Podcast appearances and mentions of Max Roser

por Yaiza Santos Le habría gustado dar el pase del desprecio al fiscal general, pero no pudo. A estas alturas, el origen de su imputación es un caso menor –un exceso de celo en el dependiente, describió– en relación a todo lo que ha pasado después. Y todo eso que dijo ante un juez del Tribunal Supremo ¡y cómo! Chulo, arrogante y ridículo, con su corbata de simbolitos, como si fuera un antisistema, ya da igual que lo absuelvan. Su actuación no tiene traducción penal, sino política, institucional y moral, y desde cualquiera de esos puntos de vista, debe ser condenado. Después de leer la información de Max Roser que él mismo citó hace mes y medio –el último accidente aéreo en Estados Unidos había sido en 2009– y condoliéndose por los muertos del río Potomac, sentenció: pasarán muchos más años hasta la próxima tragedia. Oh, ¡y esa réplica de Salvador Illa a Sílvia Orriols! Queda en ella perfectamente claro cómo el pensamiento nacionalista, de cualquier signo, infecta el lenguaje, casi de manera molecular. A propósito de las denuncias de varias mujeres que tuvieron relaciones con policías infiltrados, trajo un estudio sumamente interesante sobre los límites de la mentira en el sexo. En él Tom Dougherty argumenta que cualquier tipo de engaño, por pequeño que sea, en esas lides, es muy grave si atañe a un aspecto del encuentro que sea un deal breaker. Así, por ejemplo, ser rubia teñida o un agente secreto. Se divirtió con Santos haciendo de chino para meterse con DeepSeek –¡y sus partidarios!– y, siendo completamente pertinente, resumió el burning paper de la semana de esta manera: mi Gepetto y yo, los mejores. Bibliografía: José Emilio Pacheco, «Preguntas sobre los cerdos e imprecaciones de los mismos», Nuevo álbum de zoología, 1969 Tom Dougherty, «Sexo, mentiras y consentimiento», Ethics, julio de 2013 Myojung Chung, Nuri Kim, Sangwon Lee y otros, «Una espada de doble filo: cómo la brecha entre la percepción de uno mismo y de los demás predice el comportamiento del público hacia la regulación de ChatGPT y la intervención educativa», Sage Journals, 23 de enero de 2025 See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Een jaar geleden liep Rutger Bregman rond met een manuscript en een (naar eigen zeggen) “ietwat megalomane droom”: een wereldwijde beweging van ambitieuze idealisten. Nu is hij naar de Verenigde Staten verhuisd om deze droom verder te realiseren. In de eerste aflevering van ons tweede seizoen blikt de co-founder van The School for Moral Ambition en schrijver van Morele ambitie met Anna terug op het eerste halfjaar van de beweging. “Als ik één grote les heb getrokken van hoe we The School for Moral Ambition hebben gelanceerd, dan is het dat de nadruk iets meer mag verschuiven van schaamte en schuldgevoel naar enthousiasme”, aldus Rutger. “Je kan niet elke dag opstaan en denken van: ‘Ik schiet weer tekort. Het was weer niet goed. Ik had een stapje verder moeten zetten.' Dan word je helemaal knettergek.” Hoewel hij dus sommige dingen anders zou doen, is zijn focus nu volledig op zijn volgende stap: de VS. Als hij vooruitblikt op zijn plannen daar en de toekomst van The School for Moral Ambition, steekt Rutger zijn ambitie niet onder stoelen of banken: “Ik ben altijd gefascineerd geweest door kleine groepjes mensen die de koers van de geschiedenis wisten te veranderen. Stel jezelf de vraag: wat is het beste moment om aan klimaatverandering te werken? Vijftig jaar geleden, omdat er toen nog zo weinig mensen mee bezig waren. En wat is dan het equivalent van klimaatverandering nu? Als je die thema's zoekt en nu alvast begint met bouwen, dan denk ik dat je mega veel impact kan hebben. En dat er misschien ooit een historicus is die denkt: ‘Daar ga ik een boek over schrijven.'”   Meer weten over morele ambitie?

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: AMA: Ed Mathieu, Head of Data & Research at Our World in Data, published by EdMathieu on June 17, 2023 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Hi, EAs! I'm Ed Mathieu, manager of a team of data scientists and researchers at Our World in Data (OWID), an online publication founded by Max Roser and based out of the University of Oxford. We aim to make the data and research on the world's largest problems accessible and understandable. You can learn more about our mission on our site. You're welcome to ask me anything! I'll start answering questions on Friday, 23 June. Feel free to ask anything you may want to know about our mission, work, articles, charts, or more meta-aspects like our team structure, the history of OWID, etc. Please post your questions as comments on this post. The earlier you share your questions, the higher the chances they'll reach the top! Please upvote questions you'd most like answered. I'll answer questions on Friday, 23 June. Questions posted after that are less likely to get answers. (This is an “AMA” — you can explore others here.) I joined OWID in 2020 and spent the first couple of years leading our work on the COVID-19 pandemic. Since then, my role has expanded to coordinating all the research & data work on our site. I previously worked as a data scientist at the University of Oxford in the departments of Population Health and Primary Care Health Sciences; and as a data science consultant in the private sector. For a (3.5-hour!) overview of my background, and the work of our team at OWID, you can listen to my interview with Fin Moorhouse and Luca Righetti on Hear This Idea. I also gave a talk at EA Global: London 22. Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org

Raffi Krikorian (CTO, Emerson Collective) talks with Max Roser (Researcher at University of Oxford / Founder & Director of Our World In Data) about what it looks like to be mission driven in his work.

Has the world become more or less safe over the years? How do we measure risk in these times of crazy change? Neeti Bhalla Johnson joins Vasant Dhar in episode 52 of Brave New World to share her thoughts on how professionals do it! Useful resources: 1. Neeti Bhalla Johnson on LinkedIn and Liberty Mutual. 2. Daniel Kahneman on How Noise Hampers Judgement -- Episode 21 of Brave New World. 3. Noise: A Flaw in Human Judgement — Daniel Kahneman, Olivier Sibony and Cass Sunstein. 4. Thinking, Fast and Slow — Daniel Kahneman. 5. Dissecting “Noise” — Vasant Dhar. 6. Factfulness -- Hans Rosling. 7. Global Deaths in Conflicts Since the Year 1400 -- Chart by Max Roser. 8. War and Peace -- Max Roser, Joe Hasell, Bastian Herre and Bobbie Macdonald. 8. Destined for War.-- Graham Allison. 9. The Technology Wars — Episode 1 of Brave New World (w Arun Sundararajan). 10. The Fifth Risk: Undoing Democracy -- Michael Lewis. Check out Vasant Dhar's newsletter on Substack. Subscription is free!

Sign up for Intelligence Squared Premium here: https://iq2premium.supercast.com/ for ad-free listening, bonus content, early access and much more. See below for details. Will MacAskill is the philosopher thinking a million years into the future who is also having a bit of a moment in the present. As Associate Professor in Philosophy and Research Fellow at the Global Priorities Institute at the University of Oxford, he is co-founder of the effective altruism movement, which uses evidence and reason as the driver to help maximise how we can better resource the world. MacAskill's writing has found fans ranging from Elon Musk to Stephen Fry and his new book is What We Owe the Future: A Million-Year View. Our host on the show is Max Roser, Director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Global Development and founder and editor of Our World in Data. … We are incredibly grateful for your support. To become an Intelligence Squared Premium subscriber, follow the link: https://iq2premium.supercast.com/  Here's a reminder of the benefits you'll receive as a subscriber: Ad-free listening, because we know some of you would prefer to listen without interruption  One early episode per week Two bonus episodes per month A 25% discount on IQ2+, our exciting streaming service, where you can watch and take part in events live at home and enjoy watching past events on demand and without ads  A 15% discount and priority access to live, in-person events in London, so you won't miss out on tickets Our premium monthly newsletter  Intelligence Squared Merch Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: The world is much better. The world is awful. The world can be much better., published by Max Roser on August 22, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. (Cross-posted from Our World in Data.) The world is much better. The world is awful. The world can be much better. All three statements are true. Here I focus on child mortality, but the same can be said for many aspects of global development. There are many aspects of development for which it is true that things have improved over time and are terrible still, and for which we know that things can get better. The world is awful In the visualization below, I present three scenarios of child deaths. The blue bar represents the actual number of child deaths per year today. Of the 141 million children born every year, 3.9% die before their 5th birthday. This means that every year, 5.5 million children die; on average, 15,000 children die every day. [1] Clearly, a world where such tragedy happens is an awful world. The world is much better The big lesson of history is that things change. The scale of these changes is hard to grasp. The living conditions in today's poorest countries are now in many ways much better than they were even in the richest countries of the past: Child mortality in today's worst-off places is between 10-13%; in all regions of the world it was more than three times as high [30-50%] until a few generations ago. It's estimated that at the beginning of the 19th century, 43% of the world's children died by the age of five. If we still suffered the poor health of our ancestors, more than 60 million children would die every year — 166,000 every day. [2] This is what the red bar represents in the visualization below. If you want to see how child mortality has changed, read Hannah Ritchie's post: From commonplace to rarer tragedy — declining child mortality across the world Such large improvements are not limited to health; the same is true across other aspects of life (as I show in my short history of living conditions). In a number of fundamental aspects (obviously not all), we have achieved very substantial progress and know that much more is possible. These aspects also include education, political freedom, violence, poverty, nutrition, and some aspects of environmental change. What we learn from this is that it is possible to change the world. I believe that one of the most important facts to know about our world is that we can make a difference. (You can see a larger version of this graph here.) The world can be much better Progress over time shows that it was possible to change the world in the past. But what do we know about what is possible for the future? Were we born at an unlucky time in modern history, in which global progress has come to a halt? Studying the global data suggests that the answer is no. One way to see this is to look at those places in the world with the best living conditions. The inequality in living conditions in the world today shows that there is much work left to do. If health across all countries of the world was equal, it would not be possible to really know whether further improvements are possible or how to achieve them. But the fact that some places have already achieved much better child health leaves no doubt: Better child health than the global average is not just a possibility, but already a reality. So what would global child mortality be if children around the world became as well off as the children in those places where children are healthiest today? The dark green bar in the visualization shows the answer. The region with the lowest child mortality is the European Union. The average in the European Union (0.41%) is 10 times lower than the global average (3.9%). In the EU, 1 in 250 children die, whilst globally the figure is 1 in 25. If children around the wor...

