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Vox’s November Highlight Issue Explores the World to Come

8 billion humans; the rise of an anti-vaccine America, the looming dangers of superintelligent AI, the shifting landscape of higher education, and more.

A large three-tiered, white-frosted birthday cake with green piping on the edges, a ring of many small candles, and a large candle shaped like the number 8 on top. Double Up Studio for Vox

For the November issue of The Highlight, Vox’s home for ambitious stories that explain our world, the Future Perfect team examines the future of humanity in a month when the 8 billionth human was born.

“Population trends in many parts of the world have been dipping, even as growth is still robust in much of the Global South. It’s a phenomenon that will, as much as any other trend, shape the future,” write Future Perfect editor Bryan Walsh and Vox editorial director Elbert Ventura in their introduction to the issue.

Contributors to the issue include Bryan Walsh answering the question: Is our current population number too many or too few?; Dylan Matthews on the unradical revolution of public policy analyst Robert Greenstein; Kevin Carey on the shrinking need for college; Kelsey Piper on AI experts’ fear of what they’re creating; Yasmin Tayag on whether Americans will continue to deny vaccination; and Sigal Samuel on less-resourced countries shifting the paradigm of mental health care.

The Highlight, in partnership with Apple News, is a dedicated home for the signature features, essays, and explainers that help our audience go beyond the headlines of the day to tackle the big ideas and issues that are changing our present and influencing our future.

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