What Could Go Right?

Podglomerate

What if instead of being on the brink of disaster, we’re on the cusp of a better world? No one can deny the challenges the world faces, from pandemics to climate change to authoritarianism. But pessimism and despair are too easy a response. Each week, Progress Network Founder Zachary Karabell and Executive Director Emma Varvaloucas convene a diverse panel of experts to discuss the central issues of our era, including sustainability, polarization, work, and the economy, and make the case for a brighter future. They emerge from their conversations with a counterintuitive but informed take: progress is on its way.

What if instead of being on the brink of disaster, we’re on the cusp of a better world? No one can deny the challenges the world faces, from pandemics to climate change to authoritarianism. But pessimism and despair are too easy a response. Each week, Progress Network Founder Zachary Karabell and Executive Director Emma Varvaloucas convene a diverse panel of experts to discuss the central issues of our era, including sustainability, polarization, work, and the economy, and make the case for a brighter future. They emerge from their conversations with a counterintuitive but informed take: progress is on its way.

Location:

United States

Genres:

Arts & Culture Podcasts

Networks:

Podglomerate

Description:

Language:

English

Website:

https://theprogressnetwork.org/

Episodes

S2. Ep. 7: Global Trade: The Race to the Top with Gregg Easterbrook

5/11/2022

Are we in an unprecedented era of military peace on the seas? Gregg Easterbrook, a prolific author and a writer and editor at The Atlantic for over 40 years, shares how the Navy, innovation, space travel, and prosperity go hand in hand. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.

Duration:01:00:12

S2. Ep. 6: Pandemic "Retrospective" with Nicholas Christakis and Ezekiel Emanuel

5/4/2022

Are we moving "out of the pandemic phase" of COVID-19? Today we talk with the Director of the Human Nature Lab at Yale University, Nicholas Christakis, and Special Advisor to the Director General of the World Health Organization, Ezekiel Emanuel, about what we've learned over the past two years and where we can go from here. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.

Duration:01:06:37

S2. Ep. 5: The Information Horizon with Tyler Cowen

4/27/2022

What's coming next? We sit down with a modern renaissance man, economist, and podcaster Tyler Cowen to participate in what he calls his greatest pleasure: information extraction. We pick his brain on everything from mRNA to housing bubbles to literature. "The world," he tells us, "has never been more optimistic than it is now." What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.

Duration:01:02:18

S2. Ep. 4: The World Post-Putin with Anne-Marie Slaughter

4/20/2022

The Russian invasion of Ukraine has been framed as a global inflection point. It may or may not be in actuality, but it is certainly a moment that challenges our assumptions of how we view the current world order and opens questions about what the next one would best look like. Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America and a Professor Emerita of Politics and International Affairs at Princeton University, joins us to discuss what is happening now in Ukraine and where the future of defense is...

Duration:01:05:54

S2. Ep. 3: The Happiness Rebellion with Arthur C. Brooks

4/13/2022

What is happiness, and why does it feel so difficult to find? The path to purpose, meaning, love, and contentment is actually no mystery, says Harvard University social scientist Arthur C. Brooks. He shares the research for how to invest in a thriving “happiness 401k.” What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.

Duration:01:03:10

S2. Ep. 2: Does Work Work Anymore? with Roy Bahat

4/6/2022

Work ain’t what it used to be—just ask the millions of Americans who are part of the “Great Resignation.” Venture capitalist and head of Bloomberg Beta, Roy Bahat, is looking to shape work for the better, from new forms of labor organizing to remote-friendly tech. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.

Duration:01:05:16

S2. Ep. 1: The Progress Movement with Jason Crawford

3/30/2022

Is progress still possible? We believe so, and we're not alone. Jason Crawford, founder of The Roots of Progress, sits down with us to talk about the possibilities of the future and makes a case for optimism in the face of pessimistic predictions about tomorrow. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.

Duration:00:48:35

"What Could Go Right?" Season 2

3/23/2022

Season 2 of "What Could Go Right?" returns on March 30, 2022, continuing to examine the world and ask about the role of optimism vs. pessimism, hope vs. fear, and progress vs. regress. Each week we're joined by contributors from diverse fields of business, tech, journalism, politics, and more—all united in their conviction that humanity's ingenuity and willingness to cooperate for the common good is ultimately more potent than the forces pulling in the other direction.

Duration:00:02:08

The Plague Cycle (Bonus)

2/23/2022

It might seem counterintuitive to ask in the middle of the Covid-19 pandemic, but is humanity winning the fight against infectious disease? Charles Kenny, Senior Fellow at the Center for Global Development, says we are. But we must continue availing ourselves of the solutions that have led to this progress if that answer is to stay. In this interview, Kenny speaks with The Progress Network Executive Director Emma Varvaloucas about his new book, The Plague Cycle, outlining the immense headway...

Duration:00:39:22

Bridging Our Divides (Bonus)

2/16/2022

The United States is a country divided, characterized by collapsing levels of trust in our institutions, in our politics, and in each other. How did we get into this mess, and how do we get out? Join The Progress Network for a conversation with TPN Members David Brooks and Theodore R. Johnson, hosted by our founder, Zachary Karabell, centered around this question. They examine ideas for how to bridge our divides at both an individual and collective level. This conversation was recorded on...

