The 2024 Roots of
Progress Blog-Building
Intensive
Rolling admissions, final deadline: June 7
We need a new philosophy of progress.
The progress of the last few centuries—in science, technology, industry, and the economy—is one of the greatest achievements of humanity. But to keep this upward trend going, we must believe that continued progress is both possible and desirable. The 19th century believed in the power of technology and industry to better humanity, but in the 20th century, this belief gave way to skepticism and distrust. It’s time for a new generation of intellectuals to help the world understand and appreciate progress.
The Roots of Progress Fellowship exists to empower intellectual entrepreneurs for progress.
You’re excited about progress studies. You love to write. You want to bring those two interests together and wonder, what’s next?
Maybe you’ve gone deep on progress studies, but only written a few posts or essays. You’d like to explore a career in writing about progress, but you’re not quite sure how to get going. Or maybe you’re a successful writer already, on a topic that you think could shed light on progress. Either way, you want to take your writing and publishing to the next level.
Through this program you will zero in on a topic area to go deep on, improve your writing, increase your productivity, more fully understand and apply progress ideas, get plugged into the progress movement, and grow your audience.
2024 Progress
Blog-Building Intensive
8-week cohort. August 16 – October 20
An 8-week online program for writers eager to write more and better, to a larger audience, about progress-related topics
Final application deadline: June 7
What 2023 blog-building fellows say about the program
The Roots of Progress Fellowship was life-changing. In 10 years, all of the fellows in my program will be famous intellectuals who are actively creating a better future, and I’ll know it all started here and that we built it together.
I found this program incredibly helpful even as a somewhat more established writer. It enabled me to meet some fantastically intelligent and interesting writers and develop relationships that will hopefully extend beyond the program. No matter where you are in your writing career this program can help refine your thinking, make you a better writer, and grow professionally.
I couldn’t quite believe the amount of support we got as a cohort, and the care that went into our program. I applied feeling like a relative newcomer, and in two short months: I’d made friends with a group of like-minded and impressive fellows writing on dozens of topics, I’d talked and argued progress ideas with leading thinkers, and felt empowered to taking writing (and what it can achieve) seriously. You should apply!
This is the most unique group of people and writers and intellectuals that I’ve had the opportunity to sort of bump shoulders with, and it’s been so valuable and so interesting. I’ve just been exposed to so many new and interesting ideas. I think the rigor and level of thought that they put into their work is really impressive.
In 6 short weeks, Roots of Progress accelerated my career and path as a progress intellectual. It made me realize the things holding me back were not time or talent, but accountability, community, and others who believed in my success!
The Roots of Progress Fellowship is a great option for anyone interested in abundance-oriented policy. Joining the program for me has been very helpful in finding like-minded peers, discovering my voice in writing, and meeting mentors who have shared great advice for career acceleration.
What you’ll get
You’ll meet your ~20 peers during a four-week lead-up period to the program. We’ll set up virtual meet-ups and share bios, so you can find your people. Each of you will share an essay you published for others to read, so you can start the actual eight-week intensive with a community already coming together.
Your peers will help you shape your essay ideas before you even start writing. They’ll edit your essays, and you will edit theirs. They’ll bring a breadth of knowledge that will help accelerate your research, and they’ll introduce you to others in their network, from people at key publications to industry experts. Much of this work will happen in twice-weekly peer group sessions, with 2-3 people break-out sessions for brainstorming and feedback.
Best of all, your peers will be your close progress network into the future: our 2023 inaugural cohort fellows still meet weekly, give feedback on each other’s essays in the blog-building Slack, and quote and link to each other’s work.
Peer feedback was extremely valuable. How often do you get feedback from smart, dedicated and knowledgeable people who largely share your progress perspective and general worldview, and who are constructively trying to find better ways to get your message across? Before this program, I could count them on one hand.
—Maarten Boudry
All fellows will be immersed in progress studies ideas throughout the program. We’ll share a reading list, and you’ll have an opportunity to read key essays, take notes, and discuss them with your peers. Our progress studies advisors—academics, progress bloggers, think tank leaders—will give talks and answer questions. You’ll meet 1:1 with the Roots of Progress team to discuss your goals for the intensive.
