---
aliases:
  - Jesse Michels
  - Jesse Michels (American Alchemy)
category: "UFO & Anomalous Phenomena"
tags:
  - UFO
  - Person
  - UAP
  - Media
  - ThielNetwork
  - Podcaster
summary: "Investor listed as employed by Thiel Capital on a March 30, 2022 federal campaign contribution and creator of the American Alchemy YouTube channel."
relations:
  - type: employed_by
    with: "[[Thiel Capital]]"
    role: "investor, as stated by the contributor on FEC filings of 2022 and in a February 2023 podcast biography"
    start: 2022-03-30
    fn: 1
  - type: funded
    with: "[[Blake Masters]]"
    role: "one contribution of 2,900 dollars earmarked through WinRed for Blake Masters for Senate, March 30, 2022"
    start: 2022-03-30
    fn: 1
  - type: founded
    with: "[[American Alchemy]]"
    role: "creator and host"
    fn: 2
created: 2026-10-03
updated: 2026-10-03
---

Jesse Michels is the creator and host of American Alchemy, a long-form interview channel on [[YouTube]] and a podcast. A February 2, 2023 episode listing of the podcast [[Infinite Loops]], produced by [[O'Shaughnessy Ventures]], describes him as "an investor at [[Thiel Capital]] and the creator and host of 'American Alchemy', a Youtube channel dedicated to highlighting the most heretical thinkers and ideas of our time."[^2]

### Thiel Capital

[[Federal Election Commission]] (FEC) records list one contribution of 2,900 dollars dated March 30, 2022 from a Jesse Michels of [[Los Angeles]] ZIP code 90046 ([[California]]), giving his employer as "Thiel Capital" and his occupation as "Investor." The contribution appears twice in the federal database because it was routed through the conduit [[WinRed]] (committee C00694323): the candidate committee, [[Blake Masters]] for Senate (C00784165), reported it as "earmarked (non-directed) through WinRed" (receipt image 202204159496855525), and WinRed's own report lists it as "earmarked for Blake Masters for Senate" (image 202212159563803397).[^1] Masters, the candidate, served as chief operating officer of Thiel Capital and president of the [[Thiel Foundation]] and was co-author with [[Peter Thiel]] of Zero to One; Thiel funded a super PAC supporting his 2022 Arizona Senate campaign.[^3]

The same name appears on four smaller contributions to [[ActBlue]] (5 dollars on September 19, 2020 and September 27, 2020, both from [[Brooklyn]], 10 dollars on October 31, 2020 from [[New York City|New York]], and 10 dollars on July 22, 2024 from New York, employer "Alpha FMC," occupation "recruiter"), with employers or statuses other than Thiel Capital; no source ties these to the American Alchemy host.[^1] No FEC contribution under the name was found listing Thiel Capital other than the March 30, 2022 entry.[^1]

### American Alchemy

The Infinite Loops listing for the February 2023 episode lists topics including "the transmission theory of consciousness," "Are mushrooms aliens?" and "Nixon, psychedelics & brainwashing," and a reading list including books by [[Robert Anton Wilson]], [[Tom O'Neill]] and [[David McGowan]].[^2] The [[Sky Watcher|Skywatcher]] project's Part I video lists interviews with [[David Grusch]] and Col. [[Karl Nell]], among others.[^4]

No channel sponsor list, production company, Form D, 501(c) return or lobbying filing was located for American Alchemy; a search of EDGAR full-text for "Jesse Michels" and "American Alchemy" returned no Form D, and the Senate lobbying database holds no client of that name.[^5]

### Footnotes

[^1]: Federal Election Commission, OpenFEC schedule A, contributor "Michels, Jesse," sub_id 4042520221472578192 (Blake Masters for Senate, Form 3, receipt type 15E) and 4011120231685948941 (WinRed, Form 3X, receipt type 24T), both March 30, 2022; ActBlue records 4010420212002882486, 4012120212128555907, 4012120212112481546 and 4020620251156252171. https://api.open.fec.gov/v1/schedules/schedule_a/?contributor_name=MICHELS%2C%20JESSE ; images https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202204159496855525 and https://docquery.fec.gov/cgi-bin/fecimg/?202212159563803397 (retrieved October 3, 2026).
[^2]: Infinite Loops podcast, "Jesse Michels, American Alchemy (EP.145)," February 2, 2023. https://www.infiniteloopspodcast.com/jesse-michels-american-alchemy-ep145/
[^3]: Vault pages [[Blake Masters]] and [[Peter Thiel]] (positions and Thiel funding of the 2022 Arizona race, each citing its own sources).
[^4]: Skywatcher, "Media." https://skywatcher.ai/media (retrieved October 3, 2026).
[^5]: SEC EDGAR full-text search "Jesse Michels," "American Alchemy," forms D, October 3, 2026; Senate Lobbying Disclosure Act database client search, October 3, 2026.