notes for preso32
Brian Thomas Clark

The hard parts are still stubbornly human: deciding what is worth doing, inspiring people to care, the last mile of building high craft products, the

At the same time, Drupal continues to operate within a broader and changing technological landscape. Modern web development increasingly involves mult

Within this context, Drupal’s role appears increasingly aligned with long-term systems rather than rapid expansion cycles. Much of the work around Dru

Two conflicting perspectives I’m trying to reconcile: having a clear vision is critical, but the difference between success and failure is usually in

leadership8
Brian Thomas Clark

3. Maintain a standard Jalen yelled at me a few times for not getting my eyes on coach Jay Wright. We used to have this thing at Villanova: When the c

The hard parts are still stubbornly human: deciding what is worth doing, inspiring people to care, the last mile of building high craft products, the

Two conflicting perspectives I’m trying to reconcile: having a clear vision is critical, but the difference between success and failure is usually in

attention13
Brian Thomas Clark

The internet has fundamentally altered the conditions under which genuine self-expression can exist. The solution isn’t to perform authenticity harder

The question of our time is how do you artistically rebel — and win — against a totally flat cultural landscape? And before my readers, who I assume a

By all means, building a bench of inspiration beyond what’s on your algorithm is a great thing. But stepping back from the machine entirely assumes a

Two conflicting perspectives I’m trying to reconcile: having a clear vision is critical, but the difference between success and failure is usually in

brand1
Brian Thomas Clark

the linkedin personal brand has escaped containment and infected fashion, media, music, restaurants, and nearly every corner of public life.“our mensw

marketing3
Brian Thomas Clark

Value-based marketing: “Marketing is about values. This is a very complicated world. This is a very noisy world. And we’re not going to get a chanc

Marketing Leaders as Institutional Navigators Chief marketing officers (CMOs), communications directors, and branding experts are no longer support

the linkedin personal brand has escaped containment and infected fashion, media, music, restaurants, and nearly every corner of public life.“our mensw

culture-252619
Brian Thomas Clark

In any case, it’s enough to make anyone feel crazy. Over the last decade we’ve watched — and while I’m talking about the tech industry, I think we can

One hallmark of our current moment is that when an event happens, there is little collective agreement on even basic facts. This, despite there being

The question of our time is how do you artistically rebel — and win — against a totally flat cultural landscape? And before my readers, who I assume a

the linkedin personal brand has escaped containment and infected fashion, media, music, restaurants, and nearly every corner of public life.“our mensw

Drupal / RISD design system2
Brian Thomas Clark

Who Builds Drupal Now? Editor's Pick | Vol. 4 | Issue. 30Visual page builders often arrive with a familiar promise: fewer developer handoffs and more

Brian Chesky just launched an AI lab. One rule: no chatbots.The Airbnb CEO's argument is that specialized AI built around a specific experience beats

digital life—digital cultures53
Brian Thomas Clark

When you look at what actually goes into good delegation documentation, it’s remarkably consistent: What are we trying to accomplish, and why? Where a

There is a link between music streaming platforms and social content, yes, but it goes in the opposite direction. A big artist releases an album on Sp

By all means, building a bench of inspiration beyond what’s on your algorithm is a great thing. But stepping back from the machine entirely assumes a

Now on to the good news! You can laugh at the way the tech world employs the word “taste” and still believe human discernment is the bottleneck. You c

taste46
Brian Thomas Clark

The question of our time is how do you artistically rebel — and win — against a totally flat cultural landscape? And before my readers, who I assume a

Online discourse has debased and trivialized the concept of obsession. People love to post about how they’re “obsessed” with a pair of jeans, or with

The Silicon Valley version of taste is instrumental. Taste as moat. Taste as competitive advantage. The ability to discern what will make the most mon

By all means, building a bench of inspiration beyond what’s on your algorithm is a great thing. But stepping back from the machine entirely assumes a

making-meaning53
Brian Thomas Clark

“From what I have observed from the people who push generative A.I., they do not understand that artists find the labor fulfilling,” Pascual wrote, ad

In the end, shame has its purpose, of course. It acts as the great course-corrector, with a kind of redemptive electricity that forever nudges us towa

The Silicon Valley version of taste is instrumental. Taste as moat. Taste as competitive advantage. The ability to discern what will make the most mon

By all means, building a bench of inspiration beyond what’s on your algorithm is a great thing. But stepping back from the machine entirely assumes a

awareness / mindfulness8
Brian Thomas Clark

Boredom is when you do the things that make you feel like you have life under control. Not being bored is why you always feel busy, why you keep “not

