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Audio narrations from the Effective Altruism Forum, including curated posts, posts with 30 karma, and other great writing. If you'd like fewer episodes, subscribe to the "EA Forum (Curated & Popular)" podcast instead.
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April 21, 2025
<p> The Effective Altruism community has encouraged a range of different approaches to doing good over time. Initially there was more focus on frugality as a way to increase how much you could donate, which was mostly supplanted by emphasis on earning more. In late 2015 this started to shift towards doing things that are directly useful, which accelerated in 2021. Then the market fell in 2022, FTX turned out to be a fraud, and there haven't been new donors near the scale of Open Phil / Good Ventures. Among many changes, people are thinking more about frugality again: the less you can live on, the more you can stretch a given amount of funding. [1] </p><p> To encourage myself to live more frugally and to give an example of what I thought was a pretty fulfilling life at relatively low cost for the US, I used to calculate numbers [...]</p> <p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> April 20th, 2025 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/hYzpFJEwttBjtCjEW/spending-on-ourselves?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/hYzpFJEwttBjtCjEW/spending-on-ourselves</a> </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>
April 20, 2025
<h3 data-internal-id="Editorial_note">Editorial note</h3><p> This report is a “shallow” investigation, as described here, and was commissioned by Open Philanthropy and originally produced by Rethink Priorities from September to October 2024. Open Philanthropy does not necessarily endorse our conclusions, nor do the organizations represented by those who were interviewed.</p><p> </p><p> Our report focuses on exploring health systems strengthening (HSS) as a potential new cause area for Open Philanthropy. We examined a range of interventions to improve health system performance, analyzed case studies of successful systems in low- and middle-income countries, and highlighted promising opportunities for philanthropic funding. We reviewed the scientific and gray literature and spoke with six experts to describe the state of the field as of late 2024. In early 2025, we revised the report for publication; we also added a short addendum based on a second round of interviews with a different group of experts to incorporate updates related [...]</p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(00:12) Executive summary</p><p>(00:16) Scope</p><p>(00:40) Research process</p><p>(01:34) Key findings</p><p>(07:02) Key uncertainties</p><p>(08:17) Health systems strengthening as a cause area</p><p>(08:21) Shortcomings in LMIC health systems are large and comparatively neglected</p><p>(14:44) What is health systems strengthening?</p><p>(16:57) A taxonomy of typical HSS interventions</p><p>(22:05) Challenges in evaluating HSS interventions and their cost-effectiveness</p><p>(24:30) Country case studies: Lessons from high-performing health systems</p><p>(27:39) Bangladesh</p><p>(31:33) Thailand</p><p>(35:32) Ethiopia</p><p>(41:09) Ghana</p><p>(44:33) Kerala</p><p>(47:31) Valuable case studies recommended by experts</p><p>(48:14) Rwanda</p><p>(49:27) Sri Lanka and Cuba</p><p>(49:53) South Africa</p><p>(50:35) Vietnam</p><p>(50:55) Highlighted HSS interventions</p><p>(50:59) Our research and prioritization process</p><p>(55:29) Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI)</p><p>(55:34) What is it?</p><p>(56:56) Reasons in favor</p><p>(59:22) Reasons against</p><p>(01:01:06) Crucial considerations</p><p>(01:02:13) Potential grants</p><p>(01:02:40) Our take</p><p>(01:04:03) Supervision and mentorship for IMCI providers</p><p>(01:04:09) What is it?</p><p>(01:04:47) Reasons in favor</p><p>(01:07:44) Reasons against</p><p>(01:08:39) Potential grants</p><p>(01:10:07) Our take</p><p>(01:10:59) Community health workers (CHW) / service extensions and health posts</p><p>(01:11:06) What is it?</p><p>(01:12:17) Reasons in favor</p><p>(01:15:26) Reasons against</p><p>(01:17:30) Crucial Considerations</p><p>(01:19:43) Potential grants</p><p>(01:21:03) Our take</p><p>(01:21:38) Social accountability interventions / Community score cards</p><p>(01:21:44) What is it?