The Human Progress Podcast
- Episodes
- 88
- Released
- monthly
- Latest episode
- Nov 3, 2026
About the podcast
Hosted by Marian L. Tupy and Chelsea Follett
Episodes 88
The Costs of Holding Back AI | Kristian Stout | Ep. 87
Artificial intelligence promises to transform the economy, boost productivity, and expand human capabilities. But fears of mass unemployment, catastrophic risks, and the rapid expansion of data centers are …
Show notes
Artificial intelligence promises to transform the economy, boost productivity, and expand human capabilities. But fears of mass unemployment, catastrophic risks, and the rapid expansion of data centers are fueling calls for restrictions that could slow AI development and delay those benefits.
In this episode of the Human Progress Podcast, Kristian Stout, Director of Innovation Policy at the International Center for Law and Economics, joins Chelsea Follett to explain the costs of slowing AI innovation and the obstacles already standing in its way. They discuss why AI could create more jobs than it eliminates, how excessive regulation could leave the United States dependent on Chinese AI technology, and how conflicting state laws, local zoning restrictions, and infrastructure bottlenecks threaten to slow the industry's growth.
Agency and the Making of History | Martin Seligman | Ep. 86
Why do some civilizations flourish while others stagnate? Martin Seligman, a psychologist, author, and founder of the modern positive psychology movement, suggests that the answer may lie not just in …
Show notes
Why do some civilizations flourish while others stagnate? Martin Seligman, a psychologist, author, and founder of the modern positive psychology movement, suggests that the answer may lie not just in institutions or technology, but in what people believe they can achieve.
In his latest book, Agency: The Psychological History of Human Progress, Seligman argues that agency, the belief in our ability to shape the future, has been a powerful driver of innovation and human progress.
In this episode of The Human Progress Podcast, our research fellow Adam Omary and Cato Institute senior fellow Johan Norberg speak with Seligman about the historical role of human agency, its relationship to freedom and optimism, the psychology of learned helplessness, why pessimism can undermine progress, and whether artificial intelligence will strengthen or weaken our ability to shape the future.
The Mental Health Paradox | Jonathan Alpert | Ep. 85
Americans have never been more aware of mental health. Therapy is more accessible, psychiatric diagnoses are more common, and the language of trauma and self-care has entered everyday life. Yet by many …
Show notes
Americans have never been more aware of mental health. Therapy is more accessible, psychiatric diagnoses are more common, and the language of trauma and self-care has entered everyday life. Yet by many measures, mental health in America appears to be worsening.
In his new book, Therapy Nation: How America Got Hooked on Therapy and Why It’s Left Us More Anxious and Divided, psychotherapist Jonathan Alpert argues that the mental health profession may be partly responsible for that paradox.
In this episode of The Human Progress Podcast, our research fellow Adam Omary speaks with Alpert about psychiatric overdiagnosis, the rise of therapy culture, the benefits and dangers of mental health labels, why therapy can sometimes backfire, and how a stronger sense of personal agency can help people become happier and more resilient.
Growth vs. Redistribution in the Fight Against Poverty | Kevin Corinth | Ep. 84
The United States has spent decades trying to reduce poverty through an expanding social safety net. But how much of the country’s progress against poverty is thanks to that redistribution, and how much has …
Show notes
The United States has spent decades trying to reduce poverty through an expanding social safety net. But how much of the country’s progress against poverty is thanks to that redistribution, and how much has come from economic growth?In a recent paper, American Enterprise Institute senior fellow Kevin Corinth and economist Richard Burkhauser examine nearly a century of American poverty trends. They find that poverty was already falling rapidly before the War on Poverty began, when government transfers played a much smaller role and rising market incomes drove much of the improvement.In this episode of The Human Progress Podcast, our research fellow Chelsea Follett speaks with Corinth about how we measure poverty, the relative roles of economic growth and redistribution in reducing it, the trade-offs created by the social safety net, the lessons of 1990s welfare reform, and why economic growth remains essential to lifting people out of poverty.
How Markets Make Us Better People | Walker Wright | Ep. 83
Our research fellow Chelsea Follett speaks with Walker Wright about the moral character of markets, the relationship between economic freedom and good behavior, the effects of commerce on prejudice and …
Show notes
Our research fellow Chelsea Follett speaks with Walker Wright about the moral character of markets, the relationship between economic freedom and good behavior, the effects of commerce on prejudice and violence, and why buying and selling from one another may help make us better people.
Progress and the Price System | Brian Albrecht | Ep. 82
Our editor Marian Tupy speaks with economist Brian Albrecht about the role of prices in modern prosperity.They discuss why price controls fail, whether scarcity can ever truly disappear, the difference between …
Show notes
Our editor Marian Tupy speaks with economist Brian Albrecht about the role of prices in modern prosperity.
