From Uruk to Tokyo and beyond.

For almost of all history, the biggest city in the world is the capital of a major empire and then suddenly — Tokyo.  What caused this change? In this instalment of Slow Boring explores the historical trend of cities to understand this development. Here, Matthew Yglesias reveals why recent changes in demographics brought on by the pandemic have made the future of the American city difficult to predict.

Michael Satow

Matthew Yglesias is the author of the Slow Boring newsletter, a senior fellow at the Niskanen Center, and host of The Weeds podcast.

Matthew Yglesias

A daily newsletter from journalist Matthew Yglesias.

Slow Boring covers American politics and public policy. The name comes from Max Weber’s essay on “Politics as a Vocation” where he writes that “Politics is a strong and slow boring of hard boards” that “takes both passion and perspective.”

The past and future of the city