The Human Progress Podcast

Steven Pinker joins Marian Tupy to discuss the so-called "crisis of meaning," the decline of religion, and what can give life purpose in a modern, largely secular world.

Our editor Marian Tupy speaks with writer and policy scholar Brink Lindsey about his new book The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing.

They discuss why material abundance produces dissatisfaction, the decline of marriage and community, bureaucratic stagnation, and the cultural and institutional innovations needed to produce mass satisfaction without scarcity.

Environmentalists often claim that solving climate change requires scarcity: less energy, less consumption, and less economic growth.
Zion Lights, a former radical environmentalist, now argues the opposite—that energy abundance is necessary for both thriving human societies and environmental protection. Her latest book, Energy Is Life, tells the story of her journey from Extinction Rebellion activist to outspoken advocate for nuclear power.
In this episode of The Human Progress Podcast, Zion Lights joins Chelsea Follett to discuss how modern environmentalism became fixated on scarcity, how nuclear power became so misunderstood, and why energy is essential to human wellbeing.

Johan Norberg examines the conditions that create human flourishing and why golden ages so often come to an end.

Buy his book, Peak Human.

Psychologist Chris Ferguson joins Adam Omary to discuss American mental health, cognitive biases, and the dangers of narrative overreach.

Buy his book, Catastrophe!: How Psychology Explains Why Good People Make Bad Situations Worse.Read his article on loneliness.