Compact, an online magazine founded in 2022, seeks a new political center devoted to the common good. Believing that political forces, not economic ones, should determine our common life, we draw on the social-democratic tradition to argue for an order marked by authentic freedom, social stability, and shared prosperity. Though we have definite opinions, we proudly publish writers with whom we disagree.
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What They're Saying
“A very of-the-moment project”—James Pogue, Vanity Fair
“[A] well-curated mélange of voices from both left and right."—Michael Kazin, The New Republic
“From the start, Compact took material conditions seriously.”—Michelle Goldberg, The New York Times
“I love Compact for a simple reason: because it is precisely not compact—it is a battlefield of ideas often in conflict with each other. Only in this way can something new emerge today.”—Slavoj Žižek
“We have more voices offering opinions these days than ever. But so many sound just alike. Not at Compact. It’s utterly unique—a place where populists left and right find common ground and articulate the fresh ideas our moment calls for.”—Sen. Josh Hawley (R-Mo.)
Who we are
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Sohrab Ahmari is a founder and editor of Compact. Previously, he spent nearly a decade at News Corp., as op-ed editor of the New York Post and as a columnist and editor with the Wall Street Journal opinion pages in New York and London. In addition to those publications, his writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, The New Republic, The Spectator, Chronicle of Higher Education, Times Literary Supplement, Dissent, and The American Conservative, for which he is a contributing editor. His books include The Unbroken Thread (2021) and Tyranny, Inc. (2023), both published by Penguin Random House.
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Matthew Schmitz is a founder and editor of Compact. Previously, he was a senior editor of First Things. His writing has also appeared in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Tablet, and The American Conservative, for which he is a columnist. He is the recipient of a Lincoln Fellowship from the Claremont Institute and a Robert Novak Journalism Fellowship from The Fund for American Studies. He holds an A.B. in English from Princeton University and is a native of O'Neill, Neb.
For a full list of columnists and contributing editors, visit the Masthead →
Contact us
All inquiries, including media questions, subscription issues, and unsolicited submissions, should be directed to info@compactmag.com. For submissions, the recommended “pitch” is a short summary of what you would propose to write, plus a one-sentence biography. We strive to respond to all submissions, but if you haven’t heard back from us in a fortnight, it is safe to assume we won’t be able to accept your contribution.