
Village gossip, pesticide bans, and gene drives: 17 experts on the future of global health
From 80,000 Hours Podcast by The 80,000 Hours team
April 7, 2026 · 4h 7m
About this episode
A compilation of insights from 17 experts on improving global health and development.
What does it really take to lift millions out of poverty and prevent needless deaths? In this special compilation episode, 17 past guests — including economists, nonprofit founders, and policy advisors — share their most powerful and actionable insights from the front lines of global health and development. You’ll hear about the critical need to boost agricultural productivity in sub-Saharan Africa, the staggering impact of lead poisoning on children in low-income countries, and the social forces that contribute to high neonatal mortality rates in India. What’s so striking is how some of the most effective interventions sound almost too simple to work: banning certain pesticides, replacing thatch roofs, or identifying village “influencers” to spread health information. Full transcript and links to learn more: https://80k.info/ghd Chapters: Cold open (00:00:00) Luisa’s intro (00:00:58) Development consultant Karen Levy on why pushing for “sustainable” programmes isn’t as good as it sounds (00:02:15) Economist Dean Spears on the social forces and gender inequality that contribute to neonatal mortality in Uttar Pradesh (00:06:55) Charity founder Sarah Eustis-Guthrie on what we can…
People in this episode
Host: Luisa
Guests: Karen Levy, Dean Spears, Sarah Eustis-Guthrie, Rachel Glennerster, Hannah Ritchie
Topics covered
- global health
- poverty alleviation
- agricultural productivity
- neonatal mortality
- lead poisoning
- development interventions
Keywords
- global health
- poverty
- agriculture
- neonatal mortality
- lead poisoning
- development
- interventions
Mentioned in this episode
Organizations: PlayPumps
Places: Uttar Pradesh, sub-Saharan Africa, India, low-income countries
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