This frames EA the right way, marginal impact, not universal prescriptions. Career advice depends on what is already saturated and what is neglected. In a world where top EA orgs are fully staffed, the highest impact move for some people could be stability roles that keep systems running. That does not downgrade prestige, it reflects comparative advantage. The mistake critics make is treating EA advice as moral commands for everyone, instead of conditional guidance based on constraints and context.

This hits a real problem inside EA that people do not talk about enough. Optimizing every hour pushes you toward a fragile life with no buffer. When something breaks, and something always does, your impact drops to zero. I have seen smart and committed people burn out the same way you describe, tracking time, cutting rest, feeling guilty while already exhausted.

Maximizing impact works at the level of big decisions, career choice, cause selection, leverage. It breaks when applied minute by minute to a human body and mind. Slack is not indulgence, it is load bearing. Protecting your ability to function is part of doing good, not a betrayal of it.

The explicit modeling of time, money, and flexibility is the most useful part here. Especially the update around external childcare shifting the feasibility frontier. In our case, live in childcare reduced coordination overhead compared to sitters or daycare. 

This is a solid opportunity for people who already live inside a domain and enjoy synthesis more than spotlight. The pay reflects the expectation of taste and context, not just surface level research. Helping shape guest selection and prep indirectly shapes the conversation, which matters given the reach of the podcast. For the right grad student or practitioner, this is leverage and learning at the same time.

This idea gets discussed in infectious disease circles, but it is often framed more dramatically than the evidence supports. Fungi adapting to higher temperatures is real, Candida auris is a good example, but most fungi still struggle to survive in the human body and spread efficiently between people. Soil exposure already exists today, yet serious fungal infections remain rare and mostly affect immunocompromised individuals. It is a risk worth monitoring, not a hidden pandemic waiting to explode, which is likely why it has not triggered broader alarms outside specialist research.

This role sounds important precisely because the risk is no longer theoretical but also not fully contained. Cutting risk through consensus helps, but it does not replace strong governance and clear red lines. A Deputy Director who understands both the technical details and the incentives of bad actors can close gaps that policy statements cannot. If mirror bacteria still sit close enough to misuse, staffing quality becomes a real safety control, not just an admin decision.