What if instead of being on the brink of disaster, we’re on the cusp of a better world? No one can deny the challenges the world faces, from pandemics to climate change to authoritarianism. But pessimism and despair are too easy a response. Each week, Progress Network Founder Zachary Karabell and Executive Director Emma Varvaloucas convene a diverse panel of experts to discuss the central issues of our era, including sustainability, polarization, work, and the economy, and make the case for a brighter future. They emerge from their conversations with a counterintuitive but informed take: progress is on its way.
A Community Fight in Wisconsin, From To See Each Other
Sharing an episode of To See Each Other, a show that complicates the narrative
about small town Americans in our most misunderstood, and often abandoned, communities.
This season, host George Goehl travels to Lincoln County, Wisconsin to follow a small town
battle for the last remaining public nursing home in the community. It’s a heart-pounding roller
coaster of a fight - in a swing state that could determine the election. Over the course of the
show, a universal truth emerges: That in every complicated set of politics, when we refuse to
give up on each other, we can build a better future.
You can listen to more episodes of To See Each Other at
https://link.chtbl.com/toseeeachother?sid=whatcouldgoright
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10/7/2024 • 31 minutes, 22 seconds
Introducing The Global Story
This week we’re sharing an episode of a podcast we think you’ll really like – BBC’s The Global Story.
Indonesia is building a brand-new capital city - twice the size of New York – in the middle of a rainforest. The current capital city, Jakarta, suffers from pollution, congestion, flooding, is prone to earthquakes and is also one of the fastest sinking cities in the world. The new high-tech metropolis called Nusantara aims to be carbon-neutral and better protected from natural disasters. But the project is facing some major hurdles and has fallen well behind schedule.
On this episode Caitríona Perry is joined by Astudestra Ajengrastri and Rebecca Henschke to find out if Nusantara can live up to its environmental promises and if Jakarta will still be saved from sinking beneath the ocean.
Find more episodes of The Global Story at https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-global-story/id1715473158
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9/4/2024 • 31 minutes, 48 seconds
Introducing Say More: Beating Burnout with Krista Tippett
This week we’re sharing an episode of a podcast we think you’ll really like – The Boston Globe’s Say More.
We are living in a time of deep uncertainty, marked by global conflicts, economic anxiety, and societal divisions. No wonder we're so uneasy. Progress Network member, and host of the “On Being” podcast Krista Tippett sits down with host Shirley Leung to explain why these uncertain times require a larger spiritual quest for meaning and stillness in modern life. We inhabit a noisy, distracting world of Slacks and texts, and we need to learn how to get quiet. It’s surprisingly hard, and Krista shares her own journey managing burnout and “befriending reality” in all its glorious messiness.
Find more episodes of Say More at https://link.chtbl.com/saymore?sid=whatcouldgoright
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7/3/2024 • 32 minutes, 14 seconds
Introducing: What Could Go Right?
Negative news can be overwhelming, but it's important to question whether it accurately reflects our world. Join "What Could Go Right?" to hear positive stories from various experts and challenge the negative narrative. Let's strive for a more balanced view of what's happening today.
Whether you need a change of perspective or change of heart, check out "What Could Go Right?" from The Progress Network, with Zachary Karabell and Emma Varvaloucas.
What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.
For transcripts, to join the newsletter, and for more information, visit: theprogressnetwork.org
Watch the podcast on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/theprogressnetwork
And follow us on X, Instagram, Facebook, TikTok: @progressntwrk
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4/3/2024 • 2 minutes, 6 seconds
Introducing The Ongoing Transformation: Finding Collective Advantage in Shared Knowledge
While we are hard at work on season six of What Could Go Right, we wanted to share another show we think you’ll really enjoy – The Ongoing Transformation.
The Ongoing Transformation is produced by our friends at Issues in Science and Technology. Each episode features conversations about science, technology, policy, and society. This episode explores the CHIPS and Science Act, which aim to secure American competitiveness and innovation by investing $280 billion in domestic semiconductor manufacturing, scientific innovation, and regional development.
But if past government investments in science and technology are any guide, this will affect American life in unexpected and profound ways—well beyond manufacturing and scientific laboratories. Hear Michael Crow, president of Arizona State University, and host Lisa Margonelli discuss these initiatives in the context of previous American security investments.
Find more episodes of The Ongoing Transformation wherever you listen to podcasts!
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3/20/2024 • 38 minutes, 37 seconds
Introducing What’s Your Problem: Building a Plane to Help Save the World
A new season of What Could Go Right is just around the corner, and in the meantime, we wanted to share an episode of a podcast that we think you’ll really like – What’s Your Problem.
