Substack Live, the Roots of Progress Fellowship, a Pricing Update, and Memes
Off-Ramps for 21 May 2026
Welcome to Off-Ramps, Changing Lanes’ occasional (these days, very occasional) round-up of curated items for discerning readers. Today I’ll highlight three time-sensitive items for your consideration, as well as a collection of no-context memes… you’ve earned them.
1. Bern Grush, live, next Thursday
On Thursday, 28 May at 12:00 p.m. ET (noon Eastern), I’m opening the CHANGING LANES Substack Live interview series with Bern Grush.
As you may know, Bern is one of my co-authors on the second edition of The End of Driving. He’s also the executive director of the Urban Robotics Foundation, and the lead drafter of the ISO standards that will govern how automated vehicles deal with curbs and sidewalks. He’s also the founder and CEO of a new venture, PudoCity, which will be the subject of our conversation.
I can’t speak for Bern, but I think his elevator pitch goes like this.
Most of the robotaxi debate is about the vehicle, but Bern’s bet is that the hard problem isn’t the car, it’s the curb. Once a city fills up with driverless vehicles, where will they all actually stop to pick you up and drop you off? It’s a hard problem, made harder because many of these places that have never managed their curb space well to begin with.
For my part, I agree there is a real matter of concern here, but I have questions about whether Bern’s solution to it can hold up as a business. Come watch me ask them, and decide for yourself.
Set a reminder and join us live here. It’s live, the chat will be open, and I’ll be taking questions, so please bring yours!
2. The Roots of Progress fellowship deadline is 1 June 2026
If you are a writer, or an aspiring one, this item is worth your attention, given how little time remains.
The Roots of Progress 2026 Blog-Building Intensive (BBI) Fellowship is a ten-week, part-time, online, and free programme (27 July to 2 October) for writers and bloggers excited about progress. It pairs a writing course focused on long-form, explanatory essays with professional editing and feedback, plus a cohort of roughly thirty like-minded peers. Fellows will meet leading thinkers in progress studies and abundance policy, along with experts in this year’s optional deep-dive tracks: human talent and potential, and security and resilience.
This intake is for the fourth cohort of the BBI. I was a member of the second cohort, and it’s no exaggeration to say that it has changed my life. The BBI gave me the tools, the community, the support, and the confidence I needed to write in public. If these are the things you need to advocate for a better world, you should certainly apply!
If that was not enough, Fellows who complete the programme receive a free ticket to the invitation-only Progress Conference in Berkeley this October, featuring—among others—the co-CEO of Waymo, two Nobel laureates, and other luminaries (including me!). The final deadline is 1 June, so apply here soon!
3. A note on pricing
Changing Lanes exists because I like writing independently, outside any single publication’s editorial line. And I’ve been successful at it: over the past year, the number of subscribers to this newsletter has more than doubled, from 700 readers then to 1,800 today (helped along by my appearance earlier this spring on Ross Douthat’s New York Times podcast “Interesting Times”). Changing Lanes is growing!
But it needs to be sustainable too, given the opportunity cost of writing it. So, as a reminder, in four weeks—specifically, Tuesday, 16 June—the price of a subscription will go up. The current rate of US$10/month or US$100/year ends; from that date, new subscriptions will be US$13/month or US$130/year. Existing annual subscribers keep their current rate until renewal, while monthly subscribers move to the new rate on the first billing cycle after 16 June. What that means is, if you’ve been thinking about subscribing, now’s the time, especially as annual subscriptions taken at today’s rate will be locked in for a full year.
In concrete terms, paid subscribers get two things that free subscribers don’t: a paywalled issue each month, and direct engagement from me in the comments. But equally importantly, they receive my gratitude for keeping Changing Lanes alive: reader support is what keeps it going.
As a reminder, then: the price of a subscription goes up on Tuesday, 16 June, but until then, the current rate holds: US$10/month or US$100/year. If you’ve been meaning to upgrade to paid — or to switch from monthly to annual — doing it before 16 June locks in the current rate. And if you’re already a paying subscriber: nothing changes for you today. You keep your current rate through your next renewal.
4. And finally, the memes
I often post memes to Substack Notes to illustrate posts I have written, the contretemps du jour, or just random thoughts I have had. For the benefit of readers who aren’t on Substack Notes, here they are: no explanation, no context, and no apologies. Enjoy!
