The creator economy

But it doesn’t feel too early to ask what might happen in a world where artists keep more or even most of the value that they create. This is personally relevant to me, of course, as a creative type who also stepped away from a “major” — a staff job at a big publication — in favor of selling my work directly to readers. But the larger cultural cons... See more

There is so much mystique around the creative life. It’s fetishized and coveted and seen as mysterious even by the people who inhabit it. We have a cultural script that says: There’s too much consumption, not enough creation! If you want to be a [tasteful/interesting/admirable/happy] person, you should make more things. But then also: Social media ... See more

If media and machines have fused into one great engine of scale, what stands opposite it? Man’s search for meaning . But in an age of accelerating extremes, even meaning must market itself to remain relevant. We like to think it waits patiently in our private lives — but I suspect that’s wishful thinking. Meaning too must earn its keep.6

Whether you... See more