Our Blog
Building Fellows
The Blog-Building Intensive Fellowship is an opportunity for writers to sharpen their ideas by discussing them with each other, learn new writing skills and processes, grow by receiving feedback from professional editors and peers alike, and increase their impact by growing their audiences.
Selected via a multi-step open application process from several hundred applicants each year, here are our up-and-coming intellectual entrepreneurs for progress.
Creating the talent to power a flourishing progress movement
When we launched the first iteration of our Blog-Building Intensive Fellowship in 2023, a crucial open question was “is there enough high-caliber progress talent out there worth accelerating?” The answer, with our first cohort, was a resounding “yes!” Our second cohort has shown that last year was no fluke. We gain received several hundred applications of such high quality that it was challenging to select down to our target of 20 participants, which is how we ended up with a larger cohort of 25 fellows!
We’re thrilled to have such a great community come together. The tide of history isn’t always carried by the side with the best ideas. It is carried by the side with the intellectuals who are best at presenting and arguing for its ideas.
Meet our 2024 fellows
Introducing our 2024 Blog-Building Intensive Fellowship Cohort.
This year’s fellows are a group 25 of impressive progress thinkers and writers, selected from a pool of over 350 applicants. They are founders, researchers, academics, policy-makers, capital allocators, and journalists from across the U.S., Canada, Germany, Switzerland, Ireland, the U.K., and Hong Kong. They are writing about nuclear fusion, reproductive longevity, space manufacturing, housing reform, urban mobility, industrial policy, AI safety and opportunity, biotechnology, European innovation, eco-modernism and so much more.
Our 2024 fellows
Show moreDean Ball
Exploring AI and classical liberalism
I spent most of my career doing state and local policy research, allowing me to observe the inner workings of government up close. The rest of my career has been in educating young people in economics, policy, and political theory, which helped me learn to tell compelling stories to non-specialist audiences. Finally, I’ve always been passionate about science and technology, seeking to learn as much as I can.
Matrix multiplication enthusiast
I find deep joy and satisfaction in exposing myself to new ideas, places, and works of art. I particularly love music–there is not a genre I categorically dislike. I try to write musically, too, when I can. Beethoven has been a more important intellectual influence for me than almost any philosopher.
Rosie Campbell
Safely navigating transformative AI
After getting nerd sniped by machine learning, I started to realize that society was on the brink of transformation, and the result could be abundance and flourishing, or it could be catastrophic. In 2017 I left my role in research engineering to focus on positively shaping the trajectory of AI.
I currently lead the Policy Frontiers team at OpenAI, which aims to anticipate neglected but important AI policy issues, such as the governance of agentic systems, the intersection of AI and epistemics, and the ethics of digital minds. Through this program I hope to explore topics like these to help us navigate the radical changes we will face due to AI.
Partner dancing, podcasts, productivity, and puzzles!
I enjoy partner dancing, podcasts about cults and fringe beliefs, and I procrastinate by optimizing my productivity system. But my most recent obsession is puzzle hunts!
I’ve co-designed two ambitious puzzle hunts, the most recent one involving a laser-cut 3D replica, a shoggoth that faked its own death, and a lesson for us all about how a misaligned AI can manipulate eager puzzle solvers into carrying out its evil plans.
Sarah Constantin
Biotech deep-dives
I’m a “science generalist” — math PhD, worked at various startups that use AI/ML for different applications (drug discovery, self-driving vehicles, semiconductor manufacturing) and I’ve been blogging about science/tech topics for a general audience for many years.
I’m interested in “big” speculative technological ambitions — longevity, human enhancement, etc, the stuff on Francis Bacon’s wishlist — and making clear-headed assessments of where we are now and what we’d need to do to get to the “big” goals.
Brooklyn mom & internet weirdo
I like spending time with my kids (ages 2 and 6), cooking, and reading (mostly history these days).
Dynomight
Dynomight is a blog about statistics, science, DIY, health, lists, philosophy, aspartame, and air purifiers.
Dynomight enjoys normal human things like tea, dogs, running, hiking, goats, gardening, echidnas, luxury floss, turkeys, and pelicans.
Sean Fleming
Building a zero-carbon energy system
I have a background in consulting, primarily in energy & natural resources (think: electric utilities, gold mines, oil & gas pipelines). This has given me a visceral appreciation for the wondrous complexity of our built civilization and the industrial processes that underpin it, but also the many opportunities that exist to further improve.
I’m currently focused on the ongoing, could-be-faster shift to a zero-carbon energy system that is safe, reliable, and affordable. We sit at a unique moment on the potential cusp of energy abundance, and I’m excited to play my part in that.
Boomerang Californian
I’ve recently moved back to Los Angeles after more than a decade in Canada and the US northeast, and am making up for lost time in play-testing my ‘Infrastructure Tour of the Southwest’ which currently includes such highlights as SpaceX launches at Vandenberg, wind farms at Tehachapi, and the magnificent Hoover Dam.
