The Works in Progress Newsletter

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More articles we would like to commission

The economics of the baby bust We talk with Jesús Fernández-Villaverde on the latest episode of the Works in Progress podcast.

The economics of the baby bust

Evolution under a microscope

Evolution under a microscope

Readers from Canada, Australia and the EU can now subscribe to Works in Progress

Readers from Canada, Australia and the EU can now subscribe to Works in Progress

Will AI solve medicine? Some say AI will solve medicine within a decade. Others believe biology is far more complex than people imagine and AI will hit the limits of clinical trials and economics. Who's right?

Will AI solve medicine?

Treating cost disease with Congressman Jake Auchincloss Episode eight of the Works in Progress podcast is about the politics of the Abundance movement

Treating cost disease with Congressman Jake Auchincloss

Why science needs outsiders The greatest breakthroughs often come from outsiders who can take a fresh perspective

Why science needs outsiders

The art of protein design with AI Watch now | Scientists are using AI to hallucinate entirely novel proteins that could transform medicine, agriculture, and materials science

The art of protein design with AI

What makes Joel Mokyr great

What makes Joel Mokyr great

Chinese dams hold billions of people to ransom Could desalination make them irrelevant?

Chinese dams hold billions of people to ransom

What's new in biology: October 2025 Safer transplants, new antibiotics, the rise of paper mills, long-term flu protection, slowing down ageing, and more.

What's new in biology: October 2025

Hacking proteins with AI Episode four of Hard Drugs is about building new proteins

Hacking proteins with AI

The antibody factory If antibodies were cheaper, they could prevent millions of deaths from rabies, malaria, and dengue.

The antibody factory

How traffic modernism ruined cities with Nicholas Boys Smith Episode seven of the Works in Progress podcast is about urban design

How traffic modernism ruined cities with Nicholas Boys Smith

Why AI isn't replacing radiologists Radiology combines digital images, clear benchmarks, and repeatable tasks. But demand for human radiologists is ay an all-time high.

Why AI isn't replacing radiologists

How to clean the air Germicidal ultraviolet could make airborne disease as rare as those carried by water.

How to clean the air

Issue 20: The death rays that guard life Plus: How to make antibodies, why rivers are now battlefields, and a clinical trial for cooling the plant

Issue 20: The death rays that guard life

Works in Progress is now in print. Subscribe today A magazine worthy of our readers

Works in Progress is now in print. Subscribe today

100 years of insulin in 15 minutes Episode three of Hard Drugs is about how our need to produce insulin kickstarted the modern biotech industry

100 years of insulin in 15 minutes

What’s new in biology: September 2025 Gene therapy, narcolepsy drugs, parasite removal, protein nanoparticles, the 3D structure of genomes, and more.

What’s new in biology: September 2025

How market design can feed the poor America's largest non-profit had a broken distribution system. University of Chicago economists fixed it.

How market design can feed the poor

Magical systems thinking

Magical systems thinking

We're hiring an editorial designer Make our magazine look beautiful

We're hiring an editorial designer

Why feminism worked best in the West with Alice Evans Episode six of the Works in Progress podcast is about dating, drinking and tax

Why feminism worked best in the West with Alice Evans

Liberté, égalité, radioactivité France built forty nuclear reactors in a decade. Here's what the world can learn from it.

Liberté, égalité, radioactivité

Proteins: Weird blobs doing important things Episode two of Hard Drugs explores the world of proteins

Proteins: Weird blobs doing important things

Toronto's underground labyrinth How Canada's largest city developed a 30 kilometer network of pedestrian tunnels

Toronto's underground labyrinth

How to become President of China with Dan Wang Episode five of the Works in Progress podcast is about why China outbuilds America

How to become President of China with Dan Wang

The beauty of batteries Keeping the grid stable requires overbuilding generation, driving up costs. Batteries fix that.

The beauty of batteries

How a Norwegian chemist defeated lead paint

How a Norwegian chemist defeated lead paint