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Future Perfect

Finding the best ways to do good. Sign up for our newsletter to explore the consequential arguments and solutions around the world’s biggest issues.

I asked Bill Gates why there are still so many hungry children
Future Perfect

The billionaire philanthropist talks about how the fight for global health lost steam — and how to get it back.

By Dylan Scott
I asked Bill Gates why there are still so many hungry children
Future Perfect

The billionaire philanthropist talks about how the fight for global health lost steam — and how to get it back.

By Dylan Scott
The moral case for paying kidney donorsThe moral case for paying kidney donors
Future Perfect

Kidney donors save lives. Why aren’t we compensated for it?

By Dylan Matthews
Future Perfect, explainedFuture Perfect, explained
Future Perfect

Welcome to Vox’s home for stories about changing the world.

By Dylan Matthews
Support Future PerfectSupport Future Perfect
Future Perfect

We are always searching for new and innovative ways to fund the work we do and ensure the health of Future Perfect for years to come.

By Vox Staff

The latest in Future Perfect

OpenAI as we knew it is deadOpenAI as we knew it is dead
Future Perfect

The maker of ChatGPT promised to share its profits with the public. But Sam Altman just sold you out.

By Sigal Samuel
The ugly reality behind Tim Walz’s farm-friendly imageThe ugly reality behind Tim Walz’s farm-friendly image
Future Perfect

The VP candidate loves to snuggle baby animals. He’s giving factory farming a progressive sheen.

By Kenny Torrella
41 years ago today, one man saved us from world-ending nuclear war41 years ago today, one man saved us from world-ending nuclear war
Future PerfectMember Exclusive

On September 26, 1983, Stanislav Petrov saved the world.

By Dylan Matthews
Chronic diseases cause 75 percent of all deaths globally. The toll is likely to rise.Chronic diseases cause 75 percent of all deaths globally. The toll is likely to rise.
Future Perfect

How diseases like cancer and diabetes are growing, explained in four charts.

By Jess Craig
Yuval Noah Harari on whether democracy and AI can coexistYuval Noah Harari on whether democracy and AI can coexist
Audio
The Gray Area

“If humans are so smart, why are we so stupid?”

By Sean Illing
I give to charity — but never to people on the street. Is that wrong?
Future Perfect

The quest to give effectively feels like it’s turning me into an cold-hearted jerk.

By Sigal Samuel
What it means that new AIs can “reason”What it means that new AIs can “reason”
Future Perfect

OpenAI’s new ChatGPT is better than ever — and more dangerous.

By Kelsey Piper
Are Americans generous?Are Americans generous?
Future Perfect

New research sheds light on changing patterns of US giving and volunteering.

By Rachel M. Cohen
Do the benefits of the expanded child tax credit actually fade with time?Do the benefits of the expanded child tax credit actually fade with time?
Future Perfect

A new study argues the long-run benefits outweigh the costs nearly 10 to 1.

By Oshan Jarow
A thousand pigs just burned alive in a barn fireA thousand pigs just burned alive in a barn fire
Future Perfect

Cruelty is built into the pork industry — but it could at least try to prevent fires.

By Kenny Torrella
The cost of cynicismThe cost of cynicism
Audio
The Gray Area

It’s irrational to be cynical, so why is it becoming more prevalent?

By Sean Illing
The new followup to ChatGPT is scarily good at deception
Future Perfect

The safety paradox at the heart of OpenAI’s “Strawberry” model.

By Sigal Samuel
Science has a short-term memory problemScience has a short-term memory problem
Future Perfect

Scientists are trapped in an endless loop of grant applications. How can we set them free?

By Celia Ford
A plot of land in Southern California could be a game-changer for the housing crisis
Policy

Factory-built housing, ADUs, and community land trusts — all at once.

By Rachel M. Cohen
The perfect escape from our online world
Future Perfect

Why the new luxury is flip phones and vinyl LPs

By Zoë Bernard
Shrinking the economy won’t save the planetShrinking the economy won’t save the planet
Future Perfect

561 research papers in, the case for degrowth is still weak.

By Kelsey Piper
Kate Middleton says she is cancer-free. But why are she and so many young people getting sick?Kate Middleton says she is cancer-free. But why are she and so many young people getting sick?
Future Perfect

It’s not just the Princess of Wales. More and more young people are getting cancer.

By Dylan Scott
Can we grow the economy without making more useless junk?
Future Perfect

We buy stuff. We throw it away. There’s a system to stop this toxic cycle.