Duration:01:02:06

The Population Explosion (Bonus)

2/9/2022

Are we on the brink of a population explosion with untold global consequences? On the contrary, a growing number of experts argue that we are headed for a worldwide decline. Hear from Empty Planet authors John Ibbitson and Darrell Bricker on how this could bring with it many benefits as well as surprising disruptions. This recording was first released on March 5th, 2019. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.

Duration:00:43:00

Our Lonely Century (Bonus)

2/2/2022

What do university students in Britain and Trump voters in the United States have in common? They're lonely. In fact, Noreena Hertz says, loneliness is the defining feature of this century, thanks to a host of drivers ranging from the technological to the economic. The Progress Network founder Zachary Karabell joins Noreena, an economist and author of The Lonely Century, as she elucidates whether we're really more lonely than we used to be, what has led, pandemic aside, to our current state...

Duration:00:39:50

We Are the Outrage Machine (Bonus)

1/26/2022

It's no secret that social media is politically divisive. What we may not be as aware of is how our own behavior feeds into a positive feedback loop that leaves both sides progressively more outraged and more extreme in their beliefs. What should we be aware of before we like, share, and react to politically inflammatory content online? What techniques do we have at our disposal to improve our online behavior? The Progress Network Member Robert Wright, president of the Nonzero Foundation and...

Duration:00:32:38

The Crypto Dream (Bonus)

1/19/2022

What are we to make of the social and financial phenomenon of cryptocurrency? Will it spell the democratization of money free from government control, or is it simply a bubble that is going to pop? The Progress Network founder Zachary Karabell sits down with Wences Casares, a technology entrepreneur and one of the early advocates of Bitcoin, who believes that it will prove to be bigger than the Internet. This recording was first released on January 23rd, 2018. What Could Go Right? is...

Duration:00:40:11

This Changes Everything: The World-Turning Power of Ideas (Bonus)

1/12/2022

Ideas start wars and movements, undergird societies and governments, and shape the daily experiences of our personal lives. We ignore or underestimate the power of ideas to our detriment. And yet they can feel slippery to reckon with; difficult to see, tougher still to understand their complex movement through the world. Join The Progress Network for a wide-ranging discussion on ideas—which ones are significant now, which may be significant in the future, and how we can participate in ideas'...

Duration:01:00:44

Rethinking Today's Capitalism (Bonus)

12/22/2021

At its worst, today’s capitalism is risky, reckless, and rapacious, unmindful of its impact on society and addicted to the motto that more is always more. Surrounded by these conditions, we might forget that it doesn’t have to be this way—today’s capitalism is just one of many capitalisms, and we can choose to swim in new waters instead. Editor-at-large for the Financial Times (US) Gillian Tett and The Progress Network Founder Zachary Karabell discuss. This conversation was recorded on June...

Duration:01:00:25

The Next Wave of Higher Education (Bonus)

12/15/2021

Is higher education due for a makeover? The pandemic has only accelerated the trends disrupting the traditional model of higher ed. So it’s an opportune time to look ahead and discuss what's coming next, from closing the gap that has opened between elite schools and the rest to the waning of standardized admissions tests to the rise of online and hybrid learning from the fringe to the center. Along the way, of course, we'll be answering the ever-acute question of what it is all supposed to...

Duration:01:03:36

Maybe We're Not F*cked: Moving the Climate Conversation Forward (Bonus)

12/8/2021

When we think about our environmental future, it's no wonder that many of us feel an overwhelm bordering on defeat. We've been hearing for years about the damage humanity has done to our world and the coming climate apocalypse, which if you listen to some is now impossible to avert. There's no denying that climate change is a real and significant issue. But is the narrative of climate catastrophism accurate, and is it doing us any good? Join The Progress Network for a conversation with Ted...

Duration:01:00:13

Live from Web Summit: An Affordable Internet & Pharmaceutical Psychedelics (Bonus)

12/1/2021

We're back with part 2 of our Web Summit episode, bringing you conversations with people who are trying to make the world a better place. Today we talk with Sonia Jorge, Executive Director for Alliance for Affordable Internet and Head of Digital Inclusion Program at Web Foundation, to hear how they are creating the conditions for affordable Internet in countries worldwide and what they have learned along the way. Next, we sit down with Robert Barrow, the CEO of MindMed, a company that...

Duration:00:22:19

Live from Web Summit: Drone Delivery & Turning Buildings into Teslas (Bonus)

11/24/2021

We recently attended Web Summit, a conference that brought together more than 30,000 people and over a thousand startups of all sizes. While we were there, we sat down to talk with a few people whose companies aim to make the future brighter. Our first conversation is with Donnel Baird, the founder of BlocPower, an NYC-based company that "turns buildings into Teslas." BlockPower retrofits residential buildings to wean them off dirty energy and make them green. The second is with Bobby Healy,...

Duration:00:29:35