Skąd pochodzi ziemskie życie i czy może zniknąć podobnie jak ludzkie cywilizacje? Co znajduje się pod naszymi stopami i kiedy taksówki będą latały nad naszymi głowami?A jeśli uznasz, że warto wspierać ten projekt to zapraszam do serwisu Patronite, każda dobrowolna wpłata od słuchaczy pozwoli mi na rozwój i doskonalenie tego podkastu, bardzo dziękuję za każde wsparcie!Zapraszam również na Facebooka, Twittera i Instagrama, każdy lajk i udostępnienie pomoże w szerszym dotarciu do słuchaczy, a to jest teraz moim głównym celem :) Na stronie Naukowo.net znajdziesz więcej interesujących artykułów naukowych, zachęcam również do dyskusji na tematy naukowe, dzieleniu się wiedzą i nowościami z naukowego świata na naszym serwerze Discord - kliknij, aby dołączyć do społeczności.Źródła użyte przy tworzeniu odcinka:Hannah Ritchie, Max Roser, "Extinctions", https://ourworldindata.org/extinctions#how-many-species-have-gone-extinctJensen, E.L., Gaughran, S.J., Fusco, N.A. et al. The Galapagos giant tortoise Chelonoidis phantasticus is not extinct. Commun Biol 5, 546 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s42003-022-03483-wJoshua Rapp Learn, "Does the Grand Civilization of the Inca Empire Still Exist Today?", https://www.discovermagazine.com/the-sciences/does-the-grand-civilization-of-the-inca-empire-still-exist-todayJoshua Rapp Learn, "How the Inca Road System Tied Together an Empire and Facilitated Its Fall", https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/how-the-inca-road-system-tied-together-an-empire-and-facilitated-its-fallEizo Nakamura i inni, "On the origin and evolution of the asteroid Ryugu: A comprehensive geochemical perspective", https://www.jstage.jst.go.jp/article/pjab/98/6/98_PJA9806B-01/_html/-char/enWei Wang, John E. Vidale, "Seismological observation of Earth's oscillating inner core", https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.abm9916Imma Perfetto, "New evidence suggests that the Earth's inner core oscillates over a six-year cycle", https://cosmosmagazine.com/earth/earths-inner-core-oscillating/Autoflight, https://www.autoflight.com/en/Film z lotu testowego https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3t40KcnMBoAndrew J. Hawkins, "Lightyear says its $263,000 solar-powered car will go into production later this year", https://www.theverge.com/2022/6/10/23162615/lightyear-solar-car-ev-range-specs-priceZestaw danych o pokryciu terenu w czasie zbliżonym do rzeczywistego od Google, https://www.dynamicworld.app/Photo by Sebastian Tapia Huerta on Unsplash

Welcome back to the Hunger Hunt Feast Podcast! In today's episode, Zane talks with electrical engineer and author Tristan Scott!  Tristan is an electrical engineer whose passion for health developed from his struggle to recover from Post Concussive Syndrome and he found that an animal-based diet helped him reduce inflammation, but Tristan has taken his expertise even further. Listen in as Tristan talks about his book "Bitcoin and Beef" which he wrote to address the current problems with the increasing wealth gap and decreasing health stemming from an over-centralized system. In his book, he addresses the fallacies about a negative environmental impact of both the raising of beef and bitcoin mining. For more resources, or to get in touch, check out the links below!  -- Episode Specific Links:  Ritchie, Hannah, and Max Roser. 2020. "CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions." Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/emissions-by-sector  Energy Mix https://ourworldindata.org/energy-mix#:~:text=Despite%20producing%20more%20and%20more,in%20the%20last%2010%20years The United States Environmental Protection Agency. 2014. 2014 NATA: Assessment Results.  https://www.epa.gov/national-air-toxics-assessment/2014-nata-assessment-results 2021. Overview of Greenhouse Gases. November 19.  https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/overview-greenhouse-gases#methane. 2021. Sources of Greenhouse Gas Emissions. July 27.  https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/sources-greenhouse-gas-emissions. 2021. Understanding Global Warming Potentials. October 18. https://www.epa.gov/ghgemissions/understanding-global-warming-potentials. Buis, Alan. 2019. "The Atmosphere: Getting a Handle on Carbon Dioxide." Global Climate Change. October 9. https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2915/the-atmosphere-getting-a-handle-on-carbon-dioxide/ Oxford Martin Programme on Climate Pollutants. 2017. Climate metrics under ambitious mitigation. Oxford: Oxford Martin School. https://www.oxfordmartin.ox.ac.uk/downloads/academic/Climate_Metrics_%20Under_%20Ambitious%20_Mitigation.pdf Bigelow, Daniel P., and Allison Borchers. 2017. Major Uses of Land in the United States, 2012. U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/84880/eib-178_summary.pdf?v=6159.2 Matlock, Terry. 2021. Corn planted acreage up 2% from 2020: Soybean acreage up 5% from last year. June 30. Accessed November 10, 2021. https://www.nass.usda.gov/Newsroom/2021/06-30-2021.php U.S. Department of Agriculture. 2015. USDA Coexistence Fact Sheets Soybeans. Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Agriculture. https://www.usda.gov/sites/default/files/documents/coexistence-soybeans-factsheet.pdf Mottet, Anne, Cees de Haan, Alessandra Falucci, Giuseppe Tempio, Carolyn Opio, and Pierre Gerber. 2017. "Livestock: On our plates or eating at our table? A new analysis of the feed/food debate." Global Food Security 1-8. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2211912416300013.  Araujo, Joana, Jianwen Cai, and June Stevens. 2019. "Prevalence of Optimal Metabolic Health in American Adults: National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey 2009-2016." Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders 46-52. https://www.liebertpub.com/doi/full/10.1089/met.2018.0105. OECD. 2019. State of Health in the EU Germany Country Health Profile 2019. OECD. https://www.euro.who.int/__data/assets/pdf_file/0005/419459/Country-Health-Profile-2019-Germany.pdf Open Secrets. 2018. Client Profile: Bayer AG. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2018&id=D000042363 2021. Client Profile: PepsiCo Inc. https://www.opensecrets.org/federal-lobbying/clients/summary?cycle=2020&id=D000000200. 2020. Commercial Banks: Top Contributors to Federal Candidates, Parties, and Outside Groups. https://www.opensecrets.org/industries/contrib.php?cycle=2020&ind=F03 Good Jobs First. 2021. Violation Tracker 100 Most Penalized Parent Companies. https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/parent-totals 2021. Violation Tracker Industry Summary Page. https://violationtracker.goodjobsfirst.org/industry/financial%20services. Office of Public Affairs. 2020. "Goldman Sachs Charged in Foreign Bribery Case and Agrees to Pay Over $2.9 Billion." The United States Department of Justice. October 22. https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/goldman-sachs-charged-foreign-bribery-case-and-agrees-pay-over-29-billion Jones, Katie. 2020. "How Total Spend by U.S. Advertisers Has Changed, Over 20 Years." Visual Capitalist. October 16. https://www.visualcapitalist.com/us-advertisers-spend-20-years/ Bank of America. 2021. Annual Report. Bank of America Corporation. https://about.bankofamerica.com/annualmeeting/static/media/BAC_2020_AnnualReport.9130a6d8.pdf  Carter, Nic. 2021. "How Much Energy Does Bitcoin Actually Consume?" Harvard Business Review. May 5. https://hbr.org/2021/05/how-much-energy-does-bitcoin-actually-consume Connect with Tristan: IG: @tristan_health  or @bitcoinandbeef Twitter: @bitcoinand_beef Connect with Zane: ReLyte Electrolytes by Redmond Real Salt: https://shop.redmond.life?afmc=Zane Follow me on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/zanegriggsfitness Follow me on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/ZaneGriggs QUICK EPISODE SUMMARY Get to know Tristan Scott What led Tristan to an Animal-based diet When Tristan became passionate about Bitcoin Why everyone should be paying attention to Blockchain A look into the environmental impact of beef and Bitcoin The importance of regenerative farming The real hurdle we face in the agriculture world The business side of junk food  How much energy should a monetary system take? What you need to control a population

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Future Matters: April 2022, published by Pablo on April 23, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. The remedies for all our diseases will be discovered long after we are dead; and the world will be made a fit place to live in. It is to be hoped that those who live in those days will look back with sympathy to their known and unknown benefactors. John Stuart Mill Future Matters is a newsletter about longtermism. Each month we collect and summarize longtermism-relevant research, share news from the longtermism community, and feature a conversation with a prominent longtermist. You can also subscribe on Substack, listen on your favorite podcast platform and follow on Twitter. Research Scott Alexander's "Long-termism" vs. "existential risk" worries that “longtermism” may be a worse brand (though not necessarily a worse philosophy) than “existential risk”. It seems much easier to make someone concerned about transformative AI by noting that it might kill them and everyone else, than by pointing out its effects on people in the distant future. We think that Alexander raises a valid worry, although we aren't sure the worry favors the “existential risk” branding over the “longtermism” branding as much as he suggests: existential risks are, after all, defined as risks to humanity's long-term potential. Both of these concepts, in fact, attempt to capture the core idea that what ultimately matters is mostly located in the far future: existential risk uses the language of “potential” and emphasizes threats to it, whereas longtermism instead expresses the idea in terms of value and the duties it creates. Maybe the “existential risk” branding seems to address Alexander's worry better because it draws attention to the threats to this value, which are disproportionately (but not exclusively) located in the short-term, while the “longtermism” branding emphasizes instead the determinants of value, which are in the far future. In General vs AI-specific explanations of existential risk neglect, Stefan Schubert asks why we systematically neglect existential risk. The standard story invokes general explanations, such as cognitive biases and coordination problems. But Schubert notes that people seem to have specific biases that cause them to underestimate AI risk, e.g. because AI scenarios sound outlandish and counter-intuitive. If unaligned AI is the greatest source of existential risk in the near-term, then these AI-specific biases could explain most of our neglect. Max Roser's The future is vast is a powerful new introduction to longtermism. His graphical representations do well to convey the scale of humanity's potential, and have made it onto the Wikipedia entry for longtermism. Thomas Kwa's Effectiveness is a conjunction of multipliers makes the important observation that (1) a person's impact can be decomposed into a series of impact “multipliers” and that (2) these terms interact multiplicatively, rather than additively, with each other. For example, donating 80% instead of 10% multiplies impact by a factor of 8 and earning $1m/year instead of $250k/year multiplies impact by a factor of 4; but doing both of these things multiplies impact by a factor of 32. Kwa shows that many other common EA choices are best seen as multipliers of impact, and notes that multipliers related to judgment and ambition are especially important for longtermists. The first installment in a series on “learning from crisis”, Jan Kulveit's Experimental longtermism: theory needs data (co-written with Gavin Leech) recounts the author's motivation to launch Epidemic Forecasting, a modelling and forecasting platform that sought to present probabilistic data to decisionmakers and the general public. Kulveit realized that his "longtermist" models had relatively straightforward implications for the COVID pandemic, ...

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: Why I am looking for an executive assistant, published by Max Roser on March 28, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. Hi! My name is Max Roser and I'm the founder and editor of Our World in Data. When I mentioned that I am looking for an executive assistant several people in the EA community suggested that I share this job here on the EA Forum. You can find the full job description here. When I started Our World in Data I worked on this project by myself for many years. With time the project has grown, many outstanding people have joined, and today our team is much larger than I ever imagined. I am extremely grateful and happy about the excellent team that is working with me – it is the best thing that has happened to this project. Together we are able to do much more than I could have ever hoped for when I was working alone. Tens of thousands of publications rely on OWID every year. Our team's work is referenced in about 50,000 media articles annually, and now during the pandemic we are producing the datasets and infrastructure that inform billions of people around the world. Millions of people visit OWID every month and our data has an even wider reach because it is used by institutions like Google, the WHO, and the New York Times. In the end it reaches billions of people. Our reach is much larger than I ever imagined. This amazing growth and visibility of our work has led to a challenging situation for myself. As the director of OWID I am responsible for setting the direction, as well as managing public communications and overseeing the team's work across research, design, and engineering. My background is in research, and as a researcher I want to write and do research; but in addition to research I need to spend much of my time on communications, operations and administration. Many researchers, journalists, and policymakers get in touch, but I have hardly any time to consider their requests and offers. And internally it is also challenging for me to be as present and helpful to the team as I would like to be. I am very optimistic about the future of our work. There is so much important work that we can do. Our funding situation is solid and the team could not be better. However, after the rapid growth in recent years my time and energy are a major constraint going forward. This is why I am looking for support. That's what this job is about: I am looking for an Executive Assistant who can support me in terms of internal and external communications, in my writing, in administration and operations, and general prioritization so that the team's and my work are as useful as possible for those who rely on us. As my Executive Assistant you will be involved in a wide range of topics and interact with a very diverse group of people. I work with academics, journalists, policymakers, and leaders in nonprofit organizations, tech startups and much more. In terms of topics, my research interests include the range of topics that OWID covers, with a particular focus on global poverty, data visualization, and the production of open access scientific publications. To get an idea for how I think about our work you could read my text about OWID's mission or listen to my interview on the ‘80,000 Hours' podcast in which I discussed the history of OWID, the work that the team did during the pandemic, and my vision for what is ahead of us. I hope this gives you some idea of how much I like my work, and why I think this role is important and hopefully also fulfilling and interesting for you. This is the first time that I am able to look for an assistant and I am excited about it. It would be fantastic to work with a great colleague by my side. Since I have never worked with an assistant before I think that previous experience in an assistant role is desirable; but I am open to hiring s...

