Depending on where you get your news, 2024 probably sounded like a complete disaster. And while a lot of terrible things happened, not everything that happened in the world was terrible. From breakthrough treatments for HIV and obesity, to the rise in global happiness and the decline in deforestation in the Amazon – there were a lot of bright glimmers of progress that you just didn’t hear about.

Go to our website to read the full list of our 86 Stories of Progress from 2024.

Other topics discussed: our word of the year (hint – it’s not "brain rot"); the surprising news about global reproductive rights; the good news for obesity; how 90 million kids got fed at school; the medical breakthrough of 2024; LGBTQ+ victories in Thailand & Greece; China’s 3000 kilometre green wall; the hidden stories of hope in Gaza and Ukraine; why 2025 is going to be a big year in the Amazon; how the clean energy transition is fuelling hope for future; the biggest environmental story of the year; incredible wins for animals; and why stories of progress matter now more than ever.

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato at Ai3 – audio and voice.

Meet Steven Pinker, a cognitive psychologist and public intellectual who is one of the world’s greatest thinkers on the topic of progress. He is the author of 12 books, including ‘Better Angels of Our Nature,’ which played a key role in the origin story of Fix The News. After five years of email correspondence between Steven and Gus, this is their first face to face conversation. From progress to politics and the rise of tattoos, this episode offers a big dose of perspective about the current state of the world.

Other topics discussed: why longstanding peace never makes headlines; the best metrics for human progress; the decline of mental health in rich countries; the problem with word police; changes in social norms and how they happen; why today’s election in the US is better than 1968; the cognitive illusion perpetuated by mass media; how graphs and data can help change beliefs; designing better institutions to help drive more progress; two lessons that Steven learned the hard way; the power of reasonable hope.

This episode wraps up season three of this podcast. To celebrate, we’re offering new and existing subscribers a 30% discount on 12-month subscriptions to our weekly newsletter. If you want to make your inbox a more hopeful place: go to fixthenews.com and enter the code PINKER at checkout.

Find out more about Steven Pinker:

https://stevenpinker.com/

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato at Ai3 – audio and voice.

Meet Ncazelo Ncube-Mlilo, a psychologist and narrative therapist who uses a travelling caravan to bring mental health services to townships on the outskirts of Johannesburg. Tackling gender-based violence and high rates of youth depression, Ncazelo’s cutting edge methods for healing trauma are now being used across the globe.

We are proud to support Ncazelo’s organisation, ⁠Phola⁠, as one of our charity partners at ⁠Fix The News⁠.

Find out more about Ncazelo:

⁠https://phola.org⁠

⁠https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6IWbbuYVgw⁠

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato at Ai3 – audio and voice.

Meet Sonia Vallabh, a lawyer turned scientist with one of the most compelling stories we have ever heard. In 2011, Sonia was diagnosed with prion disease, a rare and fatal genetic illness with no viable treatment. Against all odds, Sonia and her husband retrained as a patient–scientists and set out to cure the disease before Sonia misses her window. Thirteen years later, they've found a way to shut off enough genetic signals to halt the disease - and save hundreds of thousands of lives around the world.

Find out more:

https://www.ted.com/talks/sonia_vallabh_my_quest_to_cure_prion_disease_before_it_s_too_late?subtitle=en

https://www.broadinstitute.org/bios/sonia-vallabh This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato at Ai3 – audio and voice.

Two weeks ago, Amy attended the Clinton Global Initiative in New York, where she met some incredible change makers who are driving solutions across healthcare, water access, food security, conservation and scientific discovery. In this episode we'll take you behind the scenes of the two-day event and introduce you to some of the people she met in the corridors, including her interview with the legendary Dr Jane Goodall.

Correction: Coalition for Mental Health Investment

Five organisations are part of the coalition - The McKinsey Health Institute (MHI) has joined the African Venture Philanthropy Alliance (AVPA), Clinton Global Initiative, Kokoro, and Wellcome.

The quote about “every country is a developing country when it comes to mental health” is attributed Shekhar Saxena.

Find out more:

https://www.clintonfoundation.org

https://www.thementalhealthcoalition.org

https://www.whywaste.io

https://carolinafarmtrust.org

https://www.millersocent.org

https://sungai.watch

https://www.adventurescientists.org

https://www.clintonhealthaccess.org

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato at Ai3 – audio and voice.

Meet Sigrid van Aken, the CEO of Postcode Lottery Group, the world's 3rd largest private charity donor, after the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation & the Wellcome Trust. To date, the organisation has given €13.5 to charities that are driving significant social and environmental change. With over 14 million subscriptions and record turnover of €2.5 billion in 2023, it’s one of the greatest philanthropy stories, you probably haven’t heard about.

Find out more:

www.postcodelotterygroup.com

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato at Ai3 – audio and voice.

We cover a lot of conversation stories about the Amazon at Fix The News, but it’s not often that we get the chance to talk with someone who is driving these efforts. Meet Fernando Trujillo, a marine scientist who is fighting to save the Pink River Dolphins of the Amazon River. Over the past 30 years Fernando and his team have scaled a small research project in Colombia into a global mission to protect river dolphins and their waterways around the world.

Find out more:

https://omacha.org

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠⁠⁠Fix The News⁠⁠⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato at Ai3 – audio and voice.

Meet Valery Wichman, a leading LGBTQI+ activist and lawyer in the Cook Islands who was on the forefront of the fight to decriminalise homosexuality in her country. This conversation explores the 13-year journey behind the landmark victory and the power of faith, love and kindness to change the law, and the world.

Find out more:

RNZ

Pink News

Cook Island News

This podcast is hosted by Angus Hervey and Amy Davoren-Rose from ⁠Fix The News⁠. Audio sweeting by Anthony Badolato at Ai3 – audio and voice.