EA Forum Podcast (Curated & popular)

<p> I’m excited to launch Highly Engaged EAs: a matchmaking and nuptialization service to optimize tax relief, green card accumulation and more!</p><p><strong> Workstreams</strong></p><p><strong> I Do(nate)</strong></p><p> By marrying EAs in different tax brackets, Highly Engaged EAs reduces average tax burden through joint filing to enable greater giving. A Californian AI safety researcher with a million dollar salary could give an extra $53k/year by tying the knot with an unpaid grad student! </p><p><strong> Til 80,000 Hours do us part</strong></p><p> The place premium is so high in the US that &gt;1,000 people have bought a million dollar gold card! While some roles don’t sponsor visas, spouses always can[1]. We match those looking to move countries with nationals of their desired destination.</p><p><strong> Bang for your Buck</strong></p><p> For full efficiency, Buck Shlegeris and Ajeya Cotra wear multiple hats as the witnesses, officiants and entertainment for weddings we organize.</p><p><strong> Rationally named children&nbsp;</strong></p><p> For those who are interested in having kids, we provide naming guidance based on what really matters: </p><ul> <li> Brevity.&nbsp;Claude BOTECs that each additional syllable to a person's name adds 68 hours to global pronunciation costs. Given that this will disproportionately be time spent by EAs, one-syllable names are a slam dunk.</li></ul><ul> <li> Complementarity:&nbsp;The [...]</li></ul> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(00:20) Workstreams</p><p>(00:23) I Do(nate)</p><p>(00:56) Til 80,000 Hours do us part</p><p>(01:17) Bang for your Buck</p><p>(01:29) Rationally named children</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> April 1st, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/TLFiwwZGaqgbQhhr7/announcing-highly-engaged-eas?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/TLFiwwZGaqgbQhhr7/announcing-highly-engaged-eas</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/TLFiwwZGaqgbQhhr7/i1nb3expdnrnhcuwtfzf" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/TLFiwwZGaqgbQhhr7/i1nb3expdnrnhcuwtfzf" alt="Tax comparison table showing Single versus Married Filing Jointly with savings column." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/TLFiwwZGaqgbQhhr7/lcl1ojirm3xm54dccjep" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/TLFiwwZGaqgbQhhr7/lcl1ojirm3xm54dccjep" alt="Interactive calculator showing assumptions and results for name pronunciation time saved over lifetime." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/TLFiwwZGaqgbQhhr7/enx61mjdamkilbcezxc8" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/TLFiwwZGaqgbQhhr7/enx61mjdamkilbcezxc8" alt="LinkedIn post asking which Sam to blame this November, with a reply saying "Uncle."" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>

<p> We're thrilled to announce the founding of RejectDirectly, a new EA-adjacent organization dedicated to closing the global rejection gap.</p><p> For too long, the EA rejection pipeline has been plagued by ineffectiveness. Billions of collective DALYs spend on unsuccessful work trials and interviews. The water waste involved in the mass duplication of Google Docs. The community health is in peril.</p><p> In comes RejectDirectly. By cutting out the middleman we can deliver high-quality, unconditional rejections straight to applicants — no strings attached, no waiting period. No eight-hour work trials where you pour your Claude extra balance into a strategy memo for an organization that just couldn’t bring themselves to reject your heartfelt cover letter.</p><p> How it works: You apply. We reject you. That's it. No interviews, no work trials, no need for culture fit chats.</p><p> Like many orgs in the space, we're happy to forward your application to our partner organizations. Unlike other orgs, they will immediately reject you. We call this our Rejection Cascade™ — one application, up to fifteen guaranteed rejections.</p><p> Our 2026 roadmap:</p><p> We're piloting a browser addon that sends you a push notification rejection before you even finish your cover letter. Early users report feeling "liberated" and [...]</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> April 1st, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/5qZdpKEFcGBrHJxDB/rejectdirectly?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/5qZdpKEFcGBrHJxDB/rejectdirectly</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p>

