The Roots of Progress | Jason Crawford

Recommended by Jason Crawford

A newsletter from author Steven Johnson exploring where good ideas come from—and how to keep them from turning against us.

One of the top writers on the history of technology and innovation. I always learn interesting facts and stories from reading Steven's work.

- Jason Crawford

Stripe Press

Ideas for progress in economics, science, and technology. Subscribe for updates about Poor Charlie's Almanack and other forthcoming Stripe Press books and events.

New Science

By Alexey Guzey

We build 21st century institutions of science.

The Lunar Society

By Dwarkesh Patel

I interview scientists, historians, economists, & intellectuals. I ask really good questions.

Virginia's Newsletter

By Virginia Postrel

Commerce, culture, and curiosity

Astral Codex Ten

By Scott Alexander

P(A|B) = [P(A)*P(B|A)]/P(B), all the rest is commentary.

ACX is my favorite blog. Scott writes with a rare combination of insight, humor, incisive clarity, relentless questioning, and (often) exhaustive data analysis. Highly recommended.

- Jason Crawford

Construction Physics

By Brian Potter

Why buildings are built the way they are.

Best analysis of the construction industry and its progress/stagnation that I have seen anywhere.

- Jason Crawford

Slow Boring

By Matthew Yglesias

Passion and Perspective from Matthew Yglesias

Matt is one of the top proponents of the abundance agenda.

- Jason Crawford

What's New Under the Sun

By Matt Clancy

What academia knows* about innovation

The best source of clear, readable summaries of the literature on progress and innovation from academic economics.

- Jason Crawford

Institute for Progress

Accelerating scientific, technological, and industrial progress

The only policy institute I know of dedicated to progress studies and the abundance agenda.

- Jason Crawford

Foresight Institute

By Allison Duettmann

Gaming the Future: Technologies for Intelligent Voluntary Cooperation

Someone has to keep alive a bold, ambitious vision of the technological future. The Foresight Institute has been doing this for over 30 years.

- Jason Crawford

Eli Dourado

Trying to end the Great Stagnation 🚀

Eli looks to the biggest near-future technological opportunities and figures out what policy we need to unblock them. I've learned a lot from him about the amazing things we could see in our lifetimes, from geothermal energy to cargo airships.

- Jason Crawford

Rough Diamonds

By Sarah Constantin

Underrated opportunities in science, technology, and society

Extremely well-researched and clearly written technical posts—that combination is hard to find!

- Jason Crawford

Erik Examines

By Erik Engheim

History, economics and politics with a Nordic perspective

FreakTakes

By Eric Gilliam

Wildly interesting stories and extremely practical takeaways from the most exciting era of American science and engineering

Great historical research around the history of science and R&D. This is the most Roots-of-Progress-like blog other than The Roots of Progress.

- Jason Crawford

Age of Invention, by Anton Howes

Tales from the history of innovation.

Anton digs deep and finds fascinating material on the history of invention that no one else has surfaced. His scholarship is impeccable and his writing is crystal clear.

- Jason Crawford

Maximum Progress

By Maxwell Tabarrok

Maximum Progress is a blog by Max Tabarrok on economics, mathematics, philosophy, and progress.

The Works in Progress Newsletter

By Works in Progress

Get the latest updates on our magazine, featuring new and underrated ideas to improve the world. Visit our website: worksinprogress.co

The premiere magazine of progress—a must-read.

- Jason Crawford

Perspectives: Past, Present, and Future, by Patrick Wyman

By Patrick Wyman: Perspectives

The biggest ideas shaping our world - its past, present, and future.

Fascinating stories of ancient history and prehistory. Patrick makes the material engaging and accessible without oversimplifying or dumbing it down—a rare skill.

- Jason Crawford

Uncharted Territories

By Tomas Pueyo

Deeply understand how the world works today to predict the world of tomorrow: AI, tech; the future of democracy, energy, education, and more

Clear, incisive, and entertaining essays that explore a variety of big questions about how the world works.

- Jason Crawford

Not Boring by Packy McCormick

Tech, web3, optimism, and strategy... but Not Boring

Faster, Please!

By James Pethokoukis

Discovering, creating, and inventing a better world through technological innovation, economic growth, and pro-progress culture.

Jim has consumed an enormous amount of material about progress and he filters for the best stuff. I have gotten a bunch of great pointers to books and other blogs from Faster, Please!

- Jason Crawford