Mission

We’ve got a problem on our hands. (Well, lots of problems.) The United States’ social contract is broken. Our system denies basic necessities like healthcare, food, and housing to millions. Climate change wreaks tangible havoc—and we can’t even agree to divert its course. Our society and institutions are still racist. And we’ve utterly failed to manage the deadliest crisis in decades, wallowing in political squabbles as COVID-19 kills hundreds of thousands. 

It seems we share only one thing: a sense of prolonged, ongoing, existential crisis. It’s hard to see how to get out of it and easy to see how it could all get worse.

But a crisis can sharpen resolve. The word “crisis” is from the Greek krino, meaning to cut, to select, to judge. The Greeks used it to describe a pivotal moment in the course of a disease, a sudden change, a moment of reckoning when the patient is about to take a definitive turn toward life or death. A crisis is a time of infinite possibility, one when all bets are off, for better or for worse.

At Alchemist, we think that crisis creates the political space for bold ideas. Big change is happening whether we like it or not. So let’s seize the crisis, and turn this dumpster fire into gold.

Our conviction is that the time for incrementalism is over. We are imaginative, creative, and yes, a little idealistic. We draw inspiration from generations who navigated crises of comparable magnitude: the Progressives in the early 20th century, the New Dealers, and the pioneers of the Civil Rights Movement. These trailblazers were not just technocrats. They were thinkers and doers who won the battles of their day by coming up with grand ideas and fighting for them.

A few times a month, we’ll publish a bold idea from the people on the ground—those working on the issues, experimenting, and making change. Our aim is to uplift new, expert voices who refuse to take the status quo for granted. Come here for pieces that don’t dwell on societal failings, but instead, propose solutions and paths to get there. Our ideas are sometimes off-the-wall and always novel. And you won’t need a Ph.D. to understand them.

Welcome to Alchemist. Our pages are a place for policy experimentation and imagination, a showcase of prescriptions for progress. We hope you’ll hear us out.