The advisors showed there are many different paths to success. I appreciated this bit from Marian Tupy, who said (paraphrasing), if he’d been born into lots of money and could write whatever books he wanted, he would have written overly academic books not accessible to a general audience. The pitching and editing process (coupled with lots of rejection) forced him to improve as a writer who could connect with a larger audience and ultimately have a big impact. I think that advice is very relevant for many of us ROP writers who ultimately want to change peoples’ minds, not publish academic treatises.
—Madeline Zimmerman
New for the second blog-building cohort, we’re also offering themed tracks for two progress cause areas: artificial intelligence and heavy industry (construction, manufacturing, transportation, and defense). Whether or not you choose to apply for the themed tracks and focus your writing on these topics, you’ll be able to attend the advisor sessions and deepen your understanding of AI and heavy industry as drivers of progress.
To qualify for the fellowship, you must be a good writer; but our goal is to help you become a great one. Writing instruction is central to the Blog-Building Intensive.
The writing program features an eight-week series of sessions titled How to Think Like a Writer. The course is taught by program advisor Rob Tracinski, who has been a professional writer and writing instructor for over 30 years: you can read his work at Discourse Magazine and on his two Substacks, The Tracinski Letter and The Free Market Futurist. He will teach you a wide range of skills—how to keep ideas flowing; how to structure logical arguments and compelling stories; how to motivate your readers and use style, color and your individual voice to not be boring; how to progress from initial idea to rough first draft to polished final piece. He’ll also share tips on how to write quickly and how to write specific genres, from book reviews to interviews.
Over the course of the program, you’ll apply what you learn by writing four essays, one every other week. Three will be around 1,000 words (the recommended length for Substack essays); one should be a longer, more deeply researched piece you might consider pitching to an outside publication (2,000-5,000 words).
You’ll receive regular edits on all your writing—from professional editors, your peers, and the Roots of Progress team. Our goal is to empower you to finish the program with four pieces that you are proud of—some of the best writing you’ve ever done.
In addition, you’ll learn about how to build your audience across different media:
- How to grow on Substack, taught by ROP alum Elle Griffin
- Leveraging social media for audience growth
- How to pitch magazines
- Tips for getting speaking engagements and podcasting opportunities
Being an intellectual entrepreneur for progress means doing great writing that reaches the right audience, and in this course, you’ll learn to do both.
Rob’s editing each week provided me a lot to think about. Not only for my own essay, but seeing how Rob teased out elements from the essays of other fellows also helped me think about my own writing process and what I may have subconsciously been doing. I also really liked Rob’s point about organizing your writing into discrete chunks instead of feeling overwhelmed by a huge project. That was quite useful to me. Rob also has decades of experience as a writer and editor, so just hearing some of that through his teaching was super helpful.
—Jeremy Côté
As a Roots of Progress blog-building fellow, you’ll be able to attend the invitation-only 2024 inaugural progress conference in San Francisco, October 18–19. You’ll be able to learn from dozens of invited speakers and meet with hundreds of key people in the progress movement, from writers to tech leaders and builders, from academics to storytellers, from established thought leaders to the 2023 Roots of Progress fellows.
This is an invitation-only event, and as a fellow, you’ll be on the invitation list!
All 20 fellows of the 2024 Roots of Progress blog-building program will also spend an additional day with each other before the conference, to strengthen the relationships you built during the online part of the program.
We’d love for as many participants as possible to join us for this in-person, community-building experience. However, if you can’t commit to traveling at this time, we understand: just let us know in the application that you’re opting out of the in-person part.
[The SF event was] EVERYTHING. The day long brainstorming and goal setting, the community building, the networking event where we got to meet so many cool people. THIS WAS THE BEST PART OF THE WHOLE THING.
