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Future Perfect

Finding the best ways to do good. Check out our 2024 Future Perfect list, which presents the 50 thinkers, scientists, activists, and scholars who are working to build a more positive future.

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9 actually good things that happened in 2024
Future Perfect

It wasn’t the easiest year, but 2024 was not without its bright spots.

By Bryan Walsh
9 actually good things that happened in 2024
Future Perfect

It wasn’t the easiest year, but 2024 was not without its bright spots.

By Bryan Walsh
Giving healthy kids antibiotics saves lives. There’s a catch.Giving healthy kids antibiotics saves lives. There’s a catch.
Features

An intervention to reduce child mortality may accelerate drug resistance.

By Jess Craig
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

The 10(ish) most read Future Perfect stories of 2024The 10(ish) most read Future Perfect stories of 2024
Future Perfect

Why young people are getting cancer, problems with OpenAI, and the little intelligence agency that could.

By Bryan Walsh
The adorable reason why all of Amy Sedaris’s stuff has holes in it
Down to Earth

She’s an expert in funny, but her relationship with rabbits is very serious.

By Benji Jones
You’re being lied to about “ultra-processed” foods
Future Perfect

Coverage of the latest nutrition buzzword is overly broad, arbitrary, and wildly misleading. The problem goes deeper.

By Marina Bolotnikova
American doctors hate the health care system almost as much as you doAmerican doctors hate the health care system almost as much as you do
Future Perfect

How being a doctor in America compares to other countries.

By Dylan Scott
The drone hysteria is a glimpse of the futureThe drone hysteria is a glimpse of the future
Future PerfectMember Exclusive

Thousands of people were convinced they were seeing drone swarms. Get used to it.

By Bryan Walsh
How China could try to strangle Taiwan without firing a shot
World Politics

The Taiwan invasion everyone fears might never happen. Here’s what could take place instead.

By Joshua Keating
My family voted for Trump. How can we talk about politics without ruining the holidays?
Future Perfect

You don’t have to shy away from argument and persuasion. Here’s how to do it right.

By Sigal Samuel
What really mattered in 2024What really mattered in 2024
Future Perfect

The stories that will endure from a wild year.

By Kelsey Piper
The problem with US charity is that it’s not effective enoughThe problem with US charity is that it’s not effective enough
Future Perfect

The New York Times painted a misleading picture. Less than 0.2 percent of US charity is ruthlessly optimized.

By Dylan Matthews
The slippery appeal of RFK Jr.’s Make America Healthy Again movement
PolicyMember Exclusive

Everybody loves MAHA — because nobody knows what it really is.

By Keren Landman, MD
The world’s most mysterious psychedelic is already inside your brainThe world’s most mysterious psychedelic is already inside your brain
The Highlight

DMT, “the nuclear bomb of the psychedelic family,” explained.

By Oshan Jarow
Mexico just put animal welfare into its national constitutionMexico just put animal welfare into its national constitution
Future Perfect

These reforms are a big win for advocates, but what happens next will be crucial for animals rights.

By Sam Delgado
How to think about the public backlash to the killing of a health care CEOHow to think about the public backlash to the killing of a health care CEO
Future Perfect

Why Brian Thompson’s death has provoked such complicated reactions from the public.

By Aja Romano and Sigal Samuel
The deep roots of Americans’ hatred of their health care system
Future Perfect

The industry’s blame game will not end the US national health care nightmare.

By Dylan Scott
Is AI progress slowing down?Is AI progress slowing down?
Future Perfect

Maybe — but it matters much less than you think.

By Kelsey Piper
LA thinks AI could help decide which homeless people get scarce housing — and which don’t
The HighlightMember Exclusive

Without enough houses for its growing homeless population, the city is using machine learning to make its process fairer.

By Carly Stern
Why 597 million chickens go missing from America’s food supply each yearWhy 597 million chickens go missing from America’s food supply each year
Future Perfect

Chicken giants are pushing birds to their biological limits. A staggering number die but never make it to consumers’ plates.

By Kenny Torrella
What in the world is pink cocaine?What in the world is pink cocaine?
The Highlight

It’s not cocaine, but it can be just about anything else — except a good idea.

