
EA Forum Podcast (Curated & popular) “GHD discussion here is slowly dying” by NickLaing
Mar 17, 2026
Nick Laing, author and analyst of EA forum trends in global health and development, reflects on finding the forum after FTX and Doing Good Better. He warns of a steady decline in global health and development discussion and lists seven possible causes. He debates whether the shift matters and proposes concrete ways to revive vibrant GHD conversations.
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Rediscovering EA Through Uganda And The Forum
- Nick Laing discovered EA after reading Doing Good Better in Uganda and later reconnected via FTX headlines and the EA Forum.
- His early forum post on cash benchmarking improved drastically after Iron Sharpens Iron feedback and led him to value the forum as the best GHD discussion hub.
Comments Per GHD Post Have Plummeted
- GHD posts remained about 1 in 20 but comments per post fell from over 6 to about 2, showing sharp engagement decline.
- Nick presents graphs and a 3-month rolling average to show average comments per GHD post dropped by ~60% since Dec 2022.
Multiple Plausible Causes For Decline
- Nick lists seven possible explanations for the decline, including migration to Substack, EA focus on AI/longtermism, and consolidation inside GiveWell, CGIAR, and AIM.
- He rejects the idea there's nothing left to discuss, noting sizable funding shifts like moves toward systemic O-Systems change.