What’s Your Problem is a show from our friends at Pushkin Industries all about technology and business. Entrepreneurs and engineers talk about the future they’re trying to build – and the problems they have to solve to get there. It’s hosted by Jacob Goldstein, the former host of NPR’s Planet Money, and helps listeners understand the problems really smart people are trying to solve right now.
In this episode, Jacob speaks with Val Miftakhov, the founder and CEO of ZeroAvia, about how his company built a plane powered by hydrogen fuel that produces zero carbon emissions. It could be ready for commercial use by 2025 and would revolutionize the way flying impacts the environment.
Find more episodes of What’s Your Problem at https://www.pushkin.fm/podcasts/whats-your-problem
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8/23/2023 • 28 minutes, 48 seconds
Introducing Smart People Podcast: Lessons From the World’s Longest Scientific Study of Happiness
While we prepare for the launch of What Could Go Right’s fifth season this fall, we wanted to share another show we think listeners will enjoy – Smart People Podcast.
Smart People Podcast is a biweekly interview show from our friend’s at Glassbox Media. It features today’s most well respected thought leaders and the host, Chris Stemp, and his co-host/producer Jon Rojas, utilize their insatiable curiosity and relatable charm to provoke their guests into giving the interview of a lifetime. In this episode, they speak with Dr. Marc Schulz about what we can learn from the world’s longest scientific study of happiness and what actually makes people happy. Dr Schulz is the associate director of the Harvard Study of Adult Development and the Sue Kardas PhD 1971 Chair in Psychology at Bryn Mawr College. He also directs the Data Science Program and previously chaired the psychology department and Clinical Developmental Psychology PhD program at Bryn Mawr.
Find more episodes of Smart People Podcast at https://www.smartpeoplepodcast.com/
8/9/2023 • 57 minutes, 52 seconds
Introducing Ones and Tooze: Could Green Hydrogen Revolutionize the Energy Sector?
What Could Go Right returns for season 5 this fall, but in the meantime we’re excited to share an episode of Ones and Tooze this week.
Ones and Tooze is a weekly economics podcast from Foreign Policy hosted by FP deputy editor Cameron Abadi and FP columnist, economic historian and author Adam Tooze. In this episode, Cameron and Adam take a look at the emergence of green hydrogen and how this green energy source, which generates a tremendous amount of heat, will help reduce emissions for creating steel and other industrial processes.
Also in this episode, Cameron and Adam take a look at European travel on the cheap. They discuss low cost travel options, hosteling, and which European countries offer the most bang for the buck.
Find more episodes of Ones and Tooze at https://link.chtbl.com/onesandtoozepodcast
7/26/2023 • 36 minutes, 9 seconds
"What Could Go Right?" Is Back!
We're back to discussing the central issues of our era, including sustainability, polarization, work, the economy, and making a case for a brighter future. Join us every week as we look at what's happening worldwide, talk with a diverse panel of experts, and ask the question: what could go right?
What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.
9/20/2022 • 44 seconds
"What Could Go Right?" Season 2
Season 2 of "What Could Go Right?" returns on March 30, 2022, continuing to examine the world and ask about the role of optimism vs. pessimism, hope vs. fear, and progress vs. regress. Each week we're joined by contributors from diverse fields of business, tech, journalism, politics, and more—all united in their conviction that humanity's ingenuity and willingness to cooperate for the common good is ultimately more potent than the forces pulling in the other direction.
3/23/2022 • 2 minutes, 8 seconds
S1. Ep. 3: Building a Better Internet with Danielle Keats Citron and Eli Pariser
Not too long ago, the Internet was seen as humanity's great hope. Today it feels more like our undoing. We see social media amplifying negative voices and harassment and producing political partisanship and interpersonal dysfunction, and it seems like no one knows to fix it—except maybe these two. Today we're joined by Danielle Keats Citron, a leading expert on information privacy, free speech, and civil rights, and Eli Pariser, co-founder of Upworthy and the author of "The Filter Bubble," who now leads the New_ Public project. Together they share their views on the Internet's current trajectory and how we might course correct.
What Could Go Right? is produced by The Progress Network and The Podglomerate.
9/8/2021 • 1 hour, 3 minutes, 48 seconds
Introducing What Could Go Right?
What if instead of being on the brink of disaster, we’re on the cusp of a better world? No one can deny the challenges the world faces, from pandemics to climate change to authoritarianism. But pessimism and despair are too easy a response. Each week, Progress Network Founder Zachary Karabell and Executive Director Emma Varvaloucas convene a diverse panel of experts to discuss the central issues of our era, including sustainability, polarization, work, and the economy, and make the case for a brighter future. They emerge from their conversations with a counterintuitive but informed take: progress is on its way.