The modern education system around the world continues to bear the imprint of mass education’s original goal: obedience.

The modern education system around the world continues to bear the imprint of mass education’s original goal: obedience.

America’s roads are more dangerous than those of almost every country in the developed world. We know how to change that.

Everyone likes the idea of evidence-based policy, but it’s hard to realize it when our most reputable social science journals are still publishing poor quality research.

Building a high-speed rail between Los Angeles and San Francisco was never going to be easy — but the critics who write it off are missing the real source of the project’s struggles.

Building a high-speed rail between Los Angeles and San Francisco was never going to be easy — but the critics who write it off are missing the real source of the project’s struggles.

The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.

Kelsey Piper and Jasmine Sun talk about microschools, whether localism is the enemy of Abundance, and why Chinese bureaucrats are like Growth PMs.

USAID has been slashed, and it is unclear what shape its predecessor will take. How might American foreign assistance be restructured to maintain critical functions? And how should we think about its ...

A future where life flourishes beyond Earth is closer than you think. How, precisely, will we get there?

"Why do some people find certain sounds intolerable? And why has it taken so long for scientists to get even a preliminary answer?"

Rob Long and Kati Devaney in conversation about where two branches of consciousness research collide: meditation and AI. Hosted by Asterisk

Why do some people find certain sounds intolerable? And why has it taken so long for scientists to get even a preliminary answer?

A conversation about neuroscience, meditation, and the many paths to insight.

Every year, AI models get better at thinking. Could they possibly be capable of feeling? And if they are, how would we know?

Government-funded scientific research may appear strange or impractical, but it has repeatedly yielded scientific breakthroughs — and continues to pay for itself many times over.

What made a private equity analyst decide to devote his life to tiny aquatic crustaceans?

Government-funded scientific research may appear strange or impractical, but it has repeatedly yielded scientific breakthroughs — and continues to pay for itself many times over.

The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.

Government-funded scientific research may appear strange or impractical, but it has repeatedly yielded scientific breakthroughs — and continues to pay for itself many times over.

Computers can already help verify proofs. One day soon, AI may be able to come up with new ones.

Why do some people find certain sounds intolerable? And why has it taken so long for scientists to get even a preliminary answer?

Why do some people find certain sounds intolerable? And why has it taken so long for scientists to get even a preliminary answer?

In the early aughts, economists said it was a bad use of money to send antiretroviral drugs to treat HIV in low-income countries. Twenty years later, we can ask why they got it wrong.

The team that built X’s Community Notes talks about their design process and the philosophy behind their approach to combatting false information on the platform.

The evidence that insects feel pain is mounting, however we approach the issue.

A conversation about yogurt wars, German hymns, tropical cyclones, and the people who make Wikipedia function.

Does the rationalist blogosphere need to update?

Progress is unequal, and sometimes it has trade-offs. We should talk about them more.

Are we really living through a uniquely lonely moment in American history? When it comes to friendship, this isn’t the first time that authorities have cried wolf.

The rise and fall of the influential, embattled Oxford research center that brought us the concept of existential risk.

The rise and fall of the influential, embattled Oxford research center that brought us the concept of existential risk.

The best way to predict if you’ll benefit from psychedelic therapy is a questionnaire asking if you’ve met God. Where did it come from, and what is it really measuring?

Colonoscopies are the first-line method for preventing colorectal cancer in America —and almost nowhere else. But do they work? We finally have a comprehensive trial, but it’s left gastroenterol...