<p> Epistemic status: Very high confidence in the statistical findings. Genuinely confused about the cause. For reasons that will become obvious, I wanted to publish this post on March 31, but unfortunately I could only get it done today.</p><p> I've been building a classifier to flag potentially misleading content on the EA Forum as part of a side project on epistemics infrastructure. While validating the model, I noticed something I initially assumed was a bug. This is an interim report on that.</p><p> 
Summary: Every year, on April 1, the rate of posts containing verifiably untrue claims spikes by roughly 2,200% relative to the annual daily average (p &lt; 0.0001, 8 years of Forum data).
<br> </p><p><strong> 1. The effect is enormous</strong></p><p> On a typical day, approximately 2 to 4% of Forum posts contain claims that are verifiably false. On April 1, this rises to 57–73%, depending on the year. For context, this is an implausibly large effect by normal social-science standards. I have genuinely never seen anything like it.</p><p><strong> 2. It repeats every year</strong></p><p> This is not a one-off event. The pattern recurs in every year of the dataset.</p><p><strong> 3. "It's only one day" is misleading</strong></p><p> A natural reaction is that [...]</p></br></p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(01:00) 1. The effect is enormous</p><p>(01:38) 2. It repeats every year</p><p>(01:57) 3. Its only one day is misleading</p><p>(02:57) 4. The false posts are high effort</p><p>(03:21) Possible explanations</p><p>(03:30) Why this matters</p><p>(04:48) Proposed interventions</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> April 1st, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EAokRDmQTjCAWgGdq/an-unexplained-annual-spike-in-false-claims-on-the-ea-forum?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/EAokRDmQTjCAWgGdq/an-unexplained-annual-spike-in-false-claims-on-the-ea-forum</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/EAokRDmQTjCAWgGdq/en3rvkx5t2yp9uz63fej" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/EAokRDmQTjCAWgGdq/en3rvkx5t2yp9uz63fej" alt="Line graph titled "Share of EA Forum posts containing demonstrably false claims (average across years)."" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/EAokRDmQTjCAWgGdq/ftop0cixiq6jdyfreoqj" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/EAokRDmQTjCAWgGdq/ftop0cixiq6jdyfreoqj" alt="Line graph showing "Share of EA Forum posts containing demonstrably false claims by year."" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>

<p> I went on the Sam Harris podcast again recently. If you want the full non-paywalled episode, I’m able to share it here:</p><p> https://samharris.org/episode/SE6877E700B </p><p> 30 mins of it is also on youtube, spotify, etc. </p><p> The occasion for the podcast was the 10-year anniversary edition of Doing Good Better. So, preparing for the podcast, I collected some relevant facts about what EA has achieved over the last decade, and where the movement stands today. I found the numbers both surprising and inspiring, so I thought I should share them here.</p><p> EAs don't often toot their own horn, and with all that's going on in the world, or on the internet at least, it's easy to lose sight of the big picture. So I think a bit of horn-tooting is at least occasionally warranted, otherwise we’ll only ever focus on the bad and not on the good. And, despite a few subdued years, the EA[1] movement is thriving.</p><p> I’ll break things down by cause area, before looking at EA's recent return to serious growth. </p><p> First, global heath. Since 2015, over $2 billion has been raised for the most effective global health charities, with contributions from over 100,000 donors. The [...]</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> March 31st, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/rSPEisvYw9K49ja2T/300-000-lives-100-million-hens-and-a-world-still-to-save?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/rSPEisvYw9K49ja2T/300-000-lives-100-million-hens-and-a-world-still-to-save</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p>