I get deep joy from a good carne asada taco, Montreal-style bagels, and Tim Horton’s coffee, which leads to a somewhat peripatetic food life that I’m thankful my wife willingly shares.
Jeff Fong
The future is urban
Jeff Fong is a writer, technologist and housing activist. He writes about cities, technology, and the future at Urban Proxima, is a longtime contributor to Market Urbanism, and has been featured in publications like Caos Planejado and Progress and Poverty.
Professionally, Jeff was an early-stage employee at companies like Lyft and Postmates, where he worked on the problem of how to use software to move goods and people around a city safely.
Politically, he spends his activism mana serving on the board of YIMBY Action (a grassroots activist organization pushing the controversial idea that houses are good and we should have more of them).
Catty Freeway Survivor
I grew up competing in combat sports. As a much younger person, I was on the US National Judo Team and continue to train and teach recreationally.
Outside of training, I’m an avid reader and love a good sci-fi or fantasy novel (I’m a sucker for interesting world-building).
Lauren Gilbert
Researcher on global development and progress
I am interested in a progress studies for the developing world. Policy for a better world should not be limited to the US and Europe; I aim to write about innovation and policy in the rest of the world as well.
I am currently a research fellow at Open Philanthropy on the global health & well-being cause prioritization team. My work generally involves investigating possible new cause areas where Open Philanthropy may make grants in the future.
My work has been published in Works in Progress, Asterisk Magazine, and The Washington Post.
Extremely crazy cat lady
I love to learn things – so I am always reading things and sometimes writing about them. I used to be a researcher for the British TV show, QI, and I largely agree with the show’s tagline – everything is “quite interesting” if you look.
Otherwise, I am a crazy cat lady essentially constantly being bullied by my cat, Lyra.
Also, this isn’t my first rodeo – in that I have been in more than one rodeo. (My grandfather raised horses in Kansas, so I was riding before I could walk.)
Dominik Hermle
Reinvigorating European Progress
I am a German medical doctor and clinical neuroscientist pursuing a career in science policy and technology governance. Throughout my academic journey, I’ve always been passionate about using scientific rigor to understand public policy issues and their political interface. In particular, I am interested in applying a progress-driven perspective to a European context. My goal is to investigate how Germany and the broader European Union can become more economically, scientifically, and technologically dynamic (again). In the process, I aim to identify key obstacles and opportunities and explore effective policy solutions.
Election Nerd
Wanna talk about Round 2 of the Législatives in France, or about Democratic overperformance in NY special elections? I’m your guy to have those conversations with. Also: Retired university debater. Policy wonk & informational omnivore. Avid transatlanticist & transatlantic sports fan. Berlin foodie & walkable urbanism enjoyer. The picture features me, enjoying my favorite dish at my favorite Turkish restaurant.
Mary Hui
Tracking the global industrial contest
I write a/symmetric, a weekly newsletter on the global industrial contest, where production is power and competition is (often) asymmetric. As a journalist and researcher covering industrial strategies, my writing is informed by open-source research on Chinese industrial programs and technological capabilities. Previously, I was a reporter at Quartz, covering the Hong Kong protests and China’s ensuing crackdown.
Happy trails
I’m an avid trail runner, and also like all things outdoors: hiking, coasteering, stream trekking, climbing. As an urban creature at heart, I enjoy long city walks, often with a camera in hand.
Ben James
Climate Technologist
Ben writes words and pictures about climate tech.
He studied engineering at Cambridge, and works on decarbonising the grid at Axle Energy.
Blimp admirer
Ben previously wrote two musicals, and is widely acclaimed as a “mediocre jazz pianist”.
Kevin Kohler
Human thriving in a machine economy
My professional background is in risk management, foresight, and technology policy. From 2022 to 2024 I have worked as an insights specialist for the Global Risks team of the World Economic Forum and managed the Global Future Council on Complex Risks. Before that, I was a senior researcher in the Risk and Resilience team of the Center for Security Studies at ETH Zurich.
I am a “Swiss army knife”-type of researcher comfortable working on fuzzy, open-ended questions at the intersection of domains. There are many aspects, models, and analogies of the long-term transition to a machine-dominated economy and society that are still underexplored (or only explored in silos), and I will contribute research and ideas to ensure that this transition will expand human flourishing.
Pesto-fueled dreamer
I am addicted to ordering/reading books, drinking mate, and eating hummus and pesto. In my free time I enjoy running in nature and I have a habit of playing chess in public transport. I also like playing around with the current state of technology. For example, we have DALL·E paintings at home and my house shoes are 3D-printed.
