We Already Live in Utopia. So Why Are We So Miserable?

Send us Fan Mail📖 Read If your income was guaranteed — if you knew, as a fact, that you would not starve no matter what — what would you do?The unreasonable ideas of today become the inevitable policies of tomorrow. Every major milestone of civilization — democracy, the abolition of slavery, women's suffrage — was once dismissed as a dangerous utopian fantasy.It's unsettling because it forces us to reckon with how much of our lives are organized around fear rather than desire. Around survival rather than meaning.But if we can build a society where survival is a given, Bregman suggests, imagine the explosion of human creativity and flourishing that might follow.That's not a fairy tale. That's a policy proposal.We're already living in the medieval dream. Maybe it's time to dream again.Utopia for Realists: How We Can Build the Ideal WorldAvailable for broadcast on PRXPRX Series: The Possible WorldFeb 27: S6 E38- The Good Wolf We Keep Starving/ Why Our Cynicism About Human Nature Is Killing UsMar 10: S6 E43- We Already Live in Utopia. So Why Are We So Miserable?Mar 12: S6 E44- The Print Shop Rebels: Why History’s Steering Wheel Isn’t Out of ReachThis is Heliox: Where Evidence Meets EmpathyIndependent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, clinical, global, and community conversations about things that matter.  Breathe Easy, we go deep and lightly surface the big ideas. Support the showDisclosure: This podcast uses AI-generated synthetic voices for a material portion of the audio content, in line with Apple Podcasts guidelines. We make rigorous science accessible, accurate, and unforgettable.Produced by Michelle Bruecker and Scott Bleackley, it features reviews of emerging research and ideas from leading thinkers, curated under our creative direction with AI assistance for voice, imagery, and composition. Systemic voices and illustrative images of people are representative tools, not depictions of specific individuals.We dive deep into peer-reviewed research, pre-prints, and major scientific works—then bring them to life through the stories of the researchers themselves. Complex ideas become clear. Obscure discoveries become conversation starters. And you walk away understanding not just what scientists discovered, but why it matters and how they got there.Independent, moderated, timely, deep, gentle, clinical, global, and community conversations about things that matter.  Breathe Easy, we go deep and lightly surface the big ideas.Spoken word, short and sweet, with rhythm and a catchy beat.http://tinyurl.com/stonefolksongs