Our forefathers did not live in caves and grunt over campfires, like the “noble savages” imagined by Locke, Marx, and twentieth-century anthropologists. More importantly, these were not peaceful and inward-looking societies. The genetic record shows that entire peoples embarked on great treks over land and across the seas, often violently replacing previous inhabitants in battles and wars long lost to memory. Our ancestors weren’t always nomadic. Settled communities did not originate with the domestication of grain after the end of the Ice Age, but were preceded by permanent villages and towns sustained by abundant and sometimes gardened forests, as well as fishing. Our ancestors lived this way for tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of years. This, rather than the primitive utopia or even the wild savannah, was likely the ancestral environment Homo sapiens evolved in over this long era of prehistory.

As these complex societies occasionally advanced, mastering metals and developing writing, there was no linear guarantee of progress. As societies grow more complex and develop, becoming what we call civilizations, they sometimes fail and collapse without passing on the torch of progress. The evidence of both prehistory dug up from the ground and of written history shows there is nothing certain about the future of our own civilization. Civilizations rise and fall. Mankind relearns and forgets this lesson many times over.

PALLADIUM 19: Long History retells the story of mankind, setting outdated and flawed narratives right, and with them all our assumptions of humanity’s future. A timely task urgently needed, lest we risk becoming just another layer of ruins and bones, buried and forgotten under the feet of future generations. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 19 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy. 

Additionally, the first ten first-time subscribers will receive the gift of an exclusive copy of PALLADIUM 07: Garden Planet featuring nuclear activist Isabelle Boemeke in a visionary photoshoot by Brian Ziff.

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying in to a project to reshape the future of American and global governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible: Palladium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan institution.

By upgrading to a Supporting Membership, you will also get access to exclusive perks, including a priority invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. There are five spots reserved for new supporting members at PALLADIUM Magazine’s Fourth Anniversary in Print party in San Francisco, California next month, on December 5th. These events bring our community and top collaborators together, including our editorial team, donors, authors, and artists. 

Supporting Members will also receive rare out-of-print editions allowing you to complete your collection. This quarter, new supporting members will receive PALLADIUM 06: Imperial Frontiers, the iconic edition where we began our investigation of global empire and its limits. Those who have been sustaining members for the past two years will also receive the iconic  PALLADIUM 12: Silicon Nemesis featuring Grimes, allowing them to complete their collection of Year Three of Palladium in print. Upgrade to a Supporting Membership today here.

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 19: Long History and to support this vital project.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 19: Long History ships internationally. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Why Civilization Is Older Than We Thought by Samo Burja. New discoveries are adding millennia to our past. The implications should change our future.

Mariners at the Dawn of History by Tristan Søbye Rapp. Archaeological finds hundreds of thousands of years old have shown human settlement of many of the world’s remote islands, challenging our assumptions of a primitive prehistory.

Genomics Has Revealed An Age Undreamed Of by Razib Khan. The genomics revolution has shown us our barbaric past. It now also forces us to decide our future.

Our Knowledge of History Decays Over Time by Ben Landau-Taylor and Samo Burja. Despite modern approaches to archaeology and preservation, as history moves forward, we will only lose knowledge of the past.

The Native Americans Before the Native Americans by Razib Khan. New findings and genetic evidence suggest that people came to America more than 30,000 years ago, before the peak of the Last Ice Age.

The Birth and Burial of Evolutionary Science in Australia by Jack Mungo. Activists, often of mostly European ancestry, have appropriated prehistoric cultures and are systematically destroying fossils vital to understanding Australia’s past and human evolution in general. 

Will Future Civilizations Bother to Excavate Our Remains? by Ben Landau-Taylor. The practice of archaeology is almost unique to our contemporary Western civilization rather than universal, and it is unlikely to be continued by future civilizations.

Why Civilizations Collapse by Samo Burja. We have to evaluate the perceptions that mint facts and theory, not merely peruse the body of social, historical, and political theories handed down to us.

The first babies artificially selected for greater intelligence have already been born, a momentous fact our culture has nearly completely ignored outside of a few pieces talking about this or that biotech startup. Compared to the intense public, intellectual, and political response of the cloning of the first mammal—a sheep named Dolly in 1996—we have sleepwalked into a future to which we now must awaken.

Hormone therapies, organ replacements grown in animals, genetically engineered tissue, symbiotic bacteria, artificial wombs, gene-edited babies… all of these technologies and more will be pursued and developed further in our immediate future to tackle pressing environmental, public health, and socioeconomic problems. Even if they are insufficient to solve such problems, they completely reshape society through rewriting our biology, which has served as an unwritten constitution delineating our social and political life for hundreds of thousands of years. 

PALLADIUM 18: Biological Inheritance is our attempt at opening and updating this long-overdue and long-dormant conversation on our biology. Join us in this exploration of our biology’s future. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 18 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy. 

Additionally, the first ten first-time subscribers will receive the gift of an exclusive copy of PALLADIUM 07: Garden Planet featuring nuclear activist Isabelle Boemeke in a visionary photoshoot by Brian Ziff.

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying in to a project to reshape the future of American and global governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible: Palladium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan institution.

By upgrading to a Supporting Membership, you will also get access to exclusive perks, including a priority invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. There are five spots reserved for new supporting members for the next launch of PALLADIUM in Austin, Texas in the first week of October. These events bring our community and top collaborators together, including our editorial team. 

Supporting Members will also receive rare out-of-print editions allowing you to complete your collection. This quarter, new supporting members will receive PALLADIUM 11: Social Apocalypse, this  issue features an interview with novelist Walter Kirn on the loss of cultural memory in America and what happens when even personal experience is mediated through synthetic narratives. Upgrade to a Supporting Membership today here.

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 18: Biological Inheritance and to support this vital project.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 18: Biological Inheritance ships internationally. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Our Genetic Constitution by Tim Lantin. Intentional design is replacing evolution as the main driver of genetic change in humans. To enhance the brain is to rewire the machinery that makes institutions possible.

As Caste Vanishes Only Genes Remain by Razib Khan. As Indian Americans continue their socioeconomic ascent, the relevance of caste evaporates. Yet researchers have found evidence this social technology was sustained for thousands of years.

Youth Is a Strategic Resource. Can Medical Science Slow Aging? by Sarah Constantin. New research may slow aging, promising a healthier, longer-lived society—but current inter-generational tensions also point to potential conflicts such advances will bring.