—Elle Griffin
New for 2024: Themed tracks for AI and Heavy Industry
This year’s fellowship features two themes: AI and “heavy industry.” We will accept fellows writing on any progress-related topic, but will give preference for a handful of spots to applicants focusing on these areas, and we will have dedicated programming for these tracks.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is one of the fastest-growing tech frontiers, with enormous potential for the future, and it has been receiving an enormous amount of attention. Yet, the world still needs more great writing on this topic. We need writers with technical depth who can clearly explain how AI works to a general audience. We need domain experts who can think through in detail how AI will transform fields from software to law to science to education. And we need serious consideration of AI risk and safety that navigates successfully between complacency and doomerism.
“Heavy Industry”
“Heavy industry” is a catchall term for manufacturing, construction, transportation, logistics, energy, defense, and other technologies involving atoms more than bits. These fields have stagnated in the last several decades, especially in the US. Yet, there are signs of a renaissance in “hard tech” ventures, from supersonic jets to Starship to marble-carving robots. We’re interested in writers who will cover the opportunities on these frontiers.
For each of these themes, we’re looking for 3-5 fellows who are passionate about the topic and who bring relevant expertise. If you apply to the AI or heavy industry track, we’d love for you to write at least 2–3 out of your 4 blog-building intensive essays on these topics. And our list of advisors includes leading writers and builders in both fields.
A typical two-week period in the blog-building intensive
The 8-week intensive runs in four two-week publishing cycles. You’ll start writing on a Monday, and publish Friday the next week. Each weekday, there’s one course sessions; weekends are reserved for your own independent work.
Fellowship timeline
Final application deadline: June 7
Program Advisors
As you explore writing in progress studies as a career option, we introduce you to those who’ve already made it: successful, established writers in progress studies, as well as leaders of progress-related organizations, editors, and content experts in our AI and Heavy Industry tracks. You’ll have a chance to meet with and learn from the best!
Progress intellectuals and writers
Eli Dourado
Max Roser
Noah Smith
Tomas Pueyo
Tyler Cowen
Virginia Postrel
Industry experts
Andrej Karpathy
Blake Scholl
Bob McGrew
Brian Potter
Delian Asparouhov
Ela Madej
Holden Karnofsky
Kanjun Qiu
Timothy B. Lee
Writing & Audience Building Guides
Chandler Tuttle
Elle Griffin
Rob Tracinski
Shreeda Segan
What you need to invest
10–15 hours of your time for 8 weeks. No program fees
Be ready to spend 10-15 hours per week on this program for 8 weeks—to read, to write, to participate in discussions with experts, to provide editing and feedback to your peers, to participate in group meetings. In addition, plan to spend a couple of hours per week for the four weeks leading up to the program (July 15-August 15) getting to meet your peers and setting up your systems.
There is no cost to you: this program is supported by the Roots of Progress donors and program sponsors who are passionate about creating a new philosophy of progress for the 21st century. You will also get a ticket to the 2024 progress conference in San Francisco, food and lodging during the conference and for the extra fellowship day beforehand, and a travel stipend for the event.
Apply now.
Apply now: rolling admissions. Final deadline: June 7
1. Apply online.
You’ll need to link to your blog (or somewhere else we can read your work, e.g., a Google Doc with links) and one post/essay you are proud of, share a brief background on yourself, and answer a few short-form questions.
Apply early if you can: last year, we received nearly 500 applications for 20 spots. The program may fill up before the June 7 final application deadline.
2. Meet the team.
Have two virtual conversations with the Roots of Progress team.
3. Learn whether you’re in.
Decisions will go out by July 3.
4. Sign up.
If admitted, sign a letter of intent committing you to participate fully in the program. This means you’ll write four essays in eight weeks, and attend the final in-person event.
Meet the 2023 Roots of Progress fellows
19 fellows completed our first blog-building intensive in 2023. You can read their bios and some of their essays here. Our first cohort of fellows:
- Came from a wide range of backgrounds: Think tanks, public policy orgs, and philanthropy; academics and researchers; undergrad and grad students; industry; and writers and public intellectuals. They came from all over the US, and four of them are international (UK, Switzerland, Belgium, and Canada). The youngest was a rising sophomore at Stanford; the oldest was a mid-career professional in their forties.
