Introducing Solving For

A monthly deep dive into one big problem — what's broken and ways to fix it, shared in weekly posts.

I’m starting something new and wanted to share it with you.

It's called Solving For, and it’s built on a simple idea: each month, we take one pressing problem and go deep — unpacking what's broken, exploring the forces shaping it, and spotlighting clear, credible solutions.

At a time when problems feel stubborn, technology is rewiring daily life, and things once taken for granted are suddenly up for debate, the choices we make matter more than ever.

Solutions exist — but too often they’re buried in the churn of the news cycle and endless scroll of social media. Solving For seeks to bring them into focus.

Many of us are searching for the ideas, strategies, and actions that offer a way forward. I’m one of them — and if you are too, I hope you’ll join in, and we’ll explore together.

Here’s how it will work:

Each month we’ll focus on one pressing problem. The story unfolds week by week, in installments.

• Part 1: The Problem — What’s broken, and why it matters.

• Part 2: The Context — How we got here, and what’s been tried.

• Part 3: The Solutions — What’s possible, and who’s leading the way.

• Part 4: The Open Thread — A flexible finale: conversations, reflections, ideas for what’s next.

The problems we’ll take on share a few traits: they affect many lives, carry long-term consequences, and resist easy answers — but also hold the seeds of real solutions.

Our first series launches next week, starting with a problem at the crossroads of technology, geopolitics, and the economy: rare earth elements. They’re the invisible backbone of modern life — inside your phone, your car, and critical defense systems — yet the supply chain is dominated by China. What’s broken and why it matters is where we’ll begin.

By the end of each series, the goal is to understand the problem and how it came to be — and, most importantly, to surface concrete solutions.

New posts will hit your inbox every Thursday.

I spent the first decade of my career as a journalist, most of it at The Miami Herald, and with colleagues won some of journalism’s top honors. Over time, I wanted to play a more direct role in shaping things I care about — advancing entrepreneurship, reimagining the future, expanding opportunity. That led me to Knight Foundation, a run for U.S. Congress, and leadership roles at Opportunity Miami and Right to Start.

For some time now, I’ve felt a pull to bring these experiences together through writing — as a way to better understand how we chart a path forward in a time of profound uncertainty. And I keep seeing a gap: a lack of clearly explained solutions to the challenges we face.

This project sits at that intersection — of storytelling and problem-solving.

Journalism can do more than reveal what’s broken. It can illuminate what’s working, who’s making it happen, and how.

For the first month, everyone will have full access to Solving For. My hope is you’ll check it out, share it with anyone who might be interested, and let me know what you think. If the work resonates, I hope you’ll consider becoming a paid subscriber to sustain it. You can unsubscribe anytime with one click.

I’ll work hard to earn your trust — and your readership. Together, we can build a place where solutions rise above the noise.

— Matt