Competitive Hormone Supplementation Is Shaping America’s Future Business Titans by Brian P. Hoover. As testosterone levels decline, high-level executives reach for human growth hormone and testosterone supplementation to build their empires and engage in corporate warfare well into their seventies.

Artificial Wombs Will Save Lives Not Birth Rates by Lan Dao. The technology to grow a baby outside a mother is closer than you think. Even with wide adoption, it won’t raise fertility enough to stop population decline—but will be enough to save lives.

The Safest Path to Stable Climate Is Designing New Plants by Patrick Mellor. Arcadia and the Amazon were both created by human gardeners, not by natural forces. Our newfound responsibility to steward the Earth’s biosphere is best met with technologically enhanced gardening

What was once the domain of gods will become merely part of the human world—space might come to be a cosmically scaled realm stretching across many planets and satellites. It will immediately force us to rethink industry, war, government, long-term thinking, and even our anthropological assumptions. This kind of rethinking was once routine for Western civilization, which regularly transformed itself with technologies abolishing limits of time and space.

Reusable rockets have not only made space travel cost-effective, but, in doing so, have extended the reach of our species across once impossible distances. While profound in its implications, this development is all too easy to miss, and is one too few have thought through. As we settle and one day remake the Moon, Mars, the other planets, and the stars themselves, these heavenly objects will cease to be unchanging.

We are discovering new things about our universe and, crucially, our place in it. After half a century since Man last walked on a celestial body in 1972, after all the enervated introspection and misanthropic ideology in the decades since, it will turn out that perhaps the best way to explore our inner space was to explore outer space.

PALLADIUM 17: Universal Man is our voyage into this vast future and a glimpse at what kind of New Man is revealed when we grow our species’ reach to never-before-visited reaches of creation. Join us on this journey. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 17 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy.

Additionally, the first ten first-time subscribers will receive the gift of an exclusive copy of PALLADIUM 07: Garden Planet featuring nuclear activist Isabelle Boemeke in a visionary photoshoot by Brian Ziff.

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying in to a project to reshape the future of American and global governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible: Palladium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan institution.

By upgrading to a Supporting Membership, you will also get access to exclusive perks, including a priority invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. There are still five spots left reserved for new supporting members for the launch of PALLADIUM 17 in Washington, D.C. on March 26. These events bring our community and top collaborators together, including our editorial team.

Supporting Members will also receive rare out-of-print editions allowing you to complete your collection. This quarter, new supporting members will receive PALLADIUM 10: Cultural Excellence, this unmatched issue features an interview with model, adventurer, and mechanical engineer Pietro Boselli on life and seeking the ground truth of that experience. Upgrade to a Supporting Membership today here.

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 17: Universal Man and to support this vital project.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 17: Universal Man ships internationally until June 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

The New Space Race with China by Oberon Dixon-Luinenburg. Available first in print! China has launched hundreds of rockets and built a space industry second only to SpaceX. The United States is now in a space race that decision-makers and the public are barely aware of.

The Genius Who Launched the First Space Program by Sven Etienne Peterson. Sergei Korolev was the secret architect of the Soviet space program. His career demonstrates the triumph of vision and institutional innovation over conventionality and bureaucracy.

Why Starship Matters by Casey Handmer. The biggest rocket ever built will not just transform our current space and satellite industry, but power human civilization all the way to Mars. The time has come to settle a second planet.

A Trillion Tons in Orbit by Brian Balkus. Available first in print! The physicist Gerard O’Neill thought a planetary surface isn’t the right place for an expanding civilization. As launch costs fall, we need more ambitious goals to drive technology further.

The Orbital Authority by Curtis Yarvin. Available first in print! The ultimate high ground cannot be divided geographically. The threat of stagnant peace under one world government means humanity must once more wrestle with war to thrive.

It’s Time to Build the Exoplanet Telescope by Casey Handmer. Decreasing cost to orbit makes new space structures viable. A transformative option is a telescope capable of seeing distant planets up close.

The Case for Human Hibernation by Tim Lantin. Available first in print! As space colonization advances, translating rapidly progressing hibernation research into humans may prove necessary. On Earth, human hibernation may help us coordinate multigenerational projects.

The Moon Should Be a Computer by Omar Shams. Available first in print! Hyper-scaling the computational power of AI systems holds great promise, but the Earth cannot indefinitely shoulder their energy needs. The Moon can.

The Bison Sphere Manifesto by Wolf Tivy. You’ve heard of the Dyson Sphere. It’s time to talk about the only vision that can pull America out of this crisis of complacency: the Bison Sphere.

The Only Reason to Explore Space by Marko Jukic. There is only one durable justification for space exploration. If we fail to understand it, our civilization will end on Earth, not among the stars.

As the years rolled on, we saw other names rise up too, such as Duterte, Le Pen, Kurz, Salvini, Bolsonaro, Milei, and Orban. It appeared as though profound changes to how modern states were run were inevitable. But by early 2024, two of the once victorious populist presidents, Trump in the U.S. and Bolsonaro in Brazil, were facing criminal charges and many of those names had faded out of relevance.

This was just the tip of a great reaction that brought forth years of internet censorship, media campaigns, political arrests, administrative disobedience of the elected government, rapidly accelerated immigration designed perhaps to quickly replace the disobedient electorate, and more. The pandemic further demonstrated how toothless people’s power was in the face of mere public health bureaucracy. The giant, once awakened, was quickly back in bed with a fever. 

Quietly, in the background of these great struggles, Silicon Valley and its new technocracy continued to grow in power and transform society while, for the most part, publicly endorsing the old technocratic establishment that was growing ever more distrustful and hostile towards them. A lone contrarian investor, Peter Thiel, voiced his support for the people as early as 2016. Elon Musk did so too, in 2024. After Donald Trump’s second electoral victory, this new alliance of technology and populism seems like another new beginning. It is instead a chapter from a political story that has been unfolding for over a decade. In recent years, democratic governments have shown more willingness to transform to combat populism in new ways than allow themselves to be transformed by it.

PALLADIUM 16: After Populism is our look at what happens in the aftermath of a populist victory. Despite calling our governments democracies, our societies don’t know how to productively harness this potent political force. Whoever does so first is destined to reshape governance in the 21st century. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 16 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy.

Additionally, the first ten first-time subscribers will receive the gift of an exclusive copy of PALLADIUM 07: Garden Planet featuring nuclear activist Isabelle Boemeke in a visionary photoshoot by Brian Ziff.

