As Hungary prepares for the high-stakes April 12, 2026, general election, the world is watching to see if Viktor Orbán’s 16-year tenure will finally come to an end. What does nearly fifteen years of “Orbánism” actually look like for Hungarians?

Using the Global Social Progress Index, we track Hungary’s trajectory in education, rights, health, housing and overall quality of life. While neighbors in Central and Eastern Europe have surged forward, Hungary’s progress has stalled. Michael Green, CEO at Social Progress Imperative, explores the erosion of civil liberties and Hungary’s decline in educational standards, to provide an audit of a populist legacy.

But what happens if the opposition wins? We outline a strategic roadmap for a potential successor, identifying “quick wins”. 

Chapters: 

• How Hungary dropped to 40th in the world for social progress.
• Analyzing the 15-point drop in personal rights and freedom.
• Why Hungary ranks 107th for NGO treatment.
• Can a new government fix education and healthcare?
• Election Integrity

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Happy World Health Day! From the top-performing leaders in Asia to the surprising decline in health indicators among rich countries, we are exploring the 2026 Social Progress Index and analyzing the countries with the best health scores and those falling dangerously behind.

Success isn’t just about doctors; it’s about building a healthy society. 

Topics covered in the episode:

• Top-ranked healthiest countries 
• Which are the top-ranked countries in Latin America  
• The U.S. and the health crisis in Russia and the post-Soviet states
• How poverty and inequality drive global health trends
  
  
  
  

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Is the world really doomed to decline? New data from the 2026 Global Social Progress Index shows a worrying halt in global quality of life after decades of steady progress. But what’s behind this worrying trend, and is there any hope for reversal?

This episode isn't just about grim stats; it's about understanding the critical choices ahead.

Explore the 2026 Global Social Progress Index results!

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What does social progress actually look like inside one of the world's most watched and most misunderstood economies? Michael Green sits down with Sofía Ramírez Aguilar, Director of México ¿Cómo Vamos?to dig into where Mexico really stands on quality of life, what the Social Progress Index reveals across all 32 states, and why the story is far more nuanced than the headlines suggest. 

From the happiness paradox to the three critical gaps holding Mexico back — public safety, basic education, and healthcare, to the Shared Prosperity Map that puts U.S. and Mexican states on the same quality-of-life scale, this is a conversation about what North American integration actually looks like on the ground.

Plus: why foreign direct investment follows social progress scores, what teen pregnancy rates in Oaxaca vs. Chihuahua reveal about the limits of aggregate data, and Sofía's optimistic prediction for the decade ahead.

Chapters

00:00:00 – Introduction & What México ¿Cómo Vamos? Does

00:02:15 – Mexico's Happiness Rankings & Social Progress Reality Check

00:05:48 – The Three Big Gaps: Safety, Education, Healthcare

00:10:33 – The Shared Prosperity Map of North America

00:12:37 – Quality of Work vs. Employment as a Social Progress Driver

00:18:59 – The Two-Way Relationship Between Growth and Social Progress

00:20:39 – State-Level Data: Guerrero, Chiapas, Oaxaca & Closing the Gap

00:23:00 – Teen Pregnancy as a Window Into Different State Realities

00:27:41 – Laredo/Nuevo Laredo: Social Progress at the Municipal Level

00:29:33 – Why Investors Follow Social Progress Scores

00:34:12 – Supply Chains, Integration, and the States Being Left Behind

00:36:15 – Sofía's Prediction: A Decade of Real Progress in North America

Follow Sofía Ramírez Aguilar and México ¿Cómo Vamos?: 

Website https://mexicocomovamos.mx 

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In this episode of Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast, host Michael Green, CEO of the Social Progress Imperative, speaks with Dr. Amit Kapoor, Chairman of the Institute for Competitiveness, about the challenges behind India’s rise and why measuring progress requires looking beyond GDP.

Dr. Kapoor explains how India’s development story is shaped by social progress indicators, environmental pressures, and shifting global economic dynamics. From foreign aid and international development to urban pollution and global influence, the conversation explores how countries can measure success in ways that reflect the real well-being of their citizens.

They also discuss why GDP alone cannot capture a nation’s progress, what alternative metrics reveal about inequality and sustainability, and how India’s trajectory may influence global development in the decades ahead.

In this episode, we discuss:

• Why GDP is an incomplete measure of national progress
 • How India’s social progress has evolved over the past decade
 • The global impact of foreign aid spending
 • Why many of the world’s most polluted cities are in India
 • How economic strength translates into geopolitical influence

Timestamps

00:00:00 Introduction & why India’s development story matters

00:01:38 Is India’s social progress slowing down?

00:03:35 Does foreign aid actually work?

