Looking at global headlines today, it’s hard not to feel pessimism. Have recent wars, pandemics and autocracies made the idea of progress obsolete? Cognitive scientist Steven Pinker uses data and psychology to provide a fresh perspective on progress: why it is so hard to achieve and what ideas were responsible for progress in the past and will be needed for progress to continue?

This is the full audio from a session at the World Economic Forum's Annual Meeting 2025. Watch it here: https://www.weforum.org/meetings/world-economic-forum-annual-meeting-2025/sessions/the-arch-of-progress-in-the-21st-century/

Catch up on all the action from the Annual Meeting 2025 at wef.ch/wef25 and across social media using the hashtag #WEF25.

Check out all our podcasts on wef.ch/podcasts: 

YouTube: - https://www.youtube.com/@wef/podcasts

Radio Davos - subscribe: https://pod.link/1504682164

Meet the Leader - subscribe: https://pod.link/1534915560

Agenda Dialogues - subscribe: https://pod.link/1574956552

Join the World Economic Forum Podcast Club: https://www.facebook.com/groups/wefpodcastclub