By Celia Ford
Why do so many young people suddenly have cancer?Why do so many young people suddenly have cancer?
Explain It to Me

When you were born is actually an important risk factor for cancer.

By Dylan Scott
I got malaria on purpose and so can youI got malaria on purpose and so can you
Future Perfect

We need new malaria drugs — so I spent a year as a guinea pig.

By Dylan Matthews
Men are struggling. Here’s how your philanthropy can help.
Future Perfect

We can invest in men’s well-being without undermining women.

By Celia Ford
Want to help save the most lives possible? Here’s where to give money.
Future Perfect

Supporting groups that work on malaria, lead poisoning, and other health issues can make a big difference with just a little money.

By Dylan Matthews and Jess Craig
The perils of trying to optimize your morality
The HighlightMember Exclusive

I tried to make the perfect choice every time. It eroded my humanity.

By Sigal Samuel
Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money.Want to fight climate change effectively? Here’s where to donate your money.
Future Perfect

These are 11 of the most high-impact, cost-effective, evidence-based organizations. You may not have heard of them.

By Sigal Samuel, Rachel DuRose and 1 more
Want to help animals? Here’s where to donate your money.Want to help animals? Here’s where to donate your money.
Future Perfect

These are the most effective charities for reducing animal suffering.

By Sigal Samuel and Kenny Torrella
Giving Tuesday, explainedGiving Tuesday, explained
Future Perfect

A short history of Giving Tuesday, the international day for giving back.

By Kelsey Piper
Don’t wait: The case for giving sooner rather than laterDon’t wait: The case for giving sooner rather than later
Future Perfect

If you want to do good this Giving Tuesday, it’s probably a good idea to donate regularly.

By Kelsey Piper
A surprise solar boom reveals a fatal flaw in our climate change projectionsA surprise solar boom reveals a fatal flaw in our climate change projections
Future Perfect

Solar is surging, but so is humanity’s energy appetite. We need better models.

By Noah Gordon and Daevan Mangalmurti
How did Elphaba become wicked? There’s a hidden message people keep missing.How did Elphaba become wicked? There’s a hidden message people keep missing.
Future Perfect

The treatment of animals in the real world is far stranger — and crueler — than in Wicked.

By Sam Delgado
Should we put pig organs in humans? We asked an ethicist.
Audio
Future Perfect

Xenotransplantation raises major moral questions — and not just about the pigs.

By Mandy Nguyen
8 million turkeys will be thrown in the trash this Thanksgiving
Future Perfect

We don’t have to accept all that death and waste for a dry, flavorless bird no one likes.

By Marina Bolotnikova
The stunning success of vaccines in America, in one chartThe stunning success of vaccines in America, in one chart
Future Perfect

America, before and after vaccines.

By Dylan Scott
How America broke the turkeyHow America broke the turkey
Future Perfect

An investigation reveals how the company behind the White House turkey pardon — and the rest of the industry — really treats its birds.

By Kenny Torrella
How to raise kids who give back to the worldHow to raise kids who give back to the world
Future Perfect

Optimism, not despair, is the way to inspire kids to help the future.

By Kelsey Piper
Giving thanks may make your brain more altruisticGiving thanks may make your brain more altruistic
Future Perfect

Neuroscience is revealing a fascinating link between gratitude and generosity.

By Sigal Samuel
The case for earning lots of money — and giving lots of it awayThe case for earning lots of money — and giving lots of it away
Future Perfect

How “earn to give” harnesses the engine of capitalism to altruistic ends.

By Kelsey Piper
Why is it still so hard to breathe in India and Pakistan?Why is it still so hard to breathe in India and Pakistan?
Climate

The world’s worst air pollution is getting worse, but there are concrete ways to fix it.

By Umair Irfan
Americans are eating less meat. And more meat. How?Americans are eating less meat. And more meat. How?
Future Perfect

The growing chasm in American meat consumption, explained.

By Kenny Torrella
John Green’s crusade to make the world “suck less”
Future Perfect

Tuberculosis is still the world’s top killer. The author has a plan to fight back.

By Dylan Scott
Chef José Andrés knows how to feed people in a crisis
Future Perfect

From Gaza to Asheville to Valencia, the celebrity chef understands

By Izzie Ramirez