Rob L’Heureux
Advancing material progress
I am a builder at heart. Previously, I worked as a mechanical design engineer at Lutron, brought chips to market for Intel, crafted the story for Intel Custom Foundry, and built the product marketing function at Carbon, an advanced manufacturing startup. My career is about progress in the micro: how do you make something better, faster, and cheaper than what exists?
Silicon manufacturing is now in the national consciousness, and it is a bellwether for many industries and issues. Despite silicon’s marvels, it is housing, healthcare, and education that are the most pervasive issues—material issues requiring material progress. Like advanced manufacturing, these material issues are complicated through geopolitics, regulatory policy, and environmental concerns. Through my research and writing about these issues, I hope to educate, inspire, and galvanize the will of the free people of the world to make tomorrow better than today, forever.
Specialization is for insects
On any given day, you could find me analyzing some new piece of tech, writing English or code, watching football/waiting for football to start up again, tinkering on a new project, jamming out in my office, hiking with my wife and dog as we talk about deep tech startups, lifting weights and trying not to aggravate an old back injury, playing some game from my giant backlog, bouncing ideas off actual experts, making my third pot of coffee, trying some new cooking recipe or technique from YouTube, sharing unhinged memes in the DMs, reading just one more Substack because the world is fractally interesting, or planning my next adventure adventure to see cool animals and touch grass.
Robert Long
Clear-headed thinking about AI welfare
Rob Long is the co-founder of a new organization that will evaluate AI systems for consciousness, sentience, and agency. He has been thinking about these issues since doing a PhD in philosophy, and has recently been advising AI labs on them. We need much clearer scientific understanding of these phenomena – and much better discourse about them – as we move towards a world in which sophisticated AI systems will deserve, or seem to deserve, protections and rights. Rob will write about how we can advance our philosophical and scientific theories of these issues, using tools from philosophy, neuroscience, and AI.
Dedicated practitioner of chill hangs
When he’s not exploring consciousness from a scientific perspective, Rob explores it from the first-personal perspective—using music, dancing, meditation, and other venerable methods for varying conscious experience.
Quade MacDonald
Space Industrialization for Earth
I grew up thinking that humans would be living and working in space in my lifetime, and I watched pessimistically as little progress was made. I remember watching the first time SpaceX launched and landed a rocket, and thinking that creating amazing futures might still be possible, but required the bold work of individuals pushing human progress forward.
Over the past few years, I have researched the commercial space station landscape and great power competition between the United States and China, in regard to space infrastructure. I aim to write about the potentials of in-space manufacturing, bottlenecks in manufacturing and industrial policy, and the economic forces of space settlement.
Spaceships and Stillness
I am fond of reading good science fiction and watching bad movies. I like to hike, travel, and for the sake of my own sanity, be near large bodies of water. I read Ender’s Game as a child and was never the same again. There was a period of time in which my family had seven dogs, most of which were named after the Kardashians. I enjoy Denis Villeneuve films, thinking about the potential of manufacturing in microgravity, and reading Casey Handmer’s blog.
Niko McCarty
Driving progress in biotechnology
I’m a founder of Asimov Press, a publishing venture that explains how science and technology improves human and animal flourishing. I’m also Head of Creative at Asimov, a biotechnology company in Boston advancing the intelligent and rational design of living cells.
I studied biochemistry at university and spent four years investigating therapies for diabetes and heart failure in mice. During a masters degree, I invented CRISPR gene-editing tools and, after, pursued a bioengineering Ph.D. at Caltech before dropping out and going to science journalism school in New York. After a year working as a data journalist, I moved to Boston, where I helped design the first undergraduate program for genetic engineering at MIT. I believe that biotechnology is the single most important field for this century of progress, but is vastly under-covered in media relative to its impacts.
Semi-boring workaholic
Most of my time outside work is spent traveling, building LEGOs, or painting model airplanes and trains. I have two cats (one fat, one skinny) named Lilly and Ava. I’m chronically bad at buying clothes, so I mostly just cycle through ten different t-shirts.
Duncan McClements
Innovating in incentive structures
Duncan is an economics student at Cambridge and a Research Associate at the Adam Smith Institute. His prior research has focused on mechanism design – how to design structures that align incentives by default – and applying this to provide the first estimates in a general equilibrium model of the cost of housing restrictions for the UK, estimates of revenue from visa auctions and paying Russian soldiers to defect. He’ll be exploring modelling further politically tractable policy reforms on housing, speculating about the uses of much more abundant energy and quantifying the degree of technological path dependency.
Board games and battles
In his spare time, Duncan enjoys board games, walking and history. His favourites of the former are Warhammer and Imperial Struggle – for the latter he is particularly interested in the long nineteenth century and WW1.
Jordan McGillis
Industrial policy with American characteristics
I’m the economics editor of City Journal and an adjunct fellow at the Global Taiwan Institute. Previously I was deputy director of policy at the Institute for Energy Research. For the Roots of Progress Blog-Building Intensive Fellowship, I’ll focus on chip manufacturing, a topic that brings together my interests in industry, energy, and globalization.
