The Moonshot Catalog Comes in for a Landing
The project is ending, but its mission continues
Last July, when the world was celebrating the 50th anniversary of the original moon landing, I launched The Moonshot Catalog on the publishing hub Medium. As this experiment in philanthropic awareness-raising now comes to a close, the completed Catalog features 16 long-form, big-bet articles, which collectively point toward an achievable reality most of us would be happy for our descendants to live in.
A reality in which the threat of pandemic disease is taken off humanity’s list of existential angsts. A reality in which billions of people enjoy long, healthy, and productive lives unfettered by debilitating diseases of aging. A reality in which the multi-fanged threat of carbon emissions and climate change is tackled with a commensurate, multi-pronged, must-do innovation list that includes everything from new low-carbon cement technology to next-generation cooling technology to advanced battery technology to technologies that scrub carbon dioxide directly out of the atmosphere.
The driving conjecture of the Catalog — generously supported by the philanthropy Schmidt Futures and hosted with administrative support by the American Association for the Advancement of Science — is that philanthropists might give more generously and eagerly if they were made more aware of the great causes that would be uniquely furthered by their philanthropic attentions. Provide a catalog of challenges whose realizations would do a lot of good for a lot of people, so went the thinking, and some ultra-wealthy households might embrace at least one of those challenges. The Catalog’s article titled A Calling for Moonshot Philanthropy lays this out explicitly, while serving as a primer for billionaires aiming to up their giving game.
During the past year, the Catalog garnered some attention in social media outlets, publications, and organizations that specifically reach philanthropists. Perhaps, by these routes and other informational relays, the Catalog will achieve its stretch goal: inspiring more philanthropic investment in the kinds of better-future destinations championed by the Catalog itself as well as kindred frameworks including the U.N.’s Sustainability Development Goals, Bridgespan’s Big Bets, and Project Drawdown’s portfolio of solutions for the climate crisis. May all of those seeking to secure a better future for our children’s children succeed.
With the completion of The Moonshot Catalog, I would like to thank those of you who thumbed through the Catalog, committed time to actually reading the moonshot articles, and let others know about the publication and its intention. Although this first Catalog project is completed, I could imagine picking up on similar efforts in the future. For anyone interested in contacting me regarding potential follow-on projects, you can reach via email at ivanamato@nasw.org.
I also thank those at Schmidt Futures and AAAS who helped with the many logistic and administrative tasks that have been necessary to usher The Moonshot Catalog from a mere concept to the publication it became. I thank all of the talented writers who delivered a portfolio of informative and engaging moonshot articles that I am mightily proud of and that can continue to serve as catalysts for the philanthropy-curious. I also am grateful to a collection of copy editors, graphic designers, animators, social-media experts, family members, friends and others who furthered the cause in a variety of ways.
Onward.
Ivan Amato, Editor of The Moonshot Catalog