By Izzie Ramirez
I can’t take care of all my mom’s needs. Am I a monster?
Future Perfect

Introducing Your Mileage May Vary, an unconventional new advice column.

By Sigal Samuel
There’s a fix for AI-generated essays. Why aren’t we using it?There’s a fix for AI-generated essays. Why aren’t we using it?
Future Perfect

ChatGPT didn’t write this and I can prove it.

By Kelsey Piper
Animal testing, explained
Future Perfect

Is anything really “cruelty-free”?

By Celia Ford
What are ultra-processed foods and why are they bad for you?
The Highlight

From granola bars to chips, more studies are revealing that UPFs are tied to diseases like cancer and depression.

By Jess Craig
Should we think twice about fluoride?Should we think twice about fluoride?
Today, Explained newsletter

Too much fluoride might lower IQ in kids, a new federal report says. The science (and debate), explained.

By Celia Ford
Rich countries are flooding the developing world with their used gas carsRich countries are flooding the developing world with their used gas cars
Future Perfect

EVs help reduce greenhouse emissions. But too many used gas-guzzlers could make that impossible.

By David Zipper
America isn’t ready for another war — because it doesn’t have the troopsAmerica isn’t ready for another war — because it doesn’t have the troops
Future Perfect

The US military’s recruiting crisis, explained.

By Gil Barndollar and Matthew C. Mai
California’s governor has the chance to make AI historyCalifornia’s governor has the chance to make AI history
Future Perfect

Gavin Newsom could decide the future of AI safety. But will he cave to billionaire pressure?

By Sigal Samuel, Kelsey Piper and 1 more
The case of the nearly 7,000 missing pancreasesThe case of the nearly 7,000 missing pancreases
Future Perfect

Organ companies are getting up to pancreas hijinks.

By Dylan Matthews
I’m an AI skeptic. But one critique misses the mark.I’m an AI skeptic. But one critique misses the mark.
Future Perfect

Are tech companies actually pushing AI down our throats?

By Kelsey Piper
We spoke with the architect behind the notorious AI safety billWe spoke with the architect behind the notorious AI safety bill
Future Perfect

California legislator Scott Wiener on why the home of the AI industry is the right place to regulate it.

By Kelsey Piper
The AI safety bill Big Tech hates has passed the California legislatureThe AI safety bill Big Tech hates has passed the California legislature
Future Perfect

Some tech leaders think SB 1047 will kill innovation. It won’t.

By Kelsey Piper
This ancient disease still kills 1 million people every yearThis ancient disease still kills 1 million people every year
Future Perfect

A new generation of drugs promised salvation from hepatitis B and C. What went wrong?

By Dylan Scott
The staggering death toll of scientific liesThe staggering death toll of scientific lies
Future Perfect

Scientific fraud kills people. Should it be illegal?

By Kelsey Piper
How would we even know if AI went rogue?How would we even know if AI went rogue?
Future Perfect

An early warning system could help fix the dangerous information gap between Big Tech and the US.

By Jack Titus
Why I changed my mind about volunteering
Culture

My generation was taught to change the system. That lesson came at a cost.

By Rachel M. Cohen
Big Pharma claims lower prices will mean giving up miracle medications. Ignore them.Big Pharma claims lower prices will mean giving up miracle medications. Ignore them.
Future Perfect

The case against Medicare drug price negotiations doesn’t add up.

By Dylan Scott
People are falling in love with — and getting addicted to — AI voicesPeople are falling in love with — and getting addicted to — AI voices
Future Perfect

Even OpenAI warns that chatting with an AI voice can breed “emotional reliance.”

By Sigal Samuel
How AI’s booms and busts are a distractionHow AI’s booms and busts are a distraction
Future Perfect

However current companies do financially, the big AI safety challenges remain.

By Kelsey Piper
Antibiotics are failing. The US has a plan to launch a research renaissance.
Future Perfect

But there might be global consequences.

By Jess Craig
More than 4 billion people don’t have access to clean water at homeMore than 4 billion people don’t have access to clean water at home
Future Perfect

Researchers wildly underestimated how many people don’t have safe drinking water.

By Celia Ford
Mpox never stopped spreading in Africa. Now it’s an international public health emergency. Again.Mpox never stopped spreading in Africa. Now it’s an international public health emergency. Again.
Future Perfect

A first case outside of the continent has been detected in Sweden. What’s next?

By Jess Craig