Julia Galef

[[File:20150126 Julia Galef 2.JPG|thumb|165px|Galfe in 2015.]]{{LessWrong}}
'''Julia Galef''' {{lived|1983}} is a podcaster and journalist who has worked and volunteered for the [[skeptic]], rationalist, and [[effective altruism]] movements.

==Career==

She hosted the official podcast of the New York City Skeptics, the ''Rationally Speaking'' podcast, which was active from 2010 to 2021.<ref>http://rationallyspeakingpodcast.org/</ref> For the first five years it was co-hosted with philosopher [[Massimo Pigliucci]] and sat between the skeptic, atheist, and [[LessWrong]] 'rationalist' communities. In February 2015 (episode 114) Pigliucci stepped down to pursue other projects and more and more guests and questions started to come from LessWrong circles. Many of these had a right-[[Libertarian]] flavour, such as the right to self-medicate with an academic who later wrote a textbook on Libertarianism (episode 199),<ref>Jessica Flanigan and Christopher Freiman, ''Libertarianism: The Basics'' (Routledge, 2025)</ref> or the problems with [[Implicit bias|implicit association tests]] with [[Jesse Singal]] (episode 192). In 2020 she interviewed {{wpl|Vitalik Buterin||}} about [[cryptocurrency]], prediction markets, and life extension.

Galef presented herself as inquisitive and broad-minded but rarely asked hard questions when [[WEIRD|young wealthy educated guests]] suggested radical new policies, usually giving the impression that she was undecided between the different perspectives she was hearing. She also blogs for the Rationally Speaking Blog,<ref>[http://rationallyspeaking.blogspot.com/p/collaborators.html Rationally Speaking Collaborators], Rationally Speaking blog. Retrieved 5-10-2012</ref> and was a founding board member of [[LessWrong]] spinoff the Center for Applied Rationality (CFAR) in Berkeley,<ref>[http://appliedrationality.org/about/ CFAR Collaborators], Center for Applied Rationality. Retrieved 10-5-2012</ref> which originally marketed itself as an exercise in applied skepticism, but pivoted in 2016 to admit it was all about AI Risk in the LessWrong sense.<ref>http://lesswrong.com/lw/o7o/cfars_new_focus_and_ai_safety/</ref> She left the board after 2016, the year of the pivot, and as of 2025 is listed under "staff alumni."<ref>Benjamin Wallace, "The Tech Elite’s Favorite Pop Intellectual," ''New York Magazine Intelligencer'', 13 April 2021 https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/04/julia-galef-scout-mindset.html#:~:text=In%202016%2C%20Galef%20left%20CFAR,by%20Penguin%20on%20April%2013.</ref><ref>https://rationality.org/about/staff</ref> In 2021 she published a book arguing for approaching problems with curiosity not a predetermined conclusion, and the podcast went on hiatus. Since then she has been less visible in public.

Galef interviewed Effective Altruist [[Kelsey Piper]] in 2021,<ref>http://rationallyspeakingpodcast.org/258-how-to-reason-about-covid-kelsey-piper/</ref> and was profiled by Piper's ''Future Perfect'' in 2022.<ref>https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/23391917/future-perfect-50-julia-galef-cfar-rationalist</ref> 

In 2021, she was engaged to rationalist and effective altruist [[Luke Muehlhauser]], joining the "rationalists who date other rationalists" club.<ref>Benjamin Wallace, "The Tech Elite’s Favorite Pop Intellectual," ''New York Magazine Intelligencer'', 13 April 2021 https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2021/04/julia-galef-scout-mindset.html#:~:text=In%202016%2C%20Galef%20left%20CFAR,by%20Penguin%20on%20April%2013.</ref> At that time she often described herself as an [[effective altruist]] "because it’s easier to explain, and it doesn’t rub people the wrong way the way ‘rationalist’ does. It’s simpler and friendlier."

== Popular talks ==

* [https://youtu.be/tLgNZ9aTEwc The Straw Vulcan], Skepticon 4, 2011.
* [https://www.ted.com/talks/julia_galef_why_you_think_you_re_right_even_if_you_re_wrong Why you think you're right — even if you're wrong] (contrasting "soldier" and "scout" thinking), TEDxPSU Feb 2016.

==Bibliography==
*''The Scout Mindset'' Galef, Julia (Penguin, 2021) [[Special:Booksources/9780735217553|ISBN 9780735217553]]

==External links==
*[https://www.nycskeptics.org/ New York City Skeptics]

==References==
{{reflist|2|80%}}

{{stub|Skepticism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Galef, Julia}}

[[Category:Bloggers]]
[[Category:Effective altruists]]
[[Category:Journalists]]
[[Category:Podcasts]]
[[Category:Skeptics]]
[[Category:Living people]]

Categories: Bloggers, Effective altruists, Journalists, Podcasts, Skeptics, Living people