{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"80,000 Hours Podcast","title":"#130 – Will MacAskill on balancing frugality with ambition, whether you need longtermism, & mental health under pressure","html":"","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":8201,"description":"Imagine you lead a nonprofit that operates on a shoestring budget. Staff are paid minimum wage, lunch is bread and hummus, and you're all bunched up on a few tables in a basement office. \r\n\r\nBut over a few years, your cause attracts some major new donors. Your funding jumps a thousandfold, from $100,000 a year to $100,000,000 a year. You're the same group of people committed to making sacrifices for the cause — but these days, rather than cutting costs, the right thing to do seems to be to spend serious money and get things done ASAP. \r\n\r\nYou suddenly have the opportunity to make more progress than ever before, but as well as excitement about this, you have worries about the impacts that large amounts of funding can have. \r\n\r\nThis is roughly the situation faced by today's guest Will MacAskill — University of Oxford philosopher, author of the forthcoming book What We Owe The Future, and founding figure in the effective altruism movement. \r\n\r\nLinks to learn more, summary and full transcript. \r\n\r\nYears ago, Will pledged to give away more than 50% of his income over his life, and was already donating 10% back when he was a student with next to no income. Since then, the coalition he founded has been super successful at attracting the interest of donors who collectively want to give away billions in the way Will and his colleagues were proposing. \r\n\r\nWhile surely a huge success, it brings with it risks that he's never had to consider before: \r\n\r\n• Will and his colleagues might try to spend a lot of money trying to get more things done more quickly — but actually just waste it. \r\n• Being seen as profligate could strike onlookers as selfish and disreputable. \r\n• Folks might start pretending to agree with their agenda just to get grants. \r\n• People working on nearby issues that are less flush with funding may end up resentful. \r\n• People might lose their focus on helping others as they get seduced by the prospect of earning a nice living. \r\n• Mediocre projects might find...","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/VO1STE7hN95RRg9QdLo4soV2VhhbR9PF5ZZlRhDYcwE/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9zaG93/LzQxNDAyLzE2ODM1/NDQ1NDAtYXJ0d29y/ay5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}