They discuss why price controls fail, whether scarcity can ever truly disappear, the difference between large companies and monopolies, price discrimination, and the underappreciated ways in which competitive markets enrich our lives.
Dr. Brian C. Albrecht is the chief economist at the International Center for Law & Economics and author of the Economic Forces newsletter.
The Myth of American Decline | Michael Strain | Ep. 81
Our managing editor Chelsea Follett speaks with economist Michael Strain about the myth of American decline and the dangers of populism. They discuss the rise of populism on the left and right, the evidence …
Show notes
Our managing editor Chelsea Follett speaks with economist Michael Strain about the myth of American decline and the dangers of populism. They discuss the rise of populism on the left and right, the evidence that American living standards have improved, why inequality does not explain today’s political discontent, and how policies built on a false diagnosis of national failure could undermine the prosperity and opportunity they promise to restore.
Rethinking the Gilded Age | Brian Domitrovic | Ep. 80
The Gilded Age has become one of the most common analogies for our own time, invoked as shorthand for economic inequality and political corruption. But that comparison misses much of what made the period …
Show notes
The Gilded Age has become one of the most common analogies for our own time, invoked as shorthand for economic inequality and political corruption. But that comparison misses much of what made the period extraordinary. After the Civil War, the United States experienced an incredible period of economic growth that completely transformed American life and landscapes.
In this episode of The Human Progress Podcast, economic historian Brian Domitrovic joins our managing editor Chelsea Follett to discuss why the conventional story of the Gilded Age is incomplete, how industrialization made ordinary Americans better off, and what we can learn from the triumphs of the Gilded Age.
The System That Feeds Us | Jan Dutkiewicz | Ep. 79
The industrial food system is often treated as a symbol of everything people distrust about modernity: too processed, too corporate, too artificial, and too detached from land and labor.That critique obscures …
Show notes
The industrial food system is often treated as a symbol of everything people distrust about modernity: too processed, too corporate, too artificial, and too detached from land and labor.
That critique obscures one of the greatest achievements in human history: modern food production has made food cheaper, safer, more abundant, and more varied than ever before.
In this episode of The Human Progress Podcast, Adam Omary speaks with political scientist Jan Dutkiewicz about his new book Feed the People: Why Industrial Food Is Good and How We Can Make It Even Better. They discuss the great achievements of the industrial food system, the panic over processed foods, nostalgia for preindustrial agriculture, and how to make food healthier and more sustainable without giving up the system that feeds us.
What Climate Science Really Says | Roger Pielke Jr. | Ep. 78
Roger Pielke Jr. joins Marian Tupy to discuss the latest climate research and how to think clearly about climate change.
America's Turn Against Markets | Samuel Gregg | Ep. 77
Samuel Gregg joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the rise of a more interventionist economic consensus and the case for markets in modern America.Check out his book, The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and …
Show notes
Samuel Gregg joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the rise of a more interventionist economic consensus and the case for markets in modern America.
Check out his book, The Next American Economy: Nation, State, and Markets in an Uncertain World.
Meaning and Morality in the Modern Age | Steven Pinker | Ep. 76
Steven Pinker joins Marian Tupy to discuss the so-called "crisis of meaning," the decline of religion, and what can give life purpose in a modern, largely secular world.
Discontent in the Age of Plenty | Brink Lindsey | Ep. 75
Our editor Marian Tupy speaks with writer and policy scholar Brink Lindsey about his new book The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing.They discuss why material …
Show notes
Our editor Marian Tupy speaks with writer and policy scholar Brink Lindsey about his new book The Permanent Problem: The Uncertain Transition from Mass Plenty to Mass Flourishing.
They discuss why material abundance produces dissatisfaction, the decline of marriage and community, bureaucratic stagnation, and the cultural and institutional innovations needed to produce mass satisfaction without scarcity.
Environmentalism Without Degrowth | Zion Lights | Ep. 74
Environmentalists often claim that solving climate change requires scarcity: less energy, less consumption, and less economic growth.Zion Lights, a former radical environmentalist, now argues the opposite—that …
Show notes
Environmentalists often claim that solving climate change requires scarcity: less energy, less consumption, and less economic growth.
Zion Lights, a former radical environmentalist, now argues the opposite—that energy abundance is necessary for both thriving human societies and environmental protection. Her latest book, Energy Is Life, tells the story of her journey from Extinction Rebellion activist to outspoken advocate for nuclear power.