</p><p>(01:22:23) Reasons in favor</p><p>(01:25:36) Reasons against</p><p>(01:26:57) Crucial Considerations</p><p>(01:27:40) Potential grants</p><p>(01:28:20) Our take</p><p>(01:29:14) Continuous Quality Improvement (CQI)</p><p>(01:29:19) What is it?</p><p>(01:30:46) Reasons in favor</p><p>(01:32:23) Reasons against</p><p>(01:33:13) Crucial Considerations</p><p>(01:34:15) Potential grants</p><p>(01:34:28) Our take</p><p>(01:35:05) Drug delivery system reform</p><p>(01:35:09) What is it?</p><p>(01:36:11) Reasons in favor</p><p>(01:38:13) Reasons against</p><p>(01:40:28) Crucial considerations</p><p>(01:41:31) Potential grants</p><p>(01:42:47) Our take</p><p>(01:43:19) Interventions discussion</p><p>(01:43:23) Our impression from the studied interventions</p><p>(01:45:22) Leadership & governance</p><p>(01:47:01) Health workforce</p><p>(01:48:25) Financing</p><p>(01:49:47) Health information</p><p>(01:51:35) Supply chain strengthening</p><p>(01:52:20) Service delivery</p><p>(01:53:51) Other recommendations from experts</p><p>(01:56:04) Spotlight on two implementing organizations</p><p>(01:57:48) mPharma</p><p>(01:57:51) What is it and what does it do?</p><p>(02:00:01) How well does it work?</p><p>(02:01:14) Our takes</p><p>(02:02:29) Last Mile Health</p><p>(02:02:33) What is it and what does it do?</p><p>(02:04:22) How well does it work?</p><p>(02:05:50) Our takes</p><p>(02:06:24) Recommendations for further exploration</p><p>(02:08:51) Higher-level takes on health systems strengthening</p><p>(02:10:43) Reasons HSS interventions might be more effective than vertical programs</p><p>(02:10:50) Broader, longer-term, and leveraged impact</p><p>(02:11:45) Resilience to respond to crises</p><p>(02:13:12) Reduction of duplication and administrative overhead</p><p>(02:14:02) Addendum: Reflections on USAID withdrawal and emerging gaps in HSS</p><p><i>The original text contained 44 footnotes which were omitted from this narration.</i> </p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> April 19th, 2025 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/c7b4Dmu84QHfD6cLK/health-systems-strengthening?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/c7b4Dmu84QHfD6cLK/health-systems-strengthening</a> </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/75bbe696bcbc0ec0ef353701c2c56a67f1181d96011a0ffef47a88d0a93aaf95/xmdfcsfxxckswgk8riod" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/75bbe696bcbc0ec0ef353701c2c56a67f1181d96011a0ffef47a88d0a93aaf95/xmdfcsfxxckswgk8riod" alt="Line graph tracking health facilities (hospitals, centers, posts) per 100,000 people, 2000-2020." 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/076ed2e32a8c888f52393744077af9215502585215ebb52198e7edf4ebc699b0/g6piqtwkws3mjricsoww" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/076ed2e32a8c888f52393744077af9215502585215ebb52198e7edf4ebc699b0/g6piqtwkws3mjricsoww" alt="WHO Health System Framework diagram showing building blocks and desired outcomes. The diagram illustrates six system building blocks (like service delivery and workforce) connecting through access, coverage, quality and safety to achieve four overall goals including improved health and responsiveness. Below the diagram, detailed descriptions explain each building block's attributes and aims." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p>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.</p></div>
April 19, 2025
<p> James Özden and Sam Glover at Social Change Lab wrote a literature review on protest outcomes[1] as part of a broader investigation[2] on protest effectiveness. The report covers multiple lines of evidence and addresses many relevant questions, but does not say much about the methodological quality of the research. So that's what I'm going to do today.</p> <p> I reviewed the evidence on protest outcomes, focusing only on the highest-quality research, to answer two questions:</p> <ol> <li> Do protests work?</li> <li> Are Social Change Lab's conclusions consistent with the highest-quality evidence?</li> </ol> <p> Here's what I found:</p> <p> Do protests work? Highly likely (credence: 90%) in certain contexts, although it's unclear how well the results generalize. [More]</p> <p> Are Social Change Lab's conclusions consistent with the highest-quality evidence? Yes—the report's core claims are well-supported, although it overstates the strength of some of the evidence. [More]</p> <p><strong> Introduction</strong></p> <p> This [...]