Newsletter Signup
Donate

The Progress Network is based at the organization New America.

Bina
Venkataraman

Journalist, Climate Expert, Author

Bina writes about: Environment, Society

Bina Venkataraman is The Washington Post’s inaugural columnist of the future—a role in which she documents what’s possible in politics, culture, and society—and a fellow at New America. She also teaches in Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s department of science, technology, and society. Her first book, The Optimist’s Telescope: Thinking Ahead in a Reckless Age, is a roadmap for how we can plan better for the future in our lives, businesses, and society.

Previously, Venkataraman served as Editor-at-Large for The Boston Globe, Director of Global Policy Initiatives at the Broad Institute of Harvard & MIT, and Senior Advisor for Climate Change Innovation in the Obama White House, where she forged partnerships among communities, companies, and government to prepare for climate disasters. She is a former science writer for The New York Times and The Boston Globe.

What we need is a kind of engaged optimism where we see the possibility of social and political change, even amid despair, and then act to make it happen.

divider

LISTEN TO A PODCAST:

What Could Go Right?

Maybe We’re Not F*cked: Moving the Climate Conversation Forward

IF YOU HAVE 5 MINUTES:

The Washington Post

Why We Still Need Climate Optimism

IF YOU HAVE 5 MORE:

TIME

Why It Can Be Hard to Achieve Long-Term Goals

WATCH A VIDEO:

TED Talk

The Power to Think Ahead in a Reckless Age

The Power to Think Ahead in a Reckless Age

Explore the Network

network-go

Penny Abeywardena

network-go

Ashton Applewhite

network-go

Ché Bolden

network-go

Jennifer Finney Boylan

network-go

Ian Bremmer

network-go

Danielle Keats Citron

network-go

Diane Coyle

network-go

Jennifer Doleac

network-go

R.P. Eddy

network-go

James Fallows

network-go

Diane Francis

network-go

Archon Fung

network-go

Jonathan Haidt

network-go

Linda A. Hill

network-go

Zachary Karabell

network-go

Valarie Kaur

network-go

Charles Kenny

network-go

Heather McGhee

network-go

Manu Meel

network-go

Yascha Mounk

network-go

Faisal Saeed Al Mutar

network-go

Ted Nordhaus

network-go

Suzanne Nossel

network-go

Eli Pariser

network-go

Eboo Patel

network-go

Alissa Quart

network-go

Avik Roy

network-go

Deb Roy

network-go

Robert B. Talisse

network-go

Gillian Tett