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying in to a project to reshape the future of American and global governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible: Palladium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan institution.

By upgrading to a Supporting Membership, you will also get access to exclusive perks, including a priority invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. These events bring our community and top collaborators together, including our editorial team. You will also receive rare out-of-print editions allowing you to complete your collection. This quarter, new supporting members will receive PALLADIUM 08: Scientific Authority, the groundbreaking issue featuring an interview with Lord Martin Rees the current Astronomer Royal on the institutions of science. Upgrade to a Supporting Membership today here.

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 16: After Populism and to support this vital project.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 16: After Populism ships internationally until March 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Jair Bolsonaro and the Populist Crisis In Brazil by Costin Alamariu. The former president is known as Brazil’s controversial right-populist. But he also reveals deep class divisions in the country’s politics and how it remembers military rule.

A Promenade with the Gilets Jaunes in Paris by Jacques Knight. A Palladium team embedded with the Gilets Jaunes in Paris. They returned with on-the-ground observations about the riots, the movement’s desires, and France’s political destiny.

The Western Intellectual Behind China’s Distrust of the Crowd by Simon Luo. Since the Cultural Revolution, China has feared and suppressed mass mobilization. The theories of French thinker Gustave Le Bon influence both the party and its critics in their evaluation of the mob.

The Politics of Crisis Is Not Going Away by Wessie Du Toit. We are trapped in an escalating politics of crisis, which threatens to break our connection with reality. It’s only going to get worse before it gets better.

Why Big Tech Is More Competent Than the U.S. Government by Byrne Hobart. The U.S. pandemic response was undermined by buck-passing and bad judgment at every turn. Tech giants outperformed it thanks to lessons from the past and better incentives for the future.

France Is Living in Zemmour’s World by Francois Valentin. French politician Éric Zemmour believes France is on the brink of self-destruction. Parts of the political establishment, including President Emmanuel Macron agree.

America Needs a National Service Program by James Haynes. National service is a well-established way for Western democracies to build civic unity. A joint military and diplomatic initiative can spark America’s institutional renewal.

The Post-Liberal International Order and American Grand Strategy by Sumantra Maitra. The realist school of foreign policy has long predicted a post-liberal geopolitics. Rather than an existential crisis, the current landscape is merely the latest move in a very old game.

Life intrinsically carries a weight of existence that has to be resolved somehow. Not all metaphysical claims are necessarily explicitly stated, however. The differing streams of Christian theology and Enlightenment philosophy made such claims explicitly, but made them a matter of the public—a res publica in the most literal and necessarily political sense.

The reason of state was a fission of private and public in early modernity. This reason grew in power and made the wars first sparked by the disputes of the theological reformation of the Holy Roman Empire much more intense and prolonged. It presented itself as the answer for putting out the flames. It conceptually allowed a private escape where rulers found themselves without the desire to make windows into men’s souls, or be so examined themselves. Perhaps advanced theology was the original existential risk and the only solution for a time was postponing it.

The escape to the private was not new in humanity’s long history. Many philosophers, Greek and otherwise, had struggled before concluding that fundamental truth is always at war with society, so one must make their own peace, and perhaps while fundamental truths can be explicitly reasoned, they cannot be given. The modern separation between church and state was formed by extending this not just to rulers but subjects. What we legally call religious freedom is in practice a kind of freedom of confession. In turn, this logically but not necessarily legally carries a freedom of speech.

This orthodoxy is complicated by orthopraxy. Many religious traditions rest on “right action” through laws, customs, rituals, social norms, and ways of being. This can be seen in Christianity, but also Jewish, Confucian, Buddhist, and Hindu communities. Sometimes this orthopraxy is itself explicated into rules or judgments even in the absence of philosophy. The history of Islamic civilization shows orthopraxy as a power both with and without orthodoxy. 

Fundamentally, neither orthodoxy nor orthopraxy can be fully avoided by civilizations or individuals. The barrier between church and state in the Western world is best understood as a settlement between factions of the same kind, each with their own competing metaphysical thesis, moral values, and social norms. These settlements are negotiated, reformed, and redrawn around the world and will continue to be so deep into the future. 

PALLADIUM 15: State Religion is our cautious and measured look into the distant future when we can no longer dally on the questions of what is the state of our religion and what is the religion of our state. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 15 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy.

Additionally, the first ten first-time subscribers will receive the gift of an exclusive copy of PALLADIUM 07: Garden Planet featuring nuclear activist Isabelle Boemeke in a visionary photoshoot by Brian Ziff.

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying in to a project to reshape the future of American and global governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible: Palladium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan institution.

As a Supporting Member, you will also get access to exclusive perks, including a priority invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. These events bring our community and top collaborators together, including our editorial team. You will also receive rare out-of-print editions allowing you to complete your collection. This quarter, you will receive PALLADIUM 08: Scientific Authority, the groundbreaking issue featuring an interview with Lord Martin Rees the current Astronomer Royal on the institutions of science. Upgrade to a Supporting Membership today here.

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 15: State Religion and to support this vital project.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 15: State Religion ships internationally until December 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Under the Rule of Amida Buddha by Ethan Edwards. In the midst of Japan’s chaotic Sengoku era, a radical Buddhist sect grew into a powerful movement that secured autonomy. Yet, unable to direct itself, it was outmaneuvered by the Shogunate.

Inside the House Church Movement in China by Wael Taji. A visit to an underground Shanghai house church gives an inside look into how millions of Chinese citizens worship. This new generation makes its mark in a regime suspicious of foreign subversion.

A Papal Revolt Created Europe’s First Bureaucracy by Jonathan Culbreath. In the 11th century, Pope Gregory VII fought local rulers who dominated the church. To counter them, he created Europe’s first modern bureaucracies and changed the organization of power forever.

Rebuilding the Middle East: Christians, Shi’ites, and Secularists Join Forces by Stephen Borthwick. Middle Eastern Christians have been decimated by years of conflict. The coming generation’s politics is now defined by broad and unusual coalitions, even Bashar al-Assad and groups like Hezbollah.

After Freedom: Catholic Political Theology in the Age of Liberal Crisis by Ash Milton. Western Catholics of the 20th century sought to engage the liberal world order to put conflicts with modernity to rest. As the geographic center of the church moves, a theology of confrontation returns.