- Significantly increased their output and reach. Most who didn’t yet have Substacks started them, and on average, they doubled their writing productivity during the program.
- Achieved career advancements and increased their ambition and energy. Some switched to writing as a core part of their careers, others won essay contests or published in well-known publications; some got appointed to policy positions or joined further programs, such as the Schmidt Futures Policy Entrepreneur Network. 80% of them strongly agreed that the program significantly accelerated their career as a writer for progress.
Frequently Asked Questions
The ideal candidate is someone who has made, or is exploring making, a career out of writing on progress studies topics, such as those outlined here. The program is great both for those just starting a blog, and for established writers who want to get more involved in the progress community. In either case, a great candidate will have have ambitious growth targets for their blog, with a goal of writing on progress topics regularly (at least on a monthly basis, but twice a month or even weekly is great, too).
You’ll benefit most from this program if:
- You have demonstrated skill in clear, compelling writing, and are excited about writing (despite all its challenges!)
- You are eager to grow your skills as a writer. You’re looking to become more productive, clearer, more engaging, better at reaching new audiences. You want to hear constructive feedback, and lots of it!
- You are familiar with and aligned with the ideas of human progress, agency, and a solutionist approach
- You are insanely curious and love to go deep in topics you’re excited about
- You can dedicate 10-15 hours for 8 weeks to this program. This program is great for a wide range of people – students, recent graduates, for people exploring a career change, writers of all kinds, people returning to professional work after a break, or people who retired from a full-time career and are looking to make a difference by bringing their expertise to bear on progress studies.
- You either have already decided to make writing about progress topics a part of your career, or you are actively exploring it and eager to figure out how to make a unique contribution
- New for 2024: Cause Area Tracks in AI & Heavy Industry This year, we’re giving preference for a handful of spots to writers on AI and heavy industry (e.g., aerospace, defense, construction, manufacturing). If you are excited about these areas, you can apply for the relevant track and focus your writing on these topics. These tracks are optional; we welcome writing on different cause areas or progress studies more broadly.
New for 2024:
Cause Area Tracks in AI & Heavy Industry This year, we’re giving preference for a handful of spots to writers on AI and heavy industry (e.g., aerospace, defense, construction, manufacturing). If you are excited about these areas, you can apply for the relevant track and focus your writing on these topics. These tracks are optional; we welcome writing on different cause areas or progress studies more broadly.
Both! The 8-week online writing intensive is online, with live talks, deep dives, expert conversations, networking within the peer group, and more.
We highly recommend that you attend the in-person cohort event and 2024 progress conference at the end, to deepen your connection with your peers and take advantage of the unique opportunity to meet some of the advisors and many other exciting people in the progress movement in person. If you just can’t make it, let us know at the outset, and if you are otherwise a great candidate, we’ll find a way to make it work.
The program is structured so it can fit into your life even with other commitments, like family or a full-time job, and independent of the time zone you’re in. You’ll need a minimum of ~10 hours per week, with ideally more time especially toward the end of the program when you’ll be completing your longer, more deeply researched essay.
- Live sessions: 3-5 hours per week. Each week, there will be five Zoom sessions of about an hour each, of which three are core sessions everyone should attend and two are optional (an extra “peer group gym”) or for the special AI and heavy industry tracks. Most of these sessions will be in the morning Pacific Time, mid-day East Coast time, evening European Time. Most sessions will be recorded for those who can’t make it, although you’ll get more out of attending live.
- Research and writing: 4-6 hours per week. The program is structured around two-week research-draft-edit-publish cycles. Most fellows will need ~8-10 hours to get an essay ready to publish over the two-week period.
- Editing peer writing: 1-2 hours per week. Our fellows say that receiving and giving feedback to their peers is one of the best ways to grow in this program. We expect each fellow to edit 2-3 peer essays each week, so each of you receives feedback from 3-5 people on each of your essays.
- Background reading & other assignments: 1-5 hours per week. Often, our staff, advisors, or writing teachers will suggest additional resources, from essays to books to additional recorded lessons. The more time you have, the more you can dig into this additional content!
