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What Could Go Right?

What Could Go Right?

By: The Progress Network with Zachary Karabell and Emma Varvaloucas
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It's easy to be pessimistic, especially with headlines dominated by global challenges like a changing geopolitical landscape, the rise in authoritarianism, and a seemingly unstable global economy. But what if, despite all that, humanity is actually making progress?Join Progress Network Founder Zachary Karabell every Wednesday as he chats with leading experts like Ian Bremmer and Anne Marie Slaughter to challenge the negativity and find out whether we should be so pessimistic about everything from sustainability and polarization to the future of work. Plus, start your week right with Progress Network Executive Director Emma Varvaloucas, who delivers a weekly dose of essential good news every Monday. If environmental success stories and medical breakthroughs are your thing, you won’t want to miss it.Tune in to discover the evidence for progress and find your reason for cautious optimism.The Progress Network Political Science Politics & Government Social Sciences
Episodes
  • Can We Please Celebrate America's 250th Without Whitewashing the Past? | with Alexis Coe

    Can We Please Celebrate America's 250th Without Whitewashing the Past? | with Alexis Coe
    Jul 1 2026
    Approaching the 250th anniversary of the United States brings up a familiar tension over whether we should celebrate our triumphs or relentlessly critique our failures. Most citizens tend to view the past with a thick lens of nostalgia, convincing themselves that earlier eras were inherently better than our current political moment. But this rigid binary between blind patriotism and total deconstruction leaves us trapped in endless arguments that prevent actual progress. Presidential historian Alexis Coe joins host Zachary Karabell to unpack why we struggle so deeply to accept the complexity of the nation's origins. Coe, the author of a bestselling George Washington biography, grounds this conversation in her own experiences confronting historical gatekeepers. She shares the story of having her book quietly pulled from the shelves at Mount Vernon after she publicly pointed out their lack of diverse leadership, and explains her accidental coinage of the term "thigh men" to describe male biographers who fetishize the physical attributes of the founders. Karabell and Coe explore how this tendency to romanticize figures like Washington or John F. Kennedy obscures the genuine, messy reality of American history. They discuss the current political landscape, noting how the modern electorate craves authenticity even in its most flawed forms, and why the emerging political divide is less about left versus right and more about the top versus the bottom. Acknowledging the shadows of our history does not mean abandoning pride in the American project. By learning to hold both our national achievements and our profound shortcomings at the exact same time, we can finally stop looking backward and start doing the hard work of building a more integrated future. 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/ Follow him LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/zacharykarabell Follow Zachary on X @zacharykarabell
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    38 mins
  • The Race to Catalogue Biodiversity + Brain Implants and Sweating Robots

    The Race to Catalogue Biodiversity + Brain Implants and Sweating Robots
    Jun 29 2026
    On this week’s progress report, we're in the golden age of species discovery. We’ll also get into the incredible story of a paralyzed man who can continue to work and communicate thanks to a groundbreaking brain implant, and researchers at Arizona State University hope a shivering, breathing, sweating robot can help us better equip ourselves for extreme weather conditions. What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and Kaleidoscope.For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.orgSubscribe to our (FREE) Substack newsletter: https://theprogressnetwork.org/newsletter/Watch the podcast on YouTube: / theprogressnetworkFollow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrkFollow Emma on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/heyemmavarv/
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    13 mins
  • How to Read Economic News Without Spiraling | with Alex Mayyasi

    How to Read Economic News Without Spiraling | with Alex Mayyasi
    Jun 24 2026
    Every time we open a news app, we are hit with a fresh wave of economic dread. But why does the financial forecast always sound like a pending apocalypse, even when the data tells a remarkably stable story? Longtime Planet Money contributor Alex Mayyasi joins host Zachary Karabell to offer a badly needed dose of fresh air to clear out the oppressive nature of recent economic news.Mayyasi and Karabell look at the very human reasons behind our financial panic. Mayyasi explains how Wall Street actively profits from keeping the average person confused, why working class wage increases get reported to the rest of us as frightening inflation, and the psychological strange magic of living through a growing economy with the consumer sentiment of the 2008 crash. They also break down the superstar effect, the true cost of service industries, and why the weekend is an artificial human invention worth protecting. Alex just launched a new podcast about food and economics called Gastronomics visit https://www.gastronomicspodcast.com/ to check it out! 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/
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    54 mins
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