By contrast, when “everything is at our fingertips” — when art is compressed into the same omnipresent and infinite digital non-time as every random p

“All of my hobbies involve basically micro-dosing epiphanies,” Nguyen said at one point. “Every time you’re yo-yoing, you’re like, If I change my angl

By all means, building a bench of inspiration beyond what’s on your algorithm is a great thing. But stepping back from the machine entirely assumes a

post-platform–post-feed17
Brian Thomas Clark

The internet has fundamentally altered the conditions under which genuine self-expression can exist. The solution isn’t to perform authenticity harder

The question of our time is how do you artistically rebel — and win — against a totally flat cultural landscape? And before my readers, who I assume a

Your extreme local, embodied community is your only truly real one. Think of it this way: Whose bodies are closest to yours when you’re sleeping at ni

By all means, building a bench of inspiration beyond what’s on your algorithm is a great thing. But stepping back from the machine entirely assumes a

digital strategy19
Brian Thomas Clark

So, what’s going on? Well, the result is more structural than anything to do with machine learning or consumer preferences. It’s because YouTube conte

The content marketers who will have a place in the new normal will be the ones who never approached content as a product, or publishing and distributi

What do we aim to achieve with that?How do we know when we’re successful?What other alternatives have you considered?You may receive the classic top-d

The hard parts are still stubbornly human: deciding what is worth doing, inspiring people to care, the last mile of building high craft products, the

futures4
Brian Thomas Clark

To correct the state of AI discourse today, we need to channel this same spirit and train our attention on the messy facts of the human, material worl

In “This Is for Everyone,” Berners-Lee argues that the web’s lack of compassion is “a design issue” that can be fixed. “There’s still time,” he writes

When everything is cheerfully “retro,” Fisher argued, we lose our grasp on history—and, without a sense of why the past happened the way it did, our a

And investor Turner Novak wrote on X, “‘Everyone will vibe code their own DoorDash’ is the 2026 version of ‘everything will be an NFT’.”While I agree

community and belonging11

in-person–interpersonal

Brian Thomas Clark

the decline of third places means there are fewer places to just hang out and bump into each other. Other economic and social factors have surely cont

Everyone’s posting about 2016, with a heavy dose of nostalgia.In 2016, Instagram switched their default feed from purely reverse chronological feed to

All this should seem obvious, which is most troubling: the lack of communal love — the indifference we have towards neighbors, strangers — is not only

Your extreme local, embodied community is your only truly real one. Think of it this way: Whose bodies are closest to yours when you’re sleeping at ni

aging2
Brian Thomas Clark

To put it more plainly: As you grow older, you face the interconnected questions of which parts of yourself to preserve, which parts of yourself to ev

5. Middle age is really the time, I think, that the tamped-down parts of yourself, anything you’ve ignored, any dreams you left behind, come first tri

Media & Culture56

Using media to think deeply about complex issues

Tara McMullin

n this sense, Labubus do seem to be a defining moment of 2020s culture. For those interested in moving culture away from fads such as these, resistanc

The stasis debate is actually just about two specific topics: (1) whether 21st century culture offers the feeling of artistic progress, where new styl

In any case, it’s enough to make anyone feel crazy. Over the last decade we’ve watched — and while I’m talking about the tech industry, I think we can

One hallmark of our current moment is that when an event happens, there is little collective agreement on even basic facts. This, despite there being

eternal-now4
Brian Thomas Clark

The larger truth is that the Internet creates the illusion that all culture is taking place right now. Actual history disappears in the eternal presen

But there’s a whole universe that exists outside of your phone. All you need to do is turn away from the screen—even for just a short while—to underst

But that eternal present is a lie, an illusion, a fabrication of the digital interfaces. And this not only destroys our sense of the past but also und

By contrast, when “everything is at our fingertips” — when art is compressed into the same omnipresent and infinite digital non-time as every random p

lineage / anxiety of influence3
Brian Thomas Clark

When everything is cheerfully “retro,” Fisher argued, we lose our grasp on history—and, without a sense of why the past happened the way it did, our a

But there’s a whole universe that exists outside of your phone. All you need to do is turn away from the screen—even for just a short while—to underst

The stasis debate is actually just about two specific topics: (1) whether 21st century culture offers the feeling of artistic progress, where new styl

idea-sex2
Brian Thomas Clark

Brian Eno: why I sculpt sound: "The thrill of making music is not when you succeed in meeting the brief, but when something happens that you hadn’t ex

4/4. Be a good assistant to yourself. Prepare and gather, make notations and sketches in your head or phone. When you work,  all that mapping, archite