Obviously, the world is not on an inevitable upward trajectory. But witnessing the degradation of our environment, democracies and information has come as a shock to many of us who were raised on the belief that human history is a long arc towards perfection (with just a few blips along the way). This is the myth of progress we were all sold. Astonishingly, it predates even our oldest religions. 

Samuel Miller McDonald is a geographer and the author of PROGRESS: A History of Humanity's Worst Idea. He joins me today to discuss his startling research which shows how this very inextricably this myth is tied to expansionism, extractivism and centralisation. Taking us over 5,000 years, Samuel explains how that same myth has been recycled through the Holy Books, colonial legislation, international development, and even technological innovation.

Exploring some counter-arguments, Samuel criticises political pundits who claim we can view the world through rosy lenses by merely examining "unbiased" data, and offers pointers on how to navigate the information cesspool of today's discourse to interpret what is really going on in the world. 

You can download the podcast episode or watch our conversation on Youtube (where automatic captions are provided).

P.S. The argument we reference that I had with Hannah Ritchie can be listened to here on Mongabay's podcast.