The Works in Progress Newsletter

The Works in Progress Newsletter

@worksinprogress.blogsky.venki.dev

Get the latest updates on our magazine, featuring new and underrated ideas to improve the world. Visit our website: worksinprogress.co Automated feed of https://www.worksinprogress.news/, discover more at @blogsky.venki.dev

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The Works in Progress Newsletter

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Young prudes

worksinprogress.newsYoung prudesThe end of casual sex

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Roman love

worksinprogress.newsRoman love

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The case for Brazil

worksinprogress.newsThe case for BrazilTyler Cowen tries the world’s third best Italian food

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Porcelain

worksinprogress.newsPorcelainA pricey kitchen stove left Charles C Mann with a question: what on earth is Dekton?

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How China became rich

worksinprogress.newsHow China became richIt’s secret is its cities, not central planning

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Why were Victorian elites so effective?

worksinprogress.newsWhy were Victorian elites so effective?The biggest empire the world has ever seen was run by a small elite who partied all night, drank liters of port, and stayed in bed until the afternoon.

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Issue 26: China’s secret growth machines

worksinprogress.newsIssue 26: China’s secret growth machinesFeaturing Dan Wang, Stephen Kotkin, Saloni Dattani, and more.

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Mosquitoes are a choice

worksinprogress.newsMosquitoes are a choiceThe technology to eradicate mosquito-borne disease already exists. We just have to be brave enough to use it.

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Why the Bronze Age collapsed

worksinprogress.newsWhy the Bronze Age collapsedHistorians like to blame drought, famine and invaders. But this can’t explain why the empires never came back.

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All the microbes you can’t have

worksinprogress.newsAll the microbes you can’t haveWe’ve invented microbes that can eat plastic, detect landmines, and extract rare metals. They’ve been swallowed by a black hole.

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Why Arab armies don’t win wars

worksinprogress.newsWhy Arab armies don’t win warsAlex Chalmers reviews Armies of Sand by Kenneth Pollack.

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The NIMBY problem

worksinprogress.newsThe NIMBY problem Not all NIMBYs are alike. Dividing the most unreasonable ones from the rest might be the key to getting homes built.

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Why Alberta doesn’t have rats

worksinprogress.newsWhy Alberta doesn’t have ratsRats have conquered nearly every place on earth where humans live. Only Alberta soldiers on.

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Do people prefer traditional architecture?

worksinprogress.newsDo people prefer traditional architecture?Taste is subjective. But when it comes to architecture, there is a surprising level of agreement.

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Issue 25: Beauty In My Backyard

worksinprogress.newsIssue 25: Beauty In My BackyardWorks in Progress issue 25 is out today

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The invention of the MMO

worksinprogress.newsThe invention of the MMO

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Just bury your trash

worksinprogress.newsJust bury your trashWhat if everything we know about recycling is wrong?

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A cop’s case for Flock

worksinprogress.newsA cop’s case for FlockPeople are right to want less police intrusion in their lives

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American transit is bad because of scope creep

worksinprogress.newsAmerican transit is bad because of scope creepWho benefits when we ask transit to pursue social goals?

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Switch off a gene of your choice

worksinprogress.newsSwitch off a gene of your choiceWhat if instead of editing a gene, or blocking the protein it produces, you could simply switch it off?

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Why Thailand was never colonized

worksinprogress.newsWhy Thailand was never colonizedDiplomacy, reform, and a convenient stone

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Daycare barely matters

worksinprogress.newsDaycare barely mattersIf it had a clear effect on children we would know by now.

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Medical innovation needs you

worksinprogress.newsMedical innovation needs youSaloni's TED talk was published today.

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Will factory farming fix itself?

worksinprogress.newsWill factory farming fix itself?What smog, deforestation, and child labor tell us about the future of animal suffering

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Every disease is a policy failure

worksinprogress.newsEvery disease is a policy failureFew people know how much medicine has progressed in their lifetimes. Fewer know how much faster it could be progressing.

