The Giving What We Can Podcast The Centre For Effective Altruism

In this episode, Luke Freeman interviews Sean Mayberry, the CEO of StrongMinds, a non-profit organization that provides group talk therapy to people in low-income countries to improve mental health. Sean shares his background, including his journey from working as a diplomat to founding StrongMinds, and his experiences with depression. He also explains the importance of mental health and the problem of depression across Africa, where over 66 million women suffer from depression but only 15% have access to care. Since 2013, they've treated nearly 175,000 women in Uganda and Zambia. Sean highlights the impact of depression on families, the need for effective interventions, StrongMinds plans for growth and more.
 
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction to Sean and his journey to founds StrongMinds
03:48 - Why focus on depression?
07:57 - The scale of mental illness in low and middle income countries (LMICs)
10:12 - What causes depression in LMICs?
12:25 - StrongMinds treatment model and how it works
15:16 - The diagnostic scale PHQ-9
18:15 - How do you remove bias from measurement?
20:10 - The indirect benefits of treating depression
21:58 - Why has StrongMinds focused on treating women?
23:35 - Comparisons to cash transfers by Happier Lives Institute
25:50 - How Sean's experience in HIV/AIDS informs StrongMinds program delivery
27:48 - Why is mental health still overlooked?
30:06 - Scaling funding and reaching more donors
31:42 - The biggest challenges implementing effective mental health interventions globally
33:17 - Lessons learned in adapting to different demographics
34:50 - How is the team structured
36:25 - Why is group talk therapy rate in places like Australia and the US?
40:33 - What are Sean's proudest moments with StrongMinds?
42:30 - Elevator pitch and closing comments
 
CREDITS:
Production: Grace Adams
Video editor: Marco Shimabukuro
Interviewer: Luke Freeman
Guest: Sean Mayberry

We are thrilled to have interviewed Emma Hurst MP of the Animal Justice Party who is an animal advocate with a background in psychology. Emma shared with us some of the most successful animal welfare policies that she has seen implemented, as well as strategies for policy selection and why momentum is so important when campaigning for change. She also spoke about the importance of learning from other countries, exporting successful policies overseas, and the progress that is being made on animal welfare globally. Finally, Emma discussed the role of philanthropy in animal welfare, the importance of individual advocacy, and how to gain broader political support for animal protection issues.
CHAPTERS:
00:00 Introduction
04:22 Successful animal welfare policies
06:13 Policy selection strategies
07:30 Why momentum is important
08:30 Learning from overseas
09:38 Exporting success overseas
10:54 Worldwide progress in animal welfare
13:06 Cellular agriculture policy
14:48 Proudest achievements of AJP
16:43 Psychology and messaging
17:52 Role of philanthropy in animal welfare
18:57 Individual advocacy
20:20 Enforcement of cruelty laws
22:37 Gaining broader political support
24:10 Coordination of campaigns
26:34 Anger fatigue
27:56 Being hopeful
29:37 Getting involved
CREDITS:
Production: Grace Adams
Editor: Marco Shimabukuro
Interviewer: Luke Freeman
Guest: Emma Hurst

We were lucky to be joined by Rob Wiblin, Director of Research at 80,000 Hours as well as the host of the 80,000 Hours Podcast with Rob Wiblin back in the middle of last year. In this interview, we hear about what 80,000 Hours does and how to find an impactful career. Rob also discusses how laziness was a key factor in creating the 80,000 Hours Podcast and why people might benefit from thinking less about the social impact of their work.
To listen to the 80,000 Hours Podcast with Rob Wiblin visit: https://80000hours.org/podcast/
Check out 80,000 Hours: https://80000hours.org/
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction with Luke and Grace
04:09 - Who is Rob?
05:15 - What does 80,000 Hours do?
07:32 - What factors should people think about when trying to find a career with positive impact?
10:40 - Some examples of existential risks (nuclear war, pandemics, bio-weapons)
14:05 - The difference between catastrophic risks and existential risks
16:00 - What are some ways people can address these risks?
19:18 - How can people from all types of careers help address these risks?
20:45 - Problem and career profiles
22:20 - How did Rob end up hosting the 80,000 Hours Podcast?
26:51 - The early days of 80,000 Hours and the growth of effective altruism
32:42 - Moral cluelessness 33:56 - Combatting overwhelm with fun and finding sustainable motivation
37:55 - Rob's final thoughts
CREDITS:
Production: Grace Adams
Editor: Marco Shimabukuro
Interviewer: Luke Freeman
Guest: Rob Wiblin 