Welcome to The Nonlinear Library, where we use Text-to-Speech software to convert the best writing from the Rationalist and EA communities into audio. This is: A new Our World in Data article on longtermism, published by Max Roser on March 17, 2022 on The Effective Altruism Forum. This is a linkpost for Hi everyone! I'm Max Roser from Our World in Data. I wanted to share an article with you that I published this week: The Future is Vast: Longtermism's perspective on humanity's past, present, and future. In it I try to convey some of the key ideas of longtermism in an accessible way—especially through visualizations like the ones below. I hope it makes these ideas more widely known and gets many more people interested in thinking what we can do now to make the long-term future much better. We have written about some related topics for a long time (in particular war, nuclear war, infectious diseases, and climate change), but overall we want to do more work that is helpful for longtermists and those who work on the reduction of catastrophic & existential risks. To link to one example, I recently wrote this about the risk from nuclear weapons. My colleagues Charlie Giattino and Edouard Mathieu are starting to work on visualizing data related to AI (e.g., this chart on AI training compute). Charlie, Ed, and I are sharing this here because we'd love to hear your thoughts about our work. We're always interested to hear your ideas for how OWID can be helpful for those interested in longtermism and effective altruism (here is Ed's earlier question on this forum). Thanks for listening. To help us out with The Nonlinear Library or to learn more, please visit nonlinear.org.

India Policy Watch #1: On Hijab And FreedomInsights on burning policy issues in India— RSJThe hijab row roiling colleges in the Udupi district of Karnataka reached the courts this week. A full bench of the Karnataka High Court ruled on Thursday that all students are restrained from wearing clothes with religious symbolism within classrooms in institutions that have a prescribed dress code or uniform. The bench adjourned the hearing to Monday while requesting the state government to reopen the educational institutions. The government meanwhile declared holidays till Feb 16 to avoid the burden of opening up the colleges in the interim. The order has some interesting passages including this:“It hardly needs to be mentioned that ours is a country of plural cultures, religions, and languages. Being a secular State, it does not identify itself with any religion as its own. Every citizen has the right to profess and practice any faith of choice is true. However, such a right not being absolute is susceptible to reasonable restrictions as provided by the Constitution of India. Whether wearing of hijab in the classroom is part of the essential religious practice of Islam in the light of constitutional guarantees, needs a deeper examination.”This is an old conflict from the time of enlightenment when reason, empiricism and individual liberty were placed on the pedestal by the leading thinkers of the time. Industrialisation, the weakening of traditional social structures because of population shifts to urban centres, and the loosening of the grip of religion in everyday lives meant the questions about the place of religion in civil society and the relation between church and state animated the political and social discourse. Over time though doubts emerged about the benefits of such progressivism. The anxiety over losing a sense of community, the guilt of turning away from one’s religion and a kind of longing for a past that was precious but now lost sowed the roots of cultural conservatism as we know it today. In less diverse societies than India, this battle is framed as that between individual freedom and choice versus the inner order and stability that a society draws from its legacy and culture collectively. This itself has been fraught as we have seen in the backlash against liberalism over the last decade. Things get more complicated in India. There’s the individual freedom to choose and the society that has to contend with that freedom and its impact on it way of life. And then there’s also the community, often in minority, to which the individual belongs which might privilege its desire to conserve its values over both the individual and the society. This is a three-way problem. Should we see the girls wanting to wear hijab in educational institutions as exercising their freedom? Before we even get to whether this freedom has to be circumscribed in certain scenarios like the High Court has opined, should we ask whether we are convinced this choice of hijab is an individual choice? Some of you may ask does that matter. The girl students are themselves saying it is what they want to wear. Who are we to object? But is that choice so obviously individual? Or, is it the choice of another collective, the religious community, that’s imposing it covertly through its own code that’s coercive? Then, in the name of supporting the individual choice of wearing hijab, are we subjugating the choices of many other girls in future who might be coerced into wearing hijab were this battle won by these girls? Is the individual freedom a moral absolute in all circumstances? Or, does this kind of freedom that might mean absence of choice for other girls in choosing not to wear hijab in future that liberals should get behind in force?  Our founders in their debates at the constituent assembly contended with these three forces - the primacy of the individual on the back of which the liberal constitution was being written, the communal identity of people that gave their lives meaning and structure over centuries and couldn’t be wished away, and the need for a centripetal force of legal and social system that drew the society closer together. Some kind of a balance was attempted and written into the constitution as fundamental rights. But a lot was left to the leaders and the people to find for themselves through practice, customs and traditions which would differ across regions and communities. It was acknowledged that people will have to be trusted to follow what’s acceptable and what has to be changed in their social realms without imposing a strict rule of law over it. This is why it is futile to argue over cultural issues through the lens of liberty enshrined in the constitution. There are enough exceptions all around us for every stripe of argument to be made for and against it. This is what we see in the hijab row. There are arguments about the individual choice of young Muslim girls and their rights over their bodies. There is a case made about how religious symbols of Sikhs are allowed within educational institutions or how easily we accept the Hindu festivals of Ganesh Puja or Saraswati Puja. And there’s the point made about keeping educational institutions free from overt religious symbolism else we set off on a slippery slope. There’s no easy or right answer. The only answer to this is by asking what was the custom in these schools and colleges before the row started. And to revert to the status quo. Because things only get worse when trying to ‘solve’ such issues. Of course, any attempt to solve this must also be seen in conjunction with the politics that’s dominant in society now. It is difficult to argue on the principle of keeping religious symbolism away from the matters of the state when you have an almost daily spectacle of political leaders flaunting visible religious symbols of the majority denomination deliberately. That’s again a deviation from the status quo that threatens a fragile equilibrium we have maintained since independence. But maybe that’s the intent all along. To keep stirring the pot of communal disharmony to distract us. It isn’t so much about shaking things up and awakening the spirit that brings us together. That’s the ruse used to explain our relative underperformance. In essence, this is that old colonial game to use culture and religion to divide us in a new garb.    In his famous essay, Culture and Anarchy (1869), cultural conservative, Matthew Arnold, made two key points about culture that I thought will be useful to bring here. It clarifies why culture is important to claim for social order and what kind of customs take us further in that pursuit of harmony and inner stability. It is a useful test to apply when we claim cultural practices as a manifestation of freedom of choice. Arnold writes:“The whole scope of the essay is to recommend culture as the great help out of our present difficulties; culture being a pursuit of our total perfection by means of getting to know, on all the matters which most concern us, the best which has been thought and said in the world; and through this knowledge, turning a stream of fresh and free thought upon our stock notions and habits, which we now follow staunchly but mechanically, vainly imagining that there is a virtue in following them staunchly which makes up for the mischief of following them mechanically. This, and this alone, is the scope of the following essay. And the culture we recommend is, above all, an inward operation.”Further, he writes:“Thus, in our eyes, the very framework and exterior order of the State, whoever may administer the State, is sacred; and culture is the most resolute enemy of anarchy, because of the great hopes and designs for the State which culture teaches us to nourish. But as, believing in right reason, and having faith in the progress of humanity towards perfection, and ever labouring for this end, we grow to have clearer sight of the ideas of right reason, and of the elements and helps of perfection, and come gradually to fill the framework of the State with them, to fashion its internal composition and all its laws and institutions conformably to them, and to make the State more and more the expression, as we say, of our best self, which is not manifold, and vulgar, and unstable, and contentious, and ever−varying, but one, and noble, and secure, and peaceful, and the same for all mankind,−−with what aversion shall we not then regard anarchy, with what firmness shall we not check it, when there is so much that is so precious which it will endanger.Nevertheless, though for resisting anarchy the lovers of culture may prize and employ fire and strength, yet they must, at the same time, bear constantly in mind that it is not at this moment true, what the majority of people tell us, that the world wants fire and strength more than sweetness and light, and that things are for the most part to be settled first and understood afterwards. We have seen how much of our present perplexities and confusion this untrue notion of the majority of people amongst us has caused, and tends to perpetuate. Therefore the true business of the friends of culture now is, to dissipate this false notion, to spread the belief in right reason and in a firm intelligible law of things, and to get men to try, in preference to staunchly acting with imperfect knowledge, to obtain some sounder basis of knowledge on which to act. This is what the friends and lovers of culture have to do, however the believers in action may grow impatient with us for saying so, and may insist on our lending a hand to their practical operations and showing a commendable interest in them.”It is a point made over several editions in this newsletter. There’s value in custom and tradition of where we are today. It doesn’t need to be changed for an imaginary hoary past, nor do we need a ‘solution’ to a social problem of today that we think will unlock our glorious future. There’s very little to be achieved in stirring things up to assert an identity that might be more collective than individual. The values of liberalism or conservatism aren’t served here. There’s a status quo of culture that’s vital to be maintained so that true progress can be made that will lift the millions out of poverty in India. That’s the right kind of moral imperative to put our weight behind.  India Policy Watch #2: What do Calls for Redistribution get Wrong?Insights on burning policy issues in India- Pranay KotasthaneThe last two weeks witnessed a familiar discussion on inequality. The NGO Oxfam International came out with another report Inequality Kills: India Supplement 2022. In response, some commentators questioned the report’s main recommendations (1,2). Regardless, it will continue to be cited and used in support of redistribution and higher rates of taxation. Like many other reports of this genre, it gets the problem definition right but the proposed solutions are simplistic and betray the lack of public finance knowledge. What fascinates me is how calls for more taxes are written, discussed, and debated without an understanding of public finance and public policy fundamentals. So here’s an attempt to rectify this flaw in such reports.To begin with the problem, the Oxfam report argues that "India’s governance structures promote the accumulation of wealth by a few while failing to provide safety nets to the rest of the population." Not much to contest here. The cited evidence — and one that makes for a good narrative — is that "The number of Indian billionaires grew from 102 in 2020 to 142 in 2021, the worst year yet for India during the pandemic. This was also the year when the share of the bottom 50 per cent of the population in national wealth was a mere 6 per cent." Based on this problem statement, the proposed solution is "We call upon the government to redistribute India’s wealth from the super-rich to generate resources for the majority by reintroducing the wealth tax and to generate revenue to invest in the education and health of future generations by imposing a temporary one per cent surcharge on the rich for health and education." Now, let me begin by stating what I agree with this report. It is true that COVID-19 has been unequal in its impact. RSJ has written about the K-shaped recovery here, here, and here in this newsletter. This pandemic has increased the monetary and non-monetary poverty headcount ratio, but we will know for sure only after the next round of the National Family Health Survey. For the next year or so, higher direct transfers to the poor, subsidised food, more credit, and higher employment guarantee scheme expenses are all desperately needed. For the authors, the solution to this rise in poverty is simple: raise more taxes from the rich and distribute that money to the poor. There are at least four problems with this line of thinking.One: We’ve Been Here Before“Taxation is also a major instrument in all modern societies to achieve greater equality of incomes and wealth. It is, therefore, proposed to make our direct tax system serve this purpose by increasing income taxation at higher levels as well as by substantially enhancing the present rates of taxation on wealth and gifts.”The above lines seem to have been taken out straight from the Oxfam report. They aren’t. They are from Indira Gandhi’s 1970-71 budget speech. This line of thinking led to eleven brackets of “progressive” personal income tax, with rates varying from 10 per cent to 85 per cent. Further, a 15% surcharge on the super-rich meant that anyone with an annual income of Rs 2 lakh or more had to pay a marginal tax rate of 97.5 per cent. There was also a wealth tax of 5 per cent. Corporate taxes varied in the range of 45 - 65 per cent. Surely, if the problem of poverty could be solved merely by taxing the rich, garibi would have been hataoed by the 1970s itself. Instead, these confiscatory rates of taxation went against the pursuit of equality in three ways. Unsurprisingly, there was large-scale tax evasion. Who in their right minds will pay such high rates of taxes? I mean, people still fudge their income tax returns. Second, the rich took their businesses outside India, jobs were lost, and we learnt another important lesson: as capital is more mobile than labour, high taxes on capital end up being a tax on labour. Third, these high nominal rates of taxes didn’t translate into more revenue for the government because of various exemptions to companies. The tax policy was flogged in service of so many objectives —each requiring exemptions— that companies could offset much of their taxes against these allowances.So, we have tried these measures before and failed. Not just in India, the highest marginal tax rates in UK and US were at the 90 per cent mark in the 1950s. Gradually, all these countries came to the realisation that redistribution should be one of the goals of the expenditure side of the budget. Raising revenues shouldn’t be tasked with this goal at all. Broadening the base, lowering the tax rates for all individuals and companies, and getting rid of tax exemptions is more progressive than highly progressive taxation. As we have written before, Robinhood Taxes don’t work.Reports asking for higher and newer taxes must explain how their magic potion is going to have different results this time around.Two: The High Costs of Raising New TaxesI doubt whether the authors have tried to understand what it means to raise wealth taxes. Raising any tax is full of friction. Three costs are involved: administrative, compliance, and economic efficiency. The objective of any tax should be to increase revenue while minimising these costs. Wealth taxes fail on all three counts. Measuring wealth is not easy. For instance, estimating the cost of the artwork owned by a rich family requires the tax authority to have expertise in art, thus the administrative costs are significant. Next, people don’t have all their money in easily visible financial assets such as stocks. Some of the assets could be notional (such as equity in early-stage start-ups), some other assets could be outside India and still others in immovables such as real estate. Complying with wealth tax regulations on each of these assets isn’t easy. Finally, such a tax will have economic efficiency costs — people will transfer wealth (notionally) to relatives, take money out of India, and invest in assets that are difficult to value. The burden of proof lies on the authors to show how the proposed taxes will generate more money than the costs required for their implementation.Three: The Government Doesn’t Rely on Taxes AloneMany people seem to think that the government is not spending on support for the poor because its tax revenues are less. Hence the calls for new taxes so that the urgent support to the poor may become viable. Check these lines from the Oxfam report:“Instead, the burden of taxation in India currently rests on the shoulders of India’s middle class and the poor and not addressing the proposal for a one-time tax on the wealthy, for COVID-19 recovery, has resulted in the government using the only other available option i.e., raising funds through indirect tax revenue which penalises the poor.”This again betrays a lack of understanding of government finances. The fuel sustaining the additional government expenditure in the last two years is not tax revenue but debt. In other words, nothing stops the government from spending more on urgent and immediate support for the poor adversely impacted by the pandemic. The additional borrowing will lead to higher taxes in the future, but it can be justifiable given the once-in-a-century situation we are facing now. Four: Law of the Instrument"I suppose it is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail". These memorable words from Abraham Maslow indicate a cognitive bias that is at play in these calls for redistribution. What really hurts many people is to see a select few gain access to immense wealth and power. Redistribution becomes the “hammer” solution to prevent the concentration of money and power in a few hands. But if the core problem is to solve the phenomenon of the super-rich gaining more money and power, other better solutions exist. In recent times, it is indeed the case that market concentration has increased across industries in India. So, if the super-rich are using anti-competitive means to eliminate competition and gain monopoly power, we need better competition laws, not more wealth taxes. Second, if the government wants more money from the super-rich, all it needs to do is to free the tax policy from the burden of several exemptions provided for other goals such as balancing regional development, increasing investment, generating employment, or promoting small-sector industries. A policy that tries to attain several objectives at once achieves none.Growth, not Redistribution is the AnswerThese four problems apart, inequality crusaders must realise that taking money from the billionaires through a new surcharge is not going to make any significant dent in poverty in India. The only solution is economic growth, as we have discussed many times before in this newsletter. Much of the global inequality is between countries and not within countries. Across countries, variations in many important dimensions — literacy, life satisfaction, and health outcomes— can be explained by one single variable: incomes. Tackling inequality then essentially means increasing the incomes of poorer countries rapidly. Economic growth is a moral imperative. HomeWorkReading and listening recommendations on public policy matters[Article] Meanwhile, France has moved to ban hijab in competitive sports. "We must have the courage, wherever possible to do so, to preserve the unity and cohesion of the Republic," said Jaqueline Eustache-Brinio, a senator from the right-wing Les Républicains party.[Article] Do not miss this excellent article on global inequality and its implications for economic growth by Max Roser.[Paper] To understand and appreciate India’s experience with tax policies, read this India Policy Forum 2005-06 paper by Rao & Rao.[Article] Rajesh Rajagopalan has a characteristically clear-minded article on the implications of the Russia-Ukraine conflict on India. In this one article, he demolishes many myths governing India’s relationship with Russia. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit publicpolicy.substack.com