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The upper limits of biology

worksinprogress.newsThe upper limits of biology

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How ugliness helps NIMBYs

worksinprogress.newsHow ugliness helps NIMBYs

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Are miracle drugs hiding in plain sight?

worksinprogress.newsAre miracle drugs hiding in plain sight?Watch now | GLP-1 drugs have transformed the treatment of obesity and diabetes, and also help with heart disease, kidney disease and sleep apnea. But they are far from the only medicine with more than one use.

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The myth of medieval childhood

worksinprogress.newsThe myth of medieval childhood

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How Hasidic Jews have so many children

worksinprogress.newsHow Hasidic Jews have so many childrenModernity has meant fewer children in virtually every culture around the world. Holdouts like Orthodox Jews might have lessons for the rest of us.

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Why San Francisco isn’t bigger

worksinprogress.newsWhy San Francisco isn’t biggerLarge swaths of America’s cities were originally underwater. We stopped half a century ago, but there is plenty more land left to take.

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What's new in biology: July 2026

worksinprogress.newsWhat's new in biology: July 2026A synthetic cell made via chemistry, laser phase plate electron microscopy, the first base-edited human embryo, lab-grown eggs and sperm, and more.

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Issue 24: How smashing the NIMBYs created modern capitalism

worksinprogress.newsIssue 24: How smashing the NIMBYs created modern capitalismWorks in Progress Issue 24 is out today.

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How p-hacking built the world's most expensive safety regime

worksinprogress.newsHow p-hacking built the world's most expensive safety regime

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AI is bottlenecked by the grid

worksinprogress.newsAI is bottlenecked by the grid

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Epidurals are a miracle technology

worksinprogress.newsEpidurals are a miracle technologyChildbirth may be the most painful thing a person can experience, but we have the technology to numb the pain.

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The secret cause of the industrial revolution

worksinprogress.newsThe secret cause of the industrial revolutionIn 1688, England swept away the encrusted vetocracy that had held back economic growth for centuries. Could we do the same today?

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Why we should vaccinate wild animals

worksinprogress.newsWhy we should vaccinate wild animalsVaccinating wild animals can protect human health, and spare animals from extinction and suffering.

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Issue 24: Rats, The Glorious Revolution and the secret to ultra-Orthodox fertility

worksinprogress.newsIssue 24: Rats, The Glorious Revolution and the secret to ultra-Orthodox fertilityA preview of everything to come in Issue 24

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Europe’s housing shortages are even worse than America’s

worksinprogress.newsEurope’s housing shortages are even worse than America’sWhy does nobody there talk about zoning?

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What’s new in biology: June 2026

worksinprogress.newsWhat’s new in biology: June 2026

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How the Squamish struck gold in Vancouver

worksinprogress.newsHow the Squamish struck gold in Vancouver

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Why all new flags look the same

worksinprogress.newsWhy all new flags look the sameMost flags used to be ugly. They were probably better that way.

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The blood cancer that became solvable

worksinprogress.newsThe blood cancer that became solvable

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Cured in China

worksinprogress.newsCured in ChinaMultiple myeloma is brutal. We may finally have a cure, but American regulatory inertia means that it was discovered abroad.

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The lost art of building cities

worksinprogress.newsThe lost art of building cities

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Samurai city

worksinprogress.newsSamurai cityFor three hundred years, Japan enjoyed enviable stability and peace. All it took was locking up its warlike samurai elite in the world’s least efficient city.

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How we learned what genes are made of

worksinprogress.newsHow we learned what genes are made ofIn the 1940s, scientists made a discovery now fundamental to biology: genes are encoded in DNA. The story involves bacteria, dead mice, and a kitchen cream separator.

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Review: Recession by Tyler Godspeed

worksinprogress.newsReview: Recession by Tyler GodspeedHow a grasshopper caused the 1873 panic, and why recessions are usually just bad luck.

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Inventing the second malaria vaccine with Katharine Collins

worksinprogress.newsInventing the second malaria vaccine with Katharine CollinsMalaria is caused not by a virus or bacterium, but by a complex, shape-shifting parasite that has evolved alongside us for millennia. This has made vaccine development a brutal challenge.