<p> Donating my shares to Lightcone Infrastructure, the Good Food Institute, and the Long-Term Future Fund, because EA refuses to make Mirror's Edge 3</p><h5 data-internal-id="Leaning_into_EA_disillusionment__Why_I_no_longer_believe_in_EA">Leaning into EA disillusionment: Why I no longer believe in EA</h5><p> I bought this EA stock almost thirteen years ago:</p>Leopold Aschenbrenner once said that “people with situational awareness&nbsp;have a lower cost basis in Nvidia than you do”. &nbsp;I’m not sure if this is exactly&nbsp;what he meant… but close enough, right?<p> Back in the late 2000s and early 2010s, EA was a great company pumping out great, interesting games:</p><ul> <li> Mirror's Edge had a striking art style and showcased a whole new style of first-person parkour gameplay.</li><li> Crysis infamously pushed graphical technology to such extremes that it was like getting a preview of videogame technology 5-10 years in the future.</li><li> Spore was… weird and bad, but its ambition and uniqueness was inspiring.</li><li> The Dead Space games (including the almost weirdly good point-and-shoot Wii spinoff) were pretty creative, and the realism of Battlefield 3 felt like a valuable counterpoint to an increasingly-cartoony Call of Duty series. &nbsp;Both series felt like they were crafted with a lot of care, despite their big-budget action vibes.</li><li> This was a hidden gem [...]</li></ul> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(00:20) Leaning into EA disillusionment: Why I no longer believe in EA</p><p>(02:24) EA is was three radical ideas I want to protect</p><p>(03:57) The soul of EA is in trouble</p><p>(06:10) EA is about maximization, and maximization is perilous</p><p>(09:22) Dont be bycatch</p><p>(10:47) EA and the current funding situation</p><p>(12:20) Abandoning EA, in favor of doing the most good</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> March 31st, 2026 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/giving-up-on-ea-after-13-years?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Source+URL+in+episode+description&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/giving-up-on-ea-after-13-years</a> </p> <p>---</p> <p>Narrated by <a href="https://type3.audio/?utm_source=TYPE_III_AUDIO&utm_medium=Podcast&utm_content=Narrated+by+TYPE+III+AUDIO&utm_term=ea_forum&utm_campaign=ai_narration" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TYPE III AUDIO</a>.</p> <p>---</p><div style="max-width: 100%";><p><strong>Images from the article:</strong></p><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/xdkyksxygbpfxk4bhj5b" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/xdkyksxygbpfxk4bhj5b" alt="Leopold Aschenbrenner once said that “people with situational awareness have a lower cost basis in Nvidia than you do”.  I’m not sure if this is exactly what he meant… but close enough, right?" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/xxcae9anobyty9d29vik" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/xxcae9anobyty9d29vik" alt="Haters will say it’s false, but this was actually a great game.  Most of all, it's one of the few big action games that truly seems to care about having coherent themes / ideas." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/c8m1w0ozqs5u71zqeliu" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/c8m1w0ozqs5u71zqeliu" alt="Once upon a time, EA took the “Arts” part of “Electronic Arts” seriously, publishing this manifesto about the power of computer games as an expressive medium." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/fb381eea894170d50ef91a27fd1cf084feeff04968bf961d2c92c9b1eb9c4a1c/yszenmsiunjvvij9dmog" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/fb381eea894170d50ef91a27fd1cf084feeff04968bf961d2c92c9b1eb9c4a1c/yszenmsiunjvvij9dmog" alt="My wife even got the fancy collector’s edition, with this whole little statue and everything." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/y1lmv26hxsmnab0d16rb" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/y1lmv26hxsmnab0d16rb" alt="This shit rocked!!" style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/p8stjfkd5j7h8lhyxd6g" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/p8stjfkd5j7h8lhyxd6g" alt="i found this chart on some EA website. idk wtf a kaposki’s sarcoma is but i think it gets the point across pretty well." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/x8vk8xsnnhughhrwupzh" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/x8vk8xsnnhughhrwupzh" alt="me_IRL trying to enjoy some multiplayer game, but they’ve intentionally made it tedious and unbalanced in order to incentivize me to spend money to fix the problems they deliberately introduced." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/yoszmt5jxaosjcnkrumy" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/yoszmt5jxaosjcnkrumy" alt="See that little falcon or hawk or whatever in the background, right above sword-guy’s shoulder?  I'm pretty sure this is what CitizenTen meant when he said that “The Vultures Are Circling” around EA." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><hr style="margin-top: 24px; margin-bottom: 24px;" /><a href="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/bmnvrq3ukrlm33qhnio9" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/ZegHZBvEeQanrGhpY/bmnvrq3ukrlm33qhnio9" alt="Three shares are going to Good Food Institute, and two shares are going to the Long-Term Future Fund -- I originally had eight shares of EA, but had already donated two by the time I took the screenshot at the top of this post." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p><em>Apple Podcasts and Spotify do not show images in the episode description. Try <a href="https://pocketcasts.com/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer">Pocket Casts</a>, or another podcast app.</em></p></div>