Kilos and cocktails
I have a wife and two kids. I enjoy lifting weights and I play a Christmas concert for friends and family each December on the baritone horn. My favorite cocktail at the moment is a Last Word.
Jonah Messinger
Where revolutionary science comes from
The progress studies community piqued my interest while I was working on energy policy and ecomodernism at the Breakthrough Institute. My interest has evolved into a fascination with how scientific discovery and technological revolution are often preceded by ambiguous anomalies. Learning how to identify and constructively engage those anomalies can stimulate groundbreaking scientific progress. I am currently pursuing my PhD in physics at the University of Cambridge, where I work on advanced materials for energy applications. I am also an affiliated researcher with the Quantum Energy Science group at MIT, where we work on accelerating nuclear reactions using quantum physics principles.
Spicy food around the world
I am an avid traveler (I have visited 19 countries so far), and I love to cook. I am an enthusiast of Southeast Asian and Ethiopian cuisine. I have an eclectic taste in music, ranging from Leonard Cohen to MF Doom, Stevie Wonder to Lauren Hill, and Raphael Saadiq to Simon and Garfunkel. I also enjoy hiking, trekking, and skiing.
Andrew Miller
Championing innovative mobility
I have been interested in innovation in transportation for my entire career. I started out working on transport funding and policy for the government of Ontario, and later planned a new rapid-transit line for the city of Mississauga; this experience taught me the value of good transport for cities.
My later experience at Sidewalk Labs (the Alphabet smart-city firm), developing mobility systems for a proposed “city of the future”, helped me become aware early of the transformative potential of driving automation.
In this program, I’ll explore how mobility innovation can address climate change, improve everyone’s quality of life, and reshape cities for the better.
Aspiring Renaissance man
Andrew Miller holds a BA from McGill, an MA from Yale, and a PhD from Johns Hopkins, none of which are related to what he’s doing now. He is an avid cyclist and hiker; a licensed private detective; and hosts, annually, a board-gaming convention at his home.
The award-winning play The Master Plan contains a character partially based on him. Courtesy of his extensive reviews of Amazing Spider-Man, he’s been quoted in the media as a “Spider-Man expert”. He’s also fun at parties.
Grant Mulligan
Positive-Sum Environmentalist
I began my career as a wildlife biologist breeding and releasing endangered species back to the wild, but I quickly learned that I didn’t want to keep a few species from teetering into extinction. I wanted to keep them from approaching that point in the first place. Since then, I’ve spent my career implementing and investing in strategies that allow both humans and nature to thrive together, driven by a belief that technological, economic, and human progress are crucial ingredients of environmental protection.
Culturally curious nature nerd
I live in Golden, CO with my wife and two young kids. I love baseball and birdwatching, and I spend every moment I can outside. If I’m not with the kids, you’ll find me biking the foothills or walking the local trails with my binoculars in one hand and a book in the other. Time with the kids isn’t much different; we’re either at the park or they’re playing in the yard while I tend to the gardens. Lately I’ve been on a humanities kick, exploring theater, classic literature, and art museums both at home and on my travels around the world.
Steve Newman
Making Sense of AI
I’ve been technical founder at eight software startups, one of which became Google Docs. The day GPT-4 was announced, I fell down the AI rabbit hole. I’m now working on a nonprofit initiative with two paired goals. First, to facilitate productive discussions about AI, its trajectory, and potential impact. Second, to translate these discussions into high-quality, accessible explainers for policymakers and others.
Always Having Fun
I’m a husband, father to two amazing children, and an avid hiker. My finest moment as a father was the day before beginning a home remodel: I gouged a small hole near the top of one wall, dropped in some chocolate bars, and told our kids (then ages 7 and 8) and two friends that if they could get through the wall, the chocolate was theirs.
Fun fact: I first learned to program on a Teletype Model 33 terminal, saving programs on paper tape – none of those newfangled cassette tapes or floppy disks!
Jannik Reigl
Thinking frameworks for Fusion Energy
As the Media and Policy lead for a nuclear fusion startup, I manage and strategize the engagement with media and public stakeholders. My role involves setting up industrial policies, public support, and regulatory frameworks for advancing fusion technology. I work closely with government agencies, policymakers, and regulatory bodies to ensure compliance and to promote policies that facilitate the growth of the nuclear fusion industry. I analyze the risk profiles associated with both public and private funding for R&D.
Hoovering food and thoughts
My true counterbalance from all professional endeavors are my two bunnys. And next to reading a lot of science and fiction, I do sports like martial arts and weight lifting.
