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Edan Simpson

Projects and Communications Coordinator

Edan Simpson joined the European Leadership Network in December 2022 as Projects and Communications Coordinator, with responsibility over the New European Voices on Existential Risk (NEVER) project, focussing on young leaders in nuclear and existential risk. He now also coordinates the ELN’s OSCE Expert Network.

He holds a Master’s degree in the Cultural History of Modern Europe from Utrecht University, where he first began working in podcasting for the Unsettling Knowledge podcast. Edan completed his Bachelor of Arts in History at the University of Cambridge, where he worked as editor-in-chief for the Cambridge Tab, served on various student committees as an LGBT+ officer, and volunteered in Tanzania with the Cambridge Development Initiative.

Prior to working for the European Leadership Network, Edan worked as a sales assistant and as an assistant for Olivia Blake MP, the Member of Parliament for Sheffield Hallam.

Content by Edan Simpson

Podcast

Ok, Doomer! The NEVER podcast – Nukes and new tech

In this special bonus episode of the NEVER podcast – Ok, Doomer!, we take a deep dive into the ELN’s Nuclear and New Technologies project, which aims to identify the impacts of emerging and disruptive technologies (EDT) on nuclear decision-making and present practical steps to mitigate the potentially disruptive effects. Featuring discussions on why it’s best to explore the aggregate impact of EDTs as well as examining them individually, an introduction to the ELN’s Guardrails and Self-Assessment (GSA) Framework for Emerging and Disruptive Technologies (EDTs), and the history of nuclear fail-safe reviews.

24 October 2024 | Jane Kinninmont, Edan Simpson, Belén Bianco, Rishi Paul, Héloïse Fayet, Kim Westerich-Fellner and Julia Berghofer
Emerging Disruptive Technologies and risk reduction
Commentary

Ok, Doomer! The NEVER podcast – How to save the world

Listen to the final episode of the NEVER podcast – Ok, Doomer! This episode takes a step back to assess what we’ve learned about existential and global catastrophic risks in previous episodes, and what comes next. Featuring a discussion of how ordinary people can get involved in existential risk mitigation, what ongoing efforts will prove most successful in creating a framework to deal on these topics, and how the example of the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty demonstrates that global cooperation to deal with the biggest threats we all face is possible, even in a tense geopolitical climate.

20 September 2024 | Jane Kinninmont, Edan Simpson, Florian Ulrich Jehn, Nadine Andersen and Francis J. Gavin
Emerging Disruptive Technologies and risk reduction
Commentary

Ok, Doomer! The NEVER podcast – Fake brains and killer robots

Listen to the fifth episode of the NEVER podcast – Ok, Doomer! In this episode, we explore artificial intelligence and its relationship with existential risk. Featuring an introduction to the topic, why we should be especially wary when integrating AI with nuclear weapons systems, the role of AI in arms control, how best to regulate AI on the global level and what international institutions are best placed to do so, as well as historical perspectives on technological change and its impact on our cultural understandings of existential risk.

2 August 2024 | Jane Kinninmont, Edan Simpson, Alice Saltini, Konrad Seifert and Nicolò Miotto
Emerging Disruptive Technologies and risk reduction
See all content by Edan Simpson