Edition First Annual · MMXXVI
Dates September 14 – 16, 2026
Location Washington, D.C.
Format In-Person · Live Worldwide

Leading minds.
A future for humanity.

A three-day gathering of the world's most consequential independent thinkers — voices usually scattered across podcasts, YouTube channels, and quiet offices — convened on one stage to present a vision, and a path, worth following.

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Where thought leaders converge Ideas worth a generation A summit for the long now Beyond the headlines A path worth walking Where thought leaders converge Ideas worth a generation A summit for the long now Beyond the headlines A path worth walking
The Vision

We are at a hinge in history.

The next decade will set the trajectory of the next century. The questions we answer — about technology, meaning, freedom, and the common good — will outlast every one of us. Horizon Summit is built for those willing to ask them out loud.

Some of the most important thinking about humanity's future is happening off the institutional grid — in long-form YouTube conversations, independent newsletters, war-zone dispatches, basement studies, and late-night podcasts. The right ideas exist. The people with those ideas rarely share a stage.

Horizon Summit changes that. Three days. One stage. The thinkers you trust with your attention, presenting the case for where we go next.

— 01 / Conviction

Substance over spectacle

No keynotes designed for headlines. No panels engineered for outrage. Talks built to be remembered ten years later.

— 02 / Range

Many disciplines, one question

Strategists, philosophers, builders, explorers, economists, and storytellers — all answering the same question from different angles.

— 03 / Independence

No institutional capture

Speakers are chosen for the sharpness of their thinking, not the size of their platform or the alignment of their sponsors.

— 04 / Action

A path, not just a diagnosis

Every voice on this stage is asked the same final question: What do we do, and on Monday morning, how do we start?

60+
Speakers from 18 countries
3
Days · 9 thematic stages
2,400
In-person seats available
Live-streamed worldwide
The Conversations

Six questions worth asking.

Each theme is a single question, examined from a dozen angles across three days. These are the through-lines of Horizon 2026.

I
Theme 01

Technology & the Human Soul

What do we owe each other as AI, synthetic media, and automation reshape work, intimacy, and the texture of daily life? And what is gained, not lost?

II
Theme 02

Faith, Meaning & the Common Good

The secular age did not end the search for meaning. It redistributed it. A frank look at belief, virtue, and the foundations of a livable society.

III
Theme 03

The New Geopolitics

Old alliances, new fractures. The Pacific century, the post-American moment, the rise of the Global South — and what leadership now requires.

IV
Theme 04

Human Flourishing & the Built World

From cities to families to the food we eat — the institutions and environments that make a good life possible, and how to build them in a fragmented era.

V
Theme 05

Storytelling & the Public Mind

The people who shape what a society believes about itself. Independent media, long-form journalism, YouTube, podcasts — the new public square.

VI
Theme 06

The Long Now: Civilizational Strategy

What does it look like to govern, build, and parent on a 100-year timescale? A close read of history for the decisions that compound.

The Voices

Speakers you already trust.
On one stage, for the first time.

We're confirming 60+ independent thinkers, journalists, and builders — the kind of voices that have earned millions of hours of your attention. First wave announced below.

The Strategist
Col. Marcus Holloway
Twenty years covering the world's conflicts. Geopolitics from someone who's been on the ground.
Frontline Files · 1.2M
The Philosopher
Dr. Naomi Reuel
Moral philosopher and author of The Repair of the World. On what we owe the future.
The Reuel Hour · 480K
The Economist
Sanjay Iyer
Former IMF chief economist. The post-dollar century and what it means for the median family.
Macro & Migrations · 920K
The Explorer
Lt. Col. Chuck Halverson
War correspondent, mountaineer, father of four. The case for courage in ordinary life.
Into the Breach · 2.1M
The Storyteller
Elena Vargas
Filmmaker and essayist. How the stories we tell decide the civilizations we build.
Long Form · 740K
The Technologist
Dr. Amir Tehrani
AI safety researcher turned founder. Building systems worthy of the people who use them.
The Alignment Project · 1.8M
The Cultural Critic
Margot Lindqvist
Author and podcast host. What the West got right, what it got wrong, and what comes next.
The Lindqvist Letter · 620K
The Historian
Prof. James Okafor
Historian of civilizations. The four times modernity almost ended, and the patterns that saved it.
Cycles & Catapults · 1.5M

And 52 more — to be announced in waves through spring 2026.

Get Early Access

Independent voice with a platform? We want to hear from you.

Apply to Speak →
Voices Worth Your Hour

Before the stage, the screen.

