Alex Dobrenko

The problem is, as achievement-subjects, not only do we burn ourselves out, but the meaning and value of our lives is always deferred. Once we have our dream job, the perfect home, a perfectly optimised life – once we are productive enough, efficient enough, successful enough – only then will we arrive at meaning. But just like the fruit that... See more

Security is fundamentally about being able to hold and stay in the tension of uncertainty without compulsively resolving it or dispelling it.

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

This is because a work of art is understood not by the mind only, but by the emotions and by the body itself.

Lore’s vibe is “all about high fantasy worlds and internet archaeology”, she writes to me in an email after our interview. The artistic backdrop to the website will serve as an aesthetic reminder of the “lost magic” that the internet has always had the capacity to nurture.

I’m so happy to hear that these friends’ stories made you feel that way. A colleague of mine says he strives to report on people who are “extraordinary but anonymous,” and I feel that’s a perfect description of the people in my book. Which makes it hard to just share one partnership, but I’ll do it.

The divide began to collapse between the artists and literary types who handled advertisements and the businessmen and engineers who designed products and packaging. Researchers studied consumer responses and developed theories about the psychology of color. Advertising executive Earnest Elmo Calkins launched a package design studio within his... See more