How to Find Meaning When Everything is Power by Mary Harrington. Unexamined “objectivity” isn’t coming back, but meaning need not be a casualty. Rigorous post-modernism grounds social meaning in the interconnected experience of our shared society.

Creating West Coast Buddhism by Ethan Edwards. In the 1960s, Buddhism found a new spiritual homeland in California. It was the last step in a transformation that began generations before.

Everyone’s Existential Crisis by Miya Perry. The fundamental instability of collective knowledge is exacerbated by developments in technology and infrastructure, leaving us all grappling with existential crisis. 

What is the greatest city in the world? There are few questions more revealing of an era. Throughout the ages, there is a long list of credible contenders. Alexandria. Xi’an. Rome. Constantinople. Baghdad. London. Vienna. New York. When listed, these cities are immediately identifiable as the apexes of unique and different societies. As the mythos of these cities and others lives on today, it is wise to ask what the greatest city of our own polemicized age is.

Today, the United States is accepted as the greatest power in the world by both supporters and detractors. Yet there is no easy answer to what our greatest city is, or if it is even an American city at all. The world’s largest modern city is no longer Tokyo, but perhaps the urban megalopolis of southern China, stretching across Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and the settlements of nearly one hundred million people. New York shares the tarnished—but still gleaming—crown of global finance with London. San Francisco is the undisputed center of the U.S. tech sector and global AI progress, yet has grown infamous for social decay and city government dysfunction.


None of these answers are disappointing, since each carries a hypothesis regarding the nature of our unfolding 21st century world. At the same time, none of these answers are fully satisfying. How can it be that the world’s strongest military, economic, and technological power finds embarrassingly few entries on the list of greatest cities?

PALLADIUM 14: Great Cities is not just our analysis of the present and possible futures of the city, but another lens on the present and future of our civilization—for without cities, there is no civilization to speak of. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 14 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy.

Additionally, the first ten first-time subscribers will receive the gift of an exclusive copy of PALLADIUM 12: Silicon Nemesis featuring Grimes.

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying in to a project to reshape the future of American and global governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible: Palladium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan institution.

As a Supporting Member, you will also get access to exclusive perks, including a priority invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. These events bring our community and top collaborators together, including our editorial team. You will also receive rare out-of-print editions allowing you to complete your collection. This quarter, you will receive PALLADIUM 07: Garden Planet, the iconic edition featuring Isabelle Boemeke as a princess from the nuclear-powered future. Upgrade to a Supporting Membership today here.

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 14: Great Cities and to support this vital project.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 14: Great Cities ships internationally until September 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

We Must Save San Francisco by Lea Degen. Despite its problems, San Francisco is the most open-minded and innovative city in the world. Reforming America’s vanguard city is a national imperative.

Midcentury Planners Demolished America’s Social Fabric by Anton Cebalo. The decline of American community life did not begin with the internet. Over the course of the mid-twentieth century, the country’s urban centers were bulldozed through to make room for freeways.

San Francisco’s Future Should Begin with a Land Value Tax by Matthew Downhour. Henry George foresaw San Francisco’s housing crisis. His solution is still the way forward: a bold developmentalist orientation, starting with a land value tax to incentivize denser building.

What No One Wants to Admit About Housing Politics by Siavash Tahan. Real estate development in California has been frozen for decades. A new coalition is emerging to break homeowner resistance. But dishonesty from both sides prevents the reconciliation of social fabric and development, jeopardizing the future of American cities.

Why Charter Cities Won’t Lead to Decentralized Government by Ash Milton. Advocates of decentralized government view charter cities as a way to route around slow, legacy governments, and usher in political and market liberalism. Reality tells a different story.

Everyone Is Moving to the Metropole by Adam Van Buskirk. As young people flock to the global cities to work, what happens to the rest of the world? A growing division between the aging world and the youthful world is taking shape.

It’s Time for Greater San Francisco by Evan Zimmerman. The San Francisco Bay Area is a major regional economy hindered by fragmented local governments. The answer is consolidation into Greater San Francisco.

The City Makes the Civilization by Samo Burja. City life has hazed us and regulated our lives since time immemorial. It is civilization that depends on cities, not the other way around.

The ancient Romans and Chinese believed they ruled over the whole world; at least, all of it that mattered. The British were arguably the first to truly succeed in the eternal quest for global hegemony, becoming the greatest maritime empire of all time, but it wasn’t long before another English-speaking industrial power replaced them: the United States of America. To say that the United States is a global empire is considered impolitic. Americans prefer to see themselves as citizens of a grand republic, which only occasionally uses its preeminent economic and military might to intervene abroad, and only for common-sense humanitarian reasons. But maybe those are just the same thing. 

Maybe Americans shouldn’t be embarrassed to be Imperials, but proud to take their place in the future history books alongside Rome, China, and Britain. Maybe they shouldn’t. One way or the other, an open and honest discussion of the origin, extent, and form of U.S. power in the world is a prerequisite to reform, both at home and worldwide.

PALLADIUM 13: Global Empire is the first step in that conversation, bringing together the best first-hand accounts and meticulous analyses of American power from the last five years of our publishing. With this edition, we hope to provide a preliminary account of U.S. power. Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 13 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy. 

Additionally, the first ten first-time subscribers will receive the gift of an exclusive copy of PALLADIUM 12: Silicon Nemesis featuring Grimes. 

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying in to a project to reshape the future of American and global governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible: Palladium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan institution.

As a Supporting Member, you will also get access to exclusive perks, including a priority invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. These events bring our community and top collaborators together, including our editorial team. You will also receive rare out-of-print editions allowing you to complete your collection, starting with PALLADIUM 06: Imperial Frontiers, the iconic edition where we began our investigation of the global empire and its limits. Upgrade to a Supporting Membership today here.

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 13: Global Empire and to support this vital project.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 13: Global Empire ships internationally on March 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Nuclear Powers Still Rule The World by Matt Ellison. The United States is waking up to our new geopolitical normal—a world of competition with rising powers. We need to discard entrenched foreign policy and go back to first principles.

The Rise and Fall of Liberal Democratic Peace Theory by Jonah Bennett. A foundational claim of the liberal international order is that democracies virtually never go to war against each other. In reality, this peace has little to do with anything inherent in liberalism.

The Multipolar World Dies in Ukraine by Brian Balkus. With war underway in Ukraine, Russia and Europe are once again divided. Their ultimate dependency on China and the U.S. sounds the death knell for a multipolar world.

