Alex Dobrenko

In the 25 years I’ve been studying communities, the most depressing part is that people still start communities (social apps, sites, any company that lets people talk to each other) without thinking through who, exactly, is going to manage the community and how. But it would be ridiculous to start a bar without a bartender.

“You are weak and raw and broken, and that's okay. That's where real life begins. Throw yourself into that rawness., Dive into a bunch of stories about absorbing and leaning into disappointment and loss and melancholy as a way of moving through it.”

―

Heather Havrilesky,

How to Be a Person in the World: Ask Polly's Guide Through the Paradoxes of... See more

Sometimes it's harder, sometimes there are moments where you're like, man, I really wish I could escape this moment and go check Instagram or something, but instead I'm just going to sit here and my kid's crying and dinner's terrible because the kids are just being total jerks and I'm tired and not feeling great and my wife is upset because she's... See more

As a storyteller, do you ever think that means we’ve run out of things to say?

No. Families get together and they tell stories. How many times have you talked about that summer where dad drove the car into the lake, or whatever? There’s something reassuring to revisiting stories, the kind of ancient storytelling tradition of the campfire: “Tell me... See more