Some of this time can flex week-to-week. The 2023 fellows shared, though, that you do need at least 10 hours/week to dedicate to this program (and recommend being able to flex to 15 to get the most out of it).
Enough to be clear that you are aligned with the basic ideas, and that you are excited about exploring a writing career in the field. Some fellows may have read multiple books, participated in the Progress Forum online and followed The Roots of Progress and other blogs and podcasts for years. Others may have only recently discovered the field: that’s ok; the immersion weeks will get you enough content to get started.
If you don’t know that much yet about progress studies, we’ve compiled a “getting started guide” here. We recommend that you invest a couple of hours a week for 4-6 weeks leading up to the start of the program becoming familiar with the core ideas.
In your application, you’ll have a chance to indicate whether you’re applying for the general cohort or specifically for the AI or Heavy Industry tracks. For each of these tracks, we’re looking for people who both have a passion for the topic and who contribute a unique perspective.
If you join a track, you’ll be attending all the advisor sessions for that track, and you’re committing to focus your writing in the program on how AI/heavy industry related to and enable progress. Here are some example topics you might explore or write about in the themed tracks, and some background of people we’d love to have join for the themed tracks:
Artificial Intelligence track
Example topics:
- Opportunities and possibilities for AI. We need to visualize, in detail, the future we want to create: there’s a need for in-depth thinking and scenario modeling of an AI-enabled future. What happens to education when every child has an AI tutor? What happens to creativity when everyone has an AI illustrator, composer, filmmaker? What happens to business creation when every potential business owner has an AI team? What happens to mental health when everyone has an AI therapist, counselor, or coach? Etc.
- Explaining AI technology to the curious general public. There are already some good explainers, but the field is evolving, and many people, even those who are intellectually curious, are having a hard time keeping up with the field.
- Legal issues. Is training AI on writing a violation of copyright? If an AI agent breaks the law, who is responsible? Does AI have free speech? Who owns the content it creates?
- Social issues. Will AI take all the jobs? Will it boost spam and fraud? Will it disconnect us from each other—until we’re not talking to each other but only to our own AIs? Will it distract us even more than social media has?
- A rational approach to safety. While much has been written about the existential risks of AI, less has been done on non-existential but still real risks. What might go wrong, concretely? What are productive strategies to address risk and create safety?
- Historical perspective. Analogies that can help us understand all of the above. What can we learn from other disruptive technologies: how have we managed risks well or not well? When has policy and regulation helped vs. hurt? How have other technologies impacted employment, education, media?
Given the broad list of topics, we’d love to see fellows with a range of backgrounds—from people with deep expertise in copyright law, to those who research safety and regulations in other fields (e.g., drones), from utopian visionaries and storytellers, to AI practitioners eager to make their field more understandable to the general, intellectual public.
Heavy industry track
Example topics:
- Supersonic, flying cars: What is going to take to actually get them—from technology to policy and culture?
- The space economy: What are the actually profitable uses of rockets / activities in space? How will a real space economy positively impact our futures?
- Manufacturing & construction: Why has so little changed here in the last 50+ years? Can robots actually help? What are the prospects for bringing more manufacturing back to the US, and does that even make sense? What conditions have to be in place for a US manufacturing resurgence?
- Cargo/logistics: This is “invisible infrastructure”; we absolutely depend on it, but most people know nothing about it and never see it. How does it work? What are the prospects to improve it?
- Anything in general explaining how these industries work, key historical inventions/developments, or cutting-edge and near-future technologies
With the focus on heavy industry, an ideal fellow may be someone who has expertise in these industries, so if you’ve worked in these fields and are eager to explain why they matter by writing about them, we’d love to hear from you! You might also be a great candidate if you’ve spent some time researching these fields, whether at a think tank, as a personal passion project, or in academia.
The program is FREE. Our goal is to enable the best writers to build their blogs to help create and spread the foundational ideas of progress. We’re able to do this through the generous support of our donors and sponsors. This means we pay for all the staff, cover your lodging and food at the in-person event, and even offer a travel stipend for you to attend the progress conference.
Final application deadline: June 7
Sponsors
