak with computer scientist Adly Templeton (@EigenGender on Twitter) about describing herself as 'Kinda EA,' and how her work with large language models and machine learning informs her opinions on today's discourse about 'longtermism' and AI risk as a focus area for many effective altruists.

    37 min

  4. 01/25/2023

    Is Effective Altruism Right? #5: Nathan Young

    In today's episode, we invite effective altruist Nathan Young (@nathanpmyoung) on to the podcast to discuss his recently-concluded holiday fundraiser that he conducted with EA-skeptic Émile Torres (as interviewed in Episode #3 of this series), the importance of reëvaluating one's beliefs, prediction markets, future-archy, and "spreadsheet altruism."

    42 min

  5. 01/13/2023

    Is School Good? #11: Eleanor Duckworth

    While we line up some more interviews for our Effective Altruism series, Pete and Sparky return down the 'Is School Good' rabbithole to talk with Eleanor Duckworth, professor emeritus at the Harvard Graduate School of Education, developer of the Critical Exploration model of teaching, and author of books including 'The Having of Wonderful Ideas and Other Essays on Teaching and Learning."

    50 min

  6. 12/07/2022

    Is Effective Altruism Right? #4: Kieran Setiya

    Continuing our investigation of Effective Altruism's skeptics, Pete talks in this solo interview with Kieran Setiya, professor of philosophy at MIT and author of several books including 2022's Life is Hard: How Philosophy Can Help Us Find Our Way. In our conversation, Professor Setiya explains his personal philosophy and outlines his critique of EA's philosophical assumptions.

    49 min

  7. 11/23/2022

    Is Effective Altruism Right? #3: Émile Torres

    As we go deeper down the rabbithole of Effective Altruism, it's time to hear from some critical perspectives. Émile Torres, a PhD candidate in philosophy at Leibniz Universität Hannover in Germany and author of the forthcoming 'Human Extinction: A History of the Science and Ethics of Annihilation' (Routledge), has been one of the most prominent critics of an increasingly-popular philosophy within the EA community called 'longtermism,' or the idea that current humans have a responsibility to far-off generations of people yet to be born millions of years into the future or further, and that consequentially, problems facing present humanity may not be as bad as they look if they don't threaten our overall survival as a species. In our talk with Émile, we discuss their recent salon.com article examining the recent collapse of EA-aligned billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried (AKA SBF) and his crypto exchange FTX in the context of the longtermist philosophy that SBF publicly aligned himself with. Along the way, we talk about the academic discipline of 'eschatology,' or the study of end times, about EA as a philosophy and as a movement, and about the appropriate level of fear that one should have toward so-called 'existential risks.'

    50 min

  8. 11/09/2022

    Is Effective Altruism Right? #2: Dylan Matthews

    In our second episode of the new series, Pete and Dan have a conversation with their old friend Dylan Matthews, the senior correspondent and head writer for Vox's Future Perfect section, which covers stories about people and institutions trying to do the most good that they can. In the interview, Dylan talks about his personal journey towards thinking of himself as an effective altruist, outlines current debates and challenges within the global EA community, and responds to a few critiques of EA philosophy from unexpected angles.

    47 min
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Ratings & Reviews

5
out of 5
12 Ratings

About

On this podcast we plumb the depths of often-obscure debates that divide people along unexpected political lines, questioning fundamental assumptions about things like money, school, consent, and courts. Your non-expert hosts will interview a series of actual experts to learn what is up for debate, and to try to come to some conclusions for ourselves. Follow us down these rabbit holes. It won't be graceful, but you might enjoy the trip.

Information

  • Creator
    Vanessa A. Bee, Sparky Abraham, Oren Nimni, Pete Davis
  • Years Active
    2021 - 2023
  • Episodes
    41
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2021 - RABBITHOLE INVESTIGATIONS
  • Show Website
    RABBITHOLE

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