The Progress Network

🧪In 2023, Iowa City conducted an experiment. 🚌What would happen if they made their buses free for two years using Covid-19 relief funds to pay for it? 🧐The results are now in.

🪘France has returned a sacred talking drum looted from Cote d’Ivoire more than 100 years ago. 🗣️Before and during colonial times, it was used to send messages over several miles to announce deaths or celebrations. theguardian.com/world/2026/mar…

"It occurs to me that maybe what we need in this moment is an American Good List—big and little things across the country that inspire us, that keep us going," writes TPN executive director @heyemmavarv. This week's newsletter is dedicated to what would be on ours. theprogressnetwork.substack.com/p/the-american…

🤔How did this happen? 💰Nine years ago, Uzbekistan’s economy was valued at around €56bn. 🤑By 2025, that number has grown to €133bn, according to estimates from the International Monetary Fund. 📈This economic growth has been accompanied by higher household incomes. euronews.com/business/2026/…

🇺🇿The Daily Dose via @euronews 🇺🇿 1.5 million people were lifted out of poverty in Uzbekistan in 2025.

📉The number of American teens sucking on vapes has dropped to the lowest level in a decade in America. Read all about it: nbcnews.com/health/health-…

"Before you protest, let me repeat that I am not saying you should fast from news entirely, or just throttle back on politics in general and away from political commentary entirely," writes TPN member @arthurbrooks. "The stuff to cut out is punchy, hobbyist content that whipsaws your emotions, but over which you have no control." thefp.com/p/arthur-brook…

🧬For the first time, prosecutors in Zimbabwe used lion DNA forensics to successfully convict two people for poaching and trafficking. news.mongabay.com/2026/03/dna-fi…

🤔How come? 📉Coal use roughly halved, with more than half of this due to all of the coal plants closing and another third due to closures and other issues in the steel industry. 🧐Does that mean emissions fell? 👍Yes, the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions fell to 364m tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2025, the lowest level since 1872. The UK’s emissions are now 54% below 1990 levels, while its GDP has nearly doubled. carbonbrief.org/analysis-uk-em…

🇬🇧📉The Daily Dose via @CarbonBrief 🇬🇧📉 The last time coal use was this low in the UK, William Shakespeare was writing Hamlet.

Women in Missouri may soon be able to get divorced even if they are pregnant.

"Having spent my career studying the biological and social roots of collective human behavior, I understood that wider circles of people exchanging ideas can make groups tighter and more inventive," writes TPN member @NAChristakis about teaching in Kyiv. "I also knew that shared adversity leads to cohesion. Still, I was amazed at what I saw." washingtonpost.com/opinions/2026/…

😮Yes, "Lava Cooling Manager" is a career in Iceland. 🤔The job? 🌋Cooling lava enough to control it and steer it away from major landmarks. 👏In late 2023, they managed to protect the power plant, the Blue Lagoon and most of the houses after an eruption. 🚒Now they're preparing for the next one. nytimes.com/2026/03/15/wor…

🤔What age group saw the most improvement? 👉The largest drop was seen among people in their 20s, which fell by 14%. 🧐Was it the same for both genders? 👉Yes, suicide deaths declined 7.4 percent for both men and women. koreajoongangdaily.joins.com/news/2026-02-2…

🇰🇷📉The Daily Dose via @JoongAngDaily 🇰🇷📉 The number of people who died by suicide in 2025 dropped 7.4% from 2024, marking the first decline in South Korea’s suicide rate in three years.

🦏Not a single rhino was poached in Assam in 2025.

"All the fears are possible, but that doesn’t mean they are likely," writes TPN founder @zacharykarabell. edgyoptimist.substack.com/p/what-did-i-m…

🦜The world’s “beefiest” parrot, which is critically endangered, is participating in a mating frenzy in New Zealand. 🤔The cause? 🍒A massive bloom of rimu berries. scientificamerican.com/article/kakap-…

🤔How come? 🙅‍♂️These improvements have followed the establishment of multilateral commitments to end child marriage, including in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals framework, which included the first global time-bound target to eliminate child marriage by 2030. 💰This has included funding commitments by donor governments and philanthropies. 💪And the leadership and tireless efforts of nongovernmental organizations, community leaders, and advocates at the local level. igp.sipa.columbia.edu/sites/igp/file…

💍📉The Daily Dose via @Columbia 💍📉 Over the past 25 years, almost 70 million child marriages have been averted globally.