These are the kinds of conversations that will fill Horizon Summit. Long-form, unhurried, and worth your evening.

Horizon Dialogues · Featured
A 90-minute case for optimism — without the blinders
248K views · Featured conversation
1:28:42
Into the Breach
The case for courage in ordinary life
892K views
42:18
The Alignment Project
What we build, and what builds us
1.4M views
58:09
Macro & Migrations
The post-dollar century, in plain language
612K views
1:04:33
Cycles & Catapults
The four times modernity almost ended
487K views
1:12:50

Curated from the channels and conversations shaping how a generation thinks about the future.

The Program

Three days, built for depth.

Eight 45-minute keynotes. Twelve themed panels. Six long-form conversations. One closing forum. Everything live, nothing pre-recorded.

09:00 — 09:45

Opening Address — A Hinge in History

Setting the stakes for the next century. Where we are, how we got here, and what this decade decides.

Prof. James Okafor · The Historian
10:00 — 10:45

The Case for Optimism Without Blinders

Hope is not a strategy — but a clear-eyed case for what is going right, and what is worth defending.

Dr. Naomi Reuel · The Philosopher
11:30 — 12:30

Panel — Faith, Meaning & the Common Good

Three thinkers, one question: in a fragmented age, what holds a society together?

Reuel, Vargas, Halverson
14:00 — 14:45

What the World Looks Like from a War Zone

A frontline correspondent on what the next twenty years of geopolitics will actually feel like.

Col. Marcus Holloway · The Strategist
20:00 — 21:30

Long-Form Conversation — Courage & Conviction

An unhurried, on-stage conversation between two of the day's speakers. The first of the summit.

Halverson & Okafor
09:00 — 09:45

Building Systems Worthy of the People Who Use Them

On the moral responsibility of those who design the technology the next generation will inherit.

Dr. Amir Tehrani · The Technologist
10:00 — 10:45

The Post-Dollar Century

The global economy, re-engineered. What it means for the median family in the West and the rising middle class everywhere else.

Sanjay Iyer · The Economist
11:30 — 12:30

Panel — Technology & the Human Soul

AI, automation, and what it means to be a person. The sharpest debate of the summit.

Tehrani, Iyer, Reuel
14:00 — 14:45

Storytelling & the Public Mind

The independent creators, journalists, and documentarians shaping what a society believes about itself.

Elena Vargas · The Storyteller
20:00 — 21:30

Long-Form Conversation — Building a Life Worth Living

A father of four, a philosopher, and an economist on what the next generation is owed.

Halverson, Reuel, Iyer
09:00 — 09:45

The West, Honestly

What it got right, what it got wrong, and what it owes the rest of the world going forward.

Margot Lindqvist · The Cultural Critic
10:00 — 10:45

The Long Now: A 100-Year View

How to govern, build, and parent on a timescale that compounds. The closing keynote of the summit.

Prof. James Okafor · The Historian
11:30 — 12:30

The Forum — All Voices, One Question

Every speaker on stage. The audience holds the microphones. What do we do, and how do we start on Monday?

All Speakers
14:00 — 15:00

Closing Remarks — The Horizon Pledge

A shared, written commitment from every attendee, speaker, and partner. A document that outlives the weekend.

The Horizon Summit
Reserve a Seat

Be in the room. Or in the world.

2,400 in-person seats. Live-streamed free to every country. Three days in Washington, D.C., or three days wherever you are — both count.

  • Full access to all 3 days, 9 stages, 60+ talks
  • Reserved seating in the main hall (in-person)
  • Private dinners with speakers and attendees
  • Lifetime access to the full video archive
  • The Horizon Yearbook — printed, bound, mailed
  • Live-stream pass for guests anywhere in the world
  • Priority booking for Horizon 2027

Request an Invitation

Tickets are released in waves. The first 1,200 go to subscribers.

By reserving, you agree to receive updates about Horizon Summit 2026. Unsubscribe anytime. We do not share attendee data.

The Venue

Washington, D.C. — built for a summit.

The Andrew W. Mellon Auditorium — a neoclassical hall in the heart of the capital. Three days, 2,400 seats, one stage. The kind of room that has held consequential thinking before, and will again.

Dates Sep 14 – 16, 2026
Doors 08:00 daily
Address 1301 Constitution Ave NW
Washington, D.C. 20240
Closest Airport Dulles (IAD) · 28 mi
Live Stream Free · Worldwide
Mellon Auditorium
In Partnership With

Independent institutions, publications, and foundations backing a summit that isn't for sale.

Interested in becoming a partner? Get in touch