41 episodes

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.

RABBITHOLE Vanessa A. Bee, Sparky Abraham, Oren Nimni, Pete Davis

    • News
    • 5.0 • 12 Ratings

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.

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

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

    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
    Is Effective Altruism Right? #6: Adly Templeton

    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
    Is Effective Altruism Right? #5: Nathan Young

    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."

    • 41 min
    Is School Good? #11: Eleanor Duckworth

    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
    Is Effective Altruism Right? #4: Kieran Setiya

    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.

    • 48 min

Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5
12 Ratings

12 Ratings

Swole Joe ,

Thoughtful and Fun

An enlightening podcast about the pursuit of knowledge and truth, framed by economic theory. Pete and Sparky make the boring entertaining and the ivory tower theorists defend themselves in the real world.

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