Jen has been all over the internet lately telling the world that the Bipartisan Infrastructure Framework is a dumpster fire of a bill. In this episode, she backs that up by comparing the levels of investment for different kinds of infrastructure and examining the society changing effects the bill would have if it were to become law. Please Support Congressional Dish – Quick Links Contribute monthly or a lump sum via PayPal Support Congressional Dish via Patreon (donations per episode) Send Zelle payments to: Donation@congressionaldish.com Send Venmo payments to: @Jennifer-Briney Send Cash App payments to: $CongressionalDish or Donation@congressionaldish.com Use your bank's online bill pay function to mail contributions to: 5753 Hwy 85 North, Number 4576, Crestview, FL 32536. Please make checks payable to Congressional Dish Thank you for supporting truly independent media! Background Sources Recommended Congressional Dish Episodes CD218: Minerals Are the New Oil CD205: Nuclear Waste Storage Oil CD073: Amtrak Recommended Articles and Documents Benjamin J. Hulac and Joseph Morton. October 7, 2021. “With GOP sidelined, Manchin steps up to defend fossil fuels.” Roll Call. Connor Sheets, Robert J. Lopez, Rosanna Xia, and Adam Elmahrek. October 4, 2021. “Before O.C. oil spill, platform owner faced bankruptcy, history of regulatory problems.” The Los Angeles Times. Donald Shaw. October 4, 2021. “Criticizing Joe Manchin's Coal Conflicts is ‘Outrageous,' Says Heitkamp.” Sludge. Michael Gold. October 1, 2021. “Congestion Pricing Is Coming to New York. Everyone Has an Opinion.” The New York Times. Utilities Middle East Staff. September 13, 2021. “World's largest carbon capture and storage plant launched.” Utilities. Adele Peters. September 8, 2021. “The first commercial carbon removal plant just opened in Iceland.” Fast Company. Hiroko Tabuchi. August 16, 2021. “For Many, Hydrogen Is the Fuel of the Future. New Research Raises Doubts.” The New York Times. Robert W. Haworth and Mark Z. Jacobson. August 12, 2021. “How green is blue hydrogen?.” Energy Science & Engineering. Emily Cochrane. August 10, 2021. “Senate Passes $1 Trillion Infrastructure Bill, Handing Biden a Bipartisan Win.” The New York Times. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. June 3, 2021. “2020 Fatality Data Show Increased Traffic Fatalities During Pandemic.” U.S. Department of Transportation. Nation Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL). May 19, 2021. “What We Know—and Do Not Know—About Achieving a National-Scale 100% Renewable Electric Grid .” Michael Barnard. May 3, 2021. “Small Modular Nuclear Reactors Are Mostly Bad Policy.” CleanTechnica. Hiroko Tabuchi. April 24, 2021. “Halting the Vast Release of Methane Is Critical for Climate, U.N. Says.” The New York Times. Grist Creative. April 15, 2021. “How direct air capture works (and why it's important)” Grist. American Society of Civil Engineers. 2021. “Bridges.” 2021 Report Card for America's Infrastructure. Open Secrets. “Sen. Joe Manchin - West Virginia - Top Industries Contributing 2015-2020.” Savannah Keaton. December 30, 2020. “Can Fuel Cell Vehicles Explode Like ‘Hydrogen Bombs on Wheels'?” Motor Biscuit. Dale K. DuPont. August 6, 2020. “First all-electric ferry in U.S. reaches milestone.” WorkBoat. Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser. 2020. “CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions.” Our World in Data. Jeff Butler. January 27, 2019. “Norway leads an electric ferry revolution.” plugboats.com Our World in Data. Annual CO2 Emissions, 2019. Hydrogen Council. 2019. Frequently Asked Questions. Mark Z. Jacobson et al. September 6, 2017. “100% Clean and Renewable Wind, Water, and Sunlight All-Sector Energy Roadmaps for 139 Countries of the World.” Joule. Kendra Pierre-Louis. August 25, 2017. “Almost every country in the world can power itself with renewable energy.” Popular Science. Chuck Squatriglia. May 12, 2008. “Hydrogen Cars Won't Make a Difference for 40 Years.” Wired. Renewable Energy World. April 22, 2004. “Schwarzenegger Unveils ‘Hydrogen Highways' Plan.” United States Department of Energy. February 2002. A National Vision of America's Transition to a Hydrogen Economy -- to 2030 and Beyond. The Bill H.R. 3684: Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act August 10, 2021 Senate Vote Breakdown July 1, 2021 House Vote Breakdown Jen's Highlighted Version Bill Outline DIVISION A: SURFACE TRANSPORTATION TITLE I - FEDERAL-AID HIGHWAYS Subtitle A - Authorizations and Programs Sec. 11101: Authorization of Appropriations Authorizes appropriations for Federal-Aid for highways at between $52 billion and $56 billion per year through fiscal year 2026. Sec. 11117: Toll Roads, Bridges, Tunnels, and Ferries Authorizes the government to pay up to 85% of the costs of replacing or retrofitting a diesel fuel ferry vessel until the end of fiscal year 2025. Sec. 11118: Bridge Investment Program Authorizes between $600 million and $700 million per year through 2026 (from the Highway Trust Fund) for repairs to bridges If a Federal agency wants grant money to repair a Federally owned bridge, it "shall" consider selling off that asset to the State or local government. Sec. 11119: Safe Routes to School Creates a new program to improve the ability of children to walk and ride their bikes to school by funding projects including sidewalk improvements, speed reduction improvements, crosswalk improvements, bike parking, and traffic diversions away from schools. Up to 30% of the money can be used for public awareness campaigns, media relations, education, and staffing. No additional funding is provided. It will be funded with existing funds for "administrative expenses." Sec. 11121: Construction of Ferry Boats and Ferry Terminal Facilities Authorizes between $110 million and $118 million per year through 2026 (from the Highway Trust Fund) to construct ferry boats and ferry terminals. Subtitle D - Climate Change Sec. 11401: Grants for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Creates a new grant program with $15 million maximum per grant for governments to build public charging infrastructure for vehicles fueled with electricity, hydrogen, propane, and "natural" gas. The construction of the projects can be contracted out to private companies. Sec. 11402: Reduction of Truck Emissions at Port Facilities Establishes a program to study and test projects that would reduce emissions. Sec. 11403: Carbon Reduction Program Allows, but does not require, the Transportation Secretary to use money for projects related to traffic monitoring, public transportation, trails for pedestrians and bicyclists, congestion management technologies, vehicle-to-infrastructure communications technologies, energy efficient street lighting, congestion pricing to shift transportation demand to non-peak hours, electronic toll collection, installing public chargers for electric, hydrogen, propane, and gas powered vehicles. Sec. 11404: Congestion Relief Program Creates a grant program, funded at a minimum of $10 million per grant, for projects aimed at reducing highway congestion. Eligible projects include congestion management systems, fees for entering cities, deployment of toll lanes, parking fees, and congestion pricing, operating commuter buses and vans, and carpool encouragement programs. Buses, transit, and paratransit vehicles "shall" be allowed to use toll lanes "at a discount rate or without charge." Sec. 11405: Promoting Resilient Operations for Transformative, Efficient, and Cost-saving Transportation (PROTECT) Program Establishes the "PROTECT program", which provides grants for projects to protect some current infrastructure from extreme weather events and climate related changes. Types of grants include grants for "at-risk coastal infrastructure" which specifies that only "non-rail infrastructure is eligible" (such as highways, roads, pedestrian walkways, bike lanes, etc.) Sec. 11406: Healthy Streets Program Establishes a grant program to install reflective pavement and to expand tree cover in order to mitigate urban heat islands, improve air quality, and reduce stormwater run-off and flood risks. Caps each grant at $15 million TITLE III: RESEARCH, TECHNOLOGY, AND EDUCATION Sec. 13001: Strategic Innovation for Revenue Collection Provides grants for pilot projects to test our acceptance of user-based fee collections and their effects on different income groups and people from urban and rural areas. They will test the use of private companies to collect the data and fees. Sec. 13002: National Motor Vehicle Per-mile User Fee Pilot Creates a pilot program to test a national motor vehicle per-mile user fee. DIVISION B - SURFACE TRANSPORTATION INVESTMENT ACT OF 2021 TITLE I - MULTIMODAL AND FREIGHT TRANSPORTATION Sec. 21201: National Infrastructure Project Assistance Authorizes $2 billion total per year until 2026 on projects that cost at least $100 million that include highway, bridge, freight rail, passenger rail, and public transportation projects. Authorizes $1.5 billion total per year until 2026 (which will expire after 3 years) for grants in amount between $1 million and $25 million for projects that include highway, bridge, public transportation, passenger and freight rail, port infrastructure, surface transportation at airports, and more. TITLE II - RAIL Subtitle A - Authorization of Appropriations Sec. 22101: Grants to Amtrak Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak in the Northeast Corridor at between $1.1 billion and $1.57 billion per year through 2026. Authorizes appropriations for Amtrak in the National Network at between $2.2 billion and $3 billion per year through 2026. Subtitle B - Amtrak Reforms Sec. 22201: Amtrak Findings, Mission, and Goals Changes the goal of cooperation between Amtrak, governments, & other rail carriers from "to achieve a performance level sufficient to justify expending public money" to "in order to meet the intercity passenger rail needs of the United States" and expands the service areas beyond "urban" locations. Changes the goals of Amtrak to include "improving its contracts with rail carriers over whose tracks Amtrak operates." Sec. 22208: Passenger Experience Enhancement Food and beverage service: Amtrak will establish a working group... Sec. 22212: Enhancing Cross Border Service Amtrak must submit a report... Sec. 22213: Creating Quality Jobs Amtrak will not be allowed to privatize the jobs previously performed by laid off union workers. Sec. 22214: Amtrak Daily Long Distance Study Amtrak would study bringing back long distance rail routes that were discontinued. Subtitle C - Intercity Passenger Rail Policy Sec. 22304: Restoration and Enhancement Grants Extends the amount of time the government will pay the operating costs of Amtrak or "any rail carrier" that provides passenger rail service from 3 years to 6 years, and pays higher percentages of the the costs. Sec. 22305: Railroad Crossing Elimination Program Creates a program to eliminate highway-rail crossings where vehicles are frequently stopped by trains. Authorizes the construction on tunnels and bridges. Sec. 22306: Interstate Rail Compacts Authorizes up to 10 grants per year valued at a maximum of $ million each to plan and promote new Amtrak routes Sec. 22308: Corridor Identification and Development Program The Secretary of Transportation will create a program for public entities to plan for expanded intercity passenger rail corridors, operated by Amtrak or private companies. When developing plans for corridors, the Secretary has to "consult" with "host railroads for the proposed corridor" Subtitle D - Rail Safety Sec. 22404: Blocked Crossing Portal The Administration of the Federal Railroad Administration would establish a "3 year blocked crossing portal" which would collect information about blocked crossing by trains from the public and first responders and provide every person submitting the complaint the contact information of the "relevant railroad" and would "encourage" them to complain to them too. Information collected would NOT be allowed to be used for any regulatory or enforcement purposes. Sec. 22406: Emergency Lighting The Secretary of Transportation will have to issue a rule requiring that all carriers that transport human passengers have an emergency lighting system that turns on when there is a power failure. Sec. 22409: Positive Train Control Study The Comptroller General will conduct a study to determine the annual operation and maintenance costs for positive train control. Sec. 22423: High-Speed Train Noise Emissions Allows, but does not require, the Secretary of Transportation to create regulations governing the noise levels of trains that exceed 160 mph. Sec. 22425: Requirements for Railroad Freight Cars Placed into Service in the United States Effective 3 years after the regulations are complete (maximum 5 years after this becomes law), freight cars will be prohibited from operating within the United States if more than 15% of it is manufactured in "a country of concern" or state-owned facilities. The Secretary of Transportation can assess fines between $100,000 and $250,000 per freight car. A company that has been found in violation 3 times can be kicked out of the United State's transportation system until they are in compliance and have paid all their fines in full. Sec. 22427: Controlled Substances Testing for Mechanical Employees 180 days after this becomes law, all railroad mechanics will be subject to drug testing, which can be conducted at random. DIVISION C - TRANSIT Sec. 30017: Authorizations Authorizes between $13.3 billion and $14.7 billion per year to be appropriated for transit grants. DIVISION D - ENERGY TITLE I - GRID INFRASTRUCTURE AND RESILIENCY Sec. 40101: Preventing Outages and Enhancing The Resilience of the Electric Grid Creates a $5 billion grant distribution program to electric grid operators, electricity storage operations, electricity generators, transmission owners and operators, distribution suppliers, fuels suppliers, and other entities chosen by the Secretary of Energy. The grants need to be used to reduce the risk that power lines will cause wildfires. States have to match 15%. The company receiving the grant has to match it by 100% (small utilities only have to match 1/3 of the grant.) Grant money be used for micro-grids and battery-storage in addition to obvious power line protection measures. Grant money can not be used to construct a new electricity generating facility, a large-scale battery facility that is not used to prevent "disruptive events", or cybersecurity. The companies are allowed to charge customers for parts of their projects that are not paid for with grant money (so they have to match the grant with their customer's money). Sec. 40112: Demonstration of Electric Vehicle Battery Second-Life Applications for Grid Services Creates a demonstration project to show utility companies that electric car batteries can be used to stabilize the grid and reduce peak loads of homes and businesses. The demonstration project must include a facility that "could particularly benefit" such as a multi-family housing building, a senior care facility, or community health center. TITLE II - SUPPLY CHAINS FOR CLEAN ENERGY TECHNOLOGIES Sec. 40201: Earth Mapping Resources Initiative The US Geological Survey will get $320 million and ten years to map "all of the recoverable critical minerals." Sec. 40204: USGS Energy and Minerals Research Facility Authorizes $167 million to construct a new facility for energy and minerals research. The facility can be on land leased to the government for 99 years by "an academic partner." Requires the USGS to retain ownership of the facility. Sec. 40205: Rare Earth Elements Demonstration Facility Authorizes $140 million to build a rare earth element extractions and separation facility and refinery. Does NOT require the government to retain ownership of the facility. TITLE III - FUELS AND TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENTS Subtitle A - Carbon Capture, Utilization, Storage, and Transportation Infrastructure Sec. 40304: Carbon Dioxide Transportation Infrastructure Finance and Innovation Authorizes $600 million for 2022 and 2023 and $300 million for each year between 2024 and 2026 for grants and loan guarantees for projects for transporting captured carbon dioxide. Each project has to cost more than $100 million and the government can pay up to 80% of the costs. If the project is financed with a loan, the company will have 35 years to pay it back, with fees and interest. Loans can be issued via private banks with guarantees provided by the government. Sec. 40305: Carbon Storage Validation and Testing Creates a new program for funding new or expanded large-scale carbon sequestration projects. Authorizes $2.5 billion through 2026. Sec. 40308: Carbon Removal Creates a new program for grants or contracts for projects to that will form "4 regional direct air capture hubs" that will each be able to capture 1 million metric tons of carbon dioxide per year. Authorizes $3.5 billion per year through 2026. Subtitle B - Hydrogen Research and Development Sec. 40313: Clean Hydrogen Research and Development Program Changes a goal of an existing research and development plan for hydrogen fuels (created by the Energy Policy Act of 2005) from enhancing sources of renewable fuels and biofuels for hydrogen production to enhancing those sources and fossil fuels with carbon capture and nuclear energy. Expands the activities of this program to include using hydrogen for power generation, industrial processes including steelmaking, cement, chemical feestocks, and heat production. They intend to transition natural gas pipelines to hydrogen pipelines. They intend for hydrogen to be used for all kinds of vehicles, rail transport, aviation, and maritime transportation. Sec. 40314: Additional Clean Hydrogen Programs Creates a new program to create "4 regional clean hydrogen hubs" for production, processing, delivery, storage, and end-use of "clean hydrogen." At least one regional hub is required to demonstrate the production of "clean hydrogen from fossil fuels." At least one regional hub is required to demonstrate the production of "clean hydrogen from renewable energy." At least one regional hub is required to demonstrate the production of "clean hydrogen from nuclear energy." The four hubs will each demonstrate a different use: Electric power generation, industrial sector uses, residential and commercial heating, and transportation. Requires the development of a strategy "to facilitate widespread production, processing, storage, and use of clean hydrogen", which will include a focus on production using coal. The hydrogen hubs should "leverage natural gas to the maximum extent practicable." Creates a new program to commercialize the production of hydrogen by splitting water into hydrogen and oxygen. The overall goal is to identify barriers, pathways, and policy needs to "transition to a clean hydrogen economy." Authorizes $9.5 billion through 2026. Sec. 40315: Clean Hydrogen Production Qualifications Develops a standard for the term "clean hydrogen" which has a carbon intensity equal to or less than 2 kilograms of carbon dioxide-equivalent produced at the site of production per kilogram of hydrogen produced." Subtitle C - Nuclear Energy Infrastructure Sec. 40323: Civil Nuclear Credit Program Creates a program, authorized to be funded with $6 billion per year through 2026, that will provide credit from the government to nuclear reactors that are projected to shut down because they are economically failing. Subtitle D - Hydropower Sec. 40331: Hydroelectric Production Incentives Authorizes a one-time appropriation of $125 million for fiscal year 2022. Sec. 40332: Hydroelectric Efficiency Improvement Incentives Authorizes a one-time appropriation of $75 million for fiscal year 2022. Sec. 40333: Maintaining and Enhancing Hydroelectricity Incentives Authorizes a one-time appropriations of $553 million for repairs and improvements to dams constructed before 1920. The government will pay a maximum of 30% of the project costs, capped at $5 million each. Sec. 40334: Pumped Storage Hydropower Wind and Solar Integration and System Reliability Initiative Authorizes $2 million per year through 2026 to pay 50% or less of the costs of a demonstration project to test the ability of a pumped storage hydropower project to facilitate the long duration storage of at least 1,000 megawatts of intermittent renewable electricity. Subtitle E - Miscellaneous Sec. 40342: Clean Energy Demonstration Program on Current and Former Mine Land Creates a new program, authorized to be funded with $500 million through 2026, to demonstrate the technical and economic viability of putting clean energy projects on former mine land. There will be a maximum of 5 projects and 2 of them have to be solar. Defines a "clean energy project" to include "fossil-fueled electricity generation with carbon capture, utilization, and sequestration." TITLE X - AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS FOR ENERGY ACT OF 2020 Sec. 41001: Energy Storage Demonstration Projects Authorizes $505 million through2025 for energy storage demonstration projects. Sec. 41002: Advanced Reactor Demonstration Program Authorizes between $281 million and $824 million per year through 2027 for advanced nuclear reactor demonstration projects. Sec. 41004: Carbon Capture Demonstration and Pilot Programs Authorizes between $700 million and $1.3 billion through2025 for advanced nuclear reactor demonstration projects. Sec. 41007: Renewable Energy Projects Authorizes $84 million through 2025 for geothermal energy projects. Authorizes $100 million through 2025 for wind energy projects. There is a clarification that this is definitely NOT in addition to amounts wind gets from another fund. Authorizes $80 million through 2025 for solar energy projects. DIVISION E - DRINKING WATER AND WASTEWATER INFRASTRUCTURE DIVISION F - BROADBAND DIVISION G - OTHER AUTHORIZATIONS DIVISION H - REVENUE PROVISIONS DIVISION I - OTHER MATTERS DIVISION J - APPROPRIATIONS DIVISION K - MINORITY BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT Cover Art Design by Only Child Imaginations Music Presented in This Episode Intro & Exit: Tired of Being Lied To by David Ippolito (found on Music Alley by mevio)