</p> <p>---</p><p><strong>Outline:</strong></p><p>(01:16) Introduction</p><p>(04:07) Studies on real-world protest outcomes</p><p>(09:12) Madestam et al. (2013) on Tea Party protests</p><p>(12:09) Placebo tests</p><p>(13:42) Wasow (2020) on 1960s civil rights protests</p><p>(15:12) Klein Teeselink & Melios (2021) on 2020 Black Lives Matter protests</p><p>(17:42) Failed placebo tests</p><p>(19:54) Larreboure & González (2021) on the Womens March</p><p>(22:18) Hungerman & Moorthy (2023) on Earth Day</p><p>(25:13) Meta-analysis</p><p>(33:05) Potential problems with the research</p><p>(33:09) Spatial autocorrelation</p><p>(34:22) Publication bias</p><p>(38:27) Data fabrication</p><p>(40:17) Data errors</p><p>(41:25) Will the results generalize?</p><p>(42:18) Meta-concerns with this meta-analysis</p><p>(43:01) Are Social Change Labs claims justified?</p><p>(43:06) Broad claims</p><p>(48:36) Claims about individual studies</p><p>(52:02) Conclusion</p><p>(52:51) Source code</p><p>(52:59) Appendix A: Additional tables</p><p>(57:18) Appendix B: Methodological revisions</p><p>(59:38) Appendix C: Comparing the strength of evidence to saturated fat research</p><p>---</p> <p><b>First published:</b><br/> April 18th, 2025 </p> <p><b>Source:</b><br/> <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/do-protests-work-a-critical-review?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/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/do-protests-work-a-critical-review</a> </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/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/oasch0pdiuwu007wikpw" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/oasch0pdiuwu007wikpw" alt=""Funnel Plot of Standard Error by Std diff in means" showing scattered data points." 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/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/t2dlrtosmfvctu04ctik" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/t2dlrtosmfvctu04ctik" alt="Graph showing relationship between April 1970 rainfall and congenital malformations, highlighting Earth Day." 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/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/t2dlrtosmfvctu04ctik" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/t2dlrtosmfvctu04ctik" alt="Graph showing relationship between April 1970 rainfall and congenital malformations, highlighting Earth Day." 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/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/q9hbbyuf1j2qftwg0jrb" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/q9hbbyuf1j2qftwg0jrb" alt="Graph showing placebo regressions of rainfall effects on Democratic voting, March-July 2020. The graph plots regression estimates across 10 two-week periods, with error bars." 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/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/ag0kjtjhuz1r7v3nh9c5" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/ag0kjtjhuz1r7v3nh9c5" alt="Five graphs showing rainfall effects on Tea Party rally outcomes (2009). Each graph displays cumulative distribution curves with black vertical lines indicating estimated coefficients." 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/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/zyuhvdbxgrkqrvaepwpz" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/zyuhvdbxgrkqrvaepwpz" alt="Two graphs showing opposition to environmental spending around Earth Day (April 1970). The top panel shows data for people under age 20, while the bottom panel shows data for all ages. Both graphs display measurements from April 17-28, with day 22 highlighted." 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/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/gfpijcjntsqkyrnpt0vp" target="_blank"><img src="https://res.cloudinary.com/cea/image/upload/f_auto,q_auto/v1/mirroredImages/v6PtkcfZQAHR2Cgmx/gfpijcjntsqkyrnpt0vp" alt="Six CDF graphs showing "Effect of Rainfall" on environmental and health metrics. Each graph shows curves comparing actual coefficients against distributions, with corresponding p-values listed below." style="max-width: 100%;" /></a><p>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.</p></div>
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