Research Fellow @HumanProgress @CatoInstitute. @IWF Visiting Fellow. Author, Centers of Progress + Grim Old Days: a.co/d/00a137Ny
Washington, DC
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The first copies of my book are here!
The result of years of research and writing, 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘖𝘭𝘥 𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴 takes the reader on a tour of a thankfully lost world of bloodletting, filth, destitution, and famine-induced cannibalism.
Pre-order now: a.co/d/0hrciEBm
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
Did our preindustrial ancestors generally enjoy a sense of inner peace?
Doubtful.
Many suffered from "melancholia"—a condition roughly analogous to anxiety and depression—and sky-high mortality rates caused profound emotional suffering.
humanprogress.org/the-grim-t…
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History is a tale of countless children's lives lost to ailments that are now easily treated. Without modern medical knowledge, my first child would not have survived birth, and the others may not have survived ordinary illnesses. Dostoyevsky's Sonya was not so fortunate.
Dostoyevsky on the death of his infant daughter. A passage that has stayed with me years after I first encountered it
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
Someone turned L.A. highway traffic into music:
jayjudah.com/101/#theremin,g…
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This was a great conversation.
What was life really like before the modern era?
At the @CatoInstitute in Washington, FMF CEO @DavidAnsara sat down with Cato research fellow Chelsea Follett to discuss her new book, ‘The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past’.
The conversation explored the realities of life before the Industrial Revolution, from extreme poverty and dangerous working conditions to poor health and short life expectancy, and how economic and technological progress transformed human wellbeing.
Keep an eye out for the interview.
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
Very exciting to get an advance copy of @chellivia's new book, "The Grim Old Days" to review. Public release on 10/20/26: a.co/d/0d8n2bYw
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
What was life really like before the modern era?
At the @CatoInstitute in Washington, FMF CEO @DavidAnsara sat down with Cato research fellow Chelsea Follett to discuss her new book, ‘The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past’.
The conversation explored the realities of life before the Industrial Revolution, from extreme poverty and dangerous working conditions to poor health and short life expectancy, and how economic and technological progress transformed human wellbeing.
Keep an eye out for the interview.
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
Register for this book forum on Nov 5:
cato.org/events/grim-old-day…
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
.@chellivia: In the popular imagination, prior to industrialisation, people were essentially like hobbits in the Shire. They were in these happy, peaceful villages, breathing clean air, eating wholesome food in these warm, close-knit communities… briefing.capx.co/p/chelsea-f…
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
Though they may have been slightly better off than their rural counterparts, the struggles of early New Yorkers are worth remembering.
However daunting the problems of today may seem, a proper historical perspective can remind us of how far we’ve come.
humanprogress.org/if-you-thi…
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘎𝘳𝘪𝘮 𝘖𝘭𝘥 𝘋𝘢𝘺𝘴 is the #1 new release in 17th century history on Amazon.
Pre-order your copy today: amazon.com/Grim-Old-Days-Int…
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Capitalism delivers.
Competition (read: capitalism) slashed the price of GLP-1 drugs in the US.
That's what capitalism does - when it is permitted to work!
nationalreview.com/corner/do…
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
“The preindustrial world was far more gruesome than modern minds can fathom—marked by unthinkable poverty, drudgery, cruelty, and pain.” @chellivia's "The Grim Old Days" Maybe the modern age is better than it looks?💀
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There is a widespread but mistaken belief that progress has coincided with increasing inequality.
Free enterprise and international trade have brought absolute poverty to record lows—and reduced global inequality.
humanprogress.org/smithian-i…
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A new brief from HHS notes that stricter student-to-teacher ratios in Head Start increase costs, while evidence that they improve child outcomes is weak and inconsistent. The Administration for Children and Families has moved to give states and local programs more flexibility by removing federal student-to-teacher ratio requirements. Worth a read: dailysignal.com/2026/09/22/h…
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
I love the @HumanProgress team and the insights they provide particularly in this day and age where so many others seem prone to doomerism
200,000 people now follow Human Progress on X. 📈
Thank you for supporting our work!
By sharing the evidence, we can help close the gap between the reality of human progress and the widespread misperception that the world is getting worse.
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Chelsea Olivia Follett retweeted
Baby bonuses and childcare subsidies don't lower costs — they pass them to taxpayers. And the regulations that often come with subsidies make childcare more expensive by eliminating cheaper alternatives.
A better approach is to remove misguided regulations that drive up the costs of raising a family, explains Cato’s @chellivia.
Learn more in the Cato Institute Handbook on Affordability: ow.ly/VwkW50ZFkjE
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"No, AI Is Not About to End the World" — great piece by @jrhuddles summarizing the debate and arguing that "a rush to regulate out of fear could have longer-term negative consequences than the risk it claims to address." cato.org/blog/no-ai-not-abou…
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Very exciting to get an advance copy of @chellivia's new book, "The Grim Old Days" to review. Public release on 10/20/26: a.co/d/0d8n2bYw
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