The Works in Progress Newsletter
Subscribe
Sign in
Home
Features
Notes on Progress
Out Loud
Podcast
Hard Drugs
Books in Progress
Website
Print
The Update
Archive
About
What’s new in biology: spring 2026
A breakthrough drug for pancreatic cancer, organ recovery, weight loss drugs that preserve muscle, a whole-cell simulation, how plants make nicotine…
Apr 16
•
Saloni Dattani
91
4
5
The truth about egg freezing
Whatever you do, do not listen to the articles that say that egg and embryo freezing do not work.
Apr 15
•
Luzia Bruckamp
,
Ruxandra Teslo
, and
Works in Progress
76
5
7
The secrets of the Shinkansen
Japan's railways are the finest in the world. Other countries can copy its formula.
Apr 13
•
Works in Progress
and
Benedict Springbett
182
11
32
Apply for Invisible College 2026
After two years of success, our residential seminar for 18–22 year olds is returning again
Apr 10
•
Ben Southwood
and
Works in Progress
63
1
7
1:05:41
Egg freezing, Australian refugee policy and ASML
A preview of everything to come in Issue 23
Apr 8
•
Works in Progress
,
Ben Southwood
,
Aria Schrecker
, and
Pieter Garicano
25
7
6
Latest
Top
Discussions
25:08
How to spot a monopoly, Out loud
Competition makes capitalism work. A new method for measuring it may be the holy grail of economic regulation.
11 hrs ago
•
Works in Progress
and
Brian Albrecht
13
24:32
The death rays that guard life, Out Loud
We disinfect water before we drink it. Germicidal ultraviolet could make airborne disease as rare as those carried by water.
Apr 10
•
Works in Progress
and
Karam Elabd
14
1
1
The creation of instant coffee
The convenience of instant coffee masks a surprisingly difficult problem.
Apr 6
•
Works in Progress
154
12
11
19:02
Inflatable space stations, Out Loud
If we ever want to live in space, we need to work out a way of creating artificial gravity.
Apr 3
•
Works in Progress
16
1
1
Microbubbles
It’s incredibly hard to deliver drugs to the right organ, especially to reach the brain. Microbubbles could change that.
Mar 31
•
Ambika Grover
and
Works in Progress
85
4
10
Escaping the Ogallala trap
There is a closing window to stop Waymos from creating omnigridlock.
Mar 27
•
Ben Southwood
90
22
10
21:30
The algorithm will see you now, Out Loud
Radiology combines digital images, clear benchmarks, and repeatable tasks. But replacing humans with AI is harder than it seems.
Mar 27
•
Works in Progress
and
Deena Mousa
15
1
How live sports saved television
Television was the most eagerly anticipated technology of the postwar years. But it faced a terrible coordination problem.
Mar 26
•
Virginia Postrel
and
Works in Progress
65
2
5
1:27:46
Did status signaling ruin architecture?
Episode 15 of the Works in Progress is about ornament, taste, and modernism.
Mar 25
•
Works in Progress
,
Aria Schrecker
,
Ben Southwood
, and
Samuel Hughes
46
20
13
See all
The Works in Progress Newsletter
New and underrated ideas to improve the world. Visit our website: worksinprogress.co
Subscribe
Recommendations
View all 11
IFP
IFP
Scientific Discovery
Saloni Dattani
Asimov Press
Asimov Press
Age of Invention, by Anton Howes
Anton Howes
The Science Fictions Podcast
Tom Chivers
The Works in Progress Newsletter
Subscribe
About
Archive
Recommendations
Sitemap
This site requires JavaScript to run correctly. Please
turn on JavaScript
or unblock scripts
