A writer's collective imagining a better future

Join us for media projects exploring the future of governance, capitalism, and humanity.

The Elysian is a media collective imagining a better future.

“Journalism meets sci-fi.” —Chris Best, CEO, Substack

“Elle’s reinterpreting how our civilization is structured from the bottom up and the inside out.” —Parag Khanna, author of Move, The Future is Asian

“Elle is doing some of the most important work right now—imagining the future of how we live as technology changes rapidly and distrust continues to grow in legacy systems of power.” —Katie O’Connell, OpenAI

We create media projects exploring a better future

Through solutions-oriented and speculative journalism, we are thinking through the most important ideas of our time. Each project is owned by and financially benefits participating collaborators through profit sharing splits. Here are just a few of our projects:

• We Should Own The Economy // An online series and print book exploring the future of capitalism

• CITY STATE // An online essay collection and print pamphlet exploring autonomous governance

• TERRAFORM // An upcoming essay collection and print pamphlet exploring our future environment

• THE NEW REPUBLIC // 10 modern thinkers recreate Plato’s Republic, imagining the ideal city-state for an upcoming podcast and print book

• THE DAILY HUMANIST // An upcoming newsletter and philosophy book prompting modern readers to make the world a better place through human effort

We’re read by some of the world’s most influential builders

• 150,000+ monthly views // 20,000+ subscribers including:

  • Executives at OpenAI, Disney, Y Combinator, Substack, Spotify, Audible, Wattpad

  • VC investors at Album VC, Kickstart Fund, Urbanist VC

  • Progress thinkers at Schmidt Futures, Progress Institute, Roots of Progress, Abundance Institute, Progress Ireland

  • Intellectuals like Matthew Yglesias, Judd Legum, Brad DeLong, Bill Bishop, Michael Moore

  • Professors and students at Harvard, Columbia, Yale, Princeton, Stanford, MIT, NYU

  • Editors at The Information, The New Atlantis, Every, Penguin Random House, Harper Collins, Hearst

About Elle Griffin

I am the founder and editor for The Elysian. In 2023, I was named a Roots of Progress fellow and in 2022, I was awarded one of 10 places in Substack’s coveted fellowship program. My newsletter has been featured by The New York Times, BBC, Business Insider, Fast Company, The Information, Publisher’s Weekly, Means of Creation, and Morning Brew.

I want to see our media ecosystem transformed from doomer sensationalism, partisan journalism, and dystopian thought, to solutions-oriented journalism, speculative brainstorming, and generative thought about how we can create something better. I’d love to see that media ecosystem owned and operated by independent writers and podcasters and filmmakers rather than media moguls with an agenda, an algorithm, and an ad-captured sensationalist bent.

I’m even optimistic enough to believe that by changing our media ecosystem, we could change our outlook on the world. And be inspired to create a better one.

I hope you’ll join us.