Enjoy this fascinating interview where Rob Mather talks through how he started the Against Malaria Foundation (AMF), how it operates today and how malaria could be eradicated.
Rob is truly an engaging speaker and this interview is well worth listening to in full.
To learn more about AMF:
https://www.againstmalaria.com/
https://www.givingwhatwecan.org/charities/against-malaria-foundation
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction with Luke and Grace
02:18 - Introduction to AMF and backstory including Swim for Terri
20:40 - How Rob got 1 million people swimming for malaria prevention and transition to AMF
42:20 - AMF's funding sources
48:05 - How does AMF do monitoring and evaluation?
1:02:00 - How do bednets compare to chemoprevention, gene drives and other existing and upcoming malaria prevention strategies?
1:14:56 - What would Rob do next if malaria was eradicated?
CREDITS:
Production: Grace Adams
Editor: Marco Shimabukuro
Interviewer: Luke Freeman
Guest: Rob Mather

We interviewed Rebecca Herbst earlier in the year about financial independence, improving financial literacy and effective giving. Rebecca is an early retiree and now spends her time working on her project to improve financial literacy, Yield & Spread, where 100% of the profits go to charity via The Life You Can Save. Rebecca is also on the board of directors for EA Salt Lake City.
Yield & Spread: https://yieldandspread.wixsite.com/personal-finance/course-experience
EA Salt Lake City: https://www.effectivealtruismslc.org/
CHAPTERS:
00:00 - Introduction and how Rebecca retired early and discovered effective giving
03:51 - How Rebecca feels about retiring early
05:01 - All about Rebecca's financial education project: Yield & Spread
07:27 - Some commonalities between effective altruism and financial independence
10:42 - What are some common mistakes people make with money?
14:48 - What should people be spending more money on?
15:44 - Different ways to think about managing money
21:30 - How Luke thinks about budgeting
26:49 - How much financial advice is universal
28:39 - Rebecca top financial tips related to giving
33:30 - Rebecca's thoughts on ethical consumption and ESG investing
41:06 - Resources on finance
44:08 - What can listeners do next?
CREDITS:
Production: Grace Adams
Editor: Marco Shimabukuro
Interviewer: Luke Freeman
Guest: Rebecca Herbst

Member Gage Weston discusses how discovering effective altruism helped him actualize the desire to take away others' suffering, explains why thinking about efficacy is important to making a difference, and expands on why he's so inspired to give! We are so pleased that we've been able to interview some of our members about their experiences with effective giving. Big thank you to Gage and our other community members who make Giving What We Can such a special organisation.CHAPTERS: 00:00 - Gage introduces himself 00:11 - What motivated you to take the pledge? 01:19 - Do you have advice for others considering the pledge? 01:58 - Can you expand on what you said earlier -- about feeling inspired to give?
OUR RESOURCES:
✍️ Take a giving pledge: https://givingwhatwecan.org/pledge
💕 Giving recommendations: https://givingwhatwecan.org/best-charities
🤑. 'How Rich Am I?' calculator: https://howrichami.givingwhatwecan.org
🤓. Recommended books, videos, podcasts: https://givingwhatwecan.org/resources
🙋‍♂️ Get involved: https://givingwhatwecan.org/get-involved
 
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