There's a saying that triggers me a lot these days. It goes like this: “Everyone can choose for themselves whatever they want to eat”. It triggers me because in my opinion it's just completely false. It triggers me even more because so many people use it all the time to justify not taking responsibility for actions that have a negative impact on others. But, I will try to stay calm as I take you through the reasoning on why I see it this way. Moreover, I will try not to be grudgeful, I will actually come up with solutions so we can eat more of what we want to eat. And at the same time, this whole thing will teach us something about freedom, philosophy, economics and ecosystems. Website: www.ikvraagdusikben.be Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/zjefvanacker Medium: https://medium.com/@zjefvanacker References Land use for agriculture: Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser (2013) — “Land Use”. Published online at OurWorldInData.org. — Link Amazing presentation by Prof Imke De Boer on optimal land use for circular farming, — Prof Imke de Boer presentation at WUR about circular farming — Link Difference in uptake between animal based proteins and plant based proteins: Berrazaga, Insaf et al. “The Role of the Anabolic Properties of Plant- versus Animal-Based Protein Sources in Supporting Muscle Mass Maintenance: A Critical Review.” Nutrients vol. 11,8 1825. 7 Aug. 2019, doi:10.3390/nu11081825 — Link Isaiah Berlin's Positive and negative freedom: Carter, Ian, “Positive and Negative Liberty”, The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Winter 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.) — Link Doughnut Economics by Kate Raworth — Link

