Chelsea Follett

Chelsea Follett

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Chelsea Follett is the managing editor of Human​Progress​.org and a policy analyst at the Center for Global Liberty and Prosperity at the Cato Institute. She is also the author of Centers of Progress: 40 Cities That Changed the World (2023) and is currently writing The Grim Old Days: An Introduction to the Preindustrial Past, set for release in 2026.

A crowded room with people suffering from illness; some lie in bed, others sit or kneel, while a few interact and offer assistance.
Preindustrial life wasn’t simple or serene — it was filthy, violent, and short. The Industrial Revolution was imperfect, but it was progress.