Works in Progress Podcast

Where did all the good sculptors go?

The Trump administration wants to bolster traditional art. Their attempt to revive sculpture, a mass statue-building program, is doomed. America doesn’t have the sculptors, foundries, and workers to make hundreds of bronze or marble sculptures. North Korea would be in a much better position. Sam and Samuel sit down with our Art Director, Atalanta, a sculptor by training, and talk all things sculpture. They discuss how art education has become de-skilled, how sculpture has always been the best art form for mass production and the surprising places the tradition has been kept alive.

The evolution of bacteria

Generations of microbes evolve in hours, not millennia. By speeding up Darwin’s clock, scientists have watched evolution happen in real time, and it’s changed how we understand natural selection. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-evolution-of-bacteria-2/ [https://www.youtube.com/redirect?event=video_description&redir_token=QUFFLUhqa0JMY2xqV3JtdzlndDBfUUNjaGJTVUJQXzYyUXxBQ3Jtc0tsRWpvVF9nellCNGQ0QTNSWXV5YWxVRTRzTXVWQnpfUjE2VThIa1M5WUZmVnc3WFNTWVFxRGl6ako1YzRCSmJwb2lNUXBXVlNBLWM3YlRPV0JNelQ0S0tpaFVKa1FQVjlkLUZyQlZXbVcxT3c3a1hxSQ&q=https%3A%2F%2Fworksinprogress.co%2Fissue%2Fhow-to-redraw-a-city%2F&v=4PHkvM1PVo0] And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co Words by Kevin Blake Read by Stuart Ritchie Music by David Hackett

What is local government good for?

Local government works best when areas can compete with each other and capture some of the upside of economic growth. Ben sits down with Judge Glock to discuss how well-structured local incentives helped make Loudoun County, Virginia, the global capital of data centers — and helped France build so many nuclear power stations. They discuss which public goods local government is best placed to provide, why America has better housing outcomes than its reputation suggests, and when national government needs to constrain local power. Read Judge Glock's piece on why water in America is too clean here: https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-gold-plating-of-american-water/

Washer woman: The invention of dishwashers

In 1965, married American women did 34 hours of housework weekly. By 2010, that had fallen to 18 hours. The dishwasher wasn’t the only cause, but it certainly helped. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/inventing-the-dishwasher/ [https://worksinprogress.co/issue/how-to-spot-a-monopoly/] And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co Words by Erin Braid Read by Stuart Ritchie Music by David Hackett

The triumph of logical English

English prose has become much easier to read. But shorter sentences had little to do with it. You can see the images, graphs and read the article at https://worksinprogress.co/issue/the-logical-triumph-of-english/ [https://worksinprogress.co/issue/how-to-spot-a-monopoly/] And you can find the rest of Works in Progress at worksinprogress.co Words by Henry Oliver Read by Stuart Ritchie Music by David Hackett