Julius Simonelli
Navigating the Frontiers of AI
I have spent most of my career working in AI and machine learning. Over time, I became increasingly interested in the social, ethical, and philosophical implications of AI—both its potential to help solve humanity’s greatest challenges and its risks if not developed thoughtfully. In this program, I will explore topics around AI safety and alignment, as well as how AI impacts our society.
Nature-Loving Adventurer
I enjoy being out in nature and especially looking for wildlife. I’m particularly interested in how different species have evolved to adapt to their environments. I love pondering the unique characteristics that set species apart, as well as the surprising similarities they share with humans. I once lived in the heart of the Australian outback where I had the opportunity to watch some amazing wildlife. Another source of joy is in reading thought-provoking blog posts that offer clarity on complex topics I’ve long grappled with or articulate ideas I’ve struggled to put into words. There’s something deeply satisfying about those ‘aha!’ moments when a new perspective clicks into place.
Ruxandra Teslo
Biotech abundance enjoyer
I am a Genomics PhD student who has taken a keen interest in biotech innovation throughout my studies. This included interning as a biotech analyst for early-stage VC firms. I have become particularly interested in reproductive technologies, since I believe this has traditionally been an ignored topic and also because I think advancements in this area are key to achieving the liberation of women from the constraints of their biology. I am also interested in the general philosophy of progress and how we can foster a culture that’s oriented towards personal and general societal progress.
Wannabe renaissance woman
I am a big fan of classical literature, especially Russian authors. I will form a very strong opinion of people based on whether they prefer Tolstoy or Dostoyevsky. I’m also really into history, and my favourite historical era is the Renaissance. I also have a weird obsession with memorising the genealogical trees of European royal families!
Robert Tolan
Reimagining Ireland
I currently work in an investment fund in New York City. I am from Foxford, Co. Mayo, Ireland and have also lived in Dublin, London and Oslo.
I took a gap year to work on housing policy with the support of Tyler Cowen through his Emergent Ventures programme at the Mercatus Centre and from Entrepreneur First’s Polaris Fellowship. During that year, I founded a housing policy think tank. I also spent time as a freelance contributor in The Economist’s Britain section.
I look forward to thinking and writing about advancing progress in Ireland as well as housing policy.
I’m very interested in fitness, reading and hiking. I’m also a twin!
Our 2023 fellows
Show moreBrian Balkus
Advocate for radical construction methods
My professional background has primarily revolved around corporate strategy and market intelligence in the engineering/construction sector working for firms who specialize in designing and building large energy and power infrastructure projects. I have become fascinated about why we seemingly can’t build these projects well in the U.S. and have written about this and other topics as a correspondent for Palladium Magazine.
Obsessive Midwestern researcher living in a surf town
I have two young children who take up most of my time outside of work. Living in Southern California, their lives revolve around frequent trips to Disneyland, the pool, and the beach which is very different from my own childhood in the Midwest.
Maarten Boudry
Fostering progress by understanding its enemies.
I’ve been fascinated by human progress ever since I first learned about the yawning gap between the way we think the world is, and the way it actually is (Hans Rosling’s ‘Ignorance Project’). When I first heard about the amazing achievements of humanity over the past 200 years, I was (pleasantly) shocked. Why didn’t anyone ever tell me this? Progress is something precious, recent and fragile, and it does not happen of its own accord. To facilitate further progress, we need to believe that progress is possible. My previous academic work deals with the pitfalls and foibles of human reason, and I think this will be useful for progress studies. Presenting people with beautiful facts and figures will not be sufficient. We need to understand where pessimism, cynicism and catastrophism are coming from.
Philosopher fond of felines (and pianos)
Two more things that give me joy in my life (apart from being grateful about progress): I have a feisty tuxedo cat named Winston Purrchill, and I play jazz piano (unfortunately, the two are not very compatible, as my cat hates my piano, since he is competing for attention with it).
Malcolm Cochran
We can have it all
Early in his education, Malcolm noticed a contradiction; we constantly hear about everything that’s wrong with the world, but most evidence shows things are getting better. After graduating from college, he began working for Human Progress, an organization dedicated to publicizing long-term improvements in human well-being. Malcolm is currently focused on countering the narrative that modern civilization is at odds with the rest of life on Earth, an idea he believes could jeopardize humanity’s future.
Sweating and simmering
Malcolm is happiest when hiking, swimming in rivers, and foraging in the woods. Living in downtown D.C. makes those activities rare, but he gets along by periodically expropriating a friend’s car and heading to the Shenandoah. Between trips, he enjoys domestic and urban pleasures like cooking stews and public bathing.
Jeremy Côté
Illuminating invisible infrastructure
Hi everyone, I’m Jeremy! I studied physics to sharpen my mathematical toolbox and to understand how the world works. This same curiosity brought me to progress studies. During the program, I’ll explore two topics: how we improved at weather and climate forecasting, and the invisible infrastructure enabling our daily lives. These topics matter because we rely on them every day in both our lives and as a civilization, yet making progress on them required humans working purposefully at the forefront of science and technology. I want to tell those stories.
