The Human Progress Podcast

Jennifer Huddleston, a senior fellow in technology policy at the Cato Institute, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the benefits of digital technologies as well as how we should think about the risks and problems they pose.

World-renowned historian and sociologist Rainer Zitelmann joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the ideas, attitudes, and policies that allowed Poland and Vietnam to escape poverty.

David Inserra, a fellow for free expression and technology at the Cato Institute, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss recent attacks on free speech and how censorship can threaten progress.

Jennifer Schulp, the director of financial regulation studies at the Cato Institute’s Center for Monetary and Financial Alternatives, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss how technology and regulation are shaping the future of investment.

Jay Richards, a senior research fellow and center director at The Heritage foundation, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss why robots and artificial intelligence won't lead to widespread unemployment.

Leandro Prados de la Escosura, Emeritus Professor of Economic History at Carlos III University in Spain, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss long term trends in wellbeing, inequality, and freedom.

Travis Fisher, the director of energy and environmental policy studies at the Cato Institute, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss recent developments in U.S. energy and environmental policy.

Daniel Raisbeck, a policy analyst on Latin America at the Cato Institute’s Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the recent election of Javier Milei and what it means for the future of Argentina and the rest of Latin America.

Jack Solowey, a policy analyst at the Cato Institute focusing on financial technology, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the potential benefits of cryptocurrency and the regulatory challenges it faces.

James Pethokoukis, a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss how we can reignite American optimism and build the sci-fi world we were promised.

Climate activism has a cult problem

David Ansara, the Chief Executive of the Free Market Foundation, a South African think tank, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss progress and problems in Africa. David Ansara has been Chief Executive at the FMF since 1 January 2023. He has 15 years’ experience working for think tanks, consultancies and trade associations. David was the Executive Director of the Centre for Risk Analysis (CRA) at the Institute of Race Relations (IRR) where he hosted the CRA’s YouTube Channel and the weekly podcast, Solutions with David Ansara. He is a regular speaker at conferences and events, and a strong advocate for indi...

Erec Smith, a Professor of Rhetoric and the co-founder of Free Black Thought, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the problems with critical social justice and how we can pursue true empowerment through classical liberal ideas. Erec Smith is a Visiting Scholar of Politics and Society for the Cato Institute and an Associate Professor of Rhetoric at York College of Pennsylvania. Although he has eclectic scholarly interests, his primary work focuses on the rhetorics of anti‐​racist activism, theory, and pedagogy as well as the role of rhetoric in a free, pluralistic, and civil society. He is a co‐​founder...

Todd Myers, a director at the Washington Policy Center, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss how technology empowers individuals to protect the environment without the need for top-down government programs. With more than two decades in environmental policy, Todd Myers’s experience includes work on a range of environmental issues, including climate policy, forest health, old-growth forests, and salmon recovery. A former member of the executive team at the Washington State Department of Natural Resources, he is a member of the Puget Sound Salmon Recovery Council. Learn more: https://www.washingtonpolicy.org/authors/detail/todd-myers Chelsea Fo...

Professor Todd Zywicki joins Chelsea Follett to discuss environmental, social, and corporate governance (ESG) and the threat it poses to innovation, economic growth, and democracy.

Robert Wright, a Senior Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the history of slavery and the damage it does to society. Robert E. Wright is a Senior Research Fellow at the American Institute for Economic Research. He is the (co)author or (co)editor of over two dozen major books, book series, and edited collections, including AIER’s The Best of Thomas Paine (2021) and Financial Exclusion (2019). He has also (co)authored numerous articles for important journals, including the American Economic Review, Business History Review, Independent Review, Journal of...

The economist Stephen Barrows joins Chelsea Follett to discuss the intellectual history of population economics, the benefits of population growth, and what we can expect from a future of falling fertility.   Stephen Barrows, Chief Operating Officer, Acton Institute.  Prior to his role at the Acton Institute, Dr. Barrows served as the Executive Vice President, Provost and Dean of Faculty of Aquinas College (Grand Rapids, MI) where he was also a tenured associate professor of economics. While at Aquinas, he taught undergraduate and graduate courses in economics, and led a team of more than 85 full-time faculty, 150 pa...

Chris Barnard, the Vice President of External Affairs at the American Conservation Coalition, joins Chelsea Follett to discuss recent innovations in nuclear energy, the clean energy transition, and how markets can tackle environmental issues. Christopher Barnard is half-American, half-Belgian, and joined ACC after having spent the first 22 years of his life in Europe. Whilst living in England, he founded the UK version of ACC - the British Conservation Alliance, which quickly grew to become the largest environmental campus network in the country. During his time with BCA, he spoke at over 20 events and conferences in 10 countries and wro...

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."