Check out the heroes who saved the ozone layer at https://futureoflife.org/future-of-life-award/ Lots of global problems seem intractable, but there's a formula for success that we can follow. LEARN MORE ************** To learn more about this topic, start your googling with these keywords: Ozone layer: A thin layer of ozone concentrated in the Earth's stratosphere roughly 10 kilometers above that absorbs most of the sun's ultraviolet radiation before it hits the Earth's surface. Ultraviolet radiation: Invisible rays of energy that come from the sun that can be harmful to humans and other lifeforms. Chlorofluorocarbons: Also known as CFCs, these long man-made molecules used to be widely used refrigerants and solvents before it was discovered that - when exposed to ultraviolet radiation - their chlorine atoms would break off and combine with ozone molecules. Smallpox: A virus that killed more than half a billion humans before being eradicated in 1980. Disease Surveillance: A practice by which disease progressions are closely monitored in order to minimize the harm caused by outbreaks. ⬇️ PREORDER OUR FIRST BOOK (out October 12th) ⬇️ DTFBA (get SUPER-cool book bundles here!): https://store.dftba.com/collections/minuteearth Amazon - http://bit.ly/MinuteEarthExplains Bookshop.org - http://bit.ly/MinuteEarthexplains Barnes and Noble - http://bit.ly/Minuteearthexplains Indigo (Canada)- http://bit.ly/MinuteearthExplains SUPPORT MINUTEEARTH ************************** If you like what we do, you can help us!: - Become our patron: https://patreon.com/MinuteEarth - Share this video with your friends and family - Leave us a comment (we read them!) CREDITS ********* David Goldenberg (@dgoldenberg) | Script Writer, Narrator and Director Ever Salazar (@eversalazar) | Illustration, Video Editing and Animation Nathaniel Schroeder | Music MinuteEarth is produced by Neptune Studios LLC https://neptunestudios.info OUR STAFF ************ Sarah Berman • Arcadi Garcia i Rius David Goldenberg • Julián Gustavo Gómez Melissa Hayes • Alex Reich • Henry Reich • Peter Reich Ever Salazar • Leonardo Souza • Kate Yoshida OUR LINKS ************ Youtube | https://youtube.com/MinuteEarth TikTok | https://tiktok.com/@minuteearth Twitter | https://twitter.com/MinuteEarth Instagram | https://instagram.com/minute_earth Facebook | https://facebook.com/Minuteearth Website | https://minuteearth.com Apple Podcasts| https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/minuteearth/id649211176 REFERENCES ************** Ochmann, Sophie, and Max Roser. “Smallpox.” Our World in Data, 2018, https://ourworldindata.org/smallpox. Data on Smallpox. Henderson, D A. SMALLPOX - the DEATH of a DISEASE : The inside Story of Eradicating a Worldwide Killer. S.L., Prometheus, 2021, pp. 57–61. CDC. “History of Smallpox.” Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 20 Feb. 2021, https://cdc.gov/smallpox/history/history.html. Waxman, Olivia B. 2019. “Reagan Administration Officials at First Dismissed the Ozone Hole. Here's What Changed.” Time. April 9, 2019. https://time.com/5564651/reagan-ozone-hole/ Velders, G. J. M., S. O. Andersen, J. S. Daniel, D. W. Fahey, and M. McFarland. 2007. “The Importance of the Montreal Protocol in Protecting Climate.” Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 104 (12): 4814–19. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.0610328104. US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. n.d. “Susan Solomon: Pioneering Atmospheric Scientist.” Celebrating200years.noaa.gov. Accessed July 20, 2021. https://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/historymakers/solomon/welcome.html. Solomon, Susan. 2019. “The Discovery of the Antarctic Ozone Hole.” Nature 575 (7781): 46–47. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-02837-5 Pyle, John, and Neil Harris. 2013. “Joe Farman (1930–2013).” Nature 498 (7455): 435–35. https://doi.org/10.1038/498435a. Foege, William H, and Milbank Memorial Fund. House on Fire : The Fight to Eradicate Smallpox. Berkeley, University Of California Press, 2012 Future of Life Institute. “Future of Life Award 2020: Saving 200,000,000 Lives by Eradicating Smallpox.” Future of Life Institute, Lucas Perry, 11 Dec. 2020, https://futureoflife.org/the-future-of-life-podcast/.

History is filled with stories of great people stepping up in times of crisis. Presidents averting wars; soldiers leading troops away from certain death; data scientists sleeping on the office floor to launch a new webpage a few days sooner. That last one is barely a joke ? by our lights, people like today?s guest Max Roser should be viewed with similar admiration by historians of COVID-19. Links to learn more, summary and full transcript. Max runs Our World in Data, a small education nonprofit which began the pandemic with just six staff. But since last February his team has supplied essential COVID statistics to over 130 million users ? among them BBC, The Financial Times, The New York Times, the OECD, the World Bank, the IMF, Donald Trump, Tedros Adhanom, and Dr. Anthony Fauci, just to name a few. An economist at Oxford University, Max Roser founded Our World in Data as a small side project in 2011 and has led it since, including through the wild ride of 2020. In today's interview Max explains how he and his team realized that if they didn't start making COVID data accessible and easy to make sense of, it wasn't clear when anyone would. Our World in Data wasn't naturally set up to become the world's go-to source for COVID updates. Up until then their specialty had been long articles explaining century-length trends in metrics like life expectancy ? to the point that their graphing software was only set up to present yearly data. But the team eventually realized that the World Health Organization was publishing numbers that flatly contradicted themselves, most of the press was embarrassingly out of its depth, and countries were posting case data as images buried deep in their sites where nobody would find them. Even worse, nobody was reporting or compiling how many tests different countries were doing, rendering all those case figures largely meaningless. Trying to make sense of the pandemic was a time-consuming nightmare. If you were leading a national COVID response, learning what other countries were doing and whether it was working would take weeks of study - and that meant, with the walls falling in around you, it simply wasn't going to happen. Ministries of health around the world were flying blind. Disbelief ultimately turned to determination, and the Our World in Data team committed to do whatever had to be done to fix the situation. Overnight their software was quickly redesigned to handle daily data, and for the next few months Max and colleagues like Edouard Mathieu and Hannah Ritchie did little but sleep and compile COVID data. In this episode Max tells the story of how Our World in Data ran into a huge gap that never should have been there in the first place - and how they had to do it all again in December 2020 when, eleven months into the pandemic, there was nobody to compile global vaccination statistics. We also talk about: * Our World in Data's early struggles to get funding * Why government agencies are so bad at presenting data * Which agencies did a good job during the COVID pandemic (shout out to the European CDC) * How much impact Our World in Data has by helping people understand the world ? How to deal with the unreliability of development statistics ? Why research shouldn't be published as a PDF ? Why academia under-incentivises data collection ? The history of war ? And much more - Producer: Keiran Harris. Audio mastering: Ryan Kessler. Transcriptions: Sofia Davis-Fogel.

BioSharan Burrow has been the General Secretary of the International Trade Union Confederation since 2010. In her role she represents 200 million workers in 163 countries and territories with 331 national affiliates and is the first woman to have this position. Sharan Burrow has been the person behind some of the biggest union negotiations regarding labour rights and economic reforms both in Australia and internationally.Before becoming the General Secretary of the ITUC, Sharan held other leadership positions in the organisation. She also led the Australian Council of Trade Unions (ACTU) from 2000 to 2010. Her role as President saw the introduction of Paid Paternal Leave in Australia, a huge win for women’s rights. As an advocate for the environment, labour rights, and women’s rights, Sharan’s career has taken her to important positions including a Board Member of the UN Global Compact, Panel Member of UN Secretary General’s High-Level Panel on Women’s Economic Empowerment, Vice Chair of the B Team, Commissioner for the New Climate Economy, Ambassador for the Food and Land Use Coalition, the Wellbeing Alliance, the World Benchmarking Alliance, Chair of the Just Transition Centre and Member of the WEF Global Future Council on the Future of Production. Moreover, she was also the co-chair of the inaugural WEF Global Technology Governance Summit in 2021. Sharan Burrow was born in New South Wales to a family very active in the labour movement. She graduated from the University of New South Wales in teaching.Further reading: Official Bio https://www.ituc-csi.org/sharan-burrow-6329?lang=en How to fix a broken labour market (March 2021) https://www.top1000funds.com/2021/03/how-to-fix-a-broken-labour-market/ As the World Economic Forum convenes this week will people and their environment be centre stage? (January 2021) https://sharanburrow.medium.com/as-the-world-economic-forum-convenes-this-week-will-people-and-their-environment-be-centre-stage-80ee39612d96 Summary of the debate between Max Roser and Jason Hickel (December 2019) https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/2/12/18215534/bill-gates-global-poverty-chart The ILO Centenary Declaration https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/@ed_norm/@relconf/documents/meetingdocument/wcms_711674.pdf

…as Leninist, Noah Smith as Burkean. We neoliberals and neoliberal-adjacents need to come up with five significant discrete policies to make the world economy work better to reduce not just extreme but regular poverty over the next generation, rather than rest on fictitious laurels…Max Roser: “Most people in the world live in poverty. 85% of the world live on less than $30 per day, two-thirds live on less than $10 per day, and every tenth person lives on less than $1.90 per day. In each of these statistics price differences between countries are taken into account to adjust for the purchasing power in each country…”References:Robert Allen: Global Economic History: A Very Short Introduction James Ferguson: The Anti-Politics Machine: “Development”, Depolitization, & Bureaucratic Power in Lesotho James Ferguson: Expectations of Modernity: Myths & Meanings of Urban Life in the Zambian Copper Belt Jason Hickel: The Divide: A Brief Guide to Global Inequality & its Solutions Noah Smith: Against Hickelism: Poverty Is Falling, & It Isn't Because of Free-Market Capitalism Karl Polanyi: The Great Transformation: The Political and Economic Origins of Our Time Max Roser & al.: Our World in Data &, of course:Vernor Vinge: A Fire Upon the Deep (Remember: You can subscribe to this… weblog-like newsletter… here: There’s a free email list. There’s a paid-subscription list with (at the moment, only a few) extras too.) Get full access to Brad DeLong's Grasping Reality at braddelong.substack.com/subscribe