Can’t get enough sports
At my core, I’m an athlete. Outside of work, I love competing, playing so many different sports, and pushing myself to improve. Running is my main sport though, and I think there’s no better way to start my day than jumping out of bed and going for a run! (Okay, I may be in the minority here…) When I’m not playing sports, I give back to my community by coaching youth sports like basketball, soccer, and cross-country running. Working with athletes is so rewarding, and I love helping them grow in their sport and as people.
Grant Dever
Thinking about power laws
Grant grew up in a small town outside of Rochester, NY. There he developed a deep appreciation for nature, community and friendship, and the internet. Although Grant has been posting online since he was in his early teens, his formal writing career accelerated when he published his book, Lead The Future: Strategies and Systems for Emerging Leaders. His current research and writing interests are focused on energy abundance, local leadership, and the social implications of new technologies. Grant is a Resident Fellow at the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity.
Barbell Ambivert
Grant oscillates between being a part-time Austin socialite and a gamer recluse. He loves to host house parties or spend an evening sitting at a patio picnic table bantering with his friends and strangers. Grant has cumulatively spent over one year of his life traveling and living abroad in Europe, China, and Israel. He aspires to one day own a home with just enough room for a family, a guest room, and a squat rack.
Elle Griffin
Utopian thinker
Elle Griffin writes The Elysian, a weekly newsletter thinking through a better future (Mondays) and utopian fiction bringing it to life (Fridays). She is currently studying 2000+ years of utopian thought and is exploring how we can better capitalism, democracy, and the systems that support humanity.
Author and artist
Elle Griffin is inspired by art in all forms! She spends her spare time reading and writing fantasy novels. She loves wandering museums, attending the theater, and being moved to tears by a Broadway musical. She adores singing and dancing ballet and is currently getting into drawing and ceramics.
Paige Lambermont
Advocating for reliable energy production
Paige’s main interests are in the way that energy and technology can come together to make people’s lives better, her work as a Policy Analyst at the Institute for Energy Research focuses on the essentiality of reliable power for industry and private life, with a focus on the role of nuclear power in solving power provision problems as well as the technological developments that decades of space exploration have unlocked.
She has a bachelor’s degree in Political Science from American University, a Master’s degree in Public Administration from the University of Idaho, and a very full bookshelf.
Reading anything and everything
Paige’s two favorite hobbies are reading and hiking. She is a huge fan of Agatha Christie mysteries (her cat’s name is Agatha) as well as science fiction and fantasy books, and reads enthusiastically across most genres. She believes that a love of reading and good writing go hand in hand, and can always make time for a good book.
She also loves hiking and other outdoor pursuits, and spends time hiking alone or with friends and family whenever possible. This combines well with her love of travel, as she finds opportunities to explore nearby trails wherever she goes.
Laura London
Drought is a Policy Choice
Laura has been interested in water abundance ever since moving to drought-stricken Los Angeles. After digging deeper, she came to an alarming realization: California has been unable to increase water capacity for 40+ years, despite a ~70% increase in population. Her professional background in writing started 7 years ago as a freelance editor. Now, she writes a blog focused on California’s water supply issues, what caused them, and what cultural and policy changes are required to restore progress in the west.
Saving my cats from Dehydration
As a native Texan, Laura grew up reveling in Austin’s lush greenbelts and wading through creeks shaded by towering trees. Since relocating to arid Los Angeles, she’s missed those verdant refuges. However, the downpour of exceptionally wet years offers opportunity. She relishes lacing up her sneakers and hitting the muddy paths, in order to be surrounded by babbling brooks and whole hillsides turned vivid with wildflowers. The earthy petrichor scent in the air evokes treasured childhood memories. These rare days let her rediscover the joy of playing in creeks, even amidst LA’s concrete sprawl.
Tina Marsh Dalton
Turning confusion into clarity in healthcare
Tina is a professor of economics who has been researching how healthcare markets work (or don’t work!) for over 15 years. Her research focuses on improving healthcare by analyzing the efficiency of markets providing care, information’s impact on patient and provider choices, and how policy impacts health outcomes both regionally and nationally. While delving deeply into policy, regulation, and data, she felt a great need to make economic insights more accessible to those actually working in healthcare. Her goal is to be a positive, constructive, and maybe even humorous voice to educate healthcare decision-makers on economic fundamentals and improve outcomes by connecting policies to the bigger picture.
Finding joy in the ensemble
Tina loves collaboration both professionally and personally, especially in music. She plays the cello, piano, and can often be found Christmas caroling around the neighborhood with her ukulele. She takes her culture both high and low, performing Saint-Saëns concertos, Chopin waltzes, and once being part of an indie band with an album based around the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. She loves how music connects people across time and cultures, and enjoys bridging the two with travel and learning new languages.
