Alex Burns
@alexgraceburns
Alex Burns
The Coffee Beans Procedure is a way of doing what psychologists call unpacking . Our imaginations are inherently limited; they can’t include all details at once. (Otherwise you run into Borges’ map problem—if you want a map that contains all the details of the territory that it’s supposed to represent, then the map has to be the size of the... See more
Adam Mastroianni • Face It: You're a Crazy Person
Time is the most undervalued ingredient in creativity. It’s not a luxury. It’s a necessity. Only proper time allows for proper exploration. Proper exploration will result in better insight, concepts and results. The more time you allow for creative work, ironically the faster you are likely to reach a breakthrough.
Playground Principles
I meet a lot of people who don’t like their jobs, and when I ask them what they’d rather do instead, about 75% say something like, “Oh, I dunno, I’d really love to run a little coffee shop.” If I’m feeling mischievous that day, I ask them one question: “Where would you get the coffee beans?”
If that’s a stumper, here are some followups:
If that’s a stumper, here are some followups:
- Which kind of
Adam Mastroianni • Face It: You're a Crazy Person
On Being a Good Newsletterer
Since its founding in 2012, A24 has consistently been on the upswing. The company’s success doesn’t come down to one thing, but a variety of factors: the championing of up-and-coming auteurs (Ari Aster, Greta Gerwig, Robert Eggers, the directorial duo known as the Daniels), which has established the studio as a reliable tastemaker; the execution of... See more
With ‘Civil War,’ A24 Joins the Blockbuster Front Lines
Side projects as the key to the good life By Marty Bell • 31 Jul 2025
When I was 13, I created a chat room for teenagers to talk about art and photography (the tagline was, if I remember, “The future of art but we don’t give a fuck”). I think that was the first self-made project I put out into the world, and it taught me one of the most important
... See morePlay on sports teams
Sports teams have a massive impact on emotional well-being. What could be healthier than running around with friends for an hour, possibly dipping in and out of the flow state, while your phone is stashed in a backpack? It’s even great when things aren’t going well. I watched a 50-year-old guy get thrown out of a softball game... See more
Sports teams have a massive impact on emotional well-being. What could be healthier than running around with friends for an hour, possibly dipping in and out of the flow state, while your phone is stashed in a backpack? It’s even great when things aren’t going well. I watched a 50-year-old guy get thrown out of a softball game... See more