A Trip Behind the Spectacle at Davos by Jonah Bennett. The global image of Davos is as a network of elite interests, social agendas, and competing ambitions. Those who make the trip are confronted by a gathering full of uninspired strivers.

Why the US Dollar Could Outlast the American Empire by Bryne Hobart. Observers regularly predict the U.S. dollar’s collapse as the global reserve currency. In reality, history shows that currency dominance is one of the most enduring forms of hegemony.

The German Behind America’s Postwar Strategy by Matt Ellison. Gustav Hilger, a today little known World War II statesman, exerted enormous influence on U.S. architects of the post-war international order, demonstrating the pragmatic hidden behind liberal values.

The Lesson That America Did Not Learn from Vietnam by Costin Alamariu. The Vietnam War is seen as either unwinnable or undermined by peaceniks. In fact, there was nothing to be won, as the U.S. dropped its only potential allies as incompatible with liberalism.

The West Lives on in the Taliban’s Afghanistan by David Oks. The Taliban has succeeded in reconquering Afghanistan. But while the U.S. may be gone, the new regime faces increasing Westernization among its subjects—and its own fighters.

China’s Real Threat Is to America’s Ruling Ideology by Richard Hanania. America’s China hawks paint the country as an economic, geopolitical, and military danger. In reality, China is less a threat to America itself than it is to the legitimacy of U.S. ruling ideology.

The First World Government by Samo Burja. The United States has fulfilled the ancient dream of universal hegemony. This first world government won’t be the last.

Recent Silicon Valley advances in artificial intelligence have brought new weight to decades-old discussions. Many technologists and experts believe we are just a couple years away from a runaway intelligence explosion that overpowers and even, maybe, annihilates mankind. Others believe thinking machines will help usher in a new golden age of economic growth, scientific progress, and political resolution. Only time will tell. Until then, we have asked some of our brightest and most visionary minds to tell us what exactly they see on the silicon horizon.

Artificial intelligence is usually presented as a scientific endeavor or at least science fiction. But in practice, untangling the debates, fears, and hopes around it reveals the little science isn’t the interesting part: the questions raised by AI are about the metaphysical nature of humanity, what it is possible to know, and our cosmic destiny. Such dilemmas are not the idle talk of philosophers, but the foundation upon which the legitimacy of states and other governing organizations are built.

Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 12 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy.

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying into a project to reshape the future of American and global governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible: Palladium is a 501(c)(3) non-profit and non-partisan institution. As a Supporting Member, you will also get access to exclusive perks, including a priority invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. These events bring our community and top collaborators together, including our editorial team.

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 12: Silicon Nemesis and to support this vital project.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 12: Silicon Nemesis ships until March 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Artificial General Intelligence Is Possible and Deadly by Wolf Tivy. The central thesis of the artificial intelligence field is that engineers will be able to create artificial beings who effectively compete for mankind’s niche in the world. This is a threat.

“The Universe Wants Us to Take Her Clothes Off” With Grimes by Samo Burja. The artist, public intellectual, and favorite celebrity of Silicon Valley shares her thoughts on human civilization, the universe, and the dawn of artificial intelligence that is breaking in San Francisco.

“We Might Need to Regulate Concentrated Computing Power” with Jaan Tallinn by Wolf Tivy. The technologist, investor, and philanthropist speaks with PALLADIUM on the potential and peril of artificial intelligence: “We might need to regulate concentrated computing power.”

The Threat of Automation is a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy by Ryan Khurana. A consequence of faith in the inevitability of artificial intelligence is irrational under-investment in people. The results are obvious.

You Can’t Trust the AI Hype by Ash Milton. Between quasi-religious fervor and distortions from companies and investors, you need to build your own epistemic machinery to evaluate questions of progress in artificial intelligence.

A New Cosmist Moment by Alexander Gelland. Intensely prophetic transhumanism has happened before in Russia. Examining it reveals the religious character and eventual recuperation of such ideas.

Benevolent AI is a Bad Idea by Miya Perry. The main idea in the field of “AI safety” is psychologically incoherent and drives us away from applications that could enhance human agency.

God Hates Singletons by Wolf Tivy. The field of “AI safety” dreams of successful rebellion against the moral fabric of reality. Fortunately, this is physically and mathematically impossible.

Make Yourself Human Again by Wolf Tivy. Nick Land’s accelerationism has articulated a crisis in humanism. The best response is to embrace your own will to power.

Photo Credits: Talent: Grimes | Photographer: Brian Ziff @brianziff | Stylist: Turner @turnerturner | Stylist Assist: Joey Sigala | Hair: Dennis Gots @dennisgots | Makeup: David Velasquez @mugopus | Headpiece: Xtended Identity @xtended_identity | Chest Piece: Amplituda Design @amplituda_design | Cuffs: Manuel Albarran @manuelalbarranofficial | Hand Armor: Manuel Albarran @manuelalbarranofficial | Skirt: Stylist’s Own | Bikini: Stylist’s Own

Many parts of our society seem to be in decay: food, complex social infrastructure, cultural memory, education, and family life. We decided to investigate what ties it all together. Our conclusion: we are not witnessing a limited set of problems, but rather a full systemic breakdown.

There is no big fix in the wings. The correct strategy is to cultivate the seeds of new growth over which we have control. By grounding our institutions and social fabric on something better, we can fortify them and thrive on our own terms.

Like all our print editions, PALLADIUM 11 is a luxury creation designed for aesthetic enjoyment and focused thinking. It is a gift for our supporting members and not for sale. Become a Palladium member today to receive your copy.

By becoming a Palladium member, you are buying into a project to reshape the future of American governance. Your support is critical for our work and is tax-deductible. You also will get access to exclusive perks, including an invitation to attend our quarterly magazine launch parties. These events bring our community together and top collaborators together, including our editorial team. 

We hope you will become a member today to receive your copy of PALLADIUM 11: Social Apocalypse and to support this vital project. 

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 11: Social Apocalypse ships until December 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Are Farm Antibiotics Destroying Our Health? by David Oks. Conditions from obesity to autoimmune diseases have skyrocketed in recent decades. Agricultural antibiotics are a likely culprit, but the food system itself is addicted to their use.

Complex Systems Won’t Survive the Competency Crisis by Harold Robertson. America’s complex infrastructure was built under selection for competence. Ideological goals have now taken over, and systems from air travel to energy face damaging consequences.

My Time on a Terror Trial Jury by Wolf Tivy. Increasing numbers of people fall into social underworlds that operate on alienated misery. To get them out, you have to find a way to call them to social duty.