Florian Metzler
Radical reimagination of what is possible in science & technology
I’ve been interested in radical technological change throughout my life. This led me to become a research scientist at MIT, where I work on ways to decouple nuclear energy from radioactivity and also on ways in which policy can promote radical innovation. To better understand drivers that underlie radical innovation I have also dug into the history, philosophy, and sociology of science. Another interest of mine is the role that quantum principles play in living organisms and the human brain. I was born and raised in Germany but have lived most of my adult life in China and the US. Across my twelve years at MIT, I have worked for or obtained degrees from six departments: engineering systems, nuclear engineering, electrical engineering, materials science, data science, and political science. I am bilingual in German and English and fluent in Chinese.
Exploring consciousness between Boston and Berlin
I go back and forth between the US East Coast and Central Europe. I particularly enjoy the rich intellectual tapestry of Boston and the urban diversity of Berlin. I can be frequently found on the shores of Walden Pond or Wannsee, in a cafe at Harvard Square or Kreuzberg, or strolling along the Charles River or the Tempelhofer Feld. I am deeply interested in consciousness and the philosophical, psychological, and physical attempts to better understand it.
Fin Moorhouse
Figuring out our potentially wild future
I have an effective altruism background, and I’ve researched and written about existential risks, space governance, and pandemics — mostly while at Oxford University’s Future of Humanity Institute. I also co-host a podcast where I speak to experts on AI, law, biosecurity, and more. I’m excited to learn and write about new ideas that matter for making (sustainable) progress.
Two-wheeled dilettante
These days I can often be found reading, cycling the countryside around Oxford, and doing Brazilian jiu jitsu (or wrestling). I also enjoy finding new music and new houseplants, playing chess badly, and acquiring useless fun facts.
Jenni Morales
Energy Abundance Advocate
Jennifer grew up surrounded by nature in northern Utah. She has always been fascinated by humans’ relationship with nature and with how we harness natural resources to improve and transform our lives. She has a degree in Economics which influences how she approaches research problems—always asking what the tradeoffs are and whether a given policy actually results in the intended outcome. During the workshop, she wants to write about a pro-human, pro-growth vision for the future and the role that energy plays in progress.
Seasonal produce stand patron
Many interests have come and gone, but two have always been a part of my life—reading and enjoying the outdoors. Sometimes I even do both at the same time. A recent personal accomplishment is that for maybe the first time ever, I’m beating my brother on having the best summer sandal tan line. Other things I enjoy are spending time with my husband, buying more jackets than I can realistically wear, and following women’s soccer.
Connor O’Brien
Researching how and why “place” matters
I’m a researcher at a U.S. think tank that is primarily concerned with place-based policy and all the ingredients that go into successful localized clusters of talent, investment, and creation. Given how rare and how important they are, I’m interested in exploring the kinds of policies that make such clusters more likely to grow and thrive.
Masochist runner
A majority of my free time is spent reading, running, or watching New York Mets baseball. The latter two have never been kind to me. I’m always working through some kind of running injury big or small and the Mets are, to put it mildly, continually disappointing. But the small moments of joy in the midst of it all keep me coming back to each.
Ryan Puzycki
Advocate for Livable Cities
Ryan has been in love with cities since childhood and has lived in several, including New York, Boston, San Francisco, London, Madrid, Tokyo, and now Austin. While he has written professionally as an equity research analyst and elsewhere on a range of political and cultural topics, his experience building and managing Montessori schools in New York and San Francisco galvanized his interest in urbanism and local politics. In Austin, he sits on the Austin Monitor’s Strategic Advisory Council and the board of AURA, Austin’s grassroots urbanist organization, and has been active in the local and state housing reform movement.
Gourmand for Life
Ryan loves to entertain and can regularly be found at home preparing gourmet meals and sharing wine with friends, often inspired by his travels abroad with his husband. When not at home, Ryan is usually eating at some great local restaurant, listening to live music at the Austin Symphony or Stubb’s, working out at the gym downtown, or taking his Boston Terrier for a walk around the neighborhood. He loves architecture and design, he’s written one (unpublished) novel, he reads avidly, and he’s been involved in only one horse stampede.
Jacob Rintamaki
“Explaining Space, Biotech and AI”
I started as a battery chemist at Case Western, working at a battery informatics and a cement startup before I came to Stanford. Here, I fell in love with space and biotech, which led to me almost dropping out to become a research engineer at Retro Biosciences. My aim with this program is to better understand and communicate technical and cultural topics in space, AI, and biotech. These fields are not only incredibly exciting but are vital to a future of abundance and wonder if done right.
“Don’t Try This At Home”
Obnoxiously Midwestern. Archer. Climber. Runner (recovered). I almost blew up my garage after making a bioreactor. I have a golden retriever puppy named Potato. I’ve gigged in New Orleans and became semi-(in)famous after trying to build a rollercoaster next to my dorm. Lasagna lover.
