Carl Robichaud is the first person I go to on the topic of nuclear weapons. He has been working as a grantmaker and analyst of nuclear weapons policy for close to two decades. He co-leads nuclear security grantmaking at Longview Philanthropy, w

33 - Habiba Islam on the Left and Effective Altruism

Oct 26th, 2022 2h 35m

[This episode was recorded before the FTX collapse. It contains some discussion of Sam Bankman-Fried. Habiba has asked me to pass on that, to say the least, she no longer endorses what she says about Sam as an example of someone doing good. I'v

32 - Rutger Bregman on Why People Are Decent, Effective Altruism, and Causing Tucker Carlson’s Meltdown

Oct 4th, 2022 2h 11m

Rutger Bregman is the bestselling author of Utopia for Realists and Humankind: a Hopeful History. He has been profiled in the New York Times and interviewed on the Daily Show. Rupert Murdoch has been spotted reading his book, and Tucker Carlson

31 - Alexander Zaitchik on How Bill Gates Impeded Global Access to Covid Vaccines

May 11th, 2021 1h 29m

Alexander Zaitchik is a freelance journalist and author with work in The New Republic, The Nation, The Guardian, and elsewhere. Zaitchik has written two books, one about Glenn Beck and another exploring Trump’s America. He’s working on a third,

30 - Tobias Leenaert on the Pragmatic Path to a Vegan World

Mar 3rd, 2021 1h 5m

Tobias Leenaert is the author of How to Create a Vegan World: a Pragmatic Approach, which has been translated into five languages. He is the cofounder of ProVeg International, which aims to reduce the consumption of animal products by 50% by 20

29 - Conor Oberst on Bright Eyes, the Iraq War, protest music, and the music industry under socialism

Feb 25th, 2021 1h 3m

Conor Oberst is one of the most prolific singer-songwriters of the last twenty years. Best known for his work with Bright Eyes, Oberst has also collaborated with Flea, Jim James, Alt-J, and Phoebe Bridgers. His most recent song, “Miracle of Lif

28 - David Shor on Why Bernie Would Have Won in 2016- But Not in 2020

Jan 4th, 2021 1h 13m

David Shor is a data scientist and the former head of political data science for Civis Analytics, a Democratic think tank. In 2012, he developed the Obama campaign’s in-house election forecasting system, which accurately predicted the outcome t

27 -Trevor Beaulieu on Champagne Sharks and Why Killmonger Was Right

Oct 19th, 2020 1h 13m

Trevor Beaulieu is the host of the podcast Champagne Sharks, a “podcast about race, politics, and pop culture, through the lenses of humor and psychology.” The show has released over 300 episodes on a huge range of topics, from Afro-pessimism a

26 - Ross Barkan on Running for Office and the Return of Socialism to New York

Sep 10th, 2020 1h 40m

Ross Barkan is an award-winning journalist and former political candidate. Ross ran for state senate in Brooklyn in 2018 (where he was endorsed by AOC). He is back to full-time journalism, with a column in the Guardian and frequent contribution

25 - Charlie Bresler on the Lives You Can Save

Aug 10th, 2020 52m 18s

Charlie Bresler is the Executive Director of the Life You Can Save, a nonprofit founded by Peter Singer that inspires and empowers people to take action in the fight against extreme poverty. Charlie was previously the president of the Men’s Wa

24 - Edgar Villanueva on Decolonizing Wealth

May 3rd, 2020 1h 3m

Edgar Villanueva is a globally-recognized expert on social justice philanthropy. He serves as Chair of the Board of Directors of Native Americans in Philanthropy. Edgar currently serves as Senior Vice President at the Schott Foundation for Publ

23 - Akash Mehta on why Andrew Cuomo is Not Your Friend

Mar 30th, 2020 1h 25m

Akash Mehta is a writer and organizer from New York. He is a member of the New York City Democratic Socialists of America and helped organize UChicago for Bernie. Akash recently wrote a great article for Jacobin called Even in a Pandemic, Andre

22 - Zach Roberts on Bloomberg's NYPD and Antifascist Journalism

Feb 26th, 2020 1h 45m

CONTENT WARNING: This episode includes descriptions of racially-motivated violence. Zach Roberts is a photo and video journalist whose work has been published on the cover of the New York Daily News, The Observer, The Guardian and on the insid

21 - Malaika Jabali on Identity Politics and Myths About the Midwest

Feb 8th, 2020 1h 6m

Malaika Jabali is an attorney, activist, and writer based in New York. She is a contributing writer to Essence Magazine and a frequent contributor to the Guardian. Her work also appears in Current Affairs, Jacobin, the Intercept and elsewhere.

