How much would you pay to save a life?

In this episode, I’m joined by Sjir Hoeijmakers, CEO of Giving What We Can — the non-profit behind the 10% Pledge, a growing global movement to help people give more effectively.

We explore how thoughtful giving can enrich your life, deepen relationships, and empower you to make a real difference. Sjir shares practical tips for making giving easier and more impactful — and we also talk about ways to contribute beyond donating money.

Whether you’re curious about how you can do good through giving or already on the effective giving path path, there’s plenty to take away. Enjoy!

Resources

Websites:

• Giving What We Can — building a global community of people who care about doing what they can to help others, especially through the 10% Pledge

• Effective Altruism — a movement based on evidence and reason to identify the most effective ways to help others, and act on those findings

• School for Moral Ambition — a growing global movement helping as many people as possible take the step towards a job with a positive impact

• 80,000 Hours — helping people find fulfilling careers that make a big positive impact on the world’s most pressing problems

• Ambitious Impact (AIM) — a platform providing exceptional people with the training, funding, and research to improve lives at scale, through four programs:

  • Charity Entrepreneurship — start a new high-impact charity

  • Founding to Give — launch a high-growth company to donate to high-impact charities

  • Grantmaking — increase the impact of your philanthropic giving

  • Research — equip participants to research and recommend the most effective charities

Books:

• The Life You Can Save — Peter Singer

• Doing Good Better — William MacAskill

• Moral Ambition — Rutger Bregman

• Humankind: A Hopeful History — Rutger Bregman

Is our obsession with chasing pleasure putting our well-being — and our chance to live meaningfully — at risk?

In this episode, I’m joined by Dr Bhuvan Awasthi, a cognitive neuroscientist and global leader in the science-policy-diplomacy space. Currently a Senior Behavioural Scientist with the Canadian Government, Bhuvan’s work draws on insights from neuroscience, emotion, and decision-making research.

Named Australia’s Neuroscientist of the Year for his outreach work, Bhuvan brings fascinating behavioural insights to help us better understand ourselves. Together, we unpack the difference between pleasure and well-being, where meaning fits in, and practical ways to help us make better decisions and live more meaningfully.

Resources:

• The Dunedin Study: https://dunedinstudy.otago.ac.nz/

• • A gradient of childhood self-control predicts health, wealth, and public safety: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC3041102/

Further reading on the relationship between self-control and well-being:

• Unraveling the Relationship Between Trait Self-Control and Subjective Well-Being: The Mediating Role of Four Self-Control Strategies: https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/psychology/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00706/full

• High Self-Control Individuals Prefer Meaning Over Pleasure: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/19485506251323948

• See also a media write up on the above study: https://www.psypost.org/people-with-high-self-control-prefer-meaning-over-pleasure-study-finds/

In this episode, I’m joined by the wonderful David Bradbury, a seasoned chaplain who has spent decades walking alongside people — through everyday struggles at work and life’s big, existential questions around purpose, faith, and meaning.

Together, we explore the essence of spirituality beyond religion — and why so many of us in the West feel spiritually hungry, yearning for deeper connection in a world that can feel increasingly lonely and disconnected. David offers gentle wisdom and practical ways to cultivate a richer spiritual life, even if you don’t consider yourself religious or particularly spiritual.

We talk about the importance of curiosity, community, and making space for meaningful connection — not just in milestone moments, but in the quiet, everyday ones too.

From reflections on the nature of God (or ‘the Other’) and our deep interconnectedness, to the power of silence, presence, and truly listening, this conversation invites you to slow down, breathe, and go inward. Because sometimes, connection begins with something small and unassuming — like watching the sunrise or simply sharing a quiet moment.