The Human Progress Podcast

Will Duffield joins Chelsea Follett to discuss recent advances in artificial intelligence, how they can improve our lives, and the challenges they may pose.  

Will Duffield is a policy analyst in Cato's Center for Representative Government, where he studies speech and internet governance. He's also an expert on a host of related issues in technology policy. Learn more: https://www.cato.org/people/will-duffield

How did the modern dynamist economy of wealth and opportunity come about? Author and Head of Education at the Institute of Economic Affairs Stephen Davies joins Chelsea Follett to discuss his book "The Wealth Explosion: The Nature and Origins of Modernity."

Economic historian Deirdre McCloskey speaks to HumanProgress editor Marian Tupy about economics, hierarchy, and how liberal ideas led to the modern world.

Since at least the 2016 U.S. presidential election, policymakers on the right and the left have lamented the plight of the "American Worker" and promised to fix it. Unfortunately the most common "pro-worker" policies today—heavy on government intervention in labor, trade, or other markets—suffer from critical flaws. They overlook the laundry list of current laws and regulations that distort markets, harm most American workers, and breed economic sclerosis. They ignore market-based solutions to boost workers' independence, mobility, wealth, resilience, and quality of life. And they are based on stereotypes that fundamentally misrepresent who today's "American Worker" really is.

Recent trends in manufacturing, remote work, independent work, globalization, and other areas argue for a different kind of "pro-worker" policy—one that, instead of promoting a certain kind of worker, promising cradle-to-grave protection from disruption, or presuming that the employment and lifestyle trends of today will last beyond tomorrow, maximizes Americans' autonomy, mobility, and living standards. This book identifies what Cato Institute scholars believe to be the most important market-oriented policies to achieve these objectives, on issues like education, labor regulation, licensing, housing, healthcare, criminal justice, and consumer necessities. Each chapter identifies the problems facing American workers and suggests pro-market ways for federal, state, and local officials to fix them. Combined, these policies will give individuals the freedom and resources they need to be the "American worker" they want to be—not the one a few policymakers think they should be—and to be happier and more prosperous in the process.

Learn more: https://www.cato.org/commentary/labor-day-better-policy-all-american-workers

Scott Lincicome is the director of general economics and Cato’s Herbert A. Stiefel Center for Trade Policy Studies. He writes on international and domestic economic issues, including international trade; subsidies and industrial policy; manufacturing and global supply chains; and economic dynamism. Learn more: https://www.cato.org/people/scott-lincicome

Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of Human​Progress​.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on the global improvements in well‐​being by providing free empirical data on long‐​term developments. Learn more: https://www.cato.org/people/chelsea-follett

Can Markets Protect Nature? Hannah Downey is the policy director at PERC, helping to bring free market solutions to environmental policy challenges. Her work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Hill, The Salt Lake Tribune, and local papers. She holds degrees in economics and political science from Montana State University. 

Learn more: https://www.perc.org/about-us/people/

Twitter: @handowney 

Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of Human​Progress​.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on the global improvements in well‐​being by providing free empirical data on long‐​term developments. 

Learn more: https://www.cato.org/people/chelsea-follett

Ukrainian lawyer and economist Maria Chaplia joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the ongoing war in Ukraine. 

Transcript: https://www.humanprogress.org/maria-chaplia-the-human-progress-podcast-ep-25-transcript/

Maria mainly works in the field of trade, lifestyle regulations, and platform economy. Her research and writing have been featured in Daily Mail, The Independent, Financial Times, Der Spiegel, Huffington Post, Conservative Home, CapX, Spiked, Euractiv, The Parliament Magazine, Cato Institute, the Institute of Economic Affairs, and more. She is also a Fellow at 21Democracy. 

Learn more:  https://www.21democracy.com/about/ 

https://www.mariachaplia.com

Fundraiser link: https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/alexander-hammond-maria-chaplia-fundraiser-ukrainian-refugees

Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of Human​Progress​.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on the global improvements in well‐​being by providing free empirical data on long‐​term developments. 

Learn more: https://www.cato.org/people/chelsea-follett

Author and optimist Jason Feifer joins Chelsea Follett to discuss change, why we fear it, and how we can embrace it to build a better future.

