Drop your doomscrolling habit.
The negativity of today’s 24/7 news cycle is crushing. Give progress a try instead.
🕓 Thursdays, 5am ET
Raise your hand if this statement rings true for you: These are uncertain, anxious times; everything seems bad and likely to get worse.
We get it. There’s no denying that our world is facing manifold challenges. But when we conclude that we’re heading for chaos and disaster, we’re only considering half of the evidence. Have you heard, for example, that while the world has been “going to hell in a hand basket” hundreds of millions have been lifted out of poverty recently? Or that your odds of surviving cancer have never been better? Were you aware that in the past 10 years humans have managed to cut projected emissions by more than 40%?
There is plenty of evidence out there that showcases human ingenuity and a willingness to cooperate for the common good; it just gets drowned out by a news-and-noise culture defined by the old adage “if it bleeds, it leads.” The result? A feeling of almost constant crisis.
That’s why we decided to create What Could Go Right?, our free weekly newsletter that combines intelligent analysis with underreported stories of progress from around the world. It’s positive news you’ve never seen before: never fluffy, but always uplifting. In telling the other side of the story, it grounds us in the conviction that a better future is possible—and that it’s up to us to create it.
We hope you’ll join 80,000 other readers who have already signed up for a weekly dose of inspiration and motivation. One of them files our emails away in a folder. It’s labeled “Hope.”
Subscribe to get full access to the newsletter and our publication archives.
Who are we?
These days, it’s too easy to list what’s going wrong, from war to disease to politics. But a purely negative focus on the issues we face is itself an issue. Why try to change anything for the better if we’re sure it won’t make a difference?
The Progress Network was founded as a remedy to this learned helplessness, which makes us vulnerable to exploitative politicians, wrecks our mental health, and sabotages potential improvements. By highlighting the positive aspects of our societies, and how we are successfully solving our hardest problems, The Progress Network introduces a different narrative, one built around the bright future that we all want to see. We are not-for-profit and headquartered at the think tank New America. All of the content we produce is free.
Since our launch in October 2020, we have been home to the fresh, constructive perspective that guides the What Could Go Right? weekly newsletter as well as the award-winning What Could Go Right? podcast. And we are proud to be a hub for over 100 progress-minded individuals—all leaders in their fields—as well as several like-minded institutions, each of them doing their best to create a stable and sustainable future.
At the heart of our mission is a simple belief: what happens now and in the time ahead is not ordained. The present may feel unbearably messy, but the future is ours to shape.
About the team
The Progress Network was founded by Zachary Karabell. An author, public speaker, recovering academic historian, and former finance exec, he co-hosts the What Could Go Right? podcast. Follow him here on Substack as The Edgy Optimist.
What Could Go Right? is written by our executive director, Emma Varvaloucas, who also co-hosts the What Could Go Right? podcast. She is an author, journalist, and the previous executive editor of Tricycle: The Buddhist Review.
All of our work would not be possible without the rest of our team: Brian, Molly, and Shubhankar, who keep things running behind the scenes and our social media channels buzzing (follow us on TikTok, Instagram, Facebook, X, and Bluesky).
What do our subscribers say about us?
Your content is much needed nowadays. It is not an exaggeration when I say you are part of my personal antidote to nihilism. Mohammed
I’m elated to have stumbled upon The Progress Network. I have college-aged children, and their outlook on the future is bleak. I’ve shared your link with them in hopes they will sign up for your newsletter. I hope it helps them reframe their current thinking. Sallie
I love sharing links from the newsletter to other people interested in those subjects to give them a positive nudge in their day. Joaquin
You guys are cool water in a hot desert. Thank you. Anonymous
Receiving your emails is like having a jar of sunshine. Light comes out whether I open the jar or not. When I do open it, the light gets brighter and I get a little smarter. Anonymous
I think the work you do is absolutely amazing and my only wish is that I had discovered it sooner. I share The Progress Network with everybody I know and your website is permanently tagged to the top of my only remaining social media (LinkedIn). Andy
Thank you for what you are doing! I used to be so stuck in the bad news cycle that it made me give up on all my efforts, basically. I love to see it! Alex
I love what you’re doing and it has been a big help for my mental and emotional health. Kyle
I actually share quite a few of your posts to friends who seem downtrodden by the news. You and Reuters are the only news sources I regularly read now; I am absolutely certain now that I don’t miss a thing. I’m much less anxious now that I’m not being bashed by the relentless trauma cycle of most news outlets. Thank you! Anonymous
Thank you for being a voice of optimism, reason, and level-headedness. Nadamayi