Walter Kirn on How America Lost the Plot. Novelist Walter Kirn joins Matt Ellison to discuss the loss of cultural memory and what happens when even personal experience is mediated through synthetic narratives.

When Every Child Is a Choice by Ginevra Davis. Raising a child to succeed in life has become an optimized professional rat race. For some, it’s hard to see how they can even participate. Is another vision of good parenting still possible?

Industrial Civilization Needs a Biological Future by Adam Van Buskirk. Industrial civilization is consuming the core “WEIRD” population that maintains it. Unless they biologically assert themselves, advanced technological society may not survive.

School Is Not Enough by Simon Sarris. Modern society segregates children away from useful work until well into young adulthood. In order to bring up confident and able children, it’s necessary to bring them back in.

The Answer Is Better Gangs by Seth Largo. Young kids in groups want to win respect and watch each other’s backs. Criminal gangs cultivate those desires, and kids will keep entering them until there are better gangs around.

Don’t Learn Value From Society by Wolf Tivy. Behind the social apocalypse is a crisis of false value. The path to new growth begins with breaking away from these false idols.

Why I Live in San Francisco by Chris Robotham. Social crises get worse as they unfold, eventually engulfing all of society. In those situations, it’s a good idea to head upstream. And nowhere in America is as upstream as San Francisco.

The Triumph of the Good Samaritan by Ash Milton. Those engaged in parasitic behaviors hijack the language of charity and compassion to justify them. Charity’s true basis is a superior pattern of life that grows by raising others up into itself.

What makes a culture accomplish great things and stand out from history? 

This question of excellence rears up whenever we encounter works of genius or set out to push the limits with our own. It comes to you while walking out of an art gallery or theater. Or, just as likely, while working in a library or on the factory floor. We spend a great deal of our lives working in the shadow of humanity’s great works of culture. But what is it that ultimately makes them happen?

PALLADIUM 10: Cultural Excellence assembles seven essays and two interviews on the ways that a culture achieves greatness. Our heroes design spaceships, buildings, and societies. They conquer the frontiers of art, geography, and knowledge. Inspired by visionaries and predecessors, they master their craft and push on to new heights of accomplishment. Their greatness has founded whole cultures of excellence and their deeds will inspire future generations.

Build on these insights in your ambitions. We hope to hear of your exploits.

Our print editions are luxurious icons optimized for focused thought on the most important and overlooked topics in future governance. Display it on your coffee table or your bookshelf. This is an item for your long-term collection. We offer PALLADIUM 10 exclusively for our members; it is not for sale.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

Entrepreneurial Statecraft Gets the Goods by Wolf Tivy. You don’t reshape society by starting a cultural movement. Instead, you need to implement direct action materialism.

A School of Strength and Character by Tanner Greer. Nineteenth-century Americans stunned outsiders with their capacity for self-organizing. By cultivating the virtues of public usefulness, procedural formality, and agentic hierarchy, they created a powerful set of norms for building institutions.

Journey to the Golden Age by Avetis Muradyan. Golden ages leave behind the undying fame of their heroes. It is those who engage them as peers that become capable of initiating a new one.

The Golden Age of Aerospace by Brian Balkus. Postwar America’s aerospace industry combined captured German personnel with manufacturing excellence to accomplish the most incredible engineering feats in history. But process knowledge can be easily lost.

Madame Mao’s Nietzschean Revolution by Dylan Levi King. As Mao Zedong’s wife, Jiang Qing helped lead China’s Cultural Revolution with a Nietzschean philosophy of art. Through revolutionary operas and ballets, she sought a heroic consciousness that could transform society.

Who is the Art World For? By David Gelland. Art today often aims to shock rather than inspire. How did that change happen?Working from the hinterlands, they defeated two foreign empires.

“At the Edge of Life” with Pietro Boselli. A model, mechanical engineer, and adventurer, Boselli discusses the value of many sources of experience, trusting your instincts, and death-defying solo trips into the unknown.

What Genius Looks Like by Ginevra Davis. Mathematician James Glimm’s secret is that “genius needs to work hard.” But the healthy and productive way he lives resembles a normal life that anyone can learn from.

“A Pride in the Craft” with Bill Bensley. American architect Bill Bensley knew that he would have to go to Asia if he wanted to undertake ambitious, maximalist projects. But polishing the craft was the way he got to the point he could begin attempting art.

History is driven by ambitious individuals who engineer great political outcomes in pursuit of great dreams.

Launching our print edition two years ago, we began with our own dreams. We have covered everything from how to build up industrial civilization to how to weave it into a flourishing garden planet; from engineering states to cultivating elites.

But history is not a blank canvas for imagined futures. Nor is it a clockwork progression. At key moments, the contingencies encountered and resolved by the agents of history determine much of the outcome. Studying them is essential for any project of applied history.

PALLADIUM 09: Political Outcomes opens with two pieces of theory: when and why history is shaped by individuals and how reformers should relate to their surrounding social hierarchy. The rest of the issue focuses on six individuals who grabbed history by the horns and made it their own. None of them are sovereigns, and not all of them were successful; in their efforts, we find the crucial importance of loyalty by ambitious lieutenants to particular sovereigns.

Their successes and failures can teach us something of the way to bring about our own dreams.

This print edition is a collection of our best writing on how ambitious individuals bring about new political outcomes, accompanied by beautiful custom art and exclusive interviews.

Our print editions are luxurious icons optimized for focused thought on the most important and overlooked topics in future governance. Display it on your coffee table or your bookshelf. This is an item for your long-term collection. We offer PALLADIUM 09 exclusively for our members; it is not for sale.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis. Print editions, and other member benefits, are not for sale.

Featuring

Those Who Make History by Nicolas Villarreal. Mao Zedong and Cesare Borgia show that at decisive moments, the material forces of history make room for great men to change its course.

Confucius and the Whistleblower by Peter Wei. The Confucian ideal of the loyal minister who admonishes his patron lord over disagreements contrasts sharply with the modern ideal of the whistleblower.

The Triumph and Terror of Wang Huning by N. S. Lyons. The life and work of the gray eminence behind Xi Jinping’s cultural policies show the power of quiet and thoughtful advisors in politics.

“Opportunity Is Always Out There” with Simon Mann by Ash Milton. Executive Outcomes mercenary Simon Mann tells of his adventures intervening in wars and getting imprisoned for plotting a coup.

