Worker cooperatives are firms that, unlike traditional firms, are run democratically. This means that instead of the owner of the firm deciding who manages the workers, the workers become part owner and get a say in how the firm is run. This has some advantages, such as workers working harder and productivity appearing to increase.
 

Wait… how’s that even possible in theory?

You might be asking yourself: won't workers become lazy since the profit is shared with their colleagues, which means they only get a small proportion of the fruits of their individual labor? According to the free-rider hypothesis, rational and self-interested agents will always have an incentive to put in less effort and be a parasite to the efforts of others. That’s literally the first lesson of game-theory...

Seeking a freelance project manager to help me publish and launch my book, The Techno-Humanist Manifesto.

I have a book deal with a major academic publisher and a deadline this fall. You will help me figure out everything we need to do to make this book a smashing success, and then keep track of it and get it done:

• Building a website for the book
• Selecting a PR firm and managing them
• A/B testing titles & subtitles
• Gathering blurbs
• Tracking preparation of the manuscript including footnotes and index
• Tracking copyrights & permissions on all visuals
• Etc.

Must have near-superhuman organizational skills and attention to detail, I want zero balls dropped on this project. Experience with publishing projects is a bonus.

Will gladly pay market rates for this work. Apply here.

We're excited to announce our August book discussion featuring Technology and the Rise of Great Powers by Jeffrey Ding.

Pathways to Progress is a community of individuals committed to understanding and contributing to human prosperity. Through our discussions, we examine technological and scientific innovation, economic development, and their role in advancing human prosperity. Each month, we read selected book(s), followed by a Q&A event with the author. Previous books include Pieces of the Action by Vannevar Bush, Where's My Flying Car? by J. Storrs Hall, and Stubborn Attachments by Tyler Cowen. We also host speaker events with guests such as Jason Crawford, Matt Clancy, and Saloni Dattani. Most speaker events are recorded and available on YouTube and Spotify.

Here's our schedule:

• Discussion Meetings: We'll have two sessions to discuss Technology and the Rise of

We're excited to announce our July book discussion featuring Pieces of the Action by Vannevar Bush with a foreword from Ben Reinhardt. 

Pathways to Progress is a community of individuals committed to understanding and contributing to human prosperity. Through our discussions, we examine technological and scientific innovation, economic development, and their role in advancing human prosperity. Each month, we read selected book(s), followed by a Q&A event with the author. Previous books include Starved for Science by Robert Paarlberg, Where's My Flying Car? by J. Storrs Hall, and Stubborn Attachments by Tyler Cowen. We also host speaker events with guests such as Jason Crawford, Matt Clancy, and Saloni Dattani. Most speaker events are recorded and available on YouTube and Spotify.

Here's our schedule:

• Discussion Meetings: We'll have two discussion sessions to discuss Pieces of

Note: This is an in-depth historical essay recently posted on my Substack, Novum. It's a deep dive into the fears and anxieties of the years 1900-1914, a period called "the vertigo years" by historian Philipp Blom. As I explore in the piece, it has some surprising parallels to our own time, as we also cope with accelerating change amid our own vertigo years. I thought it would be of interest to the progress studies community. If you found it worth your time, please consider subscribing to my work. 

The New Vertigo Years

Over a century ago, the world felt anxious and unsettled much like today

If you had to pick a period that most closely resembles how we experience life today, the start...

Note: this is a crosspost from my Substack, Positive Sum. 

I'm spending the next six months reading 30+ books about innovation policy, trying to understand a perspective I've been disregarding my whole career.

Our tech policy debates are stuck because we're talking past each other. Arguments continually circle back to one thing: whether regulation will harm innovation.

Usually, us leftists see “protecting innovation” as a weak, catch-all excuse used by people on the right. A superficial one at best, a cover for greed at worst.

But now, because of progress writers, AI, and my decade in government, I am intensely curious:

What actually is the nature of innovation? Which regulations helped or hurt? How do you prevent the kind of public backlash that killed nuclear power? What types of private governance actually...

This is a linkpost for https://rootsofprogress.org/more-great-speakers-join-progress-conference-2025/

Progress Conference 2025 is on track to once again be a main event for the progress community, now bringing together well over 300 attendees. Over the last two months we’ve added:

• 21 more great speakers. Additional speakers include Sampriti Bhattacharyya (Navier), Seemay Chou (Arcadia Science), Justin Lopas (Base Power), Emmett Shear (Softmax), Jan Sramek (California Forever), and more. Full speaker list here. Our speaker list is now closed—though we are taking ideas for 2026—and we’re excited about many additional interesting sessions that attendees will organize during the unconference slots.
• 7 additional sponsors. We welcome Jane Street, Renaissance Philanthropy, Common Group, Works in Progress, Halcyon Ventures, Inclusive Abundance, and Circulate Planning as new sponsors. A couple of sponsorships at levels of $25K and $50K are still available. View sponsorship

The Roots of Progress Institute is seeking to commission stories for a new article series, “Intelligence Age,” on future applications of AI.

These will be reported essays, not science fiction. We want to understand how AI might change individual sectors of the economy and the working lives of the people within them. What happens to traditional filmmaking when AI can make good movies? What will it be like to date with an emotionally intelligent AI vetting the pool of potential partners?

Or: we’d like to commission one or more stories about the future of the legal profession in the age of AI. We can partly understand that by talking to lawyers on the cutting edge of AI use, but we also want you to extrapolate out and think multiple...

It’s been way too long since the last links digest, which means I have way too much to catch up on. I had to cut many interesting bits to get this one out the door.

Much of this content originated on social media. To follow news and announcements in a more timely fashion, follow me on Twitter, Notes, Farcaster, Bluesky, or Threads.

Contents

• Apply to the Roots of Progress Fellowship by June 1st (tomorrow!)
• Edge Esmeralda next week!
• My writing (ICYMI)
• Other people’s writing
• Jobs
• Grants & fellowships
• Events
• AI announcements
• Introductions
• Career moves
• Nuclear news
• Aviation news
• Other announcements

For paid subscribers:

• Stagnation was the goal
• Is stagnation a measurement illusion?
• Eroom’s Law
• Cembalest on AI
• More on AI
• Bio
• Podcast interviews
• Links and short notes
• Politics
• Housing
• Gratitude
• Quotes
• Charts
• Aesthetics
• Fun

Apply to the Roots of Progress Fellowship by June 1st (tomorrow!)

Applications are still open for the 2025 Blog-Building Intensive! Launch a blog and improve your progress-focused writing with expert guidance and an amazing...