Why Nothing Works: Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back Cover
Podcast Mentions

Why Nothing Works Who Killed Progress―and How to Bring It Back

Marc J. Dunkelman

A provocative exploration of the forces that keep us from getting things done, and how we can restore confidence in government. America was once a country that did big things. But today, even while facing a host of pressing challenges—a housing shortage, a climate crisis, dilapidated infrastructure...

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Pod Save America

Podcast

Pod Save America

Lovett praised the book as an enjoyable and insightful history of progressive governance, saying it helped explain why progress has stalled and how Democrats can regain power.

"

I spoke to Mark Dunkelman. He wrote a book called Why Nothing Works.

— Episode: 1115: Why Are Democrats Afraid of Power?

Episode: 1115: Why Are Democrats Afraid of Power?

Lovett praised the book as an enjoyable and insightful history of progressive governance, saying it helped explain why progress has stalled and how Democrats can regain power.

"

I spoke to Mark Dunkelman. He wrote a book called Why Nothing Works.

So I am a huge fan of your book, Why Nothing Works.

I genuinely really enjoyed the book. It is called why nothing works, who killed progress and how to bring it back.

The Ezra Klein Show

Podcast

The Ezra Klein Show

Jesse recommended the book as a natural next step after reading Abundance, suggesting it would be valuable for listeners who had engaged with the host's earlier work. He described it as a great follow‑up that could deepen understanding of the challenges to progress. The overall tone was positive, positioning the title as a highly recommended read.

Highly Recommended

Episode: Is Decarbonization Dead?

Jesse recommended the book as a good followup after reading Abundance.

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As I have just finished reading Abundance, the next one on my list is Mark Dunkelman's Why Nothing Works, which I think is probably a great place for folks who have read your book to pick up next.

Episode: Let’s Get to the Marrow of What Trump Just Did

Matt said the forthcoming book covered similar themes to another discussed work but provided more detail on a narrower set of topics, especially infrastructure projects.

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It's called Why Nothing Works. It covers similar themes to your book, but more detail.

Episode: What We Got Right — and Wrong — in ‘Abundance’

The book was introduced as a contemporary work with a historical perspective on the same ideas as Abundance, and later the host noted that writing it gave a "big aha moment" about policy failures.

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the author of a book that came out around the same time, Why Nothing Works, which is about some very similar ideas, but with a much more historical perspective.

When you wrote Why Nothing Works, sort of the big aha moment I realized was that for a lot of progressivism's history, our view was centralize that power in the hands of one person who will decide what is built.

Note: The book recommendations on this page are discovered automatically from podcast transcripts, and may be incorrect or incomplete.