20 - Meagan Day on the Case for Bernie Sanders

Jan 23rd, 2020 1h 4m

Meagan Day is a staff writer at Jacobin magazine. Her work has also appeared in The New York Times, The Guardian, Vox, Mother Jones, The Week, The Baffler, In These Times, n+1, and elsewhere. Her nonfiction book Maximum Sunlight was excerpted i

19 - Ben Burgis on Reclaiming Logic for the Left

Jan 6th, 2020 1h 38m

Ben Burgis is a philosopher and logician who lectures at Rutgers University. He has a segment on the Michael Brooks Show called the Debunk and writes a weekly column for Jacobin magazine. We spend most of the show talking about his book Give Th

18 - Marcus Davis on Nuclear War, Invertebrate Sentience, and Foundational Research

Dec 9th, 2019 1h 28m

Marcus Davis is the co-founder and lead researcher at Rethink Priorities, a nonprofit conducting foundational research on neglected causes within the Effective Altruism movement. Marcus also co-founded Charity Entrepreneurship and Charity Scien

17 - Rob Scott on Teaching College in Prison

Nov 25th, 2019 1h 24m

Rob Scott is the Executive Director of the Cornell Prison Education Program (CPEP), which he has led since 2013. Under his leadership CPEP has expanded operations from one to four prisons and now serves over 200 incarcerated students. Rob also

17 - Rob Scott on Teaching College in Prison

Nov 10th, 2019 1h 25m

16 - Andrés Gómez Emilsson on Solving Consciousness and Being Happy All the Time

Oct 25th, 2019 1h 35m

Andrés Gómez Emilsson is the Director of Research at the Qualia Research Institute (QRI). QRI aims to systematize the study of consciousness, to do to consciousness what chemistry did for alchemy. He holds a master’s degree in computational psy

15 - Matt Stoller on Fighting Monopoly Power and Why Obama Was Actually Bad

Oct 16th, 2019 1h 33m

Matt Stoller is a fellow at the Open Markets Institute and the author of Goliath: the 100 Year War Between Monopoly Power and Democracy (out now!). He was previously a Senior Policy Advisor and Budget Analyst to the Senate Budget Committee and

14 - Leah Garcés on Working with Factory Farmers to Help Animals

Oct 3rd, 2019 46m 42s

Leah Garcés is the president of Mercy for Animals, one of the world’s largest effective animal advocacy organizations. She was previously the executive director of Compassion in World Farming USA. Today we discuss her new book Grilled: Turning

13 - Lyta Gold on Cancel Culture, Feminist Utopias, and Comedy

Sep 17th, 2019 1h 53m

Lyta Gold is the Amusements and Managing Editor of Current Affairs magazine. She is also the co-editor of the Current Affairs Big Book of Amusements, a full-color collection of some of the wonderful amusements that have appeared in the pages of

12 - Eric Levitz on Why Democrats Should Wage a Vicious Class War in 2020

Aug 19th, 2019 1h 34m

Eric Levitz is a political analyst and Associate Editor at New York Magazine, where he writes an alarming number of “good takes” on a huge range of topics. I think Eric’s columns are the rare combination of well-written and well-argued. I don’t

11 - Lewis Bollard on Ending Factory Farming

Aug 11th, 2019 1h 23m

Lewis Bollard leads the Open Philanthropy Project’s strategy for farm animal welfare. He directs roughly $30M in grants annually to nonprofits working to reduce suffering of farmed animals around the world. By virtue of his position, Lewis has