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Why San Francisco isn’t bigger
Large swaths of America’s cities were originally underwater. We stopped half a century ago, but there is plenty more land left to take.
Jul 10
•
Maxwell Tabarrok
and
Works in Progress
107
11
9
What's new in biology: July 2026
A synthetic cell made via chemistry, laser phase plate electron microscopy, the first base-edited human embryo, lab-grown eggs and sperm, and more.
Jul 9
•
Saloni Dattani
,
Niko McCarty
, and
Works in Progress
75
8
14
Issue 24: How smashing the NIMBYs created modern capitalism
Works in Progress Issue 24 is out today.
Jul 1
•
Works in Progress
73
1
7
June 2026
How p-hacking built the world's most expensive safety regime
People are terrified that small doses of radiation will give them cancer, but they probably don’t need to be.
Jun 30
•
Ben Southwood
,
Alex Chalmers
, and
Works in Progress
102
27
16
What's really slowing down the AI buildout
America has the electricity to power its data centers; the problem is getting it where it's needed.
Jun 25
•
Works in Progress
and
Chris Gillett
82
11
9
Epidurals are miraculous
Childbirth may be the most painful thing a person can experience, but we have the technology to numb the pain.
Jun 23
•
Phoebe Arslanagić-Little
and
Works in Progress
102
13
5
The secret cause of the industrial revolution
In 1688, England swept away the encrusted vetocracy that had held back economic growth for centuries. Could we do the same today?
Jun 19
•
Ben Southwood
and
Works in Progress
325
44
42
The wild scheme to save koalas
Vaccinating wild animals can protect human health, and spare animals from extinction and suffering.
Jun 18
•
Michelle Ma
and
Works in Progress
76
4
8
Issue 24: Rats, The Glorious Revolution and the secret to ultra-Orthodox fertility
A preview of everything to come in Issue 24
Jun 17
•
Works in Progress
,
Aria Schrecker
,
Sam Bowman
, and
Pieter Garicano
12
2
1
1:00:54
Europe’s housing shortages are even worse than America’s
Why does nobody there talk about zoning?
Jun 16
•
Samuel Hughes
and
Works in Progress
122
43
9
What’s new in biology: June 2026
The most effective weight-loss drug so far, cancer breakthroughs, gene editing for cholesterol, ancestral CRISPR systems, and more.
Jun 12
•
Saloni Dattani
and
Niko McCarty
208
17
32
How the Squamish built Senakw
Just beyond central Vancouver, the Squamish Nation is building one of the most ambitious and unusual housing developments in the world, and getting rich…
Jun 11
•
Works in Progress
and
Anya Martin
94
8
8
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