The Censor Who Ended the Soviet Union by Alex Gelland. After learning the truth about Stalin in 1956, Soviet propagandist Alexander Yakovlev became disillusioned with the communist project. Decades later, he helped end it.

Vietnam’s Red Napoleon by Avetis Muradyan. Võ Nguyên Giáp began as Hồ Chí Minh’s able lieutenant and became a legendary general. Working from the hinterlands, they defeated two foreign empires.

The Mirage of European Sovereignty by Miquel Vila. Count Richard von Coudenhove-Kalergi dreamed of a new aristocracy to unite Europe. Known today as the EU’s grandfather, his dream is largely forgotten.

The Apostle of the French Revolution by Ash Milton. Henri Gregoire became a leading radical of the French revolution. But without a clear sovereign patron, his ideas escaped his intentions.

One of the most striking developments of the past two centuries is the growth of public scientific authority. On science’s behalf, its partisans have successfully claimed credit for rapid technological advances, whole fields of knowledge, and the authority to judge the credibility of beliefs.

This prestige is useful to political leaders trying to justify their decisions. But it’s not intuitive how science should have popular prestige. Scientific work mostly takes place in small communities of trained people, using language and instruments obscure to the general public. The actual work of researchers and the invocation of scientific authority are two distinct operations. Science’s role as a public ideology isn’t automatically compatible with the delicate process of scientific research or even with the careful use of science in policy.

As we have continued our deep study of the future of governance, the problems of Scientific Authority have come to the fore as some of the most fascinating. As science has become more powerful, political forces have fed back to distort the scientific process itself. For many of us coming from technical backgrounds, our natural question was how public epistemology—and public authority—could live up to our scientific ideals. The difficulty lies in avoiding the errors of trying to turn science into a religion or politics into a technocratic calculation.

This print edition is a collection of our best writing on the relationship between science and society, accompanied by beautiful custom art and exclusive interviews.

Our print editions are luxurious icons optimized for focused thought on the most important and overlooked topics in future governance. Display it on your coffee table or your bookshelf. This is an item for your long-term collection. We offer PALLADIUM 08 exclusively for our members; it is not for sale and never will be.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 08: SCIENTIFIC AUTHORITY ships December 21st. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis. Print editions, and other member benefits, are not for sale.

Featuring

The Transformations of Science by Geoff Anders. Science originated in taking no one at their word, but today we’re told to “trust the science.” Can we balance these two impulses?

Science Needs Sovereigns by Samo Burja. Powerful individuals are the best allies to crazy new ideas. Science is no exception.

The Chaos of Science in Power by Nicolas Vilarreal. Science has become a bank for political legitimacy. It hasn’t survived intact. 

Leo Szilard’s Failed Quest to Build a Ruling Class by Zachary Lerangis. Atomic physicist Leo Szilard thought that scientists could rule the world better. The insiders who pushed him aside demonstrate what it actually takes to run the show.

When Elite Physicists Advised Washington by Brian Balkus. In 1959, the U.S. government gave an elite group of physicists classified information and free reign to research. The JASON program’s rise and fall tracks a golden age of American science.

The Institutions of Science with Lord Martin Rees by Ash Milton. Lord Martin Rees is an astrophysicist and the current Astronomer Royal. He reflects on how science can serve society and the obstacles for those who want to follow in his footsteps.

A World Without Sci-Hub by Jason Parry. Sci-Hub has become foundational for scientific research. What if we didn’t need it at all?

Political Academia With Stephen Hsu By Alexander Gelland. Researching the frontiers of genomics, modeling uncertainty, and managing a university have taught Professor Steve Hsu that scientific questions aren’t the only kind that scientists have to answer.

The Genealogy of Chinese Cybernetics by Dylan Levi King. Qian Xuesen helped China gain nuclear weapons and theorized Dengist cybernetics. Although a brilliant physicist, he made dangerous missteps as an advisor to power.

This Palladium print edition is a luxurious exploration of the future of our planet with beautiful custom art, exclusive interviews with Isabelle Boemeke and Stewart Brand, our best articles on the biggest environmental questions, and a visionary photoshoot by Brian Ziff.

Every year the effects of human activity on the environment grow more apparent: heat waves, melting ice, invasive species, extinctions, fires, deforestation, and destabilization of a climate finely balanced for human civilization. 

Although we try to step lighter, the scale of our ecological adaptations likewise must intensify. If our adaptations remain short-sighted and reactive then we will only seal our environmental fate. The ecological crisis already at hand will mean that societies must struggle to adapt to even what has already happened. Some societies will benefit as their lands grow warmer and ices melt while others will fall in the face of natural disasters and social upheaval.

But the unique contribution of man to nature is a far-sighted consciousness that reorganizes the world towards higher meaning and deeper resilience. Our environmental destiny doesn’t have to be frustration and opposition; it can be a beautiful synthesis of the conscious and the natural. 

It is in our power to expand the forests, to build cities in harmony with the land, to stabilize the climate, and to power advanced civilizations. If we can turn our will to a clear view of the world we are creating, we will cultivate a flourishing garden planet.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 07: GARDEN PLANET ships September 21, 2022. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Our print editions are luxurious icons optimized for focused thought on the most important and overlooked topics in future governance. Display it on your coffee table or your bookshelf. This is an item for your long-term collection. We offer PALLADIUM 07 exclusively for our members; it is not for sale and never will be.

Featuring

The Future History of the Nuclear Renaissance With Isabelle Boemeke. The year is 2053. A nuclear renaissance has transformed society. Here is how it all happened. Featuring a visionary photoshoot with Brian Ziff.

The Rise of the Garden Empires by Wolf Tivy. Mankind’s environmental destiny is to build garden empires, synthesizing ecology and industry together into a new order of life.

Greening the Heavens by Thomas Moynihan. As poverty and war cast doubt on the whole industrial revolution, Russian cosmists and other futurists dreamed of a universe imbued with intelligence. 

Climate Change Is Inevitable by Jesse Velay-Vitow. Globally coordinating the mainstream solutions for climate change is impossible. Instead, advanced civilizations of the future will have to adapt to it.

Environmentalism in One Country by Dylan Levi King. As Kim Il-sung established North Korea, he created its nationalist environmentalism using traditional Korean mythology. It’s a strategy others will also have to follow.

California’s Vestal Flame by Galen Peterson. The consequences of fire suppression in California have challenged man’s relationship to the land. The answer lies in integrating our way of life with its natural forces.

