Santi Ruiz

New York

Science and Tech Reporter at The Washington Free Beacon

Editor at Freelance

He was so joly of his joyfnes | Editing @ifp | Writing Statecraft | ☧

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Articles

The Future of AI and the Future of Humanity

5 days ago | wisdomofcrowds.live | Damir Marusic |Samuel Kimbriel |Santi Ruiz

Current time: 0:00 / Total time: -40:05Audio playback is not supported on your browser. Please upgrade. Is tech replacing humanity? Or is it sharpening the question of what it means to be human? What does it mean to live a good life — as opposed to passable life? What features of humanity become more important by contrast and necessity in the technological age? Is it possible to find a higher version of humanity in order to thrive?
How to Run the Treasury Department

1 week ago | statecraft.pub | Santi Ruiz

Santi:Hi, this is a special episode of Statecraft. I've got a wonderful guest host with me today. Kyla Scanlon:Hey, I’m Kyla Scanlon! I'm the author of a book called In This Economy and an economic commentator. Santi: Kyla has joined me today for a couple reasons. One, I'm a big fan of her newsletter: it's about economics, among many other things. She had a great piece recently on what we can learn from C.S. Lewis’s The Screwtape Letters, which is a favorite book of mine.
How to Build the '90s DOGE

2 weeks ago | statecraft.pub | Santi Ruiz

Today, we’re taking a look at a predecessor to DOGE: The Reinventing Government project (officially known as the NPR, for National Partnership for Reinventing Government). The NPR ran for almost the full duration of President Bill Clinton’s two terms, and led to the elimination of over 100 programs and over 250,000 federal jobs. Both NPR and DOGE are case studies in a long history of government reform efforts — some more successful than others.
How the Federal Transit Administration Works

3 weeks ago | statecraft.pub | Santi Ruiz

Last week, we talked to Stephanie Pollack about salvaging a transit project in danger of failure — it was the first in a set of interviews we’re running on transit. Today, we’re zooming out further, and looking at how the federal government funds local transit. I’m excited about the guest we landed. Peter Rogoff spent 22 years as a staffer on the most powerful Senate committee, the Appropriations Committee (on the Democratic side).
How to Salvage a Transit Project

4 weeks ago | open.substack.com | Santi Ruiz

This conversation, with transit guru Stephanie Pollack, is one of my favorite conversations we’ve recorded. For one, I had a blast recording — Pollack’s funny, and she’s got a killer Boston accent. For another, she explains some ideas I care about incredibly well — how well-intentioned regulations turn bad, how political pressures make simple things hard to pull off, why building in the real world is so hard. She taught me a huge amount about building transit. And she’s a great storyteller.
How to Salvage a Transit Project

4 weeks ago | statecraft.pub | Santi Ruiz

This conversation, with transit guru Stephanie Pollack, is one of my favorite conversations we’ve recorded. For one, I had a blast recording — Pollack’s funny, and she’s got a killer Boston accent. For another, she explains some ideas I care about incredibly well — how well-intentioned regulations turn bad, how political pressures make simple things hard to pull off, why building in the real world is so hard. She taught me a huge amount about building transit. And she’s a great storyteller.
Why FORGE Works | IFP

1 month ago | ifp.org | Santi Ruiz

Geothermal has made encouraging progress since FORGE was founded. The lab has impressed members of Congress. Via the Energy Act 2020, Congress gave GTO authorization to renew FORGE and establish up to three more FORGE sites. The Department of Energy (DOE) recently approved a four-year extension for FORGE, accompanied by up to $80 million in new funding.
50 Thoughts on DOGE

Mar 6, 2025 | statecraft.pub | Santi Ruiz

DOGE is the most interesting story in state capacity right now. Yet although we’ve talked around it on Statecraft, I haven’t covered it directly since the beginning of the administration. In part, that’s because of the whirlwind pace of news, but also because of the sense I get in talking to other DOGE watchers, that we’re like blind men feeling different parts of the elephant. And, frankly, because it’s the most polarizing issue in public discourse right now.
50 Thoughts on DOGE

Mar 6, 2025 | open.substack.com | Santi Ruiz

DOGE is the most interesting story in state capacity right now. Yet although we’ve talked around it on Statecraft, I haven’t covered it directly since the beginning of the administration. In part, that’s because of the whirlwind pace of news, but also because of the sense I get in talking to other DOGE watchers, that we’re like blind men feeling different parts of the elephant. And, frankly, because it’s the most polarizing issue in public discourse right now.
We Have Too Many Judicial Injunctions

Feb 19, 2025 | statecraft.pub | Santi Ruiz

We recorded today’s Statecraft after I saw this tweet from friend-of-the-pod Nick Bagley, and realized that we had to have him on immediately. What’s going on here? As President Trump kicks off his second term with a flurry of executive orders, his administration is being hit with a wave of injunctions: that is, district judges around the country are ordering the federal government to pause all kinds of actions. Democrats are praising the judges, Republicans are criticizing them.