What Could Go Right?

We live in an era of limitless options, but infinite choice might actually be paralyzing our ability to make decisions and find satisfaction. David Epstein, bestselling author of Range and the new book Inside the Box, joins host Zachary Karabell to argue that we severely overvalue complete freedom. Instead, Epstein reveals how imposing limits and constraints on ourselves can act as a powerful tool to drive creativity, spur innovation, and increase personal contentment.

Epstein shares his own personal strategies for managing an overwhelming world. He discusses how he limits his own maximizing tendencies by setting strict parameters before shopping online, and how he outlined his entire new book on a single piece of paper to restrict his own sprawling curiosity. The conversation also delves into the stark contrast between the American youth sports machine and Norway's highly successful, joy-focused athletic development model. Along the way, they explore the decline of local investigative journalism, the cognitive pitfalls of learning via AI, and why historical context remains our best defense against modern pessimism.

What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and Kaleidoscope.

For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org

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Researchers just used machine learning to read a carbonized Roman scroll that hasn't been opened in 2,000 years. In this week’s progress report, Emma Varvaloucas dives into a technological breakthrough that is unlocking an ancient library buried by volcanic ash in 79 AD.

Plus: a groundbreaking medical device in Barcelona that extends the viability of human eyes for vital medical research, the rapid adoption of eco-friendly heat pumps rivaling traditional air conditioning in the US, and the AI-powered drones that are successfully protecting swimmers from shark encounters across the globe.

What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and Kaleidoscope.

For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org

Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://theprogressnetwork.org/newsletter/

Watch the podcast on YouTube: / theprogressnetwork

Follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrk

Follow Emma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyemmavarv/

The American criminal justice system is often viewed as an unfixable and intractable problem. But shifting demographics and new approaches to community investment might actually bring a natural end to the era of mass incarceration.Alex Duran spent 12 years in New York maximum security prisons before earning a liberal arts degree through the Bard College Prison Initiative. Today, he leads the criminal justice portfolio at Galaxy Gives. He joins host Zachary Karabell to discuss his surreal personal journey from Rikers Island to the world of high level philanthropy.The two explore the real reasons crime rates fluctuate, why our current parole systems are built to manage failure rather than reward success, and how simple investments in the physical environment can do more for public safety than increased police budgets. They also tackle the harsh reality of modern prison labor and examine the unexpected data showing that the US might literally run out of inmates in the coming decades.

What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and Kaleidoscope.

For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org

Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://theprogressnetwork.org/newsletter/

Watch the podcast on YouTube: / theprogressnetwork

Follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrk

Subscribe to Zachary’s Substack: www.edgyoptimist.substack.com/

Emma is on vacation! Which means this week, we’re doing something a little different. Before she left, she put together this roundup of stories about amateur do-gooders pitching in to make the world a better place: Wombat watchers in Australia helping to mitigate the spread of a deadly disease, stargazers contributing to NASA’s mission to find new planets outside our solar system, hikers carving new trails through Brazil’s sprawling wilderness, and randomly selected citizens compiling their neighbors’ concerns to pass on to lawmakers.

What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and Kaleidoscope.

For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org

Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://theprogressnetwork.org/newsletter/

Watch the podcast on YouTube: / theprogressnetwork

Follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrk

Follow Emma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyemmavarv/

Despite record highs in life expectancy and historic lows in violent crime, society remains convinced that everything is completely broken.

Steven Johnson (The Infernal Machine) and historian Greg Jackson (host of History That Doesn’t Suck) join Zachary Karabell at the Aspen Ideas Festival to decode our cultural doom loop. Rather than fueling the panic of our daily newsfeeds, the panel zeroes in on the psychological and historical roots of our negative worldview, revealing that our current crisis of faith isn't nearly as unprecedented as it feels.

In this episode, we explore:

The Negativity Bias: How our natural survival instincts and modern algorithmic media team up to skew reality.

The Origins of "Fake News": Why sensationalist journalism is actually a 19th-century invention.

The Invisible Arc of Progress: Why true, incremental improvements rarely make the front page—and why choosing human agency over apocalyptic defeatism is our best path forward.

What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and Kaleidoscope.

For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org

Subscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://theprogressnetwork.org/newsletter/

Watch the podcast on YouTube: / theprogressnetwork

Follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrk

Subscribe to Zachary’s Substack: www.edgyoptimist.substack.com/