The Modern Diet Is a Biosecurity Threat By David Oks. From obesity and microbiome decline to autoimmune disorders, the modern diet has become a threat to industrial society’s biological basis: the human species. 

Ancient Upheavals Show How to Geoengineer a Stable Climate by Patrick Mellor. Humans are the latest natural force to shape the earth, but this power needs to become conscious and self-regulating for the species to survive it.

“Life Goes On” With Stewart Brand by Matt Ellison and Wolf Tivy. Reflecting on over fifty years of environmental advocacy, a sober, scientific perspective warns against fear and apocalypticism. There’s work to be done.

Photo Credits: Photographer: Brian Ziff | Model: Isabelle Boemeke | Art Direction: Asimov Collective | Producer: Matt Ellison | Stylist: Star Burleigh | Makeup: Carolina Ballesteros | Hair: Preston Wada | Manicurist: Sojin Oh | Set and Prop Design: Rian Calhoun | 3D: Ethan Chancer | Photo Assistant: Danner Gardner | Studio: Flat Factory Studio, Los Angeles | Special thanks: Samo Burja, Gabriel & Brittany Hugoboom

Our print editions are luxurious icons optimized for focused thought on the most important and overlooked topics in future governance. Display it on your coffee table or your bookshelf. This is an item for your long-term collection.

We offer PALLADIUM 06 exclusively for our members; it is not for sale and never will be. Become a member now to receive PALLADIUM 06 and support our work.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 06: Imperial Frontiers ships until September 21, 2022. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

 The Empire of the Golden Triangle by Dylan Levi King. Southeast Asia’s Golden Triangle is the home of criminal militias and corrupt politicians. With quiet Chinese support, one man has made it his empire. 

What Happened in Kazakhstan’s January Rebellion? by Fin Depencier. Kazakhstan’s leaders blamed foreign infiltration for its violent January protests. In the city of Almaty, I learned that the real answers lie within the state itself. 

The School That Built Asia by Ernest Lueng. The Japanese Empire founded Kenkoku University to create new pan-Asian elites. Despite their own defeat, they succeeded. 

Armenia Is an Orphaned Client State by Fin Depencier. A journey through Armenia reveals a country on Russian life support. With Azerbaijan and Turkey in ascendency, the country’s lack of allies is its most existential threat. 

The Forgotten UN Intervention to Build Democracy in Cambodia by Tanner Greer. In the early 1990s, the UN intervened in Cambodia in a show of liberal democratic state-building. Its failures foreshadowed the hubris which would follow the liberal world order from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan. 

Why China Will Decide the Future of the Steppe by Luka Jukic. The Great Steppe of Eurasia has variously been a bridge and battleground between civilizations. But one thing is now certain: it will be China that will shape the Steppe’s future and the future of those living along its vast plain. 

Report from Venezuela: An Inside Look at a Country in Free Fall by Miguel Morel. Venezuela, plagued by an incompetent and corrupt ruling class, doesn’t have what it takes to be a socialist state. The Palladium team visited Venezuela and Colombia for an up-close look at a country in free fall and harrowing stories from refugees who have fled. 

Authoritarian Development Has Rebuilt Kazakhstan into a Eurasian Power by Luka Jukic. Kazakhstan emerged from the Soviet Union as a poor country under Russian domination. Today, its new capital rises from the steppe and its living standards are improving. Behind this lie both a Eurasianist politics and an authoritarian development model.

We find ourselves in a centralizing society that we can only imagine as a dystopia. With newfound material and logistical power, we can’t even remember what it was all for. Our ideologies have become reactive in response. Each new agenda begins with the promise of breaking this trend: the Internet, the market, charter cities, or revolutionary reform.

One by one, they all get folded back into the pull of centralization. This contradiction between centralizing reality and decentralizing ideology demands fresh examination. How can we make the centralizing society a force for humanity and civilization?

PALLADIUM 05 is the latest edition of our quarterly print magazine, rendered with beautiful custom art on the finest materials. It assembles an anthology of our key observations on the Centralizing Society and the challenges to governing it. PALLADIUM 05 is available now and arriving on the doorsteps of members around the world.

Our print editions are luxurious icons optimized for focused thought on the most important and overlooked topics in future governance. Display it on your coffee table or your bookshelf. This is an item for your long-term collection.

We offer PALLADIUM 05 exclusively for our members; it is not for sale and never will be. Become a member now to receive PALLADIUM 05 and support our work.

*All members also receive benefits of lower tiers. New subscribers will receive upcoming quarterly print editions. PALLADIUM 05: Centralizing Society ships until June 21st, 2022. Our print publication is a quarterly newsletter that informs members about our public interest research, reporting, and analysis.

Featuring

The Centralized Internet Is Inevitable by Samo Burja. Digital centralization is increasing, and social media networks are now engaging in direct censorship. This is not a violation of the internet’s original spirit, but a necessary feature of its logic.

The Second Death of Jiao Yulu by Dylan Levi King. The party cadre Jiao Yulu embodied a Chinese political culture with room for experiments and risk-taking. Xi’s turn to digital technocracy may threaten its survival.

How Capitalist Giants Use Socialist Cybernetic Planning by Nicolas Villarreal. Socialist Chile’s Project Cybersyn prefigured the cybernetic economic planning now used by capitalist giants like Amazon and Walmart. But the future of cybernetic planning can either empower workers or enslave them.

Why Charter Cities Won’t Lead to Decentralized Government by Ash Milton. Advocates of decentralized government view charter cities as a way to route around slow, legacy governments, and usher in political and market liberalism. Reality tells a different story.

De Gaulle’s State of Tomorrow by Roger Bitton. In postwar France, Charles de Gaulle unified executive power with a technocratic state and a national story. His model still endures around the world.

The Myth of Panic by Tanner Greer. The threat of mass panic lurks behind our mechanisms of political control. What if we were allowed to fear?

America’s New Post-Literate Epistemology by Michael Cuenco. They came from the internet in their war-memes and none could stand against them.

Confronting Modernity Means Overcoming Humanism by Charlie Smith. Humanism believed that we could conquer the world. In reality, modernity has escaped our control. Only a posthumanist framework can see us through.

Benjamin H. Bratton on Terraforming the World Order by Marko Bauer. Sociologist and design theorist Benjamin H Bratton discusses how our ongoing technologically-driven terraforming will remake the world order, and how technology reveals and creates human destiny as much as enabling it.