00:04:11 Measuring progress beyond GDP

00:09:42 Why social progress indicators matter

00:13:21 India’s development trajectory and inequality

00:18:10 India’s pollution crisis and public health

00:20:22 Why solving pollution is so complex

00:23:32 Economic power and global influence

00:25:58 India’s role in the global economy

00:26:03 Can economic growth solve inequality?

00:27:39 Final thoughts on measuring progress beyond GDP

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Brazil is ranked 52nd in the world for social progress but behind that number are 5,570 municipalities each fighting their own hidden crises. In this episode, Michael Green sits down with Melissa Wilm from IPS Brasil to uncover four on-the-ground stories of what happens when data meets real communities.

From two rival Brazilian capitals turning competition into collaboration, to a small Amazon town where malnutrition had nothing to do with healthcare, to a health secretary who changed one thing and transformed his entire community, to a city that discovered its data had been wrong all along this is what evidence-based policymaking actually looks like in practice.

The 2026 IPS Brasil Social Progress Index launches in May. Explore the full data tool at ipsbrazil.org.br

00:00:00 Introduction — Brazil's place in global social progress
00:01:11 Meet Melissa Wilm & IPS Brasil
00:01:36 Brazil's social progress profile: success and unfulfilled potential
00:02:33 How the index works across 5,570 municipalities
00:05:15 Case Study 1: Curitiba vs Belo Horizonte — healthy competition
00:10:15 Case Study 2: Capinzal do Norte — the food crisis hiding in the farmland
00:13:19 Small town, global relevance — the ultra-processed food crisis
00:15:47 Case Study 3: Água Azul do Norte — the clinic that changed everything
00:17:46 Case Study 4: Abaetetuba — when the data was wrong all along
00:20:59 The 2026 IPS Brasil index — what's coming in May
00:21:30 Prediction
00:24:10 Wrap-up & where to find IPS Brasil

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Is the loneliness epidemic a policy failure?

In this episode of the Beyond GDP Podcast, Michael Green speaks with Kim Samuel, founder of the Belonging Forum, about the growing crisis of social isolation, and why belonging may be the missing metric in public policy.

While GDP measures economic output, it tells us little about whether people feel included, represented, or connected. 

New data from the Belonging Barometer shows:

• 21% of people don’t feel they belong
• 41% of people with disabilities report frequent loneliness
• Young women report the highest levels of isolation

We explore:

• The difference between loneliness and belonging
• Why social isolation is rising globally
• Climate anxiety, geopolitics, and generational uncertainty
• Whether technology strengthens or weakens belonging
• Why belonging may become a policy priority within five years

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Most of our societal problems stem from an outdated dominance-based system and the solution isn’t more of the same. For episode 1 of season 2 of Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast, our host Michael Green sits down with Riane Eisler, President of the Center for Partnership Systems, and distinguished scientist, futurist and author of The Chalice and the Blade and The Real Wealth of Nations. 

In this episode, we discuss the overlooked sectors that traditional economies ignore, including the household, natural, and volunteer economies, and how neglecting them perpetuates inequality and chaos. 

Perfect for leaders, change-makers, educators, and anyone interested in understanding the deep roots of societal change. Ancient societies, long erased from our history books, demonstrated partnership models that promoted peace and cooperation, so what can we learn about this? The stakes couldn’t be higher: If we ignore these insights, we risk ongoing regression into violent, hierarchical systems that threaten our survival. But if we embrace a partnership-centered approach, we unlock the potential for resilient communities, gender equality, and social progress.

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Michael Green, CEO of the Social Progress Imperative, explains the fundamental distinctions between the Social Progress Index and the Human Development Index, shedding light on how social and environmental factors are measured differently from traditional economic metrics.

Michael shares the origin and purpose of the Human Development Index introduced in 1990, its indicators, and its limitations. He provides insight into why the Social Progress Index assesses societal progress.

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Over the past year, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) efforts have faced severe backlash, especially in the United States, prompting many organizations to quietly abandon their initiatives. Some claim “mission accomplished.” The data says otherwise.

In Episode 5 of Beyond GDP: The Social Progress Podcast, host Michael Green sits down with Elmira Bayrasli, former diplomat, author, professor, and CEO of Interruptrr, to challenge the notion that DEI was simply a fleeting trend. They explore why inclusion is one of the world’s weakest areas of progress and why abandoning it now poses a severe risk to business and society.

Key takeaways:

• Shocking real-world examples, including failures during 9/11 and October 7th, where the deliberate rejection of women’s perspectives led to catastrophic outcomes.
• Why Elmira thinks the US has made it uniquely difficult for women to rise to the presidency compared to other countries.
• How diverse teams are better at lowering risk and anticipating what could go wrong.
• Elmira shares data on women’s representation in media and policy. 
• Elmira details why she started Interruptrr.

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