This week we invited our friend Chad Hudson on the show to discuss American healthcare. There are a lot of problems and a lot of proposed solutions. We set out to make sense of it all. Catch us on the radio Mondays at 7est on 90.7fm WKPS https://www.thelion.fm/You can send your thoughts to jigsawpoliticspod@gmail.com or connect with us on social media @Jigsawpolitics or on the web https://jppodcast.wixsite.com/jigsawpolitics Music by Joakim Karud https://youtube.com/joakimkarud JIGSAW POLITICS MERCH OUT NOW https://teespring.com/stores/jigsaw-politics-podcastSources:"87% of Democrats Support 'Medicare for All,' Though Joe Biden Doesn't" by Jeffery Martin. https://www.newsweek.com/87-democrats-support-medicare-all-though-joe-biden-doesnt-1522833Joe Biden Campaign Website https://joebiden.com/"Trump’s quiet campaign to bring back preexisting conditions" By Sarah Kliff and Dylan Scott https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/2018/2/22/17033588/trump-obamacare-preexisting-conditions"Financing Healthcare" Our World In Data by Esteban Ortiz-Ospina and Max Roser https://ourworldindata.org/financing-healthcare"Healthcare" White House https://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/healthcare/"If Trump wins, 20 million people could lose health insurance. If Biden wins, 25 million could gain it." by Dylan Scott https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/21493251/presidential-debate-2020-biden-trump-health-care-planFulfilling President Trump’s Executive Order on Facilitating Drug Importation toLower Prices for American Patients https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/individual-prescription-drug-importation-faq.pdf"Republicans Are Trapped on Preexisting Conditions" by Ronald Brownstein https://www.theatlantic.com/politics/archive/2020/09/why-trump-has-no-real-health-care-plan/616523/

In the fourth episode of The Torch of Progress, we talk with Dr. Max Roser, the researcher and editor behind ourworldindata.org. Key Topics: - Our World in Data - Global Development and its relations to progress studies - What people get wrong about data In This Episode We Discuss: (0:25) Introductions – Progress Studies, a 6 week course covering the history of technology and global living standards (1:20) Speaker Series – upcoming: Deirdre McCloskey, Joel Mokyr, Noor Siddiqui, Anton Howes, and Danica Remy (2:54) Jason Crawford and Max Roser introductions (4:20) What is “global development”? (5:52) Introduce Our World In Data – ourworldindata.org (8:15) You once said that—before coronavirus—Our World in Data had a reputation as “the good news guys”. What does that mean and where did it come from? (10:55) Did we just get lucky in the last 4 or 5 decades that we had all this progress instead of more global catastrophe? (12:22) Chart of how happy people report they are vs how happy they estimate their average countryman is. Basically everybody thinks their country is less happy than it is. Personal optimism vs. social pessimism (13:40) To what extent is the source of overpessimism a "data problem" and to what extent is it a mindset or philosophical problem—the wrong framework? And what's the relationship between the two? (16:50) How do you integrate both data and narrative in your research and in writing. Our World in Data does this really well. How do you put those two together without one driving too much? (19: 15) What do you most wish you could get good numbers about that he can't currently? (25:15) What data has surprised you most since he started doing this? (27:23) Have you been surprised enough to be able to predict where more surprises might be, if he dug into that data? (31:25) Relationship of air pollution to cognitive effects – what does the data point to? (34:15) What is the right way to use data to understand the covid pandemic? What are other people doing wrong in how they interpret and present covid data? (40:00) What advice commonly given to high schoolers is commonly wrong? Q&A (42:42) What has been the hardest thing when it comes to collecting data and taking conclusions from the data? (45:20) Do you think that education systems (e.g. high school) don't focus enough on using statistics and data to interpret history? If so, why, and what should people do about it? (48:20) You mentioned earlier, coal kills more people than nuclear power - but doesn't make for good news. How would you fix news/the media? (50:30) What is your favorite example of a thing that intuitively feels right, but turn out to be wrong when you look at the data? (53:15) Do you think that data can lull us into a sense of false security? Although poverty has decreased over the years, we should still work to eradicate it, but knowing about the decrease could decrease enthusiasm for change and progress, as people will settle for insufficient improvement once some change is made? (57:27) Is the data on global progress often surprising for other people to see? Why is it that they are surprised? Is it flawed education? The media? (59:40) Follow Max on twitter @maxcroser, @ourworldindata, ourworldindata.org (1:00:01) Matt Bateman on PSYS Course

Guest speakers include Michael Robinet, Edward Glaeser, Desmond Lachman, Max Roser, Steven Davis, Philip Fischer, Chris Arnade, Stephen Krasner, Dr. Charles Schwartz, Dr. Alan Gwertzman, Joel Mokyr, Ernest Freeberg, Dr. Jeremy Brown, Gary Saul Morson, and Jeff Shell.

Yaneer Bar-Yam is a physicist and the founding president of the New England Complex Systems Institute. Show notes Selected links •Follow Yaneer: Website | Twitter •Endcoronavirus.org •Dynamics of Complex Systems, by Yaneer Bar-Yam •Making Things Work, by Yaneer Bar-Yam •'Coronavirus Disease (COVID-19)', research by Max Roser and Hannah Ritchie •Powers of Ten YouTube video •'An Introduction to Complex Systems Science and Its Applications', 2019 paper by Alexander Siegenfeld and Yaneer Bar-Yam •'The Architecture of Complexity', 1962 paper by Herbert Simon •'Science and Complexity', 1948 paper by Warren Weaver •'More is Different', 1972 paper by Phil Anderson •Scale, by Geoffrey West •Johns Hopkins University coronavirus interactive map •'Systemic Risk of Pandemic via Novel Pathogens -- Coronavirus: Note', January 2020 note by Nassim Taleb, Yaneer Bar-Yam, and Joe Norman •The Square And The Tower, by Niall Ferguson •'Long-range interaction and evolutionary stability in a predator-prey system', 2006 paper by Erik Rauch and Yaneer Bar-Yam •'Transition to Extinction', 2016 article by Yaneer Bar-Yam •'Nonpharmaceutical Interventions Implemented by US Cities During the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic', 2007 paper by Howard Markel et al •'Strategies for mitigating an influenza pandemic', 2006 paper by Neil Ferguson et al •Join the fellowship of the doers: necsivolunteers@gmail.com Topics discussed •Yaneer's background and parents. 11:39 •Powers of Ten. 12:06 •Highlights from Yaneer's time as an MIT student. 15:29 •The role of chance in our lives. 21:28 •What is "complexity"? 25:42 •Complex systems. 30:23 •Emergence. 37:06 •Phase transitions. 44:26 •Self-organization. 49:48 •Universality. 55:12 •Applying complex systems science to the Arab Spring. 1:03:13 •Taking stock of the coronavirus epidemic. 1:12:47 •What is the current best estimate for th...

(NOTAS Y ENLACES DEL CAPÍTULO AQUÍ: https://www.jaimerodriguezdesantiago.com/kaizen/44-sera-2020-el-mejor-ano-de-la-historia-de-la-humanidad/)Actualización agosto de 2020El capítulo que vas a escuchar, originalmente no se llamaba así. Se llamaba: "¿Será 2020 el mejor año de la humanidad?"Cuando escribo esta pequeña actualización, en agosto de 2020, todos tenemos bastante claro que el mejor... lo que se dice el mejor... seguramente no va a ser.La verdad es que me he resistido mucho a cambiar el título. Porque aunque me ha costado muchos cachondeos de oyentes que lo han descubierto después de su publicación, eso me daba bastante igual. Porque el cachondeo, con respeto, siempre es bueno y es sano.Pero he decidido cambiarlo ligeramente por dos motivos: el primero, y más importante, es porque creo que el sufrimiento que ha traído este 2020 a tantas personas merece un respeto. Y yo no terminaba de estar cómodo con la idea que alguien que hubiese pasado alguna tragedia personal por culpa del COVID viera este título. El segundo motivo es que el título en sí era lo de menos. El tema del que realmente trata este capítulo sigue siendo cierto y sigue siendo válido a pesar de todo lo que hemos sufrido en 2020. Y no me gustaría que nadie dejara de escucharlo simplemente porque el título fuera poco acertado.De hecho, te contaré un secreto: la mayor parte de lo que vas a escuchar lo escribí en 2018. Pero no le encontré el hueco en el podcast hasta principios de 2020. Qué le vamos a hacer.Hecha esta aclaración, ahora sí, te dejo escuchar este capítulo. Y, por supuesto, cachondearte en redes sociales después. Faltaría más.Una mañana cualquiera, Drácula se presenta en tu salón. Y en lugar de usarte de desayuno, o al menos antes de hacerlo, le da por tener una amable conversación contigo. Te cuenta que se acaba de despertar de una larga siesta, de un siglo y medio más o menos, y que está fascinado por tu mundo. Mientras tú tiemblas de miedo en una esquina, él enciende y apaga la luz, jugando con el interruptor como un niño pequeño. Gira y gira sobre sí mismo, pasando los ojos por cada rincón de la habitación, maravillado. De pronto se para y te mira fijamente. Se acerca lentamente a ti. Sonríe entre divertido y confundido y te dice:“He sido un noble durante más de 400 años. He vivido en palacios y castillos. He conocido a las personas más poderosas de la historia y nunca, jamás, había conocido tanto lujo. Sabía que el futuro traería maravillas. Pero no tenía ni idea de que las haría ordinarias.”He querido empezar el capítulo con este pequeño homenaje para recomendarte una mini-serie llamada Drácula, que ha hecho la BBC y que tienes ahora mismo en Netflix. Al menos en España, en otros países imagino que también, pero no lo sé. El caso es que a mí me ha parecido bastante entretenida y además, con esta escena que te he descrito, me recordó un tema que llevaba queriendo tratar desde la primera temporada de kaizen. Y lo que pasa es que con esta mente dispersa que la naturaleza me ha dado, lo había dejado a medio escribir y me había puesto con otros. Y es que, a excepción de Drácula -y tal vez otros seres inmortales que flipan con nuestra época-, me parece que todos tenemos cierta sensación de que el mundo va a peor en los últimos años: seguimos cargándonos el planeta, surgen populismos en casi todos los países occidentales y en la distancia ya empezamos a escuchar el murmullo de la siguiente crisis cuando ni siquiera hemos cerrado del todo las cicatrices de la anterior. Así que el panorama no parece el más positivo.Pero siendo todo eso cierto, que lo es, a la vez creo que nos falta la perspectiva suficiente como para entender que vivimos en el mejor momento posible. Literalmente: nunca ha habido un momento mejor en la historia de la humanidad. Claro, que lo mismo no soy objetivo, porque es el que me ha tocado vivir. ¡Decir lo contrario, me deprimiría profundamente!Al menos parece no estoy solo en esto de creer que hay cosas que celebrar. En los últimos años se han publicado varios libros y estudios que analizan de manera metódica cómo ha progresado la humanidad y que me han servido de referencia para este capítulo. Hay también una página maravillosa que se llama “Our World in Data” que se dedica a analizar cómo progresamos frente a los mayores retos de la humanidad. Así que como han sido bastantes las referencias en las que me he apoyado y para no estar repitiéndome continuamente, que sepas que tienes todas en las notas del capítulo por si quieres profundizar por tu cuenta.Uno de esos libros es Factfulness, de Hans Rosling. Y en él, Rosling explica que hay 10 instintos o tendencias que distorsionan la imagen que tenemos del mundo. Son cosas como la tendencia que tenemos a enfocarnos más en las cosas negativas que en las positivas, lo mal que se nos da estimar magnitudes o la necesidad que tenemos de agrupar y generalizar. No me voy a extender sobre ellas, porque son un montón, y porque además tienen mucho que ver con un tema del que ya te he hablado bastante en el podcast: los sesgos cognitivos. Creo que cada uno de estos instintos que menciona Rosling están claramente asociados a algún sesgo. Para mí, un ejemplo muy claro de esto son las noticias. Si al hecho de que las noticias negativas venden mucho, y que por lo tanto estamos bombardeados por ellas, le unes nuestro sesgo de disponibilidad (es decir, que nos parece más frecuente, o más probable, lo que hemos escuchado recientemente, simplemente porque está más disponible en nuestro cerebro), pues creo que es evidente que podemos acabar teniendo una visión distorsionada de la realidad. A ver, no me malinterpretes, no estoy en contra ni mucho menos de que las noticias nos recuerden las cosas que van mal. Porque es obvio que las cosas no van bien en muchos aspectos. Es más, hay una curiosa y peligrosa paradoja en eso de que sea el mejor momento de la historia para estar vivos, porque igual que lo es, podemos convertirlo en el peor casi de golpe. En algunos aspectos, la diferencia entre mejorar y no hacerlo puede perfectamente ser la diferencia entre nuestra supervivencia o nuestra extinción. O al menos, una vuelta a sufrimientos que creíamos olvidados. Vamos, que no estamos como para relajarnos tampoco. Pero sí creo que es un falso dilema que tengamos que elegir entre conocer y celebrar los éxitos o ser conscientes del camino que queda por recorrer y de la importancia de los retos que tenemos por delante. En fin, que todo este rollo es para explicarte que quiero dedicar algunos capítulos a explorar eso que algunos llaman contrarianismo. Es decir, narrativas alternativas que nos hagan replantearnos lo que habitualmente tomamos por cierto. O hablar de realidades menos evidentes, al menos. Y en el capítulo de hoy he querido empezar por la cara A, la más luminosa. La de buscar cosas de las que alegrarnos. Ya tendremos tiempo, más adelante, de pensar en cuáles de las cosas que creemos que van bien, quizás no lo vayan tanto. Así que, entre tanta noticia catastrófica, hoy vamos a intentar poner una perspectiva histórica a nuestra propia evolución. Insisto, no para que nos relajemos, sino para que entendamos que hemos conseguido avances increíbles en los últimos años y reforzarnos en nuestro compromiso por mejorar aún más en lo que nos queda por recorrer.

