"It does open you up to a lot of beautiful vistas of human experience. And as somebody who is interested in the world, it was really undersold to me how interesting kids are, and how interesting being a parent is. And it’s worth paying attention to, not just because you’re supposed to, but because you learn just a tremendous amount about what it means to be a human being." —Ezra Klein

We’ve had a lot of guests over the years who’ve reflected on their experiences having kids, so we thought it would be fun to compile some of these clips to see what picture they paint about the ups and downs of parenting.

Links to learn more and full transcript.

After hearing former guests’ insights, hosts Luisa Rodriguez and Rob Wiblin chat about:

Which of these resonate the most with Rob, now that he’s been a dad for six months (plus an update at nine months).
What have been the biggest surprises for Rob in becoming a parent.
Whether the benefits of parenthood can actually be studied, and if we get skewed impressions of how bad parenting is.
How Rob’s dealt with work and parenting tradeoffs, and his advice for other would-be parents — including a (rough) list of recommended purchases for new or upcoming parents!

This bonus episode includes excerpts from:

Ezra Klein on parenting yourself as well as your children (from episode #157)
Holden Karnofsky on freezing embryos and being surprised by how fun it is to have a kid (#110 and #158)
Parenting expert Emily Oster on how having kids affect relationships, careers and kids, and what actually makes a difference in young kids’ lives (#178)
Russ Roberts on empirical research when deciding whether to have kids (#87)
Spencer Greenberg on his surveys of parents (#183)
Elie Hassenfeld on how having children reframes his relationship to solving pressing global problems (#153)
Bryan Caplan on homeschooling (#172)
Nita Farahany on thinking about life and the world differently with kids (#174)

Chapters:

Cold open (00:00:00)
Rob & Luisa’s intro (00:00:19)
Ezra Klein on parenting yourself as well as your children (00:03:34)
Holden Karnofsky on preparing for a kid and freezing embryos (00:07:41)
Emily Oster on the impact of kids on relationships (00:09:22)
Russ Roberts on empirical research when deciding whether to have kids (00:14:44)
Spencer Greenberg on parent surveys (00:23:58)
Elie Hassenfeld on how having children reframes his relationship to solving pressing problems (00:27:40)
Emily Oster on careers and kids (00:31:44)
Holden Karnofsky on the experience of having kids (00:38:44)
Bryan Caplan on homeschooling (00:40:30)
Emily Oster on what actually makes a difference in young kids' lives (00:46:02)
Nita Farahany on thinking about life and the world differently (00:51:16)
Rob’s first impressions of parenthood (00:52:59)
How Rob has changed his views about parenthood (00:58:04)
Can the pros and cons of parenthood be studied? (01:01:49)
Do people have skewed impressions of what parenthood is like? (01:09:24)
Work and parenting tradeoffs (01:15:26)
Tough decisions about screen time (01:25:11)
Rob’s advice to future parents (01:30:04)
Coda: Rob’s updated experience at nine months (01:32:09)
Emily Oster on her amazing nanny (01:35:01)

Producer: Keiran Harris
Audio engineering: Ben Cordell, Milo McGuire, Simon Monsour, and Dominic Armstrong
Content editing: Luisa Rodriguez, Katy Moore, and Keiran Harris
Transcriptions: Katy Moore

Bonus: Parenting insights from Rob and 8 past guests

80,000 Hours Podcast