In this episode of The Human Progress Podcast, Zion Lights joins Chelsea Follett to discuss how modern environmentalism became fixated on scarcity, how nuclear power became so misunderstood, and why energy is essential to human wellbeing.
The Pattern Behind History's Golden Ages | Johan Norberg | Ep. 73
Johan Norberg examines the conditions that create human flourishing and why golden ages so often come to an end.Buy his book, Peak Human.
The Misdiagnosis of American Mental Health | Chris Ferguson | Ep. 72
Psychologist Chris Ferguson joins Adam Omary to discuss American mental health, cognitive biases, and the dangers of narrative overreach.Buy his book, Catastrophe!: How Psychology Explains Why Good People Make …
Show notes
Psychologist Chris Ferguson joins Adam Omary to discuss American mental health, cognitive biases, and the dangers of narrative overreach.
Buy his book, Catastrophe!: How Psychology Explains Why Good People Make Bad Situations Worse.Read his article on loneliness.
American Poverty Is a Measurement Problem | Scott Winship | Ep. 71
Scott Winship joins Marian Tupy to discuss how bad measurement choices distort the picture of poverty and inequality in the United States.
The New Right Manufactures Misery | Yaron Brook | Ep. 70
Yaron Brook joins Marian Tupy to discuss the pessimistic populism of the New Right.
Milei Midterms: An Update on Argentina | Marcos Falcone | Ep. 69
Policy analyst Marcos Falcone joins Chelsea Follett to discuss Milei’s recent electoral success and the economic reforms he might pursue using this new political leverage.
How Liberty Made Progress Possible | Peter Boettke | Ep. 68
Peter Boettke joins Marian Tupy to examine the institutional foundations of the modern world. Check out his book, The Historical Path to Liberty and Human Progress.
Authoritarian Threats to Campus Free Speech | Sarah McLaughlin | Ep. 67
Sarah McLaughlin joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the rising influence of foreign authoritarian governments on college campuses.Check out her book, Authoritarians in the Academy: How the Internationalization of …
Show notes
Sarah McLaughlin joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the rising influence of foreign authoritarian governments on college campuses.
Check out her book, Authoritarians in the Academy: How the Internationalization of Higher Education and Borderless Censorship Threaten Free Speech.
Please note that we recorded this interview before Kirk’s murder, so he is not mentioned, though we believe that event makes conversations like this one even more relevant.
Growth Comes From Ideas, Not Degrees | Bryan Caplan | Ep. 66
Bryan Caplan joins Marian Tupy to discuss the relationship between formal education and innovation.Check out his book, The Case against Education.
Is Progress Making Us Miserable? | Tim Lomas | Ep. 65
Psychology researcher Tim Lomas joins Chelsea Follett to explore surprising global trends in happiness, meaning, mental health, and more.
The False History of American Capitalism | Donald Boudreaux | Ep. 64
Economist Donald Boudreaux joins Marian Tupy to discuss important misconceptions about American economic history and why it’s crucial to set the record straight.Learn more in his book, The Triumph of Economic …
Show notes
Economist Donald Boudreaux joins Marian Tupy to discuss important misconceptions about American economic history and why it’s crucial to set the record straight.
Learn more in his book, The Triumph of Economic Freedom: Debunking the Seven Great Myths of American Capitalism.
Why the West Turned on Itself | Maarten Boudry | Ep. 63
Philosopher and author Maarten Boudry joins Chelsea Follett to examine the cultural and ideological roots of Western anti-Western sentiment.
Progress, Classical Liberalism, and the New Right | Tyler Cowen | Ep. 62
Tyler Cowen joins Marian Tupy to discuss the New Right, the relationship between freedom and progress, and whether classical liberalism is equipped to meet today's political challenges.
Open Societies and Closed Minds | Matt Johnson | Ep. 61
Marian Tupy speaks with writer and political thinker Matt Johnson about historicism, progress, and how tribalism and the “desire for recognition” are testing the foundations of open societies.
Promoting Parenthood in a Free Society | Stephanie Murray | Ep. 60
Stephanie Murray joins Chelsea Follett to discuss discourse around falling birth rates, the tension between pro-natalism and classical liberal values, and how it might be resolved.
An Update on the Trump Tariffs | Scott Lincicome | Ep. 59
Scott Lincicome joins Marian Tupy to discuss how President Trump's trade policies will affect American prosperity, national security, government revenue, and industry.
Global Trade Has Made Us Richer | Daniel Griswold | Ep. 58
Daniel Griswold, the former director of the Cato Institute’s Center for Trade Policy Studies, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the true legacy of globalization.
These are the latest 40 of 88 episodes. You’ll find older episodes in the podcast’s feed.
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