On 18 January, the 4th annual Women’s March took place around the world. Women’s March Geneva and Women’s March Zurich, with participation from the Collectif Grève Feministe, the Socialist Party, and SolidaritÉs, hosted a march in Geneva under the theme “Climate Justice is a Feminist Issue”. The Women’s March groups in Switzerland chose to deviate from the Women’s March Global theme, which focused on bodily autonomy, because we found it necessary to draw attention to Switzerland’s contribution to the growing climate crisis. In this episode, Doreen and Isobel dive deeper into why climate justice is a feminist issue, the current state, and what we can do about it. Resources referenced in the show: Swiss Banks in the End of the Fossil Fuel Age, Greenpeace: https://www.banktrack.org/download/swiss_banks_in_the_end_of_the_fossil_fuel_age/greenpeace_banktrack_fossil_fuel_age_english.pdf Global Wage Report 2018, ILO: https://www.ilo.org/global/about-the-ilo/multimedia/maps-and-charts/enhanced/WCMS_650829/lang--en/index.htm The Pursuit of Gender Equality, OECD, 2017: https://www.oecd-ilibrary.org/social-issues-migration-health/the-pursuit-of-gender-equality_9789264281318-en The Task Force for Climated-Related Financial Disclosure: https://www.fsb-tcfd.org/ Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous People: https://www.culturalsurvival.org/publications/cultural-survival-quarterly/free-prior-and-informed-consent-protecting-indigenous Marsha de Cordova: The government shouldn’t blame disabled people for its failings, 2017: https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/dec/12/marsha-de-cordova-disabled-minister-equality-battles Further reading: How to Stop Freaking Out and Tackle Climate Change, 2019, New York Times: https://www.nytimes.com/2020/01/10/opinion/sunday/how-to-help-climate-change.html Top oil firms spending millions lobbying to block climate change policies, says report: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2019/mar/22/top-oil-firms-spending-millions-lobbying-to-block-climate-change-policies-says-report CO2 and Greenhouse Gas Emissions, Hannah Ritchie and Max Roser: https://ourworldindata.org/co2-and-other-greenhouse-gas-emissions

We know that in a lot of organisations, learning and development still means training, and training still means classroom. How do we overcome resistance to the alternatives? Should we overcome that resistance? On this week's episode of The GoodPractice Podcast, Ross G and Owen are joined by Camden Council's Tom Spencer and Sarah Sedley. We discuss: the challenges of delivering learning for a diverse audience historic approaches to learning new opportunities created by technology and a changing mindset. If you'd like to get in touch with us about any of the things we've said on this show, you can tweet @RossGarnerGP, @OwenFerguson, @TomBSpencer or email learning@camden.gov.uk. You can also tweet @GoodPractice and @GoodPracticeAUS. To find out more about what we do, visit goodpractice.com. In 'What I Learned This Week', Owen's nature paper was found via Max Roser, and was: Song, X. P., Hansen, M. C., Stehman, S. V., Potapov, P. V., Tyukavina, A., Vermote, E. F., & Townshend, J. R. (2018). Global land change from 1982 to 2016. Nature, 560(7720), 639. The story Ross shared, about the Polish village of Miejsce Odrzanskie, is online at: https://theconversation.com/polish-village-hasnt-seen-a-boy-born-in-nearly-10-years-heres-how-that-computes-122176 

Bill Gates refers to him as his “favorite economist” for the work he does with his organizaiton “Our World in Data” (www.ourworldindata.org). Today’s guest is Max Roser — and he and his team have influenced several best-selling books, countless news articles, and spurred some of the most important discussions in recent years with his simple premise for a website: what can the data of our world tell us about where we came from and where we’re headed? We cover everything from Max’s background and the founding of “Our World in Data”, to the long-term trends that have really surprised him and his team, to being one of the first non-profits to go through Y Combinator (and how beneficial it can be for non-profits to learn from how Silicon Valley operates). Join us as we dive into these topics with Max in what I hope will be one of many episodes we get to have with him. If you have any questions, feel free to email us at askbelowtheline@gmail.com and follow us on twitter @ twitter.com/gobelowtheline or follow James @ twitter.com/JamesBeshara "Below the Line with James Beshara" is brought to you by Straight Up Podcasts, LLC

How do you travel when you only feel safe at home? And what is the appeal of a hero? [18:12] This week, Aaron and Joey talk about feelings that conflict with safety facts, getting struck by lightning, Aaron's tips for venturing into uncharted territory, Zion Williamson, the hero's burden, and Han Solo (sort of). They don't talk about the great foremother of the "Cone of Possibility": the rather technical "Cone of Uncertainty". references Max Roser from Oxford on data vis around the world. NYTimes on women traveling alone. The delightful background on Jim Dolan and the Knicks Jess was talking about is from Reply All #137 Fool's Trade.

In aflevering 13 van Betrouwbare Bronnen:D66-minister Sigrid Kaag wil richting de Tweede-Kamerverkiezingen een debat over het leiderschap van D66. ‘Een gezond debat hoort erbij, juist in een democratische partij als D66’, zegt de minister voor Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking.Onlangs koos de Tweede-Kamerfractie het jonge Kamerlid Rob Jetten als nieuwe voorzitter. Hij volgde Alexander Pechtold op en is nu de leider van D66. Het ligt voor de hand dat hij lijsttrekker wil worden. Ook Kaag overweegt de strijd aan te gaan: ‘Ik sluit nooit iets uit in het leven. Ik heb heel vaak onverwachte dingen gedaan die ik niet had gepland. Minister zijn bijvoorbeeld. Ik ben teruggekeerd naar Nederland en heb deze functie bewust op me genomen. Dus ik ben in een heel nieuwe fase. Ik wil me nuttig inzetten voor D66. Want ik denk dat D66 een ontzettend belangrijke partij is voor Nederland. Juist ook in deze fase.’Ze pleit voor de terugkeer in het maatschappelijk debat van ‘het redelijke midden’: ‘Er moet tolerantie en respect zijn. Stigmatisering is nooit een oplossing. Een ander wegzetten met een etiket is niet heilzaam.’ Uit peilingen blijkt dat Kaag enorm populair is bij linkse kiezers en heel onpopulair bij de achterban van PVV en Forum voor Democratie.In Betrouwbare Bronnen legt ze uit waarom Nederland het Pact van Marrakech moet ondertekenen. Bij dat migratiepact worden steeds meer vraagtekens gezet, onder anderen door regeringspartijen VVD en CDA. ‘Het is niet juridisch bindend. Het is een kader van afspraken’, zegt Kaag. ‘Er zitten heel wat positieve elementen aan. Het geeft in de toekomst de mogelijkheid om irreguliere migratie beter aan te pakken zodat landen eigen burgers terugnemen. Voor Nederland betekent het in de praktijk heel weinig. Het gaat erom dat andere landen worden opgetrokken om beter te werk te gaan.’Jaap Jansen praat met Kaag ook over haar focus op hulp voor Afrika en het Midden-Oosten en over de handelsproblemen met de VS, China en het Verenigd Koninkrijk.Pieter Gerrit Kroeger belicht naar aanleiding van een pleidooi van VVD-Kamerlid Thierry Aartsen het fenomeen 'volkscultuur' en vertelt dat Sovjetleider Stalin hier zo zijn eigen gedachten bij had. Confessionele Kamerleden, voorlopers van het latere CDA, vonden subsidies voor kunst en cultuur maar niks. Tot er in de Christelijk-Historische Unie andere geluiden klonken. PG draait hierbij een klein stukje opera: Lady Macbeth.Als bruggetje naar het gesprek met Sigrid Kaag looft Kroeger het werk van de Zweedse statisticus Hans Rosling en zijn leerling Max Roser. Zij tonen aan dat er al veel verbeterd is in de wereld: de welvaartssprong is significant.Tijdlijn00:00:00 Introductie door Jaap Jansen00:03:02 PG Kroeger over volkscultuur00:49:52 PG Kroeger over Hans Rosling en het belang van statistieken01:07:51 Sigrid Kaag, minister voor Buitenlandse Handel en Ontwikkelingssamenwerking01:43:45 Einde

Max Roser forscht am Institute for New Economic Thinking der Universität in Oxford an Forschungsprogrammen rund um die globale Einkommensentwicklung und arbeitet empirisch an Statistiken und Analysen, um volkswirtschaftliche Zusammenhänge und Entwicklungen deutlich werden zu lassen. Aus eigener Initiative startete er das Projekt "Our World In Data", das führende Studien verschiedener Forschungsgebiete im ökonomisch-soziologischen Bereich analysiert und die dort erarbeiteten Zahlen visualisiert und neu kombiniert. Wir sprechen über neue Ansätze in der Ökonomie-Forschung, die Bedeutung von Visualisierungen und Big Data für die Wissenschaftskommunikation sowie über den Nutzen des Internets für die Forschung und Öffentlichkeitsarbeit insgesamt.

We have economist Max Roser from University of Oxford to talk about his Our World in Data project where he visualizes the social, economic, and environmental history of humanity up to the present day. Our World in Data is a remarkable project that Max started on his own and worked on little by little in his spare time until it evolved into a full website with plenty of interesting data, presentations, and visualizations to to better understand humanity. The nicest thing is that it provides a quite positive picture of the world and about the many ways that we are improving our conditions. Go to the website (http://ourworldindata.org/) and take a look at War and Violence, Poverty, Global Heath, Etc. On the show we talk about how Max started his work; the process behind finding a topic, collecting, and curating the data; and producing these nice visuals that people can easily understand. We also talk about human biases, persuasion, and how Max learned to build web sites and visualizations. Enjoy the show! --- This episode is sponsored by Visualizing Well-Being, the Wikiprogress Data Visualization Contest 2015. Enter the contest to win a trip to Mexico! To find out more, visit the Wikiprogress website (www.wikiprogress.org) or the facebook page or follow @wikiprogress on twitter. --- LINKS Our World in Data - http://ourworldindata.org Some of the projects: War and Peace - http://ourworldindata.org/data/war-peace/war-and-peace-before-1945/ Suicide - http://ourworldindata.org/data/health/suicide/ Violence http://ourworldindata.org/VisualHistoryOf/Violence.html#/title-slide Chartbook of economic inequality Pinker’s Book: Better Angles Of Our Nature Notebook software - Circus Ponies Scott Murray’s D3.js Book Hans Rosling’s Gapminder Presentation Zdenek Hynek - http://www.geographics.cz/