Read the full transcript here.

Are we trying to maximize moment-to-moment happiness or life satisfaction? Can self-reportsreally guide policy and giving? What happens to quality of life metrics when we judge impact bywellbeing instead of health or income? How should we compare treating depression to providingclean water when their benefits feel incomparable? Do cultural norms and scale-use quirksimpact the accuracy of global happiness scores? How much do biases warp both our forecastsand our data? Is it ethical to chase the biggest happiness returns at the expense of othermeaningful interventions? Where do autonomy, agency, and justice fit if philanthropy aims toreduce suffering or maximize aggregate happiness? Can we balance scientific rigor with theirreducibly subjective nature of joy, misery, and meaning? What should donors actually do withwellbeing-based cost-effectiveness numbers in the face of uncertainty and long-run effects? Andcould a wellbeing lens realistically reshape which charities, and which policies, the world fundsnext?

Dr. Michael Plant is the Founder and Director of the Happier Lives Institute, a non-profit thatresearches the most cost-effective ways to increase global well-being and provides charityrecommendations. Michael is a Post-Doctoral Research Fellow at the Wellbeing Research Centre,Oxford and his PhD in Philosophy from Oxford was supervised by Peter Singer. He is a co-authorof the 2025 World Happiness Report. He lives in Bristol, England, with his wife.

Links:

The Happier Lives Institute
Wellbeing Research Centre at Oxford
PersonalityMap (correlation between life satisfaction and moment-to-moment happiness)
The Elephant in the Bed Net
World Happiness Report 2025

Staff

Spencer Greenberg — Host + Director
Ryan Kessler — Producer + Technical Lead
Uri Bram — Factotum
WeAmplify — Transcriptionists
Igor Scaldini — Marketing Consultant

Music

Affiliates

Clearer Thinking
GuidedTrack
Mind Ease
Positly
UpLift

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Beyond saving lives: happiness and doing good (with Michael Plant)

Clearer Thinking with Spencer Greenberg