Build for Tomorrow on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Build-Tomorrow-Embracing-Adapting-Future-Proofing/dp/059323538X

Jason Feifer is the editor in chief of Entrepreneur magazine and host of the podcast Problem Solvers, which is about entrepreneurs solving unexpected problems in their business. Outside of Entrepreneur, he is the author of the book Build For Tomorrow, which is an action plan for embracing change and adapting fast, as the host of the podcast Build For Tomorrow (yes, same name as the book), which is about the smartest solutions to our most misunderstood problems. He writes a newsletter about how to find opportunity in change. 

Learn more: https://www.entrepreneur.com/author/jason-feifer

Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of Human​Progress​.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on the global improvements in well‐​being by providing free empirical data on long‐​term developments. 

Learn more: https://www.cato.org/people/chelsea-follett

Robert Zubrin is an aerospace engineer and the author of several books on space exploration, with a particular focus on Mars. His work has been subject of favorable press coverage in The Economist, The New York Times, The Boston Globe, the London Times, The Washington Post, Fortune Magazine, Newsweek, and many other publications, and he has appeared on the Discovery Channel, CNN, NPR, and the BBC. He is the founder and President of the Mars Society and was formerly a Staff Engineer at Lockheed Martin Astronautics. He holds a Master's degree in Aeronautics and Astronautics and a Ph.D. in nuclear engineering from the University of Washington. Keep an eye out for his forthcoming book on nuclear energy and learn more about his most recent book, The Case for Space, here: https://www.humanprogress.org/zubrin-the-future-of-space/ 

The Case for Space: How the Revolution in Spaceflight Opens Up a Future of Limitless Possibility: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGnBGCR-0FU

Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of Human​Progress​.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on the global improvements in well‐​being by providing free empirical data on long‐​term developments. 

Learn more: https://www.cato.org/people/chelsea-follett

Psychologist Gena Gorlin argues that internalizing the universe's tendency toward death and disorder can help us appreciate what we have and compel us to build a better future. 

Transcript: https://www.humanprogress.org/gena-gorlin-the-human-progress-podcast-ep-29-transcript/

Read her article: https://progressforum.org/posts/JjiewkPhAYmFzY3KL/death-is-the-default-why-building-is-our-safest-way-forward

Dr. Eugenia (Gena) Gorlin is an Assistant Professor in the Clinical Psychology Psy.D. Program in the Ferkauf Graduate School of Psychology. She received her B.S. in Psychology and Philosophy from Tufts University, her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology from the University of Virginia, and her clinical internship training from the Alpert Medical School of Brown University. She completed two years of postdoctoral training at Boston University, where she conducted experimental and clinical intervention research in the Translational Research Program and provided psychotherapy to anxious and depressed adults at the renowned Center for Anxiety and Related Disorders (CARD). She is a licensed clinical psychologist specializing in cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) and related approaches to the treatment of anxiety, depression, and various concerns tied to motivation and goal pursuit. Learn more: https://genagorlin.com

Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of HumanProgress.org, a project of the Cato Institute that seeks to educate the public on the global improvements in well‐being by providing free empirical data on long‐term developments. Learn more: https://www.cato.org/people/chelsea-follett

Rosemarie Fike joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the importance of economic freedom to women's wellbeing. 

Transcript: https://www.humanprogress.org/rosemarie-fike-the-human-progress-podcast-ep-28-transcript/

Women’s ability to contribute to, and benefit from, market institutions is a topic of vital economic importance. When entire groups of people, like women, are restricted from owning property, moving freely within their countries and abroad, starting a business, or working in a particular occupation, everyone is robbed of the value that could have been created if they had been allowed to share their talents and ideas with the world.

Rosemarie Fike is an Instructor of Economics at Texas Christian University and a Senior Fellow of the Fraser Institute. She received her M.A. in Economics at George Mason University, and her Ph.D. in Economics at Florida State University. She is an alumna of the Mercatus Center’s MA Fellowship and Adam Smith Fellowship programs. Her current research focuses on understanding the effects that different types of economic institutions have on the lives and status of women. She is the author of the Fraser Institute's Women and Progress report. In 2017, she received the Addington Prize for Measurement. Her scholarly work has been published in the Eastern Economics Journal, Journal of Economic Education, and Journal of Benefit/Cost Analysis. She has published opinion editorials in news outlets such as US News and World Report, The Hill, and Roll Call. Learn more: https://www.fraserinstitute.org/profile/rosemarie-fike