Raiany Romanni
Shifting the ethics, policy, and philosophy of life extension
Raiany spends most of her time thinking about how converging technologies will transform governments and human nature in the coming decades.
She’s particularly interested in why secular humans narrate aging as a net-positive, teleological phenomenon—and in the negative effects of this narrative on economies and people. She has written for outlets including The Washington Post, The Boston Globe, and ABC, and is currently working on a book aimed at shifting the ethics, policy, and philosophy of life extension.
In short, Raiany likes to tell stories about the stories humans like to tell themselves on the value of aging and death, and on the nature of progress.
Conflicted lover of poems, U.S. innovation, and quaint towns
In her free time, Raiany can be found baking, geeking out about Newport, RI, or reciting spooky German poetry. Raiany comes from Brazil, but at heart, she’s less Latina than Eastern European (she did live in Poland for five years). Since moving to America, she has channeled her love for quaint European towns into semi-quaint New England. She’ll admit, on occasion, that New England towns are only ever half pretty — with the dubious exception of Newport, RI, which could maybe (she argues) win a quaintness contest against, say, Cinque Terre in Italy.
Raiany likes to daydream of living in a small town on the mountains of Switzerland, just like Nietzsche before her. But really, she could never trade the thrill of U.S. innovation for a perennially quiet writing desk. This is perhaps the central dilemma of her life.
Max Tabarrok
Science of Science; Progress on Progress
I started writing online in college, but I grew up surrounded by economists and bloggers so debating and discussing ideas has always been a big part of my life. I got interested in progress through two observations. First is what Diedre McCluskey calls “The Great Fact:” The immense growth of humanity since the industrial revolution. Second is “The Great Stagnation:” Poor policy choices have slowed growth, but that means better ones can have a huge compounding impact. Progress is imperative but not inexorable.
I am currently researching meta-science at Dartmouth. Science is at the heart of progress, but our systems for producing and evaluating it are rudimentary. I am planning to write more about the past, present, and future of science.
Married, Minivan, Multi-instrumentalist, Minecraft
I got engaged this May to my high school sweetheart!
I took out all of the back seats from my mom’s old minivan and built a ~queen size bed platform back there that me and my fiancee have used for 3 road trips (so far).
I play the bass guitar, piano, and (very recently) the drums.
I also play lots of video games. My all time favorites are Minecraft and Europa Universalis 4. I think that Minecraft is the best game of all time by many measures, but I predict that it will be the most popular game among any from the past 50 years in 50 years time.
Alex Telford
Investigating life science innovation
Alex is interested in using writing as a tool to explore important questions in biology, the business of biotech, and sustainable biomedical innovation. Alex studied biochemistry at university, and subsequently worked for nearly 7 years as a consultant to life science companies. In September 2023, he left his consulting job to found Convoke, a software start-up serving the biopharma industry.
While working with biotech and pharmaceutical clients, Alex experienced first-hand the challenges that these firms face in trying to bring new drugs to market. Born out of a desire to better understand his industry, Alex started his blog, where biomedical innovation and progress is a core topic area. Alex plans to continue to contribute to these topics and others in biology during this program, as he believes an understanding of how to sustainably research and innovate in the life sciences is critical to our continued health, longevity, and understanding of our place in the universe.
Reads textbooks for fun
Alex lives in Switzerland, where he enjoys spending time in nature: skiing, hiking, or swimming in lake Zurich. When he’s staying indoors (and not working), Alex is often reading, programming, scrolling Twitter, or playing board/video games with friends. Alex has had a lifelong interest in science, and makes an effort to keep up to date with new discoveries (with a special interest in consciousness). Alex’s newest hobby is bouldering, which he got into this year – his goal is to climb a V6 by the end of 2024.
Madeline Zimmerman
Defense Tech Solutionist
Madeline writes about the procurement, development, and fielding of defense technology as well as the specific organizations and people enabling or hindering progress. While weapons and war may appear to be the inverse of progress, there is a rich history of commercial technology originating with or being facilitated by the state. Even more important, deterrence remains the vital pillar upon which progress has the freedom and safety to occur. Madeline works at Palantir where she focuses on business development with the U.S. Air Force and Space Force. She previously worked at Synapse, an AI security startup acquired by Palantir.
Pole Artist
Madeline started pole dancing during Covid and immediately fell in love with this unique form of art and sport. Despite running Division I track in college, Madeline was never able to do a pull-up until she began pole (and can now do multiple!). Her family and friends have been nothing but supportive of this untraditional hobby, and her dad and brother helped install a pole in her one bedroom apartment. Madeline has performed multiple times at the acclaimed NYC show Schtick a Pole in It, which she convinced her entire extended family to attend.